Journal entry for Dear Miss Breed, by Joanne Oppenheim, Scholastic, 2006
This informational book includes an incredibly detailed chronological account of the round up and imprisonment (internment) of Japanese-Americans. I want to comment first about its instructional value and how it holds up to the criteria in our text book.
The layout, with black & white photos scattered throughout and different font denoting letters to or responses from Miss Breed, is not engaging. I think the author must have had a specific purpose, to tell the whole story from pre-internment to the 1980's, so that the reader could see the impact that this woman had on hundreds of children. The impact did not end with their release, though, and I think she wanted that part of the story to be included. This is a huge undertaking, and the density of the book speaks to this. She must have realized what she was giving up (showy layouts, spaced or stylized letters) when she began the project.
While the appearance may be a detraction, the content is stunning. She gives wonderful background to suppliment the letters. The introduction covers the historical context, both from the Japanese-American experience and from the events that shaped the internments. The compelling details from the rounding up of "aliens" really brought home the travesty that they experienced.
I am surpised by the fact that this book is located in the children's department, and not in a Young Adult section. Teens from 8th through 12th grade would find this a great reference - but just think about our curriculum requirements. American History in 8th grade only goes up to the 1800's, and then they don't study American hisotry until 10th grade. Now this would be a great book for 10th graders, but would they want to look in the children's department for their reference material?
If I were a Social Studies teacher, and I was able to teach US history, this would be part of my library, but I can't help thinking that she might have reached more peopel if she had cut down the scope of her work, and made it assessable to a younger crowd - one that might pick up the book just for fun. As it is now, I can not see it being a leisurely read.
Liz
Entry for Dear Miss Breed, by Joanne Oppenheim Scholastic, 2006
ReplyDeleteLiz you are right that this book does include a lot of detail about the events that took place out on the West Coast after Pearl Harbor. I however saw this as more of a historical book rather than an informational one.
Like you, I don't think that the layout of the book is engaging. Although I enjoyed having the propaganda cartoons and the pictures, I'm not sure what Oppenheim's idea was? Did she want to create a book to be read at someones leisure, or a history book to show the injustices perpetrated on a group of people because of their ethnicity?
I read it with a history mindset. I would not have picked this book, interesting as it was, to read for pleasure. It doesn't appear to be a book that my students would engage in on their own unless they had research to do on the subject of World War II.
This book is in our Middle School library. When I asked our librarian what students thought of it, she said that they really don't know it's on the shelf. When I looked at the due date for the last time it was checked out it said March 14, 2007. However, our librarian was excited that I was interested in reading the book. I think because it is about a librarian who touched the lives of these young people by being their only connection to the outside world.
Our 8th grade American History class covers history from the American Revolution to the Korean War of the 1950's and I believe the early 1960's. I'm saddened to know that this book is available to our teachers and that it doesn't appear to be used in any way. If I were a History teacher with this book and "Climbing the Stairs" at my disposal, I would use them to teach the different perspectives of World War II. I believe that in the diverse society we live in, it's important to teach students about history from the perspective of others, not just what the textbook wants to share.
In reference to the content, I was glad that Oppenhiem shared the names and some history on the students before she began their stories. Although having the pictures later on may have compromised some of the information she could have included, they helped to put faces on those names and reinforced that these children and their families were real and had to endure the deplorable living conditions of old horse stables and little nutritious food yet put on a happy front to show the rest of America that it didn't look as bad as the Nazi concentration camps in Europe.
My daughters and I were watching The Flintstones on television a few days ago. The episode that was on caught my attention because it was about Halloween. Fred was dressed up as a person from outer space and for some reason walking to a Halloween party alone. Meanwhile a record company was conducting a promotion for a new "rock" group called The Wayouts. Their promotion of the group consisted of radio and news ads. The ads alerted the people of Bedrock that Wayouts had arrived and they needed to run into their homes, lock the doors, and be prepared to fight against them. All the people of Bedrock went into a panic. Fred was the only one who had not heard the news and actually got a ride to the party with the Wayouts.
ReplyDeleteUpon arrival, the people at the party prepared themselves with rocks and sticks and began attacking Fred without realizing it was him, all because of the ads and ignorance.
This morning I happened to be watching a repeat of Extreme Home Makeovers. They built a house for a Marine who rescued 2 police officers from the World Trade Center back in 2001. As the Marine was being interviewed he stated that he was proud to be American that day. He was proud because it was the one day that everyone came together. Race and ethnicity was not an issue. Everyone was American.
Oppenheim begins Miss Breed using the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 to connect to December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. She states 9/11/2001 is "a day that will be etched in your memory." p.21 just as President Roosevelt described 12/7/1941 as "a date that will live in infamy."
I connected these two programs with the book because like in the Flintstones, Oppenheim shows how because of the ignorance of the people in the United States and the propaganda ads that were being used, an entire culture suffered. The Japanese on the West Coast were condemed to live in these internment camps because of something that the Japanese army/airforce did thousands of miles away.
Unlike 9/11, it was a time when although the Japanese people who lived out on the West Coast were American citizens, Americans did not come together. Many Americans turned their backs on the Japanese/Americans because of their ethnicity. As the books states over and over, these men, women, and children were being singled out and punished because of their ethnicity.
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ReplyDeleteDear Miss Breed by Joanne Oppenhein, Scholastic Press 2006
ReplyDeleteMarilyn,
In response to your comments about Dear Miss Breed... I had to laugh - your connection to the Flintstones episode really does show that we as human beings, not just as Americans, react to threats in such a knee jerk way. I watched "The Night of the Living Dead" last night, and it too examines our reactions to threats we don't fully understand. Not that they could have spoken to the zombies, but the end when one of the main characters gets shot just for being in the area and yet not perceived as "one of us" - connects with this idea.
On the topic of its accessibility to our students,I think this is the book's biggest draw back. You hit the nail on the head when you said the librarian was excited about it - a yet teachers could not find a place for it in their content lessons. This speaks volumes.
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ReplyDeleteResponse to Marilyn's review of Autobiography of my dead brother, by Walter Dean Myers.
ReplyDeleteWould I classify this as good literature? Well, I can look to the BOE here in Bristol, and their recommendation for stocking this title in our classroom library for students in a Foundations English class. It was selected because it can be engaging, it has a redemptive message, it weaves illustrations that extend the meaning of the text, and it is targeted to young men. It was not recommended for regular Freshman English classes. I think that the problem with AOMDB does not offer too much beyond the themes I listed earlier. I would have hard time developing rigorous lessons based on this book, precisely because it does not go beyond the initials themes found in so many young adult novels.
So I can agree with your assessment that this would not rise to the level of good literature.
Liz
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ReplyDeleteResponse to Liz's blog on Miss Breed
ReplyDeleteLiz, I've also seen "Night of the Living Dead" and was surprised at the end. Just goes to show how people react to things without getting all of the information first.
After I checked it out, our librarian sent the staff a list of good reference books for teacher to use for themselves and with classes and one of the books listed was Dear Miss Breed. I guess it's her way of letting the History teachers know that it exists and can be used in collaboration with their curriculum.
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