Real Kids. Good Books.
Our children are gorgeously diverse and they love a good read. At the heart of Real Kids/ Good Books are authors and illustrators who are building a new diverse canon, book by dazzling book.
Themes include: children of color, LGBTQ, adoption, special needs, math, science and writing. And of course there is also a mishmash of miscellany and reblogged tidbits that strike my fancy as they float by.
Thanks for stopping by.
-Kate
(via Racial Lens Used to Cull Curriculum in Arizona - NYTimes.com)
Matt de la Pena goes to Tuscon to read from his banned book, Mexican White Boy.
Ana Verdugo is a fan of Matt de la Peña’s young adult novels; she read his “Mexican WhiteBoy” in two days.
Like the lead character, Danny, Ana is a Mexican-American whose family does not have much, is being raised by her mother and has a father who spent time in jail.
Like Sofia, the lead female character, Ana, a high school junior, is hoping to go to community college, where she wants to study accounting. “Most books I read, I don’t know the people,” Ana said. “This book is the truth.”
High praise!
An excerpt.
And everybody shows up for a different reason. A potpourri of ballers:
Some guys come because they’re regulars. Used to seeing all the fellas on a daily basis.
Some show for the first time on a tip from a friend. Try their skills in the best pickup around to see if they can hang.
A couple of NBA cats roll through when it’s their off-season.
…Some guys pull in every day because they love talking trash. Barbershop talk in high-tops. They always have something to say when they score. They have something to say when anybody scores.
…Some of the best ballers roll in wearing a work shirt and jeans. Some of the worst have top-of-the-line sneakers, top-of-the-line gym shorts, the most effective and smooth-looking knee braces. Basketball runway show.
…Some cause it’s the only place in the world they get respect. The only place they have any real control.
But no matter who they are, or why they come, every one of them squints their eyes when they step foot out of the dark gym and back into the bright world that waits outside.
Ball Don’t Lie by Matt de la Pena (Delacourte Press, 2005) pp. 53-55.
Very sincere reflection by Gene Luen Yang about the origins of Level Up.
Go to the image Source (wired.com’s geek dad blog) for a version that expands.
Level Up by Gene Luen Yang, art by Thien Pham (First Second, 2011).
Amazing artwork, right? Plus the set up for this story is a classic: a young Asian American man must choose between going to med school like his parents want or following his own dreams to become a star video game player.
Check out a preview of Level Up for yourself here. Do it. You won’t be disappointed.
(Image Source: thienisawesome.blogspot.com)
Level Up by Gene Luen Yang, art by Thien Pham (First Second, 2011).
Here’s what Gene Luen Yang says about Level Up himself:
How do you decide what to do with your life? This question took up much of my head space when I was in my late teens, and it’s also the central question of this book. This is video games vs. med school– a tale inspired by my brother (a medical doctor) and illustrated by my brother-in-cartooning Thien Pham (not a medical doctor).
(Source—Gene Yang’s site)
