Book Review #6: THE UNDERNEATH

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Appelt, Kathi. The Underneath. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2008. ISBN: 9781416950585

Small, David. The Underneath. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2008. ISBN: 9781416950585

SUMMARY

The Underneath written by Kathi Appelt was a fantasy novel about a young cat who had kittens after being abandoned in a forest near Louisiana and Texas. This cat ended up befriending a dog named Ranger, and they raised the cat's two kittens by themselves in the forest. They tried to protect them from the man, Gar Face, who would want to kill them if he knew they lived under the porch. Unfortunately, for the cat and the dog, as time went along, the kittens became more curious, and one day one of them escaped from underneath the porch. This resulted in a sequence of events happening in the forest and near the Bayou Tartine, which led to the animals having to discover hatred and the importance of loving others.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The Underneath was a fantasy novel with elements of a low fantasy. At the beginning of the novel, the reader automatically felt a kinship with the cat who was looking for a new home, since she was carrying kittens and had been abandoned. As time moved forward, the reader continued to care for other characters, such as the dog, Ranger, because he had an abusive owner, Gar Face. Readers wanted to see him be loved and cared for, which seemed to be a drawing factor for the plot of this novel.

Many different creatures were met and transformed in this novel that took place in the forest near the Bayou Tartine between Texas and Louisiana. Some creatures followed logical and believable events. For example, the kittens grew more curious as they got older and eventually wanted to leave their safe place underneath the porch and go out into the forest, which led Puck, one of the kittens, to get caught in the process. Other events weren't as believable, but were creative, because humans can't change into animals and vice versa in reality. However, all of the events and obstacles made the reader want to keep reading, because it was an interesting story that had vivid details and imagery that helped the reader imagine the world inside the forest.

As the novel progressed, the reader was introduced to many different creatures who all seemed to have the same dilemma, do we hate and have unforgiveness, or do we love and forgive all the wrongs against us? These questions seemed to be asked over and over throughout the novel, and at times, it was obvious that the characters were going to choose love and forgiveness, but then, there were other times when the reader wasn't sure, such as in the case of the Grandmother, the water moccasin, who had been trapped in a jar for a thousand years. She had loved many years before, but had been betrayed and didn't want to forgive and love, again. She had wanted revenge and sought ways to have it throughout most of the novel. In the end, she made a surprising choice, which reflected the framework of the author's story and helped the reader believe that animals were similar to humans and had just as much love and power as them.

AWARDS, REVIEWS, AND RECOGNITIONS

*Cybil Award, 2008 Finalist Middle Grade Novels
*Heart of Hawick Children's Book Award, 2010 Shortlist United Kingdom
*John Newbery Medal, 2009 Honor Book
*National Book Award, 2008 Finalist Young People's Literature
*PEN Center USA Literary Award, 2009 Winner Children's Lit
*School Library Journal Battle of the Kids' Books, 2009 Nominee
*Teddy Children's Book Award, 2009 Winner Texas

Jennifer Mattson (Booklist, May 15, 2008 (Vol. 104, No. 18))
Starred Review* Appelt's impressive novel (her first) entails animals in crisis a topic of enduring popularity. But the author, whose path from picture books to fantasy is discussed in the adjacent feature, breathes new life into the sentient-animals premise, introducing strong currents of magic realism into a tale as rich and complex as the gumbo-like waters of the bayous. Chained and starved by cruel trapper Gar Face, lonely hound Ranger finds companions in a stray cat and her two kittens. When Mother Cat falls victim to Gar Face's abuse, the surviving animals, especially sensitive kitten Puck, struggle to keep their makeshift family together. The animals' caring, generous bonds juxtapose with the smothering love of an ancient shape-shifter in a moving parallel story. Joining Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting as a rare example of youth fantasy with strong American underpinnings, Appelt's novel folds in specific traditions of the Caddo peoples of east Texas, and casts the bayous as a kind of enchanted forest laden with spirits and benign, organic presences. Some readers may struggle with Appelt's repeated phrases and poetic fragments, and wish the connections and conflicts in the story came to a faster boil. But most children will be pulled forward by the vulnerable pets' survival adventure and by Small's occasional, down-to-earth drawings, created with fluid lines that are a perfect match for the book's saturated setting and Appelt's ebbing, flowing lyricism. Grades 4-8

Jennifer Wood (Children's Literature)
An abandoned calico cat finds unlikely shelter under a porch with Ranger, an old hound. Once the calico gives birth to twin kittens, the foursome bond tightly as a family. However, Ranger's owner, Gar Face, is an abusive alcoholic. Both Ranger and the calico warn kittens Puck and Sabine never to wander from the safety of the place they call The Underneath. The adults tell the kittens about the dangers of getting caught in front of Gar Face's gun, as the human is a cold-hearted trapper who skins the animals he kills and then trades their pelts for alcohol. One morning, Puck follows his playful young instincts and plays with the sun's rays. This leads to the capture and attempted drowning of both Puck and his mother by Gar Face. The hunter's obsession with capturing the Alligator King, an ancient resident of the bayous near his home eventually places Sabine in danger when the human decides to use the tiny kitten as bait. The Alligator King has a long history, one that is connected to the shape-shifting Grandmother Moccasin, her daughter Night Song, and other lives from a thousand years ago, including the Caddo people, Night Song's husband Hawk Man, and their unnamed daughter. Although this long circular narrative's complex, sometimes-overlapping character histories could prove to be difficult for younger readers and the events are sometimes quite ugly, the prose is breathtakingly beautiful. Many characters make seemingly wrong choices, but all are presented with chances to redeem themselves--and make amends for their past choices to follow paths of hate--by choosing to trust in and/or act through love. Possible themes for discussion include parental abuse, animal abuse, conservation, history, mythology, alternative families, and bullying. 2008, Atheneum Books for Younger Readers/Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing. Ages 8 to 12.

CONNECTIONS

*Examine the themes in the novel and the evidence that supports them.

*Understand personification and how it is used in the novel.

*Write a story from an animal's point of view.

*Research about the different animals in the novel.

*Other great fantasy novels:

Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret. ISBN 9780439813785

Selznick, Brian. Wonderstruck. ISBN 9780545027892

Book Review #6: A STEP FROM HEAVEN

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Na, An. "An Unabridged Production." A Step from Heaven. Recorded 2002. Random House Audio Publishing Group. 2001. compact disc ISBN: 0807216127

SUMMARY

A Step from Heaven written by An Na was a novel about a young girl and her family who immigrated from South Korea to the United States, specifically San Diego. As the story progressed, the little girl, Young Ju, told her family's story and how they adapted to life in the United States. The story followed her journey from four years old to her getting ready for college. It was a bittersweet novel, since it was filled with many struggles as the mother and father fought to stay afloat and understand their new culture. It was also filled with some happiness, especially for Young Ju, as she succeeded in school and was able to make friends and develop into a confident, intelligent, and mature young lady.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

A Step from Heaven was a contemporary realistic fiction novel with some authentic language from South Korea. The novel followed the journey and emotional growth of Young Ju and her family who were all born in South Korea and moved to the United States when she was four years old. Throughout the novel, Young Ju told the story from her own first person narrative as a young child until she ready for college. Young Ju told about her family's life in San Diego with all the true to life events of a young family and used their dialogue to help the reader understand all of the family members. The reader learned that Young Ju experienced going to school, making friends, and not getting along with her little brother, and even some unexpected twists in her journey, such as when Young Ju's grandmother passed away in South Korea, and her father got a DUI, and beat her mother. Every few years, Young Ju's voice changed and as her voice changed, the mood and the tone of the novel also changed for the reader.

Readers weren't expecting some of the events that took place in the novel, but weren't surprised as they followed Young Ju and her family's life. Times were hard for them, since Young Ju's father and mother didn't understand English and were forced to work and have the family live in poverty. They struggled living in an apartment in the present fast-paced life of San Diego while trying to get green cards and gain the rights to become U.S. citizens. It was a struggle, but throughout the novel, the reader was able to understand the importance of hard work and never giving up on dreams and an education. These themes were portrayed through Young Ju's life at the end of the novel, since she became one example of the American dream. Readers felt a bittersweet feeling in the end, because they knew that life was harder and had completely changed for Young Ju, but that it was also going to be better in the future. 

AWARDS, REVIEWS, AND RECOGNITIONS

*Asian Pacific American Award for Literature, 2001-2003 Winner Text
*Bay Area Book Reviewers Association Award, 2002 Winner Children's Literature
*Children's Book Award, 2002 Winner Young Adult-Fiction
*Cuffies: Children's Booksellers Choose Their Favorite (and not-so-favorite) Books of the Year, 2001 Winner Most Promising New Author
*IRA Children's and Young Adult's Book Award, 2002 Winner Young Adult Fiction International
*Kiriyama Prize, 2001 Notable Book Fiction
*Michael L. Printz Award, 2002 Winner
*National Book Award, 2001 Finalist Young People's Literature
*White Ravens Award, 2002 Winner

Hazel Rochman (Booklist, Jun. 1, 2001 (Vol. 97, No. 19))
Young Ju's parents don't want her to become too American, and Young Ju is ashamed of them. It's the classic immigrant child conflict, told here in the present tense with the immediacy of the girl's voice, from the time she's a toddler in a small Korean village wondering why the adults talk about America as "heaven." Then there's her bewilderment as a first-grader in the U.S. trying to learn the rules and understand the words and the accents. Each chapter is a story in itself, with dramatic surprise or quiet reversal. The tales blend together into a beautiful first novel that takes Ju through her teenage years until she's an A-student ready to leave for college. The focus is on family and what happens at home. Her father, furious at having to work two laboring jobs and grief-stricken at his mother's death in Korea, becomes an increasingly violent alcoholic. He forbids Young Ju from seeing her best friend. She disobeys him, but she's careful never to bring her friends to her shabby home. Most moving is the chapter about her visit with her father to the Immigration Office. He's distrustful, enraged that he's so helpless and that she's in control; she's embarrassed by his behavior even as she feels his anguish. Young Ju's mother is a strong figure in the background until the girl suddenly sees her as a person, who tells her, "In America, women have choices." This isn't a quick read, especially at the beginning when the child is trying to decipher American words and customs, but the coming-of-age drama will grab teens and make them think of their own conflicts between home and outside. As in the best writing, the particulars make the story universal. Steer teens who like this on to Amy Tan's adult book The Joy Luck Club (1989). Category: Books for Older Readers--Fiction. 2001, Front Street, Gr. 9-12. Starred Review

Jeanne K. Pettenati, J.D. (Children's Literature)
A young Korean girl and her family immigrate to America, hoping to create a better life. This poignant story begins when Young Ju is four years old and ends when she is going off to college. Despite her age, Young Ju is old beyond her years. Unlike many of the American classmates she meets, this child of immigrants deals with poverty, abuse and living up to an ideal expected by her elders. Sadness permeates her short life--her father's alcoholism, her parents' disintegrating marriage, incomplete friendships and trying to make sense of an incomprehensible world. There are moments where light shines in her bleak world, but not many. After enduring many, many disappointments, Young Ju's life brightens when her parents separate. Her mother becomes a friend, an ally. Together with her younger brother, they make a new beginning. There is the promise of a better world, after all. This book enriches readers' understanding of Korean culture and of the immigrant experience shared by many. 2001, Front Street. Ages 12 and up.

Deborah Stevenson

(The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, July/August2001 (Vol. 54, No. 11))
Even as a little girl, Young Ju understands that there are family tensions, that her father is an unhappy man, and that his wife and his mother are hoping for better things. Young Ju's parents hope to find it by taking their daughter and moving from Korea to Mi Gook, the United States, which is a step from heaven. That step is farther than anticipated, as the hoped-for financial success isn't forthcoming and Young Ju's father continues his abusive ways. As the years go by, Young Ju grows more Americanized, becoming, along with her brother, the translator of English and of America for her family and resenting more and more her father's rigidity and abuse. This is a quietly but effectively told story, with the first-person present-tense narration broken up into brief titled sections that are more vignettes than chapters; they're sufficiently connected to create a poignant overview of a life undergoing extraordinary change as Young Ju loses a country, a grandmother, and, ultimately, a father (her father, after being arrested for assaulting Young Ju's mother, leaves her for another woman). Na has a streamlined, unaffected style that offers childlike focus without being babyish (after wishfully telling her second-grade classmates that her very-much-alive younger brother is dead and reveling in the attention, Young Ju says, “I play with my fuzzies, scratch and sniff my stickers, and think about how nice it is that my brother is dead”). A contemporary and personal immigrant tale, this will make an affecting counterpoint to well-worn stories of Ellis Island. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2001, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2001, Front Street, 156p. Grades 6-9.

CONNECTIONS

*Review the phrase made by Young Ju's father about her being “too American” and explain its meaning in the novel, using examples.

*Discuss the authenticity of the language in the novel and why it is important to the reader.

*Research about the author and compare and contrast An Na's life to Young Ju's life in the novel using a graphic organizer.

*Perform research about South Korea and write short reports in groups about the country's history, religion, art and culture, etc.

*Other great books about overcoming adversity and adapting to new environments:

Flake, Sharon. The Skin I'm In. ISBN 9781423103851

Farmer, Nancy. A Girl Named Disaster. ISBN 9780140386356

Book Review #6: LUNCH LADY AND THE AUTHOR VISIT VENDETTA

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Krosoczka, Jarrett J. Lunch Lady and the Author Visit Vendetta. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. ISBN: 9780375960949

SUMMARY

Lunch Lady and the Author Visit Vendetta by Jarrett Kroscozka's followed the continuing saga from other books in the series about Lunch Lady. In this particular graphic novel, an author visited the school, and after he left, the gym teacher disappeared from the school and didn't return the next day. This led the Lunch Lady and her sidekick, Betty, on a search for the gym teacher, and along the way, they discovered that other gym teachers had disappeared across the country after the same author had visited other schools. After this discovery, the Lunch Lady, Betty, her sidekick, and three students who accidentally came to her aid, set out on a quest to the author's house to try and rescue the gym teachers.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

CHARACTERS

Lunch Lady and the Author Visit Vendetta written by Jarrett Kroscozka was a graphic novel, which falls under the fantasy genre. Before the start of the novel, the reader was introduced to Lunch Lady, the main character, as she captured some thieves in an introduction similar to a TV show. Since she was a person and a lunch lady, the reader automatically felt a kinship with her and wanted to know what would happen next in the novel. In the first set of graphic panels, the reader was taken inside a school cafeteria to see other students and Lunch Lady at work. At this point, readers of all ages could identify with the characters and wanted to follow their saga outside of the school and cafeteria walls.

PLOT AND SETTING

As the story unfolded, it followed a logical and believable sequence of events with an author visiting the school. After the author left the school, the next day Lunch Lady discovered that the gym teacher hadn't been at school since the author had been there. This created a mystery for Lunch Lady that she needed to solve with her sidekick, Betty. A series of events followed with Lunch Lady scouting out the gym teacher's and author's homes in a fast-paced set of graphic panels that showed details to help the reader follow the plot and visualize the setting in which the story took place.

THEME AND STYLE

A normal criteria for a fantasy novel has a theme of good overcoming evil or a task that requires sacrifice. For this specific graphic novel, the theme was good vs. evil, because Lunch Lady, who was considered good, had to overcome the “author visit vendetta.” She accomplished this through a series of comedic and creative stunts that were filled with onomatopoeia, metaphors, and other figurative language. Three students from her school accidentally went to her aid when she discovered all of the gym teachers were being held hostage at the author's house. The students helped the lunch lady and the gym teachers by throwing sock bombs to help the gym teachers get out of their hypnosis, since the strongest sense for memory was smell. It worked, and the gym teachers used their dodge balls to attack the bunnies, and eventually, the author. The end of the novel had Lunch Lady, Betty, and her students with their lives back to normal, for now anyways, and one of the students playing soccer for the gym teacher.

AWARDS, REVIEWS, AND RECOGNITIONS

Best Book- Choices, 2010; Cooperative Children's Book Center

Francisca Goldsmith (Booklist)
The kids at the supersmart Lunch Lady's school anticipate a visit from a favorite author, but when he asks for an autograph he seems a bit odd, and the next day their gym teacher goes missing. Dee, Hector, and Terrence under the watchful tutelage of the investigatory-instrument-creating Lunch Lady unravel the mystery in this third entry in the three-tone graphic-novel series. Krosoczka has created a clever diversion this round, with appeal not just for kids but also for other children's authors. Grades 3-5

Michael Jung, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
Jarret J. Kroscozka's offbeat super heroine, Lunch Lady, returns in this short graphic novel that pits her against visiting author, Lewis Scribson. While Mr. Scribson seems like your average millionaire, bestselling author, Lunch Lady becomes suspicious when the school's gym teacher Coach Birkby disappears shortly after the author's visit. When an investigation reveals Mr. Scribson has been brainwashing gym teachers to work as servants in his mansion, it is up to Lunch Lady--armed with her Taco-Vision Night Goggles and Fancy Ketchup Pocket Laser--to serve up some justice to the author. Kroscozka offers many funny scenes inspired by superhero story cliches, including a silly scene where the villain reveals his motivation for kidnapping gym teachers and a fight scene where Lunch Lady battles a roomful of the villain's evil stuffed bunny dolls. That said, considering Lunch Lady fought a league of evil librarians in her first graphic novel and an evil author in her latest adventure, one has to wonder if author Kroscozka is indulging in some personal fantasies through these books. 2009, Alfred A. Knopf/Random House Children's Books. Ages 6 to 9.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 2009 (Vol. 77, No. 21))
Lunch Lady and Betty serve up another action-filled adventure in the third installment of the Lunch Lady series. It is the long-awaited author-visit day for the students at Thompson Brook School, and Lewis Scribson, author of the beloved Flippy Bunny books, is scheduled to appear. When Mr. Scribson shows up, there's something not quite right about the surly, bespectacled author, and mysteriously, on the same day, Coach Birkby goes missing. It's up to Lunch Lady and the Breakfast Buddies to save the day once again. Their fight to uncover the truth reveals Scribson's secret plot, complete with an entire army of attack Flippy Bunnies, all equipped with cute bow ties and deadly fangs. This episode dishes out more of the same rampant silliness in its trademark gray-and-yellow palette. Those who have followed the series will be pleased with its consistency, though those looking for more development may be disappointed. Although not particularly substantial, this is another helping of hijinks for Lunch Lady fans. 2009, Knopf, 96p. Category: Graphic novel. Ages 7 to 10. © 2009 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

CONNECTIONS

*Discuss the elements of a story.

*Review how to create cartoons and graphics in a story.

*Develop a short graphic novel about the Lunch Lady.

*Review words from the novel and discuss their definitions

*Other related books by Jarrett J. Krosoczka:

Krosoczka, Jarrett J. Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown.

ISBN 9780375860959

Krosoczka, Jarrett J. Lunch Lady and the Field Trip Fiasco ISBN 9780375867309