Final Project: The Holocaust

www.webpages.ttu.edu/betclark

Red Hot Salsa

This book was a pretty fast read. Unlike The Poet Slave of Cuba, Red Hot Salsa used a variety of poems to give a clear picture of how life is for young children of Latin decent. I thought it was neat how they placed the poems in English first and then in Spanish. The poems also had a mixture of English and Spanish words which caused me to get lost in the language, but I was able to determine some words by placing them in the context. This a great book for Bilingual or ESL students who are learning the English language because they have the poems in both English and Spanish to help learn the words.
Each poem does a great job telling readers about the culture, any judgements, emotions, and challenges faced by children from a different culture. The poem “I Am Who I Am, So What” (pp.16-17) explains the character’s mood of being a Latino in the United States very well. The poet uses the two phrases, “not Mexican enough, not American enough” to help the readers feel the character’s sense that they do not belong to either country. Do any of today’s students feel that they are not accepted by people or belong to those of their own kind as well as their friends? Are they judged for being who they are?I like how many poems are just nice poems about the world and experiences everyone deals with, such as the poem about eyes on pages 56-57 and the short poem called “Upon Knowing You” on page 70. It is excellent how they have a glossary in the back to help readers understand the Spanish words used in each poem. One question, though. What is up with the poem on page 60?

The Poet Slave of Cuba

This is the first time I have read a book told through poems. I would say it was a little hard but written well. Poems are such a beautiful form to explain situations such as slavery. You can’t help but get caught up in words and feel what each character is going through in this book. The treatment and emotions of Juan, his mom, etc. are explained perfectly in each poem. I found it interesting that each poem is titled with the character’s name who is “talking.” I did get lost in some of the language of the poems, though.
At the bottom of page 13 and top of page 14, Dona Beatriz describes Juan’s duckling behavior and people’s reactions to him thinking and acting like Dona is his mother since he rarely knows his own. Can any student relate to not knowing their own parents? Do they find others to take their mother’s or father’s place? Concerns about their family occur back and forth between Juan, his dad, and his mom. Juan’s mother sees how her son is being treated and witnesses him getting whipped (pages 72-73). I could not imagine having to watch as a family member is being abused and injured.
What I found interesting is how the author tells you what is going on without directly saying it. The author uses many descriptive words and phrases to represent thoughts and emotions. For example, on page 42-43, the author does a great job at describing Juan being whipped without exactly telling us what is happening. And such great words with strong meaning behind them are used to help the reader feel the evil nature of La Marquesa de Prado Ameno on page 40 and 41. The words are strong and full of anger. This happens throughout the book in order to give the read a good image of how her character is.
Juan is written as such a strong character, proving to his owner that nothing can make him fall. This is great for young adults, showing them that no matter what kind of situation you are in, you can be confident and stand up for yourself (La Marquesa de Prado Ameno’s poem pages 56-57).You can see how the poems get more and more emotional as the story progresses and also sense Juan’s dream of being set free. And in the end, he escapes!

Up Before Daybreak: Cotton and People in America

This book takes one particular subject in our nation’s history (the cotton industry) and explains it so well with pictures, quotes, and text. This book brings to students’ attention the true story of slavery. The treatment and work of slaves is told in truth in this book and I honestly have learned a lot. This was a very fascinating book which kept my interest with its facts, pictures, and interview quotes. A great characteristic of Up Before Daybreak is there are very little pages with just words. There is at least one picture to break up the text which makes it a lot easier to read and to hold the reader’s attention. I love the realistic pictures. They take you back to that time period to see what the world was like and I feel each picture was well chosen and represented the information in the text. Even the quotes said by real slaves allow us to see further into the life of a slave and the work done on cotton plantations. The interviews and pictures of former slaves and their work “give us insights into life in slavery times” (p.3). Students can see that slaves were treated as objects and not people. They were traded like we borrow items from friends or buy something from the store. That is what they did back then and it is important for students to see how far we have come since then. I, myself, was fascinated by the pictures and I caught myself looking at the pictures before reading. I study the pictures before reading so that I can have a general knowledge of what is to come in the text on the page.
I like how the author helps readers understand situations that occurred back then by comparing them to something readers would know about. For example, on page 12, the author helps explain the difficulty of pulling the seeds out of the fibers- “If you hold a boll of fuzzy seed cotton in your hand and squeeze, you can feel the tiny bumps of seeds inside. But when you try to get the seeds out- watch out! It’s tricky. The cotton fiber sticks to them. It’s a little like trying to pull stickers off your socks after you’ve been for a walk in a field or getting burs out of the thick coat of a dog.” The reader can visualize a sticker or bur caught in their sock and probably relate to that frustration. I can relate to and understand that because I had to pull so many stickers out my clothes as a kid after walking/playing in my grandparents’ backyard in central Texas. I am sure there are many other items in this book which students can make connections.
Overall, Up Before Daybreak gives a good amount of information about the cotton industry then and now without overwhelming the reader with too much detail. I enjoyed reading this book, especially because it was not too long and it kept my attention. I love history books and this one was a 5 star book!

Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case

I love history books, so I enjoyed this story. I am just like the author in that I have never heard about Emmett Till until I started graduate school. After reading this story and seeing what the author said about the civil rights movement, Emmett Till’s story should have been a major part in the civil rights movement because it dealt with treatment and consequences. “Many historians-and most history textbooks- cite Park’s act of civil disobedience as the beginning of the great civil rights movement, but it was the senseless murder of Emmett Till that galvanized Blacks all over the United States and set the stage for the civil rights movement to begin” (p. 26). It was good that the author told us the story of Emmett Till before and after he was murdered. I think the story was easier to understand after knowing what exactly happened. It was neat when the author gave us a history lesson inside a history lesson- told us what was popular back in the 50s and what places such as Mississippi and Chicago looked like at the time Emmett was alive. What helped in visualizing what America was like back then was all the authentic pictures. I thought it was great how the author incorporated real pictures of Emmett and other people involved. I got a better picture and was able to understand the situation more. The case of Emmett Till reminds me of Tom Robinson’s case in To Kill A Mockingbird. It was very much the same situation- behavior towards Tom and deciding he was guilty even though the evidence was clear that Tom was innocent.
The book gave such a great history of the civil rights movement in addition to Emmett Till’s story. All the information given in the book allows kids to understand how America was back during Emmett’s time. The author mentions in the book that the behavior towards African Americans has been going on since before the signing of the Declaration of Independence (p. 25). There were other killings of African Americans by whites going on even during broad daylight with witnesses, but no convictions were ever made. I found some quotes from the book that help to explain that time in America’s history:

“In a spectacularly intense moment, Mose Wright stood at the witness stand, pointed at Milam and Bryant, and stated that they were the ones who had come into his home to kidnap Emmett. Wright’s act of courage marked one of the first times an African American accused a white of a crime in a Mississippi court of law. Fearing for his life, he had to leave the state immediately after the trial.
Despite the many testimonies, the clear evidence (including Milam and Bryant’s confession to kidnapping), and Chatham’s eloquent closing-argument, after deliberating for barely an hour, the all-white jury declared the defendants not guilty” (p. 22-23).

“The Emmett Till trial is over, but we, as Negroes, should never forget its meaning. The fact that Milam and Bryant were acquitted shows us how tremendous a job we face to bring complete democracy to our entire nation. Negroes and other clear-thinking Americans must combine their efforts to press for freedom and equality through both political and legal challenges” (p. 23).

Getting Away with Murder would be a great book to use in a unit or lesson about civil rights. Students will be able to see how far we have come in our society. Overall, this is a great history book!
“To understand and appreciate the modern history of the fight for equal rights for African Americans, American teenagers of all races should know the story of Emmett Till and its impact on American Society. This book will, I hope, keep alive the memory of the Emmett Till case and provide a broader understanding if the beginning of the civil rights movement” (p. 13).

Persepolis

For me, this was a tough book to get into. I could not get motivated to read it. I feel bad for saying this, but it is true. It did not capture my attention. I was lost 20 pages into the story. I think what makes it hard for me are the illustrations which are not appealing (all black and white) and I do not know anything about the Iranian culture or history. There was a lot of information given and I could not keep track of all the events. Some parts were serious and then it would go to the little girl and her opinions which were as innocent as can be. I don’t know. I just could not connect with what was happening.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid