Hi Liz, Just finished Becoming Naomi Leon. I really enjoyed it. I found that the story was a bit sterotypical. Why is it that stories about Latinos is always that the children are abandoned and live with a relative?
I'm not saying that this never happens, but it always seems that stories about Latino families are always somewhat tragic. I'm Latina and did not have a life like this. My family was fairly normal. My dad worked, mom stayed home, and my sisters and I went to school. We lived in a nice neighborhood with very little crime, if any, and had a culturally diverse circle of friends.
I felt for Naomi. What I did connect with was the teasing at school. I wasn't cool and didn't always have the jordache or sassoon jeans but my clothes were fine. I had, and still keep in touch with, 3 really good friends and can say I was the only kid in the school to be accepeted into the High School of Music and Art.
Funny, I think about it now and remember that after being accepeted into the "Fame" school for voice, everyone wanted to talk to me and hear me sing. Until then, I wasn't anyone special. Like Naomi and her animal carvings. Isn't it sad that kids can be so mean until you do something special.
As I was reading Becoming Naomi Leon, I noticed a word I wasn't familiar with. It was bougainvillea. I googled the word and found that it is a tropical flowering vine that has beautiful flowers that look like paper. The articla from a horticultural article I was reading stated that the plant is actually found in South America, in the countries of Argentina and Brazil. This got me to thinking about the chapter on Multicultural literature in our text and the section on judging multicultural books. Our book talks about how "cultural details need to be represented accurately in literature." p.190 This to me was an example of how this particular detail is really inaccurate and could have been taken out of the story altogether. In teaching the book, this could be a plus or a minus. If a student happened upon this word and looked it up, it would be a good place for discussion and pulling in science. How could the plant have gotten to the neighbors home? Is the climate in Mexico the same in Oaxaca as it is in Argentina and Brazil where this vine grows? The minus could be that there is no information on how this plant made its way to Oaxaca and no way te plant could suvive the climate in that part of Mexico. This book does however bolster Naomi's self esteem about her Mexican culture and her father. The soap carving and finally the lion carving for the festival does give Naomi a real sense of pride and belonging. This could foster feelings of pride in their own culture for those students who read it and begin look for similar things in their own cultures. I love the vejigante masks of the Puerto Rican culture and teach about them in my Spanish classes and have students create their own. It gives me a sense of pride about my culture and in turn I open up conversation for students to share things about their families cultures.
Hi Liz,
ReplyDeleteJust finished Becoming Naomi Leon. I really enjoyed it. I found that the story was a bit sterotypical. Why is it that stories about Latinos is always that the children are abandoned and live with a relative?
I'm not saying that this never happens, but it always seems that stories about Latino families are always somewhat tragic. I'm Latina and did not have a life like this. My family was fairly normal. My dad worked, mom stayed home, and my sisters and I went to school. We lived in a nice neighborhood with very little crime, if any, and had a culturally diverse circle of friends.
I felt for Naomi. What I did connect with was the teasing at school. I wasn't cool and didn't always have the jordache or sassoon jeans but my clothes were fine. I had, and still keep in touch with, 3 really good friends and can say I was the only kid in the school to be accepeted into the High School of Music and Art.
Funny, I think about it now and remember that after being accepeted into the "Fame" school for voice, everyone wanted to talk to me and hear me sing. Until then, I wasn't anyone special. Like Naomi and her animal carvings. Isn't it sad that kids can be so mean until you do something special.
Hi Liz,
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading Becoming Naomi Leon, I noticed a word I wasn't familiar with. It was bougainvillea. I googled the word and found that it is a tropical flowering vine that has beautiful flowers that look like paper. The articla from a horticultural article I was reading stated that the plant is actually found in South America, in the countries of Argentina and Brazil. This got me to thinking about the chapter on Multicultural literature in our text and the section on judging multicultural books. Our book talks about how "cultural details need to be represented accurately in literature." p.190
This to me was an example of how this particular detail is really inaccurate and could have been taken out of the story altogether. In teaching the book, this could be a plus or a minus. If a student happened upon this word and looked it up, it would be a good place for discussion and pulling in science. How could the plant have gotten to the neighbors home? Is the climate in Mexico the same in Oaxaca as it is in Argentina and Brazil where this vine grows?
The minus could be that there is no information on how this plant made its way to Oaxaca and no way te plant could suvive the climate in that part of Mexico.
This book does however bolster Naomi's self esteem about her Mexican culture and her father. The soap carving and finally the lion carving for the festival does give Naomi a real sense of pride and belonging. This could foster feelings of pride in their own culture for those students who read it and begin look for similar things in their own cultures. I love the vejigante masks of the Puerto Rican culture and teach about them in my Spanish classes and have students create their own. It gives me a sense of pride about my culture and in turn I open up conversation for students to share things about their families cultures.