Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate

Katherine Applegate puts words together creating beautiful images. Dave is a an American helping Kek, a Sudanese refugee, settle in Minnesota with his cousin and aunt. Kek thinks Dave's partial use of Dinka and English sounds like "...a song always out of tune, / missing notes / To help him, / I try some English / but my mouth just wants to chew the words / and spit them on the ground." She captures what it is like to be new to a country. To not understand the language. To know this new place is not home. To desperately long to return to what is comfortable and familiar. Humor is balanced with tragedy through the eyes of Kek, who tries to see the good in life. When he gets a job helping on a farm, it reminds him of back home when he helped take care of the village cattle.

There is a Kirkus review that criticizes this book for Kek's character being stereotyped and not fleshed out enough. I didn't notice this when reading the book, but that could be because I have worked with Sudanese boys and my brain already knows about their culture and plight. I agree that Kek might lack some authenticity and there are didactic moments, but I did like how the author has him deal with grief and life in a new land. I thought the criticism somewhat harsh and not as extreme as the reviewer felt. Perhaps Kek's school interactions might be showing too much how people should act toward immigrants versus what Kek was really going through. You'll have to read it yourself to decide.

Some things did not always seem spot-on for me, but other things did. Such as when the cow stops traffic and everyone in the cars are mad. Minnesotans are overly polite in their cars and helpful. Someone would have stepped out to help. Yes, people would have honked and some annoyed, but I can guarantee at least one person would have stepped out of their car to help some kids with a stubborn cow in the middle of a busy intersection. Some observers would have thought it funny. But that's really minor and I only know this because I spent 40 years living in this state. What I particular liked was how the author has Kek think about how there are many tribes in America and that they live side-by-side without fear. When working with the Sudanese students at our school, that was the one thing they marveled at the most. Many times they said, "You have many tribes but you get along. And you don't kill the leader if you disagree with him." While some readers might see this as unalloyed enthusiasm for America, it was something I heard many times from the refugees.

Maybe Kek is too nice and positive for some readers. Yes, he could have more characteristics explained such as his language and looks. But I was able to put a clear picture in my head even if the free verse lacked details. Of course, my personal experience dealing with Sudanese boys needs to be considered. It's easier to picture something when you have background knowledge. The students I worked with had to deal with injuries from camp just like Kek's cousin. No one was missing a hand, but one was missing an eye and another had serious back problems. These four of the kids lived together and three of them worked additional jobs to pay for their apartment. It was not easy for them.

Trying to write a story about a different culture when the author is not from it is always going to be tricky. The pitfalls of stereotyping is one issue, as well as, a lack of authenticity. While this book falls short in some spots I didn't think it should be written off. It did speak to me as a foreigner living in a different country. I could empathize with Kek's culture shock and I didn't think he was quite as two dimensional as other readers thought. Like I said, you'll have to decide for yourself.

3 Smileys

West of the Moon by Margi Preus

A clever mix of 19th century immigration, folktales, and folklore makes this a fascinating read. Astri, a Norwegian girl, has been sold by her aunt to a nasty neighbor, Mr. Svaalberd, to help him with his goat farm. From the time she first saw Mr. Svaalberd, Astri saw signs of a man with questionable intentions, sleeping at night with a knife under her pillow for protection. She is a plucky survivalist who uses her wits by taking advantage of opportunities to try and get herself and her sister on a ship from Norway to America. Her father left Astri and her sister in the care of an aunt who sells Astri as a servant to Mr Svaalberd. Astri deals with her situation and abuse under Svaalberd by making comparisons with the folktale character in "East of the Sun West of the Moon." This theme of how stories help people deal with reality is tightly knit throughout this tale. In a nice balance of dark and light, Astri humorously calls Svaalbeard, "Old Goatbeard," "Mr. Goat," and "Goatman" comparing him to the Three Billy Goats Gruff. She also recognizes Svaalberd's stories of the hidden folk or "huldrefolk" are meant to keep her from running away. Preus captures a time when Christianity and the old religion live side-by-side; a time when one God and science along with superstitions, folklore, and magic are used to define the unexplainable and people believe in each to varying degrees.

Preus has terrific character development and beautiful sentences. When Astri meets the mute girl she dubs her, "Spinning Girl," because she is an incredible weaver. Astri tells her stories: "That's what I tell her, but as her wheel whirs, my mind whirs along with it, and soon I've run out of golden thread with which to spin my pretty stories and I'm left with just the thin thread of truth. And that wiry, rough little thread tells me that if anyone is going to do any rescuing in this place, it's going to have to be me." She uses stories to comfort herself and also give her strength to take action. She is strong-spirited and makes good and bad decisions in her quest to get to America.

This book has many authentic and historical details. Astri makes up names for the people in the story such as Spinning Girl, Goatman, which made me think of how the Norwegians made up nicknames describing people. The Vikings had "Erik the Red," "Unn the deep-minded," and "Gudrun the Fair" to name a few. There was "Haakon the Good," the King that established Christianity. Preus also includes small details such as the Sølje brooch that is Norway's traditional silver, flatbread, goat bells, the Seter, old Norsk versus new Norsk, and more. I wondered how a poor goat farmer could afford help, but Spinning Girl would have made Goatman money. People would pay for a warm coat or jacket during the cold winter months and her weaving would have given him more money than his poor goat farm. If you are interested in a historical book that explains Norwegian economy and the importance of textiles, as well as farming, then read the archeological book, "The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman," by Nancy Marie Brown.  It shows how spot-on Preus is with her details. The only question I had is the use of "lass" and "wee" throughout the story by Goatman and the farmer's wife. I'm not sure that the Scottish language would have influenced the dialect in a remote rural Norwegian village, but hey, those Vikings got around. Maybe it did. My relatives always used "lite" or "liten" for little and a child was a "barn." But dialects vary all over Norway and I don't know how much other countries influenced European languages in the 19th century.

Another terrific detail is the provisions needed to bring in an immigrant's trunk. I know many families that still have these trunks in Minneapolis and I am amazed to think of what they had brought from Norway. Preus details their provisions and it is mind-boggling. Right now I'm looking at my great-grandma's rosemaled bread basket thinking of her packing for America. Did she bring 24 pounds of meat like in this story? Did she bring too much butter like the man in this story that Astri steals from? One warning about content is that Goatman attempts to sexually assault Astri, but it is written in a straight-forward way and Astri doesn't dwell on it. This part might bother some readers while others will not be fine with it. Also, even though Astri is a victim, she does terrible things as well. She steals to survive. She hurts others. But she has a conscience and struggles with her decisions. She regrets her mistakes and has an admirable self-reflective honesty. As a character, she is very real. This is a tale of redemption. Astri must learn to forgive herself and others to move on and find happiness in her life. A Newbery contender. Don't miss it.

5 Smileys

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai

Ha has fled Vietnam and is in America with her mom and three brothers. English words have a ”Sssssssssss” sound that reminds her of snakes: MiSSS WasSShington, MiSSS SScott, hogwaSSSh. Some students make friends with her like Pem (Pam) and SSsi-Ti-Van (Steven) while others bully her by teasing her when she speaks; calling her pancake face, and pulling the hair on her arms. Ha is 10 and was born in Vietnam during the war. Her father disappeared on a mission for the Navy when she was one. When the family has a chance to escape to America, they end up in Alabama where Ha has to learn to adjust to Western culture.

Ha is a feisty, likeable character. She changes throughout the story going from a smart girl in Vietnam to a girl who struggles to communicate with others because she doesn’t know the English language. She hates going from being smart to stupid. It makes her furious and she screams in frustration and lashes out at those around her. She’s also picked on by other kids. She thinks about how she picked on a girl in class in Vietnam and how she is now being picked on in America. She wonders if she is being punished for her meanness in Vietnam. I like how Part I shows Saigon and Ha’s life in Vietnam. It sets up the traditions she has grown up with as a young girl that contrasts with Part II when she lives in Alabama and has to adjust to a new culture.This immigrant story has more of a contemporary feel because it is set in the 1970′s. The verse novel works well capturing the essence of the story that isn’t preachy or overly sentimental.

The family dynamics change throughout the story as well. In Vietnam, Ha is annoyed with her older brothers and doesn’t always like how they get the attention. For instance, one of the boys must touch the floor first for the New Year (Tet) to bring the family good luck. Ha doesn’t like it that male feet bring luck and she gets up before anyone else so her feet touch the floor first. On the journey to Alabama, the relationships between Ha and her brothers change. First, she comforts her brother Khoi and helps him deal with the death of a baby chick that has derailed him in a way that suggests he is struggling with leaving his country. Next, she takes self-defense lessons (along with other kids in the neighborhood) from her brother Vu who is obsessed with actor, Bruce Lee. Quang, her older brother, comes to her aid when the class bully threatens her. In America, the family bonds as they deal with an oftentimes hostile environment.

Reading Level 4.9

5 out of 5 Smileys