Skip to main content

Same Sun Here

Same Sun Hereby Silas House and Neela Vaswani
Candlewick, 2011. 297 pgs. Fiction

     Same Sun Here is a book about activism: points are made against strip mining/mountain top removal, New York apartment house owners grinding the faces of the immigrant poor, or being unkind to anyone of different skin color, language, or gender-attraction, among many other causes.  Normally this would be annoying in its didacticism, but the two children whose letters back and forth tell their stories are so delightful, and their correspondence carried on with such vigor, honesty, and humor that the book is a joy to read. Meena is an immigrant girl from India whose family lives (illegally) in a rent-controlled apartment in New York's Chinatown. River is a Kentucky boy whose mother is depressed because his father works away from home, so he is mostly cared for by his beloved Mamaw (his grandmother). The two meet as part of a pen-pal project in their school, and both choose from the snail-mail list.  They quickly agree to be their own true selves with one another, and quickly become best friends, even at such a distance. How they work through their unique problems, and the ones they share, is the main thrust of the story, and by the end you will have two more characters from children's literature in your head whom you are unlikely to forget.

Comments

Ms. Yingling said…
This wasn't my favorite, but I've had a couple of students who enjoyed it, and they didn't even mind the epistolographic style, which surprised me.

Popular posts from this blog

Painting for Peace in Ferguson

Painting for Peace in Ferguson By Carol Swartout Klein Treehouse Publishing Group, 2015. Nonfiction. When the city of Ferguson was overrun with so much hate and despair that homes and businesses had to be boarded up to protect property, citizens of the community decided to bring a message of hope by painting the boarded windows. Klein’s rhyming text supports the photographs of the hundreds of artists and volunteers and their artwork as they bring the messages of peace, hope, love, and that by being united they can make a difference. A great book to show children how a community rallied to make a positive change and that even a small gesture can make a huge difference. A great discussion opener on how we should treat each other.

Dragon Run

Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013.  336 pgs.  Fantasy      Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life.  He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines.  Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...

De la hora del cuento: Semana 8 de verano

  Cuentos Quizás algo hermoso Escrito por F. Isabel Campoy y Theresa Howell Ilustrado por Rafael López Boston ; New York : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. Libro ilustrado. "Viendo lo que Mira y sus vecinos descubren, ¡más de lo que nunca pudo imaginarse! Basado en una historia real, "Quizás algo hermoso" nos revela cómo el arte puede inspirar la transformación -- y cómo incluso la más pequeña artista puede llegar a conseguir algo grande. ¡Toma un pincel y únete a la celebración!" --Editor Cuentitos ¿Dónde estás, Cerdito? Por Margarita Del Mazo y Laure du Fay Madrid, Spain: NubeOcho, 2021. Pequeño libro ilustrado. "¿Alguien ve un cerdito por aquí? ¡Shhh! Creo que está en el árbol ..." --Editor