Jack’s Comments (group member since Jun 24, 2019)

Jack’s comments from the Multicultural Library EDGTE 480 group.

You’re Welcome, Universe – Whitney Gardner

You’re Welcome, Universe follows a young Deaf girl named Julia who is, early on, expelled from her deaf-only school for painting graffiti. She gets sent to a public school, where she- predictably- has difficulty fitting in and relating to her fellow students. She finds herself in a graffiti war with a mysterious unknown adversary. The book received several awards for its content, but it’s the style of writing that really shows off here: As the main character is Deaf, any time she reads lips, it’s imperfect, and as such, the dialogue can be partly or entirely wrong. This makes for very interesting conversations- the character thinks in English, but she can’t hear, so there’s a communication barrier, but the book doesn’t have other languages present, making it perfect for English Learners- who better to empathize with than a character who can’t understand English either? In addition, Julia isn’t afraid to make mistakes- she’s an unashamedly, believably human character, with flaws and complex motivations. The book won’t sugarcoat anything for readers, and all the better for it; nobody wants to be told that everything is perfect when it’s clearly not, because that makes for boring story.

Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card – Sara Saedi

Americanized is the autobiographical tale of Sara’s journey from discovering she’s in the United States illegally to finally getting her green card. It’s a very recognizable story, although with an interesting caveat- Sara’s an immigrant from Iran, and the majority of English-Learners in Chicago are Spanish-speaking, not Arabic speaking. Still, the lessons she has to pass on are far-reaching and near-universal, especially for immigrants or the children of immigrants. It helps break down stereotypes, adds detail about the history of her homeland and her parents’ perilous journey to a better life, and even includes details about what to do if Immigration comes looking for you or your family members. It’s definitely something that’ll be on my shelf in my classroom- what better book to share with English Learners than the memoirs of young woman who may truly understand what they’re going through?