Budhos, M. T. (2006). Ask me no
questions. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 978-1-4169-0351-2
It is after September 11, 2001 and
Nadira Hossain’s family are illegal aliens from Bangladesh. They are headed to Canada to ask for asylum,
but the border is unable to help at this time.
When they return to the US border her father, Abba, is arrested. Nadira’s mother stays there to help her
father and Nadira and her sister, Aisha, return to New York to live with their
Aunt and Uncle to finish school. This is
the story of their struggle to remain in America and how sometimes the bad can
become good.
Budhos does a great job of building her
character of Nadira. We really get to
know her through her thoughts and feelings.
She is not very self-confident and she feels like her sister is the “golden
child” in the family and can do no wrong.
Aisha is smarter, thinner, and more popular than Nadira is and Nadira
feels it. After they are turned away
from Canada, Aisha and Nadira return home and Nadira tries to make sense of
what will happen to her family and her.
She looks to her family and her culture to figure out what will
happen. She is a weak, discouraged young
lady at the beginning of the story, but by the end we see that she has solved a
problem with her dad’s paperwork and takes a bus on her own to go to her dad’s
hearing. She develops into a strong
woman.
In the beginning of the story there is
lots of description of their trip to Canada and within that time frame, Budhos
gives lots of Bangali words, but doesn’t do a good job of explaining them. The reader will be able to tell what she is
referring to such as, “…I notice the pale bottom of her shalwar kameez flutter up around her jacket.” which we can tell is
clothing or “…all serve the same Indian food, chicken tandoori and biryani, that the Americans like.” which
is a kind of food, but we don’t really get a visual or any imagery about
it. Because of not explaining to the
reader what to picture or expect it gets a little confusing at first and makes
the story start slowly, but as you continue reading it picks up the pace and
you are just focused on Nadira’s story.
We also see cultural names like
Taslima, Mr. Rashid, Ali-Uncle, Abba, Amma and of course Nadira. We also see their surname Hossain, which
later in the book gets mixed up with Hossein, one letter’s difference.
Overall, we see and experience what it
might be like for an illegal alien from a Middle Eastern area not only here in
America, but in their history of their own country and what might bring them to
America.
Reviews:
“Marina Budhos's novel (Atheneum, 2006)
paints a compelling portrait of what it was like to be a Muslim teen living in
the United States following 9/11. The characters are believable and
well-rounded, especially Nadira, who grows from a naive and whiny teenager into
a mature, level-headed young woman.”—School Library Journal
“The teen voice is wonderfully immediate, revealing Nadira's
mixed-up feelings as well as the diversity in her family and in the Muslim
community. There's also a real drama that builds to a tense climax: Did Abba
give funds to a political organization? Where has the money gone? Will
Immigration hear his appeal? The answer is a surprise that grows organically
from the family's story. Readers will feel the heartbreak, prejudice, kindness,
and fear.”—Booklist
Activities:
Carter, C. (2014). My best friend,
maybe. NY: Bloomsbury. ISBN:
978-1-599990-970-7
Colette, known to Sadie as Coley, lost
her best friend three years ago. Sadie
has now all of a sudden asked Colette to go to Greece with her to a
wedding. Colette doesn’t know why, but
she misses their friendship and even with a boyfriend and a new best friend she
still feels lonely and is tired of trying to be perfect. Colette’s mom doesn’t want her to go, but her
dad let’s her and as she travels with Sadie to Greece she learns the secret
that tore them apart three years ago.
Carter does a great job of describing
Colette’s thoughts and how she is feeling.
She places flashbacks into Sadie and Colette’s relationships
periodically, which lead up to Sadie revealing to Coley she is a lesbian. We feel Colette’s love of swimming and water,
we feel her loss of her friendship with Sadie, and we feel her stress of trying
to be perfect for her parents, boyfriend, and everyone else.
Carter also does a great job of
describing Greece. We can picture the
island they are on with only all these mazes of steps that lead to the ocean,
we can almost smell the donkey manure on the steps and want to gag and we see
the ocean, “It’s a deep blue, almost sapphire, marred only by occasional
whitecaps and sailboats….the sea spreads before us, glittering in every shade
of blue.”
The book does not really reveal the
topic of LBGT until about three-fourths of the way in. Up until that point we are just as clueless
as Coley as to why Sadie stopped being friends with her and why she has invited
her to Greece. Sadie keeps avoiding
telling Colette, but when she does she mumbles, “I thought you knew.” because Sadie
had told Colette’s mom three years ago and assumed she told Colette. At this point in the book lots of things
become clear as we realize why Coley’s mom didn’t want her to go with
Sadie. It also makes sense why Sadie has
acted so weird.
The theme of friendship and the
struggle of relationships is richly is portrayed all through the book. We see Colette struggle with her feelings
about her boyfriend, her mom, Sadie’s brother, Sam, and Sadie herself. But at the end of the book, things are not
perfect, but they are willing to work on them because, “…we had to grow
up. We had to deal with hormones, with
broken hearts, with boyfriends and girlfriends, with parents who make mistakes,
with loneliness, and with finding new friends to fill it.” This pretty much will speak to any teenager
of what they are going through and any adult of what they have been
through.
Review:
“Carter
weaves together classic elements of a coming-of-age summer-adventure story with
poignant explorations of independence, sexuality, coming out, and the
harmfulness of striving for perfection. Leavened with a sweet touch of romance,
this meaningful tale of second-chance friendship should appeal to older teens
looking for a meatier summer read.” ―Booklist
“Their messy and complex
friendship is a realistic look at the ways relationships can change and wither.
The narrator's quest to be who she needs to be (not who her demanding mother,
her virtuous boyfriend, or duplicitous Sadie need her to be) and Sadie's
tentative steps toward honesty are poignant. Stunning descriptions of Greece
and a small cast of well-developed secondary characters round out this
affecting story about identity.”—School Library Journal
Connections:
· Me, Him, Them and It by Calea Carter
· Have students research
Greece, create a map of the island based on Colette’s descriptions.
· Have students write
about their own friendships. Have they
ever lost a friend? Have they ever left
a friend? Etc.
Gantos, J. (1998). Joey Pigza
swallowed the key. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN: 0-06-440833-7
Joey Pigza
lives with his grandma because his mom and dad left when he was in
kindergarten. He seems to be “wired”
differently and has trouble paying attention and making good decisions and has
struggled in school and at home. His mom
shows back up and Grandma can’t take the rules so she leaves. Joey’s mom tries to help him by becoming
involved with his schooling and getting him medication. It seems to work sometimes, but other times
he swallows a key, eats an entire molasses shoofly pie and cuts the tip off a
girl’s nose. He gets sent to a
special-ed facility and there finally begins learning how to make good
decisions and gets the medical help he needs.
From the
beginning of the book Gantos gets us into Joey’s mind and what a whirlwind it
is! “At school they say I’m wired bad,
or wired mad, or wired sad, or wired glad depending on my mood and what teacher
has ended up with me. But there is no
doubt about it. I’m wired.” We can see that he knows he struggles with
his actions and he knows that the teacher sees him depending on how she feels
about his behavior. He knows that he
would do okay in the morning, but when his meds wore off he stayed in
trouble. He wants to do the right thing,
but his impulsivity gets in the way and he can’t control himself.
Gantos
shares with us how it might feel to have ADHD.
The mind can’t focus, the body is on an energy high and has to work it
all out, and then there comes a down time of exhaustion. He also shows how it can be genetic. “I am how I am because Grandma was born
wired, and my dad, Cater Pigza, was born wired and I followed right behind
them. It’s as if our family tree looks
like a set of high-voltage wires strung across a field from one steel tower to
the next.” Joey gives us a great image of not only his family tree, but having
ADHD is electrifying like a set of high voltage wires.
Gantos gives
us a glimpse into an ADHD child’s perspective and makes us want to not only
help Joey, but frustrates us as well.
The book can help not only someone with ADHD help explain how they feel,
but anyone who has to work with someone with ADHD know how they might be
feeling.
Review:
"In this rollercoaster of a ride, ingenuously and
breathlessly narrated by Joey himself, readers are treated to an up-close and
personal introduction to life with attention deficit disorder." --The Horn Book
“…readers will empathize
and feel his emotional and physical bruises. References to alcoholism and abuse
add realism to the novel without impeding the flow of the plot. In his
first-person narrative, Joey relates incidents that are heart wrenching and
humorous. From the powerful opening lines and fast-moving plot to the
thoughtful inner dialogue and satisfying conclusion, readers will cheer for
Joey, and for the champion in each of us.”—School Library Journal
Connections:
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