My explorations project was essentially given to me. I had planned on doing something safe, something that was familiar to me. That is, until we had our library visit with Bethany Hogland. As she held up a copy of Ninth Ward and told us it was a fictional story of a girl who endured Hurricane Katrina, my mind began to work. I had never thought of a genre of children’s fiction that dealt with real life tragedies and issues in our present day. As a child I had read books of historical wars and nineteenth century slavery, but I had never happened upon books that are relevant to life right now. I pulled her aside after her presentation and told her that I wanted to do a project on children's fiction that covered social justice issues. At that time I did not yet know what exactly that meant, but I felt it to be a starting point. Bethany was very helpful in providing me with a list of books she thought might be relevant to my topic. I took a stack of books home from the library and eagerly began reading through them.
In the following weeks I began to find a more narrow definition for my topic. I found that social justice issues meant to me, for the sake of this project, any situation that victimized an innocent person. Such things evolved to include wars, genocide, natural disasters, and bullying. I decided to focus in on issues that were current, issues that happened during the lifetime of the intended audience. Because even these topics are so broad, I chose to focus in on things that were important to me. My own personal experience played largely into my choices. Over the last year my family became a foster family. I was suddenly more aware of the horrible things that happened to innocent children that were completely outside their control. I wanted to know how children perceived these events. I wanted to know their stories. I chose fiction because of its accessibility to children. As a middle schooler myself I would not have picked up a nonfiction biography about a child who survived a war, but I was apt to pick up a fictional story about the same topic. I was also most interested in chapter books for the middle school age group, the stage of reading my sister is currently in. All of these things blended together to become my explorations project.
I read through the books quickly, most in one or two afternoons. As I read I began to think about how much more these stories opened my eyes to the world around me than an article in Time or Newsweek. I began to see the bigger picture. I essentially found my thesis for the entire project one afternoon while reading Year of No Rain in the library. These stories of horrific tragedy bring two things to children's literature. Not only do they bring these stories to both children and adults in relatable ways, but they also add the dimension of hope among the horror. Every story I read, whether it was about Hurricane Katrina or strife in Sudan, ended with hope. I believe that theme goes deeper than simply adding a happy ending to a story. Children are the ones who do add hope in the midst of darkness, to the world of books, yes, but also to the broader scope of life. I realized that I had found an “aha” moment. These books served a purpose. They did not allow me to despair about the unjust situations around the world, but they served up a healthy dose of inspiration to do what I am able to make a difference and to fight for the rights of the innocent.
My struggles with my project came in how to communicate my passion for this topic to the class. I was incredibly nervous about my presentation. Although I had done a great deal of public speaking in the past, I was especially anxious about this presentation. I now know that I was most nervous about presenting my subject matter. I knew that my topic was not light or entertaining as some of the other projects had been. I was worried that my classmates would find my presentation to be off-putting. As I reflect on my presentation now, I wish I had chosen a different passage for the class to read. While the chapter of Year of No Rain was the best stand alone passage out of any of the books I had read for my project, it was not the most engaging read. Perhaps if I had chosen a different book to share, my classmates would have been more interested in my presentation before I started.
Because of my nerves, I asked the class to break up into small group to discuss the subject material and appropriateness of different books I passed around the class. During the discussion time immediately following, I was surprised to hear that many of my classmates thought that middle school readers would not be at all interested in the books. When I gave several of the books to my sister, she was very engaged in the reading. That conversation allowed me to think more deeply about how children would respond to such books. I am now more aware that not all children will enjoy such books. Some will have no interest in the life of someone completely different from them. That said, some children will be very engaged readers if the topic is relevant to them. As I mentioned in my presentation, many children in our county know children of migrant workers or have a classmate with a disability. I feel that these books make it easier to bridge the gap between stranger and friend.
When I read the feedback cards I received after my presentation, I was happy to see that many of my fellow students took from my presentation what I hoped they would take. An overwhelming amount said that they had no idea such books existed, and that they liked the idea that books would make these issues, people, and conversations accessible for kids. I wanted people to know that there are stories that can make a difference in encouraging children to foster compassion and friendliness. Erich wrote in his card that he felt such books would cause a child to become callous to tragedy. I greatly valued his point. I believe that there is a risk of that happening if children are forced to read these books without any interest. For the children who are interested in current events though, these are great resources.
I took away several great ideas and thoughts from my project. The first was realizing that books about tough subject matters do exist in children's fiction. This is beneficial to me as a sister, a foster sister, a reader, and as a person with a future in children's literature. The second was realizing, in a broader way, that children always offer hope. This was especially meaningful to me as the week that I presented my project, we had a foster child taken from our home and put back into a tumultuous environment. The third was that these books will not be engaging to everyone, and that not everyone is comfortable with children reading these books. I appreciated that lesson as I am apt to assume that something I value will be valuable to everyone. I learned through this project that this does not reduce what I learned at all. Taking something away and making it my own allows for greater scholarship, even if not everyone else “gets it.”
I am glad for the time I spent on this project. Not only did I gain knowledge about the subject, but I gained knowledge about myself. I value compassion and solidarity, even if they are not popular subjects. Furthermore this project provided a place to begin as I continue my studies in children's literature next quarter. My next explorations project also involves reaching those who are often forgotten, but in a different, more tangible way.
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In order to research for this project, I read the following books:
Boys without Names by Seth Kashmira. 2010.
Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes. 2010.
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. 2010.
The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez. 2007.
Year of No Rain by Alice Mead. 2003.
Other information for my project was found at Alice Mead Books.
My project powerpoint is available here. (Please be patient as the graphics load).
The passage I selected the class to read is available here.
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