Multicultural Book Review: Disability

Genre:  Nonfiction

Culture:  Disability

Book:  Watson, Stephanie.  (2010). This is Me: Facing Physical Challenges.  Edina:  ABDO Publishing Company.

Level/Age:  YA (ages 12-20)

Synopsis:  Author Stephanie Watson pairs with Dr. Robyn Silverman, a child and adolescent development specialist, to address nine common physical challenges facing young people today.  The book, one in an Essential Health series entitled “Strong, Beautiful Girls,” is written to the female adolescent audience.  The physical challenges the authors address are:  adolescent obesity, adolescent diabetes, food allergies, lactose intolerance, asthma, wheelchair-bound physical challenges, dyslexia, vision impairments, and stuttering.  For each challenge, the authors provide an introduction, a specific girl’s story, and the doctor’s professional input.  They urge girls to talk about it several times throughout each case study, posing questions for not just girls who may be struggling with the challenge themselves, but also for peers and classmates to make them empathize and think about what it might be like to struggle with these challenges.  They offer advice for getting healthy, additional resources including a select bibliography and further reading, web sites, and organizations for more information, such as the American Diabetes Association.

Comparisons/Contrasts with traditional American/Western Culture:  What we call disabilities, or “different abilities,” are extremely common.  For example, how many of us have to use glasses or contacts to see properly?  And yet, teasing and bullying based on disabilities is all too common as well.  Mainstream society is not accepting or forgiving by nature, but with more awareness and education in the form of books like this one, and campaigns such as Autism Speaks (autismspeaks.org), people can become more aware, and therefore more understanding of the causes and effects of disabilities.  Mainly, it’s most important to understand that people with disorders didn’t ask for them and life’s already more challenging for them, so they don’t need the added insensitivity of others.  

Response:  This series addressing strong, beautiful girls is a great endeavor for tackling issues of self-esteem, teasing, and health among the female adolescent population.  Although it is written with a girl audience in mind, it is applicable to boys too, and the resources and suggested readings are helpful for adults alike.  I think this book was successful in helping the reader take a proactive stance in addressing her health problems, seeing that she is not alone in them, and providing a window into the problems for those who don’t personally suffer from them.  I’m glad it is in my school library media center, and feel that it would be a very good inclusion for any adolescent nonfiction collection.

Suggested Extension Activities:  I would recommend this book in Reader’s Advisory to any student struggling with a disability, or any student who knows someone struggling with one.  I would also recommend this to my administration as we go forward with an anti-bullying campaign.  It could be a possible book study for faculty and/or students, and I would feature it in the Library Media Center through “Different Ability” displays.

Multicultural Book Review: Native American (Cheyenne)

Genre:  Legend

Culture:  Native American (Cheyenne)

Book:  Cohlene, Terri.  (1990). Quillworker: A Cheyenne Legend.  Vero Beach:  The Rourke Corporation, Inc.

Level/Age:  Children (up to age 12)

Synopsis:  This is a Cheyenne legend that explains how the North Star and the stars of the big dipper came to be.  A Cheyenne girl named Quillworker was very talented at quill embroidery.  She painstakingly made buffalo-hide war clothes for seven brothers she saw in a dream, and then traveled seven days to their tipi.  She became their sister and lived in the tipi, but one day the Buffalo nation came to take her because they heard she made buffalo hides beautiful and they wanted to be beautiful too.  Quillworker and her seven brothers escaped the Buffalo nation through brother Wihio’s Power of Sky-Reaching, and now live in the clouds as the North Star and the big dipper.  The book also includes facts about the Cheyenne, including their homeland, people, camp, clothing, timeline, and arts.

Comparisons/Contrasts with traditional American/Western Culture:  In Locke’s chapter on Native American Indians, he writes, “They pass on traditions and customs through oral myths and legends” (p. 65).  This is certainly true in this adapted legend, which through its beauty and simplicity shows why such oral storytelling was tradition among Cheyenne and other Native American Indians.  Locke also writes, “Their art is woven throughout the fabric of everyday Native American Indian life and is inseparable from nature, religion, and the universe” (p. 65).  Quillworker is a clear mingling of nature and the universe.

Response:  I found this to be a lovely origin tale about how the stars came to be as they are.  It gave me, more than anything, insight into the Cheyenne way of life, showing me this tribe’s closeness to nature and the universe.  It would be a great piece to include in a school library collection and a centerpiece in the study of the Cheyenne specifically or Native American Indians in general.

Suggested Extension Activities:  This legend would be great to use in a comparative study of the Native American Indian legends of various tribes.  I would promote this in the Library Media Center during November, Native American Heritage Month, as well as feature it in Myths/Legends displays.

Multicultural Book Review: Muslim

Genre:  Poetry

Culture:  Muslim

Book:  Nye, Naomi Shihab.  (2002). 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East.  New York:  HarperCollins Publishers. 

Level/Age:  YA (ages 12-20)

Synopsis:  This is a collection of sixty poems about the various areas and peoples of the Middle East.  The child of an Arab father from the Old City of Jerusalem and an American mother, Nye has lived in, visited, and written about the Middle East her whole life.  Her collection of poems depicts various incidents of family history, including a grandmother’s pilgrimage to Mecca; memories of different visits to the Middle East, including coffee shops, refugee camps, and a lunch in Nablus City Park; and the impact of war and prejudice, including fundamentalism, school bombings, and the tragedy of September 11, 2001.

Comparisons/Contrasts with traditional American/Western Culture:  Locke writes, “Muslims desire that their religion be seen as one of peace and acceptance and that they not be judged by the actions of particular Muslim individuals and groups” (p. 211).  Nye’s poems embody peace and acceptance.  In the introduction, Nye writes, “Perhaps Arab Americans must say, twice as clearly as anyone else, that we deplore the unbelievable, senseless sorrow caused by people from the Middle East…but also we must remind others never to forget the innocent citizens of the Middle East who haven’t committed any crime.”  In one poem, entitled Red Brocade, Nye writes “The Arabs used to say, when a stranger appears at your door, feed him for three days before asking who he is, where he’s from, where he’s headed.”  These poems provide many such examples that personify the peace and acceptance of the Muslim culture.

Response:  I was moved by many of these poems.  Some were subtle, and others were bold.  For example, some lines that stood out to me include:  “To live without roads seemed one way not to get lost” (from the poem Spark, p. 16).  “Teach me how little I need to live and…the world jokes and says, how much” (from the poem For Mohammed on the Mountain, p. 28).  “What is the history of Europe to us if we cannot choose our own husbands?  Yesterday my father met with the widower, the man with no hair.  How will I sleep with him, I who have never slept away from my mother?” (from Biography of an Armenian Schoolgirl, p. 11).  These poems gave me lasting images and insights into the Muslim culture.

Suggested Extension Activities:  I could see using this book in a Language Arts class, or a Reading class, during the month of Ramadan, or featuring it in the library media center in honor of Eid al-Fitr, or Eid al-Adha.  It could be used with Civics or Social Studies classes to cultivate a better understanding of the Arab culture, or in a unit on Palestinian/Israeli relations. 

Basic Visual Presentation: Building Inventory

Goal:  Media Specialists will be able to complete building inventory.
Goal:  Media Specialists will receive exemplary on their completed building inventory audit.
Objective:  Using the Lawson system, Media Specialists will be able to accurately complete whole-school building inventory within one week.

The following is a basic visual presentation for Hillsborough County Media Specialists who are either new to the process of completing building inventory for their site, or would like a refresher.  Or, any Media Specialist who would just like to know what my process is.  This can be an overwhelming task, but here is just one recipe for it's successful completion.  I'm happy to say that, as much as I loathe this yearly task, I have received exemplary on it every year.

Basic Visual Presentation:  Building Inventory

Data Visualization for Instruction

Goal:  The Media Specialist will analyze patron circulation data.

Objective #1:  Using Crystal Reports, the Media Specialist will analyze student patron circulation data for transactions between the selected dates 08/21/2012-06/01/2013. 

Objective #2:  Using the annual circulation data report for the 2012-2013 school year, the Media Specialist will complete a comparative analysis of average yearly transactions based on gender, FCAT Reading level, and lunch status.

Objective #3:  Using the comparative analysis, the Media Specialist will target specific populations to increase their circulation for the 2013-2014 school year.

Comparison by Gender

I was expecting girls to check out more books than boys.  However, in a comparison of the average number of books checked out per year by boys versus girls, I discovered that boys check out an average of almost two books more than girls per year.  Research has pegged boys as the “reluctant readers” and girls as the avid readers, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my boys are readers!  Our school population is 70% female and 30% male, which contributed to my belief that girls would check out more books, on average, than boys.  So I began to wonder what could account for the boys checking out more books.  My theory was that perhaps more boys are enrolled in Reading classes than girls, but after consulting with the Reading Coach, this theory was quickly dispelled.  According to our Reading Coach, the gender representation in our Reading classes is proportional to the overall gender ratio at the school.  So, my other theory I have that might account for this, is that boys (in my observations) tend to check out more non-fiction, Manga, graphic novels, and magazines than girls.  These genres can often be read faster than fiction and biographies.  Therefore, the male patrons would have a faster turn-over rate for the items they checkout, and come back to the Media Center for more frequent checkouts.

 

Comparison by Lunch Status

I expected that students who receive free or reduced-price lunch would check out books more frequently than the other students.  Since free and reduced-price lunch eligibility is based on socio-economic status, I theorized that students who were less able to afford lunch, would also be less likely to purchase their books and reading materials from a bookstore or buy them on a tablet or other electronic device.  The data surprised me in that I expected a greater difference between the three student groups (i.e., those receiving free, receiving reduced-price, and receiving what I termed "full-price" lunch).  However, the differences, small as they were, did seem to lend support to my theory.  The data shows that students who are eligible for free lunch check out the most books, on average, per year. The students who receive reduced-price lunch follow a close second.  Finally, the students who either did not apply or are not eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, checkout the least books, comparatively.

 

Comparison by FCAT Reading Level

I was expecting a positive correlation between students' FCAT Reading Level and average number of yearly transactions.  However, instead of an inclined line, my data visualization revealed no evident correlation between these sets of data.  Students who scored a 2 on the FCAT Reading test, checked out the most books on average, followed by those who scored a 1.  Possible explanations for these results may include the fact that lower-level seventh and eighth grade students are required to take a Reading class for remediation, and as part of the curriculum, Reading classes have regularly-scheduled bi-weekly visits to the Media Center where students are required to check out books.  This would at least in part account for the higher number of checkouts for lower level readers.  Another theory is that, as research has shown, more socio-economically privileged students have higher standardized test scores, and have a greater ability to purchase books and technology (such as eReaders), and therefore would not frequent libraries as often as their less-privileged counterparts.