Previous by Date | Next by Date | Date Index
Previous by Thread | Next by Thread
| Thread Index
| LM_NET
Archive
| |
While I just posted about the main site at PaperTigers, I felt this might be of interest to those looking for YA titles dealing with multicultural issues. This article/reading list, located at: http:// www.papertigers.org/personalViews/archiveViews/MPerkins2.html I'm excerpting the first portion of it below. Following the excerpted portion below (on the website) is a bibliography of titles that deal with these issues. > Teenagers growing up between cultures – as I like to describe > internationally adopted, biracial, or immigrant kids – face some > soul-sickening stereotypes in movies, books, and television: > > 1. The Noble Savage: > A person like me is wiser than everybody else. > > 2. The Exotic Stranger: > A person like me is more desirable because s/he is foreign. > > 3. The Token Sidekick: > A person like me is never the hero unless the story is about race. > > 4. The Under “Class” Man: > A person like me is always poor and uneducated. > > 5. The Accented Alien: > A person who sounds like me is either dangerous or funny. > > 6. The “Not-It” Reject: > A person who looks like me is never alluring or attractive. > > Thankfully, many good stories – i.e. the antidote to all of the > above mentioned notions – are being published these days, featuring > people originating in every corner of the planet. And these are the > books I feature on my Fire Escape – books for teens (and a few > adult books that appeal to young adults) that shatter one or more > of the six stereotypes listed here. > > One caveat: As I am sure it's also true of younger readers, I don’t > want to read only multicultural books. My soul is hungry for any > hero’s journey, any sense of place, any insight into the human > existence or relationships. > > As Hazel Rochman said in her now-classic Horn Book essay, “Against > Borders:” > > A good story lets you know people as individuals in all their > particularity and conflict; and once you see someone as a person — > their meanness and their courage — then you’ve reached beyond > stereotype ... Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away > from home, but, most importantly, it finds homes for us everywhere. Ronda Y. Foust School Media Specialist Karns High School Knoxville, TN readingdragon@comcast.net http://thebookdragon.blogspot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. * LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/sub/ * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html * LM_NET Wiki: http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------