The Year for Family and Friends
Written: Aug 25 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A great story with a great heroine! Highly recommended for children ages 9 to 11.
Cons: A minor discrepancy between the story and its purported message to children.
The Bottom Line: With its emphasis on family and community as well as multicultural elements, this story is perfect for families to read together.
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| aprilmay's Full Review: Bette Bao Lord - In the Year of the Boar and Jacki... |
As the Chinese New Year approaches, Sixth Cousin, also known as Bandit, is caught in the silence between her mother's smile, her grandmother's tears, and her grandfather's anger--all brought on by a mysterious letter from her father. She has lived with her large clan on a beautiful estate in Chungking, China all of her life, but on New Year's Eve she discovers that she and her mother will be leaving their large extended family behind and moving to New York with her father. When her grandfather allows her to choose a new, American proper name, Bandit chooses the only one she knows besides Uncle Sam: Shirley Temple. After more than a month by boat and train, Shirley Temple Wong and her mother arrive in Brooklyn at the beginning of 1947 to settle in their new home. The tiny apartment, in contrast to their large estate in China, and the knowledge that her mother will have no servants gives Shirley her first doubts about her new home. However, Shirley reveals her courage and initiative when she insists on being allowed to go to the store alone her first day in Brooklyn. Despite getting lost, Shirley remains undaunted.
Shirley's spirit remains the central theme and enjoyment of this story. Her language barrier and utter unfamiliarity with the games and customs of the children at her school threaten to isolate Shirley and abandon her to loneliness and despair. But then she refuses to back down in a confrontation, despite getting two black eyes, and Shirley is befriended by the biggest and most athletic girl in the fifth grade, who teaches her about baseball, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and Jackie Robinson. Shirley's teacher turns her students' love of the Dodgers into a civics lesson:
"In our national pastime, each player is a member of a team, but when he comes to bat, he
stands alone. One man. Many opportunities.... He can change what has been. He can make
it a new ball game.
"In the life of our nation, each man is a citizen of the United States, but he has the right to
pursue his own happiness. For no matter what his race, religion or creed, be he pauper or
president, he has the right to speak his mind, to live as he wishes within the law.... to excel....
"This year Jackie Robinson is at bat. He stands for himself, for Americans of every hue,
for an America that honors fair play."
Idealistic? You bet. But then idealism is a gift we give our kids--they'll become cynical soon enough. The problem with Mrs. Rappaport's lesson isn't that it is too idealistic, but that it does not quite capture the spirit of Shirley or the message of the book.
Shirley Wong embraces baseball and Jackie Robinson as she avidly follows the Brooklyn Dodgers games on the radio. At the same time, she watches and participates as her family and neighbors--Spanish, Irish and Jewish among them--become a community in their apartment building. When Shirley's neighbors pitch in to make her costume for a Thanksgiving pageant and her friends at school nominate her to meet Jackie Robinson in person, Shirley swells with pride not only at her own achievements (she acknowledges that others are smarter or more athletic) but also at the love and companionship that surrounds her. One of Shirley's greatest strengths as a model for children is this recognition of the shared aspect of our lives as family members, friends, and community members. When Shirley finally meets Jackie Robinson in person, Surrounded by her family, neighbors, teachers and friends at school, Shirley is able to reconcile her early experience with a large family in China to her new life as part of a neighborhood in Brooklyn. This communal emphasis supercedes Mrs. Rappaport's lesson on individual achievement and becomes the overriding theme of the book.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
aprilmay
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Location: Sacramento, CA
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 33 members
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