Although a fairly recently published book, it is set in the
1960s with a Chinese Immigrant family that lived in Taiwan. Hannah struggles with her new American name
compared to her old Chinese name, getting used to a new school & language,
and most urgently—waiting for her Father to get his green card so that her
parents can work in America legally. The
story features colorful pictures painted by the author and language expressed
from a child’s view. The mother tends
to be illustrated in more traditional dress, while the daughter is dressed in a
more American way. I read the book on
Tumblebooks.com (my school has a membership) and am always pleased with the
easy access to these books on the computer, the way the pages and turned and
pictures are popped up to make it interactive.
The voice reading it is gentle and sweet, and seems to struggle a little
with the words but does not have a Chinese accent. However, this is clearly part of her attempt
to stay in character with the Narrator, because when she does dialogue her
voice fluctuates and speeds up for other characters.
There are some interesting points of controversy in the
book. The book clearly shows sympathy
for this immigrant family that wants to stay in America, but need work and are
still waiting for a green card. It is
negative towards the government men who come to “catch” workers without a green
card, and realistically shows the fear the immigrants have of being sent
back. Also, the author identifies
herself as a Chinese writer from Taiwan.
The main character lives in Chinatown, NY and speaks of her “Chinese”
name, but indicates she is from Taiwan.
Although my understanding is that Taiwan is technically “owned” by
China, this is actually a huge area of controversy. Many Taiwanese do not consider themselves Chinese
and are offended when others call them Chinese, although they can speak and
write in Chinese as well as Taiwanese.
This being noted, from what I understand during the 1960s Taiwan was
under Communist Chinese rule. However,
this is a sensitive issue to be aware of when using the book. I could be misinformed, since I did a lot of
quick research before I posted this---so insight is welcome. I’ll certainly be asking my Taiwanese friend
about his opinion when he returns from vacation, as he always insists to me
that he is NOT Chinese. Also, the book
clearly expresses a desire to come to America to be “free”, indicated that
Taiwan is not free---especially pertinent to a 1960s immigrant family. While
this is an outlook of many Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants, it is most
certainly not the outlook of all. Some
come with plans to return home. The
author feels passionately about loving America and its freedoms, especially
since as an adult she lived in China during Tienanmen square. The book has historical influence,
since the character is living during the death of Martin Luther King Jr. and
her teacher emphasizes Luther’s goal to help all people to be considered equal
and free. The history is accurate, and potentially could be based off the author's real life experiences--although this was not stated in the text and the names are different. Additional to time period influence, characters dress and buildings demonstrate a different time period. The character connects with
this message.
This
book is of a DRA 4.2 and is recommended for grades 1-4. However, I think the topic of a family struggling
to live in the United States and to work when it is illegal is appropriate for
other ages—so it could be used with older students to open up a discussion of
this issue. I also wouldn’t mind using the first page for a discussion of the
topic of names—should a name have to be changed when it comes to America? Or should a person keep their own? Why do people change their names to coming to
a new country? There are many ways to embed critical literacy into this piece.
“Hannah is My Name” is written by Belle Yang is Published by
Candlewick Press in 2004. It is
available, and I accessed it at TumbleBooks.com .
I loved this book! I could tell it was set in the 60's when the book mentions Hannah and her father stopping at the the "Woolworth" store before heading to their apartment at night. The father stops at the store to look at magazines so his daughter can read books while he looks at magazines. The book lends itself to so mamy topics of discussion: immigrants changing their name from Chinese to American English; Hannah's friend and her family are deported, Martin Luther King and his beliefs; her mother is fired from a factory job becaue she doesn't have a green card; the long arduous process of applying and waiting for the green card to arrive; living in fear of being "discovered" without a green card; Asking why immigrants come to America in the first place? This is an excellent book and I highly recommend. I think it is best for grades 1-4. I was not familiar with Tumblebooks until Mindy mentioned it in her post. I like the website as well! Thank you Mindy!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kathy! I'm glad you enjoyed it! You're absolutely right--the Woolworth store is a give-away, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteThat stress of the green card is really a huge theme in this book that I think is very real to thousands of immigrants.