American Born Chinese

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Born_Chinese

Yang, Gene Luen. 2006. American Born Chinese. New York, NY: Roaring Brook Press. ISBN 1596431520

Summary

American Born Chinese is a graphic novel told in three parts. One part, the story of the Monkey King who wants to be more than a monkey and have equal status with the deities of the heavens. Then the story of Jin Wang, a Chinese American student who wants nothing more than to fit in and be accepted at his new school. Lastly, the story of Danny, a white American boy who dreads embarrassing visits from his embodiment of every Chinese stereotype cousin, Chin-Kee, whose behavior ruins Danny reputation at school. Each character struggles with their own identity issues. The three stories converge at the end to reveal how the characters and their problems are interconnected.    

Critical Analysis

Yang has created three different story lines, each with its own set of characters which convey to readers what it means to want to belong even if it means changing who you are. The story of the Monkey King is told with fantastical devices including the use magic, quests, and battles with the setting being a mythical heaven. While the story of Jin Wang, set in an American elementary then high school, is initially told as a realistic coming of age story with friendship, love, and heartbreak. In the section of Danny and Chin-Kee, the story is framed like a sitcom complete with an applause track, these characters are flat, one dimensional portrayals of an American golden boy and a appallingly tasteless stereotype of a Chinese boy. Chin-Kee racist caricature provokes readers to think about stereotypes and the negative impact stereotyping can have on one's self-image. The theme that threads all three stories together is one of acceptance. Each of the characters want to be accepted by their peers and expend a great amount of energy trying to fit in, ultimately though Yang's characters learn the value of self acceptance.

Although Yang uses these three different stories to tell his central story, the main plot is still compelling and believable. Readers will identify with young Jin's pain, and although Wei Chen is his truest friend he lashes out to hurt him because of his own suffering.Yang masterfully weaves the three stories together, and the ending leaves readers satisfied that Jin Wang realizes his betrayal of Wei Chen's friendship and begins to make amends. Regardless of their own ethnicity, readers will understand Jin's journey to accept himself and realize his own worth; the story will resonate with anyone who has ever felt like an outsider.

Yang's artwork in his graphic novel American Born Chinese perfectly matches his storytelling. The panels have an uncluttered simplicity that allow the reader to linger and soak up the artwork on each of the pages. Exaggerations make some panels more humorous, and the characters' expressions convey to the reader their attitudes and emotions. Yang characters are drawn with enough detail to prevent them from seeming to cartoonish. The artwork has a feeling of a Manga, but with more of a Western graphic novel format or sensibility.

Reviews

The September 01, 2006 issue of School Library Journal says, "Like Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and Laurence Yep's Dragonwings, this novel explores the impact of the American dream on those outside the dominant culture in a finely wrought story that is an effective combination of humor and drama."

Booklist, September 01, 2006, states "Yang helps the humor shine by using his art to exaggerate or contradict the words, creating a synthesis that marks an accomplished graphic storyteller. The stories have a simple, engaging sweep to them, but their weighty subjects--shame, racism, and friendship--receive thoughtful, powerful examination".

Awards

American Born Chinese is a 2007 Michael L. Printz Award Winner, 2006 National Book Award Nominee, 2007 Eisner Award Winner, 2006 School Library Journal Best Books of the Year Winner, and a 2006 Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year Winner. 

Connections

American Born Chinese could be used as the framework for a discussion about stereotypes and why and in what ways they are harmful. Students can discuss other examples of stereotypes they have seen on television or the media.

Readers can also discuss the meaning of identity and how it feels to be a part of a group that is marginalized.

Librarians could help readers research Chinese immigration to the United Staes to learn more about the history of Chinese Americans.

Laurence Yep has written many fictional books chronicling the Chinese American experience. Books in his Golden Mountain Chronicles series span the time periods 1835 to present day.

Books In Print. Texas Woman's University. Accessed December 01, 2013

Ship Breaker

http://windupstories.com/books/ship-breaker/

Bacigalupi, Paolo. 2010. Ship Breaker. New York, NY: Little Brown & Company. ISBN 0316056219

Summary

Nailer is a ship breaker, one of a crew of young children, who are still small enough to pull the copper wiring from wrecked, obsolete oil tankers. Nailer, who is about twelve, will soon be too large to work this light crew, but is too small to have the strength required to work on the heavy crew. His future is grim. With a violent, drug addled father and no way to work, he risks starvation. Nailer's only hope is to find a lucky strike, which comes in the form of a clipper ship wrecked on shore by one of the storms known as City Killers. This fast ship, only owned by the very rich, holds enough treasure to ensure Nailer and his friend Pima, along with her mother, a better future. However, they also find on the ship, Nita, the sole survivor of the wrecked ship and the daughter of a wealthy shipping family. Nita's presence forces Nailer to make some difficult choices, the first being to save her life. 

Critical Analysis

Ship Breaker is set after an environmental disaster in a dystopian future, where New Orleans is underwater and the impoverished people living on the Gulf Coast shore are dependent on an economy reaped from wrecked ships controlled by violent clans. Bacigalupi has created memorable characters that fit seamlessly into his dark, well-crafted world; readers will find kinship with the protagonist of Nailer and will root for him to overcome his desperate situation as he learns to trust in Nita's friendship. Other characters are believable within the science fiction framework of the novel; characters, such as Sloth, who, made hard from a living a brutal existence, leaves Nailer to drown in oil on a scavenging job and Tool, a half-man, who despite being genetically engineered for fighting defends and protects those weaker than himself. 

Ship Breaker reads as a plausible result of a world with reckless disregard for the environment that becomes a society of haves and have nots. The plot takes the readers on a fast-paced journey as Nailer navigates a cut-throat environment to protect Nita and himself from his father and violent scavenge bosses. A thematically rich novel, Bacigalupi weaves together topics such as socioeconomic injustice, ecological awareness, survival, drug abuse and alcoholism into a complex and layered story with a overarching theme of loyalty. Nailer is loyal to his crew, loyal to an abusive father, and finally loyal to his friend Nita whose survival may depend on that loyalty. Bacigalupi has created a compelling and frighteningly bleak world, where he blends enough fact into fiction to make the reader believe in the dystopian future of Ship Breaker.  

Reviews

Booklist, May 15, 2010, says in a starred review, "Clearly respecting his audience, Bacigalupi skillfully integrates his world building into the compelling narrative, threading the backstory into the pulsing action. The characters are layered and complex, and their almost unthinkable actions and choices seem totally credible. Vivid, brutal, and thematically rich, this captivating title is sure to win teen fans for the award-winning Bacigalupi."

A March 01, 2011 review in School Library Journal states, "The action and adventures are exciting, but occasionally quite bloody. Even more distressing are the harsh conditions faced by these youthful salvagers, much like contemporary third-world children. With an interesting mix of fact and fantasy, this title offers excellent potential for conversations on international child welfare issues."

Awards

In 2011, Ship Breaker won the Michael L. Printz Award and American Library Association Notable Books for Children Award and was nominated for the National Book Awards in 2010.

Connections


There are people in the world who work as ship breakers; most of the world's ships are dismantled on South Asian beaches, where working conditions and "environmental standards are notoriously bad" (Werth, 2013, para. 7).
Readers could research ship breaking and compare it to descriptions in the novel Ship Breakers.

Librarians could recommend Drowned Cities, Bacigalupi's companion book to Ship Breaker. It is set in the same world with different characters with the exception of Tool, who readers will learn more about.

Books In Print. Texas Woman's University. Accessed November 30, 2013

Werth, Christopher. 2013. "Where should old cargo ships go to die? Some Europeans say bring them home." PRI. Retrived from http://www.pri.org/stories/2013-10-21/where-should-old-cargo-ships-go-die-some-europeans-say-bring-them-home

When You Reach Me

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_You_Reach_Me

Stead, Rebecca. 2009. When You Reach Me. New York, NY: Random House Children's Books. ISBN 0385737424

Summary

Twelve-year-old Miranda lives with her Mom in a run down New York apartment. It is the late 1970's, and Miranda's mother is preparing to be on The $20,000 Pyramid. Miranda and her longtime best friend Sal help each other safely navigate the streets of New York, avoiding the scary older kids hanging out and the seemingly mentally ill man on the corner. When one day, a kid punches Sal for no apparent reason, Sal suddenly stops spending time with Miranda. Hurt and confused, Miranda befriends two other classmates, Annemarie and Colin. In addition to her struggles of six grade, Miranda starts receiving mysterious notes asking for her help that appear to foretell her future. 

Critical Analysis

Readers will find themselves drawn into the world of twelve-year-old Miranda as she rereads her way through her well-worn copy of A Wrinkle In Time once again. All the characters in When You Reach Me act and talk in a believable manner, the dialogue reflects the attitudes of middle school aged children living in New York City and trying to find meaning in the world around them. Part mystery, part historical fiction, part science fiction, Stead seamlessly blends genres to create an original and intriguing story that will captivate the reader and keep them turning pages as the story reveals itself. The mysterious notes left for Miranda turn the novel into a puzzle that when the pieces fall into place ties the storyline in with Miranda's obsession with L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time.

The setting of New York City in the 1970s is revealed through Stead's descriptions of Miranda's school, her aging apartment building, Jimmy's deli, and Miranda's walk home from school. Stead touches on many themes in this short novel, such as friendship, racism, socioeconomic differences, and time travel. The book's ending encourages belief in the hard to conceive, and reminds young readers that people may be something other than what we have perceived. 

Reviews

A Booklist starred review from June 01,2009 states, "The '70s New York setting is an honest reverberation of the era; the mental gymnastics required of readers are invigorating; and the characters, children and adults, are honest bits of humanity no matter in what place or time their souls rest. Just as Miranda rereads L'Engle, children will return to this."

A June 22, 2009, Publisher's Weekly review has this praise: "Eventually and improbably, these strands converge to form a thought-provoking whole. Stead (First Light) accomplishes this by making every detail count, including Miranda's name, her hobby of knot tying and her favorite book, Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time."

Awards

When You Reach Me won the Newbery Medal Award in 2010. It was also awarded in 2009 an award for Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books and School Library Journal Best Books of the Year.

Connections

When You Reach Me would make an excellent book club selection for middle grade readers or younger teen readers. The online book club site LitLovers offers talking points to help get a discussion started for When You Reach Me that book groups are free to use with attribution. 

After discussing the book, the book club or book circle could play their own version of the 20,000 Pyramid. The categories could be taken from the book, such as types of sandwiches, NYC, and things in a classroom. 

Books In Print. Texas Woman's University. Accessed November 23, 2013

LitLovers. 2013. "When You Reach Me (Stead) - Discussion Questions." Retrieved from http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/15-young-adult-fiction/1136-when-you-reach-me-stead?start=3  

R My Name is Rachel

http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780375838897

Giff, Patricia Reilly. 2011. R My Name is Rachel. New York, NY: Random House. ISBN 0375838899

Summary 

Thirteen-year-old Rachel lives with her father, and younger brother and sister, Joey and Cassie,  in the city. The year is 1936, and like many families during the Great Depression, Rachel's family has fallen on hard times. In order to find work, Rachel's father must move the family to upstate New York. He has heard of a bank job available in North Lake, and there is a farm house they can rent. The move saddens Rachel. She must not only leave the only home she's ever known; she must say goodbye to everyone she knows, including Miss Mitzi, a close friend to the family who has been like a mother to Rachel after the death of her own. When the family arrives in North Lake, a snowstorm prevents Rachel's father from getting the bank job. The three sibling must survive by themselves on the farm, while their father takes a construction job miles away. 

Critical Analysis

Rachel is a strong and appealing main character. She is a character that children can identify with and root for, as she assumes the responsibilities of the oldest child taking care of and holding together her family during the hardships of the Great Depression. The love and bickering of the siblings reflect how brothers and sisters deal with each other today, however;  in R My Name Is Rachel, the children must also face the problems of the their time.

Giff presents the struggles families faced during the Great Depression with honest and accurate details. Both the school and library in North Lake are closed because there is no money, which is devastating to Rachel, an avid lover of books. The children have to go hungry because they have no money for food. The farmhouse in Northlake is integral to the story. The house is dilapidated, but the children make the best of it, cleaning and repairing holes. In order to feed the family, Rachel plants a garden and buys a goat for the milk, with her saved birthday money. These actions are realistic to the time period.

Themes of family and perseverance reflect the morals of the time, but are still relevant to readers today. Giff shows how difficult it was for children during the Great Depression, and Rachel 's struggle to take care of her family enforce these universal themes. Giff brings to life the spirit of the times with Rachel's inner thoughts, her interactions with her siblings, especially the stony-willed Cassie, and her letters to the beloved Miss Mitzi. She weaves together events from history such as the New Deal and hardships of the Great Depression into her simple story of a family pulling together to make ends me during difficult times.

R My Name Is Rachel does not include the author's sources or suggestions for further reading, but Patricia Reilly Giff is an award winning author of many historical fiction books for children.

Reviews 

A Booklist, February 01, 2011,  review says, "Simply written, this novel doesn't have the emotional resonance of some recent Depression-era stories like Clare Vanderpool's Moon over Manifest (2010), but readers will root for the kids who seem to face overwhelming odds. The upbeat ending satisfies."

School Library Journal, November 01, 2011, describes R My Name Is Rachel, "Giff's depiction of the children's living conditions, daily activities, and fears and triumphs create a realistic, discussable, thoroughly enjoyable read. The ending is almost too perfectly "happy ever after" yet that is easy to overlook, given this gift to readers, even reluctant ones."

Connections

A Jackdaw of the Great Depression could be used to create a library display highlighting both informational and historical fiction books on the topic. 

Children could also learn more about the Great Depression on the Library of Congress website.

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/themes/great-depression/

Other children's historical fiction titles set during the Great Depression include Moon Over Manifest by  Clare Vanderpool, Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, and A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck. 

Books In Print. Texas Woman's University. Accessed November 12, 2013

The Game of Silence

http://www.amazon.com/The-Game-Silence-Louise-Erdrich/dp/0064410293

Erdrich, Louise. 2005. The Game of Silence. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publications. ISBN 0060297891. 

Summary

Nine-year-old Omakayas, a name meaning Little Frog, lives with her family on an island in Lake Superior. They are an Ojibwe tribe and the year is 1850. Their lives follow the rhythms of the seasons; in the summer they live in birchbark houses, go to ricing camps for fall harvest, and move to their warm log cabin near the town of LaPointe before the first winter snowfall. Her family's way of life is threatened, when the chimookomanag, or white people, want the Ojibwe to leave their native island home to move further west to the Great Plains. The adults challenge the children to play the game of silence, when they gather to discuss the changes that endanger their way of life. This book can be read as a sequel to Erdrich's Birchbark House, or as a stand alone title. 

Critical Analysis

Readers will identify with Omakayas, both the challenges she faces and her love for her family. Her emotions as a sometimes frustrated and jealous sibling will be believable, and readers will delight in Omakayas's journey of learning the virtue of patience and knowing the value of finding your place in a community. Although, her character is grounded in the tradition and culture of her people and time, readers can relate to her feelings and struggles as a member of the Ojibwe community. The plot of The Game of Silence presents history with an accurate, well rounded look at events, and does not gloss over uncomfortable topics such as death from small pox or starvation, or the injustice forced upon the Ojibwe by the federal government. The plot provides many details of the time period, without overwhelming the reader, but rather incorporating them into the story. For example, readers will learn how the Ojibwe people made birch bark canoes, harvested wild rice along the lake area shore, and made medicines from wild planets. 

The setting of The Game of Silence plays a major role in the story that Erdrich has created. Lake Superior provides both a loved home and place for the rich traditions of the Ojibwe tribe, however; it also presents environmental challenges that threatened their safety and lives. Erdrich vividly describes the mid-nineteenth century in the Lake Superior area through the clothes worn by both the members of the Ojibwe tribe and white settlers in the town of LaPointe and the traditions practiced by the Ojibwe tribe. Themes of community and family run through The Game of Silence and readers will connect with their universal impact. Omakayas learns that although she does not want to leave the land she loves, her home will always be where her family is. 

Of Ojibwe descent herself, Erdrich captures life in Omakayas' s community with careful detail. Many Ojibwe words are used in the story, and Erdrich provides a glossary and pronunciation guide of Ojibwe terms in the back of the book. Erdrich's pencil drawings add a to the richness of the story and capture the spirit of the characters. Erdrich offers in her author's note further resources for readers who would like to more about the language of the Obijwe. Erdrich balances the historical facts in the book with Omakayas' story; readers will gain an understanding of the time period and be engrossed in the Ojibwe way of life. Well-developed characters and a variety of personalities prevent the stereotyping of characters, and although; the chimookomanag are the antagonist of the story, a balance view is presented by the inclusion of white characters who were kind and befriended the Obijwe. 

Reviews 

Publishers Weekly, May 30, 2005, praises The Game of Silence, "The unadorned narrative, sprinkled with ancient legends, clearly expresses not only the traditions and rituals of the Ojibwe but also their values and religious beliefs. Erdrich's pencil drawings (somewhat reminiscent of the style of Garth Williams's illustrations for the Little House series) capture the mood and spirit of such characters as Pinch, Omakayas's mischievous little brother and noble Old Tallow, who gives Omakayas a precious gift. Like its prequel, this meticulously researched novel offers an even balance of joyful and sorrowful moments while conveying a perspective of America's past that is rarely found in history books."

In an August 2005, Voice of Youth Advocates review, The Game of Silence is compared to The Birchbark House, "The first book won enormous praise, including a National Book Award nomination, but this novel is even better. The themes are not only more profound, but the episodic structure of the previous novel is also much exceeded by the interweaving plot threads of young love, sibling rivalry, and frustration with gender roles. The threat that the federal government poses to the community is more than just a framing device; it penetrates all the other concerns of the novel, drawing them tightly together. This novel combines all the emotion and joy of The Birchbark House with an impressive deftness of structure."

Awards

In 2006, The Game of Silence won the Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award and American Library Association Notable Books for Children Award.

Connections

Readers who enjoyed The Game of Silence could also read Erdrich's other Birchbark house novels, The Birchbark House, The Porcupine Year, and Chickadee. These have been described as the Native American equivalent to Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series.

Children can learn more about the Ojibwe Language and Culture and the challenges Native Americans face today at PBS.org. PBS has created a website to accompany their two-part series of documentaries, Indian Country Diaries, that explores the challenges facing Native Americans in the 21st Century. The website offers information and further resources for learning about the Ojibwe people. 

http://www.pbs.org/indiancountry/challenges/ojibwe.html

Books In Print. Texas Woman's University. Accessed November 11, 2013

Moon Over Manifest

http://www.randomhouse.com/book/196748/moon-over-manifest-by-clare-vanderpool

Vanderpool, Clare. 2010. Moon Over Manifest. NewYork, NY: Random House. ISBN 9780385738835

Summary

Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker has been sent to stay with Shady, an old friend of her father's, in Manifest, Kansas, a town that is a shadow of its former self. The year is 1936, and Manifest had been her drifter father's home eighteen years earlier. Abilene had a small accident and almost dies of infection while traveling with her father, and he decides it is best to send her away while he takes a job working for the railroad. In Manifest, under a loose floorboard in her room, Abilene uncovers a spy map, some mementos, and old letters that may hold clues to the the town's (and her father's) past. With the help of new found friends, she resolves to uncover the secrets that Manifest holds. The book's dual story lines shifts from Abilene's narrative during the Great Depression to Sadie, the fortune teller, retelling the story of the years of 1917-1918 in Manifest at the tail end of World War I. 

Critical Analysis

The town of Manifest, Kansas, in Moon Over Manifest, is rich with well-developed, believable characters that readers will identify with and enjoy. The main character, Abilene, is strong and scrappy and feels true to her time; from her overalls and one special blue dress that speaks to the poverty of the Great Depression to her pragmatic and straight forward view of the world. She is a tough girl who is used to moving from town to town and always being the outsider, and her experiences have made her closed off from getting to know people. However, Abilene befriends a whole cast of eccentric characters in Manifest; including Lettie and Ruthanne, her spy-hunting school friends; Hattie Mae, the newspaper woman; Miss Sadie, the Hungarian fortune teller who specializes in the past; Sister Redempta, a nun, school teacher, and midwife; and Pastor Shady, a kind hearted preacher and former bootlegger. Also, Abilene comes to know Ned and Jinx through found letters from the past and the stories of Miss Sadie. This tapestry of characters help Abilene to connect and see people as individuals, and she comes to think, "Maybe the world wasn't made up of universals that could be summed up in neat little packages. Maybe there were just people. People who were tired and hurt and lonely and kind in their own way and their own time. (p.144).

Vanderpool accurately presents history in her story's plot and does not gloss over unpleasant topics from the past. Some of these heavy, but realistic of the time period, plot topics include: prejudice and the Ku Klux Klan, orphan trains, the horrors of World War I trenches, and the suffering and heartbreak some immigrants faced at Ellis Island. However, historical events are woven seamlessly within the storyline and presented in terms that children can understand within the context of the story. Rather than overwhelm the reader with details, Vanderpool provides the historical information essential to enriching the story's plot and creating her believable small town immigrant community. Historical events such as Prohibition, the Spanish Influenza, and World War I provide the framework for the plot, but recede into the background of the book's rich story.

The town of Manifest is an integral part of the novel; the story is centered around town events and their effects on the community. Vanderpool transports the reader to the town of Manifest during the Great Depression and as a mining town during World War I through Abilene's narration, Hattie Mae's newspaper articles, Sadie's stories, and Ned's letters. Each chapter, article, or letter begins with a date, which allows the reader to orient themselves to the time period shifts of the story. While vivid details about the small mining town and the description of war in Ned's letters recreate the time and place for the reader. Although the town, Manifest, is a work of  fiction, Vanderpool based Manifest on the town of Frontenac, Kansas. In the southeast area of Kansas, Frontenac was a mining town that in 1918 was comprised of immigrants from twenty-one different countries.

Many different themes run through Moon Over Manifest; themes that are universal, such as belonging and community, friendship, loss and grief, hope and perseverance, and prejudice and bigotry. The themes are entwined in the story and reflect the attitudes of the time periods, but are also relevant to the modern reader. As the reader comes to sympathize with the immigrant residents of Manifest, timeless parallels emerge giving the reader insight into what it means to be part of a community. Vanderpool organically weaves all the characters, stories, and historical events together in a seamless story that will engross and thrill readers. Her author's note describes some characters based on people and their stories from Frontenac, which explains why characters feel like they have stepped onto the pages from the past.

Moon Over Manifest tells a complex story that feels authentic to the dual time periods of the setting. Vanderpool includes a list of sources and suggestions for further reading, as well as, an author's note that elaborates on the balance of fact and fiction within her novel. She avoids stereotyping her characters; characters are revealed to have unexpected stories to be told, creating the rich fabric of the novel. Manifest is a town full of secrets, and as the truth of its past begins to reveal itself to Abilene, the power of Vanderpool's themes will manifest to readers.

Reviews

A starred review in Booklist, October 15, 2010, describes Moon Over Manifest, "Vanderpool weaves humor and sorrow into a complex tale involving murders, orphans, bootlegging, and a mother in hiding. With believable dialogue, vocabulary and imagery appropriate to time and place, and well-developed characters, this rich and rewarding first novel is like sucking on a butterscotch. Smooth and sweet."

Publishers Weekly, September 27, 2010 review, praises Moon Over Manifest,"Witty, bold, and curious, Abilene is as unforgettable as the other residents of Manifest, and the variety of voices allows the town's small mysteries to bloom. Replete with historical details and surprises, Vanderpool's debut delights, while giving insight into family and community."

Awards

Moon Over Manifest won the Newbery Award and the American Library Association Notable Books for Children Award in 2011.

Connections

Moon Over Manifest would make an excellent selection for a parent and child book club. The librarian could use a Web 2.0 tool, such as capzles, to create timelines for the two story lines of 1936 and 1918. Children could find more information about American life during World War 1 and the Great Depression at kids.usa.gov.

Books In Print. Texas Woman's University. Accessed November 09, 2013

Down, Down, Down

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/down-down-down-steve-jenkins/1100303638

Jenkins, Steve. 2009. Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 0-618-96636-6.


Summary

This book takes the reader on a journey from the ocean's surface to the sea floor encountering unusual creatures along the way.

Critical Analysis

Steve Jenkins, award-winning author of numerous children's nonfiction titles, has created another quality informational book with Down, Down, Down. The bibliography included in the back of the book, along with further descriptions of the animals found on each page, both assure the accuracy of the information and allow readers to find more reading material on the same subject. Jenkins avoids theory and only states the fact in his text, which is correctly represented by his illustrations.

Down, Down, Down has a clear sequence and a logical layout that readers will easily follow. His book follows a pattern of top to bottom as information is presented from the ocean's surface to the sea floor. There is a bar running down the right hand side of each double page spread that indicates the depth of the sea at each stage. In the back of the book, the creatures on each page are given a number with corresponding information about each one, and diagrams show the size of each these creatures compared to an adult human body or hand. Another interesting chart at the back of the book shows the reader what person, equipment, or vessel could reach each level of the sea.

The design of Jenkins' book invites the reader to explore the levels of the sea in his attractive and readable book. The collage artwork fits the depictions of the sea creatures well, and create an interesting and appropriate complement to the text. The illustrations on the page are well placed and the pages feel spacious and uncluttered like their ocean subject, while each page has a darker and darker background clearly and effectively explaining the amount of light at each sea level.

The use of bright colors on dark backgrounds in the collage artwork of Down, Down, Down create a interesting and visual lively informational book that will be appeal to children. Jenkins provides just enough information on each page, and sticks to language appropriate to the reading levels of the book's target age group. Jenkins has a talent for highlighting the information children will find most fascinating, such as bioluminescence and fierce battles of sperm whales and giant squid. Additional information provided about each creature encourages more reading and critical thinking from readers.

Reviews

Booklist, April 01, 2009,  states, "In this plunge into the deep, Jenkins displays his usual keen awareness of what is fascinating about biology and imparts it without sensationalism the facts speak for themselves. Light becomes an impossibility only a tiny fraction of the way down into the ocean, and the deeper this book goes, the darker the palette and the scarier and stranger the beast encountered."

The April 01, 2009 review in School Library Journal describes the design of Down, Down, Down : "Depicted in Jenkins's signature handsome collages, the denizens of each level swim against ever-darkening backgrounds ranging from sunny blue to deepest black. Each double-page segment begins with a paragraph or two explaining the growing degree of darkness, cold, and pressure, and how all of these affect the lives of the resident creatures."

Awards

Down, Down, Down was a Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee in 2010-2011 and won the American Library Association Notable Books for Children in 2010.

Connections


Although designed for a higher reading level, Down, Down, Down could be used in a pre-school story time for an introduction to informational books. A theme of sea life storybooks could be read, such as I'm the Biggest Thing in This Ocean by Kevin Sherry or The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark by Ken Geist, then the librarian could share the colorful pictures of Down, Down, Down while sharing some of the information about the ocean with the children.

References

Books In Print. Texas Woman's University. Accessed October 29, 2013