Warren St. John, writer of Outcasts United about a soccer team made up of refugee kids in Clarkson, Georgia said “children live in this fantastic mosaic of society.” His hope for the book was that people “might risk the awkwardness of interacting with someone unlike themselves.” The coach of the team he profiled, Luma Mufleh, recently gave a Ted Talk called, “Don’t Feel Sorry for Refugees, Believe in Them”. She invites us to understand the background or refugees and the significance of their success in the world.
Students Design their Own Joseph and Whoosh
Joseph and Whoosh, of Joseph’s Big Ride, and I were invited to
Lawrence Public Library’s wild and wonderful summer story series. Kids from all over the city and their teachers trek to the library! Thanks Jazmine and Niko Welch for playing Whoosh and Joseph in our storytelling. Afterwards, though, I found out the art that people bring to coloring sheets. I brought a Whoosh (Dominican American) and a Joseph (born in South Sudan) sheet. How about young Giovanni’s Joseph with a block cut. Thank you Lois Eliot, Children’s Room Coordinator, for the beautiful Children’s Library you have created.Book artist Ken Daley, wish you’d been there.
Reading Ruby with New Americans
Ruby Nell Bridges at age 6, was the first African American child to attend William Franz Elementary School in New Orleans after Federal courts ordered the desegregation of public schools.
One of the jobs I cherish doing is bringing NH Humanities’ book discussion programs to English Language Learners.I met with Christine Powers’ class of adult learners in Salem, New Hampshire this spring. They were all new Americans and also mothers. We met in the school where their kids go. Together we read a series of illustrated biographies including The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles, the psychologist who wrote The Moral Life of Children. READ MORE
The Refugee Experience, ALA Booklist for Teens
ALA-YALSA offers a reading list of YA fiction and nonfiction to help teens understand the refugee experience. The Refugee Experience for Teens. The comments section took me to work of nonfiction I have to read, In the Sea There are Crocodiles, the story of Enaiatollah Akbadi written by Fabio Geda. It is Geda’s “first person rendition” of Enaia’s journey from Afghanistan to Italy.“Hard Love” Story – Interview with VOA Cambodia
Soksreinith Ten (call her Nith, she told me) , a reporter with Voice of America just interviewed me for their English and Khmer News Service about Either the Beginning or the End of the World. She asked, in a few words tell me what your novel is about. I said it’s about a mother and daughter. They love each other but they can’t tolerate each other easily. “I thought by 16 I’d be over her,” my character says. The mom is a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime. Then Nith and I had this extraordinary conversation about her mom, also a survivor, and they have the same “hard love” as I write about. I was greatly relieved and honored that Nith found the story honest and true. READ MORE