Focusing on Williams-Garcia’s No Laughter Here (2004) and Craigie’s What Was Never Said (2015), this article questions their representation of female genital mutilation (FGM). It considers the use of ...voice, writing, and sisterhood in promoting awareness of FGM, and the tactics used to speak of it, while simultaneously sheltering the reader from graphic descriptions. Further, it explores the ways in which they reveal, well intentioned as they undoubtedly are, very Western constructions of African traditions.
...Big Ma's speech, appearance, and behavior personifies Mammy. Harris-Perry suggests stereotypes like Mammy and the strong Black woman make concealing and suppressing Black female identity an ...appealing option(60). ...a closer look at Big Ma reveals much more than a resemblance to Mammy; she personifies the impact of the culture of dissemblance. According to Hine, Black women clubs such as the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs made it their duty to "counter negative stereotypes," and as a result, "many Black women felt compelled to downplay, even deny, sexual expression" (Hine 918). ...though the books are not autobiographical, in her CSK Author Award acceptance speech, Williams-Garcia recalls that while growing up during this period she had a similar perspective, and she "wasn't completely on board with the feminist struggle of the sixties.
By the mid-1990s historical fiction "had become a significant new category of young adult literature" (Cart 105), and thankfully so. It seems that a plethora of early pioneers paved the way for some ...remarkable historical fiction. Particularly fascinating is the emergence of several series all set in the 1960s and yet tremendously varied in terms of subject matter and location. As Joan A. Knickerbocker, Martha A. Brueggeman, and James A. Rycik state that authors of historical fiction can go where historians cannot (161), which is essential for this particular decade. Even now, "The Sixties" remain a controversial decade for young people to understand. Textbooks (and possibly teachers) might gloss over the gritty elements of that part of American history. The author feels that the three of them discussed and invite readers to join them in inventive and diverse journeys through the 1960s.
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5.
Jumped (review) Stevenson, Deborah
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books,
02/2009, Volume:
62, Issue:
6
Journal Article, Book Review
Children's Book Awards 2011
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books,
03/2011, Volume:
64, Issue:
7
Journal Article, Trade Publication Article
The recipients of Children's Books Awards 2011 are presented. Among others, Clare Vanderpool will be awarded the Newbery Medal for Moon over Manifest; the Caldecott Medal will be awarded to ...illustrator Erin C. Stead for A Sick Day for Amos; and the Coretta Scott King Book Award for writing goes to Rita Williams-Garcia for One Crazy Summer.
Whatever the Consequences Cooper, Ilene
The Booklist,
02/2015, Volume:
111, Issue:
11
Trade Publication Article
At the heart of all this family interaction remain the Gaither girls. Narrator Delphine, almost 13, still feels the responsibility of being the oldest, but now her challenge is to loosen the reins on ...sisters who are also getting older and coming more deeply into their own selves. Her narrator's voice continues to be strong and true.
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...identity is an important part of African-American women's literature (Hooper 74-81). ...Wade-Gayles asserts that black mothers "socialize their daughters to be independent, strong and ...self-confident" (12). ...it is clear that Gayle does not know her mother well long before Auntie says, "I get the feeling you don't know your mother" (117). Because Ruth Bell cannot be home to supervise her daughter, she is unaware that Gayle's affair with a married man is initiated in her home and ends with Gayle's first pregnancy.
Power to the People Margolis, Rick
School Library Journal,
05/2010, Volume:
56, Issue:
5
Trade Publication Article
Oh, sure. I'm wondering if I'd have felt it as much if I didn't read the newspapers or wasn't glued to Harry Reasoner on the news. My father was in Vietnam. We have a cousin, whom I've not met. He ...was a UCLA student, and he was also involved with the Black Panthers, and he hijacked a plane, a 727.
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