YA & Children’s Literature Connections

Ada, Alma Flor., and Kathryn Dyble Thompson. My Name Is María Isabel. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1995. Print.

María Isabel starts as a new student in the middle of the school year.  On her first day of school, María Isabel’s teacher decides to call her Mary because there are already two other girls named María in the class.  María Isabel struggles with being called Mary when her name is so special to her, as it is inspired from family members such as her grandmother.  María Isabel overcomes this when she writes a paper for her teacher about her greatest wish being having her own name. 
Unit connection:  I used this book as a read aloud for students for a week or two (this is part of our routine transitioning from recess to writing), and the students responded very well to the book, engaging in conversations about the meaning of their own names or experiences that they had that were similar to María Isabel’s experiences.  This book launched the unit by getting students to begin to think about the significance of names.

Bunting, Eve, and Ted Lewin. One Green Apple. New York: Clarion, 2006. Print.

This is the story of a Muslim immigrant girl named Farah who has just started school. The reader learns at the beginning of the story that she is rather quiet, but on her first field trip to the apple orchard, another girl reaches out to shake her hand, and the first thing that they tell each other is their names.  This start of a friendship helps Farah to open up and learn new words in English as well as interact with other students in the class on the rest of the field trip.  Unit connection:  This will take place in the third lesson, when students will be thinking about how to be respectful of other peoples’ names and how to make a new student feel welcome.  Questions include: How can we be respectful of other peoples’ names?  How can we make a new friend feel welcome?

Choi, Yangsook. The Name Jar. New York: Knopf, 2001. Print.

Unhei has recently moved to America from Korea.  She is very worried about fitting in at school, so she makes an announcement to her class on the first day that she will be picking a name.  The next day, when she walks in, she realizes that someone has placed a jar full of slips of paper, each with a name suggestion on it to help her pick an “American” name.  After much deliberation and receiving a special letter from her grandmother, Unhei realizes that her name carries importance because it was chosen specially for her from a Korean name master.  She keeps the name, and makes friends with her classmates along the way.  Unit connection: This book is used as a read aloud in the second lesson, and is to be compared and contrasted with My Name Is Sangoel.  Critical questions for this read aloud include: Why do you think Unhei feels like she has to pick a new name?  How did Unhei get her name?  Why doesn’t she think American kids will like her?  Why do you think Unhei decided to keep her own name?

Colato, Laínez René., and Ramírez Fabiola Graullera. René Has Two Last Names. Houston, TX: Piñata, 2009. Print.

On the first day of school, René’s teacher gives him a sticker that says “René Colato,” and is missing his second last name.  René writes in his second last name, and begins to tell the reader how much he loved to write his whole name in El Salvador.  He explains to the reader about the significance of his name, and why he has two last names.  Some of the kids at school tease him because his name is so long.  When René is assigned the project of making a family tree, he brings his family tree into class and uses it to explain to his classmates and teacher why he has two last names. *This book is in both Spanish and English*  Unit connection:  This book
would be good to use as a supplement to My Name Is María Isabel to help students understand about names in Latin@ culture.  Critical questions for this book might include: Why is it important to René that he is called by both of his last names?  Can you make a connection between René’s experience with his name at school with María Isabel’s?

Kyuchukov, Hristo, and Allan Eitzen. My Name Was Hussein. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills, 2004. Print.

This book is about a young boy named Hussein who lives with his Roma family in Bulgaria. His ancestors migrated there from India long ago.  Hussein and his family follow the Muslim religion, and Hussein describes food and holidays he celebrates.  He talks about his family and their tradisions and the importance of his name, and how his family lives peacefully, until one day, on Ramadan, soldiers come to his town.  They block the mosque, and put restrictions on where Muslims could go.  Hussein and his family have to report to the mayor’s office to choose a Christian name and get new identity cards with that name on it.  The story ends with Hussein
missing his old name after being renamed Harry, and he poses the question “What would you call me?” Unit connection:  There are so many important discussion points in this book that I would use this book during literacy as a read aloud.  Critical ideas to ask students about include power (who has power in this story? Who does not?  Who has power in our society? Who does not?) and how this book differs from books that we have read about immigrants who came to America, but ended up keeping their names.

Recorvits, Helen, and Gabi Swiatkowska. My Name Is Yoon. New York: Frances Foster, 2003. Print.

Like in The Name Jar, the main character in this story is a girl named Yoon who has immigrated to America from Korea.  Her father tells her that at school, she must learn to write her name in English, but Yoon does not like how her name looks in English.  At school, Yoon’s teacher writes the word “cat” on the board, and Yoon likes how it looks, so instead of writing her name on her paper, she writes “cat.”  She does this with other English words she learns, and she continues to miss Korea.  Her teacher is pleased with her writing in English, even though she writes other words for her name.  When her father tells her that he is proud of her, she realizes that America will be a good home, and is proud to write her name the next day.  Unit connection:  This would be another book that I would keep in a box of books about names for the students to continue to look at throughout the unit.  As a whole group, I would use it as a read aloud during literacy along with a discussion. 

Swanson, Susan Marie., and Christine Davenier. The First Thing My Mama Told Me. San Diego: Harcourt, 2002. Print.

Lucy begins by telling the reader about how the first thing her mother told her was her name.  The story follows Lucy’s knowledge about her name as she grows up, starting with as a baby, when her mother and father would say and write her name until she begins to recognize her name at school in kindergarten.  She begins to take ownership over her name, and it becomes a special part of her identity.  Unit Connection:  Although this book will not be used in one of the lessons, it could be used as a read aloud during a transition from recess to class.  However, the main idea of the book, developing an identity in conjunction with taking ownership of one’s
name is an important point to stress when using this book.  This is another book that should be kept in the classroom with a box of other books about names so children can revisit them throughout the unit during any free choice time or free reading time.

Williams, Karen Lynn., Khadra Mohammed, and Catherine Stock. My Name Is Sangoel. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans  for Young Readers, 2009. Print.

A young boy named Sangoel moves from Sudan to America, and along the way, encounters many people who say his name incorrectly.  This continues in school and other community events, and each time someone says Sangoel’s name incorrectly, he simply whispers his name quietly under his breath.  He feels sad and lost, and wants to return to Sudan, but overcomes his sadness by creating a t-shirt that says “My name is” and has a picture of a sun and a soccer goal to show how to pronounce his name.  His classmates respond well, and make their own papers about their names.  Unit connection:  This book is featured in the first lesson, designed to get the students to think about names and the importance of names.  Students empathize with Sangoel and share similar experiences they have had when someone says their name incorrectly.  Critical questions of the lesson include:  Why is it so important to Sangoel that his name is the same in America as it is in Sudan? How did Sangoel feel when people said his name wrong?  We noticed in the story that Sangoel was sad about people saying his name wrong.  What did he
do to deal with this and show people the importance of his name?