#15: Yep; #16: Taylor; #17: Smith
#15: Laurence Yep, Dragonwings
It is 1903, and Moon Shadow lives in China with his mother; a few months before Moon Shadow was born, his father, Windrider, left for America, the Land of the Golden Mountain, to earn money which he sends back to his family in China. Now Windrider has sent for the eight-year-old Moon Shadow to join him. When Moon Shadow meets his father, he finds out Windrider's true dream, to fly, and slowly he grows to believe in Windrider's dream, even though it's keeping them from sending for Moon Shadow's mother. I wish Yep had explored that issue a little more, but overall, I liked the book's historical and cultural details very much and probably will read more of Yep's historical fiction (although I liked Dragon of the Lost Sea more).
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#16: Mildred D. Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Cassie Logan doesn't understand why possessing land means so much to her family, nor does she realize that so many of the white people around her think she's inferior to them. Then the night riders appear, threatening the black people in her community with tar and feathers and burning, and Cassie herself is humiliated by a white girl. Taylor's depiction of the moral choices the Logans must make is complex: though they may want to resist (and Cassie does several times), there's a fine and dangerous line they cannot afford to cross, lest they be the next targets of the night riders. The characterization is excellent, not only of Cassie, but of her whole family and her friends, of the white people who target them and the few who support them. This is one of those books I can't believe I missed when I was growing up, but at least I can make sure my son reads it in a few years. And I already have Let the Circle Be Unbroken and The Road to Memphis on the way from Bookmooch!
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#17: Andrea Smith, Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide
I've been wanting to read this since oyceter reviewed it (and see also sanguinity's review). It's an utterly eye-opening, fierce, and challenging book which makes a compelling link between sexual violence and American colonialism, both historical and contemporary. Some of what she writes about historical violence against American Indians was known to me, but her exploration of present-day abuses was much newer to me, surprising and horrifying. I was particularly struck by the chapters on environmental racism (and will be looking much more closely at the mail I get from the Sierra Club), medical experimentation, and sterilization abuse, and the penultimate chapter on strategies for fighting gender violence. I was especially impressed, in fact, with the way that Smith doesn't stop with documenting the issues; she also focuses on how to solve them. It wasn't an easy book to read, but it is shocking and illuminating and important, and I'm glad I read it.
It is 1903, and Moon Shadow lives in China with his mother; a few months before Moon Shadow was born, his father, Windrider, left for America, the Land of the Golden Mountain, to earn money which he sends back to his family in China. Now Windrider has sent for the eight-year-old Moon Shadow to join him. When Moon Shadow meets his father, he finds out Windrider's true dream, to fly, and slowly he grows to believe in Windrider's dream, even though it's keeping them from sending for Moon Shadow's mother. I wish Yep had explored that issue a little more, but overall, I liked the book's historical and cultural details very much and probably will read more of Yep's historical fiction (although I liked Dragon of the Lost Sea more).
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#16: Mildred D. Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Cassie Logan doesn't understand why possessing land means so much to her family, nor does she realize that so many of the white people around her think she's inferior to them. Then the night riders appear, threatening the black people in her community with tar and feathers and burning, and Cassie herself is humiliated by a white girl. Taylor's depiction of the moral choices the Logans must make is complex: though they may want to resist (and Cassie does several times), there's a fine and dangerous line they cannot afford to cross, lest they be the next targets of the night riders. The characterization is excellent, not only of Cassie, but of her whole family and her friends, of the white people who target them and the few who support them. This is one of those books I can't believe I missed when I was growing up, but at least I can make sure my son reads it in a few years. And I already have Let the Circle Be Unbroken and The Road to Memphis on the way from Bookmooch!
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#17: Andrea Smith, Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide
I've been wanting to read this since oyceter reviewed it (and see also sanguinity's review). It's an utterly eye-opening, fierce, and challenging book which makes a compelling link between sexual violence and American colonialism, both historical and contemporary. Some of what she writes about historical violence against American Indians was known to me, but her exploration of present-day abuses was much newer to me, surprising and horrifying. I was particularly struck by the chapters on environmental racism (and will be looking much more closely at the mail I get from the Sierra Club), medical experimentation, and sterilization abuse, and the penultimate chapter on strategies for fighting gender violence. I was especially impressed, in fact, with the way that Smith doesn't stop with documenting the issues; she also focuses on how to solve them. It wasn't an easy book to read, but it is shocking and illuminating and important, and I'm glad I read it.