tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post5681002405381954119..comments2024-03-27T14:08:51.191-05:00Comments on American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL): Not Recommended: LOVE, PENELOPE by Joanne RocklinDebbie Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972409006633565859noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-70256950374948331902023-06-04T20:13:31.632-05:002023-06-04T20:13:31.632-05:00I didn’t find anything culturally inaccurate or in...I didn’t find anything culturally inaccurate or insensitive in the book. I have written a book about the Ohlone for teachers and everything checked out with my research. The author consulted with tribal members when researching the book. I have heard them say some of same things about the basketry, etc. I thought it was nice that the author stressed the importance that the Ohlone people are still here and that they were here first. I thought it was done in a very respectful way.Richard Di Giacomonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-35236093031888941812019-03-24T15:28:28.007-05:002019-03-24T15:28:28.007-05:00Thanks for another fine point-by-point review. I g...Thanks for another fine point-by-point review. I grew up in Ohlone Country, though it was taught as Costanoan back in my school days (yes--we did those mission projects; yes, we rode past the horrendous Junipero Serra sculpture on trips to the City), so I might have been intrigued by this book if I saw it on the library shelf. Now I might have to seek it out, to see for myself if it belongs on the "yuck shelf" in my mind.<br /><br /> Something authors and publishers might want to be more careful about is watching all the angles when they try to tick off too many check-boxes. Your critique covers the "Native heritage" check-box -- looks like a "Fail". As far as we can tell from your review, it seems like the "LGBTQA-Two-Moms" check-box may be a "Pass" for normal background. The third check-box, for "Adoptee identity" is the one that intrigues me, even though the first "Fail" renders it moot. <br /><br /> It sounds to me (again based on your review, which was not concerned with this issue) like the lies, the shame, the borrowing, the stealing, the re-thinking, the embracing, rejecting and all-around-confusion involved in building a transracial adoptee's identity may be accurate. I'll have to read it and see. Honestly though she'd need to be a really well-drawn unreliable narrator to pull it off successfully, and not likely in a children's novel, rare even in adult fiction like Hobson's <i>Where the Dead Sit Talking</i>.Mike Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03638747470635148177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-62911896644093134272019-03-22T10:20:53.766-05:002019-03-22T10:20:53.766-05:00As I read your review, I got to thinking about unr...As I read your review, I got to thinking about unreliable narrators in fiction for young people, in general. For me as a fiction reader, when apparently factual information about Native people and identity comes from a narrator who hasn't been straightforward about facts of her own life -- that makes it hard to trust whatever actual information the author tries to present about those things. <br /><br />If the narrator discovers the errors of her ways and sets things right, I suppose that problem could be taken care of, maybe. Or if the reader already knows enough to say, "Hey wait a minute." But especially if resolution/counterpoint is absent, a narrator's mistakes/misunderstandings/lies can get jumbled w/actual new info in a reader's mind. That doesn't seem helpful.<br /><br />As I said, these thoughts aren'tt specific to this book. I know we are supposed to trust young readers to sort out what the problems are and what the facts are. But even adult readers often lack context & background related to Native people & issues. Will be thinking more about this!Jean Mendozahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01082939369068823250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-83580601793806469702019-03-21T12:15:47.579-05:002019-03-21T12:15:47.579-05:00Done reading and yes on this:
"Contacting th...Done reading and yes on this:<br /><br />"Contacting them privately would help them, but it wouldn't help all the librarians who are selecting and deselecting books in their collections, and it wouldn't help teachers who, if they read this thread, might decide not to use the book. This review is not a "call" for the book to be withdrawn from shelves. It is criticism. It is not censorship."<br /><br /><br />And the author and editors shouldn't feel shamed. This is a learning opportunity and the best way to take that in is...listen...and don't respond with "Yes, but..."<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-42554900393158536342019-03-21T11:14:37.103-05:002019-03-21T11:14:37.103-05:00Thank you so much for this. I am only halfway thro...Thank you so much for this. I am only halfway through the review, but I totally get what you are saying. And I just know that I would not have picked up on any this. Working on getting there, but not there yet. <br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com