When reading Becoming Naomi Leon, by Pam Munoz Ryan, I found myself intrigued by the character of Owen. After our talk about the portrayals of people that have disabilities, I couldn't help but notice that he was portrayed in two different ways.
The one way he was portrayed, was as being accepted. Naomi, Gram, and all the people that were part of that little neighborhood of friends accepted Own for who he was. They focused on how intelligent he was, not on how he looked or the fact that he wore tape all the time as a form of comfort.
When Owen's mother came into the picture Owen was no longer accepted for who he was. The mother was embarressed of her own child and did not know how to deal with his condition. On page 104 of the book the mother does not even believe Naomi when she tells her that he gets straight A's in school. Gram ended up winning custody of the children based on the fact that Skyla did not want both of her children. She only wanted Naomi, because she never knew how to deal with Owen.
When reading this I was angry at Skyla's character for not accepting her own son. I was wondering if anyone else felt this outraged when reading the book.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Al Capone Does My Shirts
When I originally wrote my questioning the text paper, my question was; How does the fact that the story was based in the 1930's, while autism was not identified until 1942 affect the way in which Natalie was percieved by others. I thought that this was a good point to start from because I found the language and tone of the book to be very negative towards Natalie. Her own family did things like lie about her age and call her names like "fruitcake". The text even said that "Natalie was there, but she didn't matter."
Natalie was not able to grow as much as I would have liked to see in the book. I feel that the fact that she did not make it into the school on her own very unsettling. I thought that was going to be the ultimate outcome of this story but when Al Capone had to assist in getting her in, I had pretty much lost all hope of me liking the book. I do not think this is the image of a person with autism that I would want children and young adults to read. When I read the books for this class, I think about how I could use them in my classroom. This one will not be making it through the door.
Natalie was not able to grow as much as I would have liked to see in the book. I feel that the fact that she did not make it into the school on her own very unsettling. I thought that was going to be the ultimate outcome of this story but when Al Capone had to assist in getting her in, I had pretty much lost all hope of me liking the book. I do not think this is the image of a person with autism that I would want children and young adults to read. When I read the books for this class, I think about how I could use them in my classroom. This one will not be making it through the door.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Awards Debate
After the readings and class discussion, I feel that awards are not as good of a selling point that I used to think they were. I can admit that I have read a book solely because it has the award assigned to it, but I never realized how many books could potentially be eliminated from the process because of requirements of the award.
When it comes to awards with specific diverse areas considered I am very skeptical. I feel that people may find the information or text to be believable and authentic solely because the award from that group is given to that book. They may not do as critical of a read because the award does it for them. These books are not always as good as the award makes the reader believe they are. In my group we researched the Lambda Literacy Foundation Award and I was shocked at how many books were awarded each year. Not all of these books are the "best book" but they have the award because of the LGBT aspect that is in the book.
When it comes to awards with specific diverse areas considered I am very skeptical. I feel that people may find the information or text to be believable and authentic solely because the award from that group is given to that book. They may not do as critical of a read because the award does it for them. These books are not always as good as the award makes the reader believe they are. In my group we researched the Lambda Literacy Foundation Award and I was shocked at how many books were awarded each year. Not all of these books are the "best book" but they have the award because of the LGBT aspect that is in the book.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Lambda Literacy Foundation
The purpose of the Lambda Literary Foundation Award (LLFA) is to "celebrate LGBT literature and provide resources for writers, readers, booksellers, publishers, and librarians - the whole literary community." From www.lambdaliterary.org/index.html
The selection criteria is as follows:~Books are about LGBT categories~Author does not have to be LGBT themselves, as long as their piece of literature includes something about LGBT. Perhaps even one character.~There are 21 different categories that book nominations fall under~Only the author or a publisher can nominate a book.The selection committee includes the writers themselves, booksellers, librarians, teachers, book reviewers, journalists, and/or members of the literary community. It is also stated that editors and publishers or members of the Board of Trustees may serve as a judge.The LLFA relies on support from the literary community to connect LGBT writers and readers. Personal donations and organizations also help to fund the award.Our group could only find 4 young adult books that had won the award. However, not all of the books' main themes were LGBT. In "Eight Seconds" by Jean Ferris, the story is not at all about LGBT, it is about bull riders and the rodeo. However, it won the award because one of the characters is gay. The other young adult books we found were "Between Mom and Jo" by Julie Anne Peters, "Express of the World" by Sara Ryan, and "The Full Spectrum" edited by David Levithan and Billy Merrell. "The Full Spectrum" is a compilation of short stories that are about LGBT.Finally, the book "Boy Meets Boy" by David Levithan is also a winner of the LLFA!
The selection criteria is as follows:~Books are about LGBT categories~Author does not have to be LGBT themselves, as long as their piece of literature includes something about LGBT. Perhaps even one character.~There are 21 different categories that book nominations fall under~Only the author or a publisher can nominate a book.The selection committee includes the writers themselves, booksellers, librarians, teachers, book reviewers, journalists, and/or members of the literary community. It is also stated that editors and publishers or members of the Board of Trustees may serve as a judge.The LLFA relies on support from the literary community to connect LGBT writers and readers. Personal donations and organizations also help to fund the award.Our group could only find 4 young adult books that had won the award. However, not all of the books' main themes were LGBT. In "Eight Seconds" by Jean Ferris, the story is not at all about LGBT, it is about bull riders and the rodeo. However, it won the award because one of the characters is gay. The other young adult books we found were "Between Mom and Jo" by Julie Anne Peters, "Express of the World" by Sara Ryan, and "The Full Spectrum" edited by David Levithan and Billy Merrell. "The Full Spectrum" is a compilation of short stories that are about LGBT.Finally, the book "Boy Meets Boy" by David Levithan is also a winner of the LLFA!
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