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Re: Social Justice and Class
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From: maggie_bo_at_comcast.net
Date: Sat, 05 Nov 2011 01:15:52 +0000 (UTC)
Alsaska reminds me of Blessing's Bead, a book which is just a year or so old. Has contemporary and historical Alaskan settings (dual stories), both of which deal with issues of race and class. A wonderful, beautifully written story, too!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rebecca Graham" To: ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu Sent: Friday, November 4, 2011 7:45:23 PM Subject:
Social Justice and Class
What a wonderful topic. It's one I think about often when choosing books for my elementary school library. I am always on the lookout for books with housing that reflects, at least partially, my students' reality. Most depictions of poverty in middle grade and lower books seem to be eastern and urban. Anchorage has been around for almost 100 years but most of the existing buildings came since the building of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in the 1970's. We don't have big old brick apartment buildings. We do have trailer courts. Also many of our poorer students come from ethnic backgrounds not often-reflected in children's literature: Hmong, Thai, Lao, Sudanese, Alaska Native. And books with Mexican characters are set in the Southwest, not in the sub-Arctic!
That said, some books I've found that reflect poverty and class (though not much in the way of social justice) in contemporary America that I've liked are:
Do Not Pass Go by Kirkpatrick Hill (set in Fairbanks, Alaska and the housing is very Alaskan which is a bonus) The Danger Box by Blue Balliett (a small town in Michigan) Jumping the Scratch by Sarah Weeks (also Michigan) Anything by Vera B. Williams
As an earlier poster mentioned, books with social justice themes tend to focus on the civil rights era--which I suspect seems long ago and far away to my students!
I remember several books I read as a child that helped heighten my social consciousness:
Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski Blue Willow by Doris Gates Surprisingly, perhaps, the Cherry Ames series by Helen Wells and Julie Tatham. I vividly remember the titles set in New York City and Cherry's crusading doctor boyfriend who wanted changes in housing laws to require more square footage per person in tenements!
There were a couple other books whose names I can't recall. One was about some kids at a private school who befriend a scholarship student and are struck by the differences between their lives. Another was similar to Silver Packages but I read this in the 1960's so it's much older. Anyone else remember these?
Rebecca Graham Anchorage, Alaska
Date: Sat, 05 Nov 2011 01:15:52 +0000 (UTC)
Alsaska reminds me of Blessing's Bead, a book which is just a year or so old. Has contemporary and historical Alaskan settings (dual stories), both of which deal with issues of race and class. A wonderful, beautifully written story, too!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rebecca Graham" To: ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu Sent: Friday, November 4, 2011 7:45:23 PM Subject:
Social Justice and Class
What a wonderful topic. It's one I think about often when choosing books for my elementary school library. I am always on the lookout for books with housing that reflects, at least partially, my students' reality. Most depictions of poverty in middle grade and lower books seem to be eastern and urban. Anchorage has been around for almost 100 years but most of the existing buildings came since the building of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in the 1970's. We don't have big old brick apartment buildings. We do have trailer courts. Also many of our poorer students come from ethnic backgrounds not often-reflected in children's literature: Hmong, Thai, Lao, Sudanese, Alaska Native. And books with Mexican characters are set in the Southwest, not in the sub-Arctic!
That said, some books I've found that reflect poverty and class (though not much in the way of social justice) in contemporary America that I've liked are:
Do Not Pass Go by Kirkpatrick Hill (set in Fairbanks, Alaska and the housing is very Alaskan which is a bonus) The Danger Box by Blue Balliett (a small town in Michigan) Jumping the Scratch by Sarah Weeks (also Michigan) Anything by Vera B. Williams
As an earlier poster mentioned, books with social justice themes tend to focus on the civil rights era--which I suspect seems long ago and far away to my students!
I remember several books I read as a child that helped heighten my social consciousness:
Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski Blue Willow by Doris Gates Surprisingly, perhaps, the Cherry Ames series by Helen Wells and Julie Tatham. I vividly remember the titles set in New York City and Cherry's crusading doctor boyfriend who wanted changes in housing laws to require more square footage per person in tenements!
There were a couple other books whose names I can't recall. One was about some kids at a private school who befriend a scholarship student and are struck by the differences between their lives. Another was similar to Silver Packages but I read this in the 1960's so it's much older. Anyone else remember these?
Rebecca Graham Anchorage, Alaska
---Received on Sat 05 Nov 2011 01:15:52 AM CDT
