Honouring differences in families' lives: Cultural competence with diverse youngCanLit

Today's post is the sixth in seven posts related to my recent presentation at the  Ontario Library Association's Superconference in Toronto.  The presentation, titled Becoming Culturally Competent with Diverse YoungCanLit, included booklists of youngCanLit to help individuals, schools and other institutions become culturally competent.

Today's post focuses on...

250 Hours
by Colleen Nelson
Coteau Books
152 pp.
Ages 12+
2015
Métis, small town, discrimination, arson, independence
Review here

Asha’s Mums
by Rosamund Elwin and Michele Paulse
Illus. by Dawn Lee
Women’s Literary Press
24 pp.
Ages 5-9
1990
Same-sex parents

The Biggest Poutine in the World
by Andrée Poulin
Annick Press
160 pp.
Ages 8-12
2016
Abandonment, community, dysfunctional family
Review here

Dear Baobab
by Cheryl Foggo
Illus. by Qin Leng
Second Story Press
24 pp.
Ages 4-8
2011
Home, Africa, Canada, grief
Review here

Elliot
by Julie Pearson
Illus. by Manon Gauthier
Trans. by Erin Woods
Pajama Press
32 pp.
Ages 4-8
2016
Foster parents, dysfunctional family, adoption
Review here

A Family is a Family is a Family
by Sara O’Leary
Illus. by Qin Leng
Groundwood Books
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2016
Diversity, family, parents
Review here

The Finding Place
by Julie Hartley
Red Deer Press
244 pp.
Ages 10-14
2015
International adoption, China, orphanages, self-acceptance
Review here

Fostergirls
by Liane Shaw
Second Story Press
256 pp.
Ages 13-16
2011
Foster children, group homes, learning disability
Review here

Four Seasons of Patrick
by Susan Hughes
Red Deer Press
80 pp.
Ages 7-10
2013
Blended families
Review here

Jakeman
by Deborah Ellis
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
201 pp.
Ages 10-13
2007
Prison, convicted parents, bus trips

Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids
by Deborah Ellis
Groundwood Books
256 pp.
Ages 12+
2013
Indigenous communities, heritage, residential schools, ostracism, abuse
Review here

Missing Nimâmâ 
by Melanie Florence
Illus. by François Thisdale
Clockwise Press
32 pp.
Ages 8+
2015
Missing indigenous women,  Aboriginal Peoples
Review here

My Beautiful Birds
by Suzanne Del Rizzo
Pajama Press
32 pp.
Ages 6-10
2017
Syria, refugees, refugee camp, pigeons

My Book of Life By Angel
by Martine Leavitt
Groundwood Books
246 pp.
Ages 14+
2012
Sex trade workers, missing women, drugs
Review here

One Step at a Time: A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way
by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Pajama Press
128 pp.
Ages 8-12
2012
Vietnam War, airlifts, adoption, immigration, non-fiction
Review here

Outside In
by Sarah Ellis
Groundwood Books
208 pp.
Ages 10-13
2014
Home, homelessness, dysfunctional family
Review here

Pandas on the Eastside
by Gabrielle Prendergast
Orca Book Publishers
192 pp.
Ages 9-12
2016
Vancouver, East Van, poverty, community
Review here

Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey
by Margriet Ruurs
Illus. by Nizar Ali Badr
Orca Book Publishers
28 pp.
All ages
2016
Refugees, Syria, dual-language, Arabic, immigration
Review here

We Are All Made of Molecules
by Susin Nielsen
Tundra Books
246 pp.
Ages 12+
2015
Blended families, gay parents, grief
Review here

Downloadable booklist available here

A Family is a Family is a Family

Written by Sara O'Leary

Illustrated by Qin Leng

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-794-8

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

September 2016

Following prescribed curricula from across the country, teachers will be encouraging their students to share details about their families and what makes them special, just like the students in Sara O'Leary's book in which a teacher asks her young charges what makes their families unique.  And though I suspect most children will see a version of their family somewhere in the multitude of families in A Family is a Family is a Family, it's Sara O'Leary's poetic inclusivity that takes the concept of family from an insular group to a worldwide love-in.

When the teacher first asks her students about their families, it is evident that one little child, who drops his eraser so that he can go last, is reluctant, knowing that "My family is not like everyone else's." (pg. 3) He's right, of course, because all families are unique.  From the little girl whose parents are heavily into PDAs, "It's kind of gross" (pg. 4) to the one whose parents "just keep coming home with more" (pg. 6) –I counted fifteen children!–

From A Family is a Family is a Family 

by Sara O'Leary, illus. by Qin Leng

to the children who are part of blended families, or have same-sex or divorced parents. But it's the last little child who finally recognizes that their foster family is still a family after recalling Foster Mom's affectionate answer to a rude query about which of the children were "her real children."

"Oh, I don't have any imaginary children," Mom said.  "All my children are real." (pg. 28)

Though I know, and children do too, that not all families are perfect or happy or supportive, Sara O'Leary's book celebrates families in all their forms–big, small, alike, different, blended, separated, adopting, fostering–as worthy of note, eclectic as they may be.  Her narration is a universal one of acceptance and appreciation for families of all kinds.  The sweetness of her message is matched page by page with Qin Leng's illustrations of children and parents of assorted colours and shapes, economic backgrounds and interests. The lightness of Qin Leng's lines and the whimsy of her colour and shape help portray a diversity of families that are as fluid as they are depicted.  After all, families can and do change over time, even if a new baby isn't the result of mom ordering him online, as one little girl suspects.  A Family is a Family is a Family is a book in which every child will find themselves, I hope, as Sara O'Leary and Qin Leng have diligently tried to include everyone in an assortment of situations that honour families at their best.

From A Family is a Family is a Family

by Sara O'Leary, illus. by Qin Leng

Switch

by Tish Cohen

HarperTrophy Canada

978-1-55468-801-2

251 pp.

Ages 12-15

2011

Although the title and the front cover are fairly explicit about the book's general plot, specific elements and Tish Cohen's skill at effectively providing her teen characters with convincing voices take Switch from just another Freaky Friday (Mary Rodgers, 1972) wannabe to an unnerving tale corroborating the "be-careful-what-you-wish-for" truism.

The two teen girls involved in the Switch are Andrea Birch and Joules Adams who attend the same high school in Orange County, California.  Except for a passing acquaintance with each other, the girls' lives don't really cross until the day Andrea is forced by Joules to help rescue her when she's been fooling around with a boy other than her boyfriend, Will.  The simple physical switch of changing shirts and seats in Andrea's mother's new car gets Andrea into a lot of trouble, including from her mom whose focus is the foster kids who are staying with them.  Currently, between 14-year-old Brayden (who is always annoying her), two twelve-year-old girls (who always take stuff from her room), a set of adorable infant twins, and another young girl, Michaela, whose parents were critically injured in a hit-and-run, Andrea is feeling neglected.  As such, Joules' unbelievable life as a rock star's daughter is especially alluring to Andrea.  When overwhelmed by her Mom's perceived lack of interest and high expectations coupled with her long-time crush on Will, Andrea offhandedly wishes (while wearing a pair of funky dishwashing gloves from an African psychic) that she had Joules' life and, ta-da, she does.

Andrea as Joules isn't keen on Joules' wardrobe and body, but learns pretty quickly how cool it is to have Will as a boyfriend (even if he had been planning to break-up) and that rocker Nigel Adams adores his daughter, sometimes making poor choices to win her love.  Joules as Andrea, on the other hand, spends much of her time chagrined by the innumerable chores expected of her, furious with Andrea for getting closer to Will, and making choices to discredit real Andrea.  Several subplots, including one regarding Michaela's parents' hit-and-run, continue to fuel Andrea's determination to return to her old self, while saving her own reputation, enjoying Will's affections, and enlightening Joules about Nigel.

As the narrator, Andrea shares the girls' experiences as she perceives them, reacting and responding as a responsible young woman looking towards her future might.  She even berates herself for being too selfish not to see her parents as those who help make things right for children.  However, I felt that Andrea didn't give herself enough credit, often focusing on how exceptional her mom, Lise, is, without recognizing her own caring, compassion and sense of responsibility. But, I don't think Andrea realizes that abuse can take many forms, not just those in evidence in the homes from which some foster children come.  In reading Switch, I was cognizant of the emotional abuse that Andrea suffers from her mother's emphasis on the needs of her foster children above those of Andrea.  She uses guilt regularly to ensure Andrea's compliance: with sharing her room, with persevering taunts, with accepting her mother's inattention.  Andrea would have every right to shout, "It isn't fair."  I wonder how well Lise would have fared if the switch had been between mother and daughter.  I suspect that she'd be far less successful as Andrea than Andrea would be as her mom, and perhaps she'd be a little more sympathetic to the heavy responsibilities and lack of teen life faced by her daughter.  (Hey, wait.  Isn't that the switch in Freaky Friday or even in Vice Versa (Anstey, 1882), its precursor?)

Still, Tish Cohen capably gets into the heads of two very different young women with very different lives whose needs are not very different at all.  Any switch would certainly be a worthwhile opportunity for most of us, especially with a person we admire.  There's a reason there are so many sayings, about walking a mile in my shoes, the grass being greener on the other side and not reading a book by its cover, that suggest how ignorant we are about the lives of others.  Luckily (or not), Andrea and Joules had a remarkable learning opportunity and both were able to benefit from it. Guess Andrea should have listened to her mom when she was told, "Your life looks pretty good from where I'm standing" (pg. 25).  Do I sense a sequel?

Fostergirls

by Liane Shaw

Second Story Press

978-1-897187-90-6

256 pp.

Ages13-16

2011

Regardless of how romanticized the life of an Anne-of-Green-Gables orphan may seem, living apart from family, whether you have one or not, is hardly a life of fulfilment.  Sadie Thompson, 15, knows this all too well, having endured the moniker of "fostergirl" for the past 12 years, although she now has progressed to that of "grouphomegirl."

With moving onto her thirteenth school, Sadie is determined not to be singled out for help of any sort, believing that if she just keeps to herself until her sixteenth birthday, she can get out by requesting legal emancipation (freedom to get her own place and get a job).  But her plans not to engage with anyone are set awry.  At school, she meets chatterbox Rhiannon Kerry who chooses to make Sadie her friend, and then Ms Jackson, a guidance counsellor, who believes that a learning disability may be at the root of Sadie's school issues.  Both seem to see something beyond Sadie's "fostergirl" label.

At the group home, Sadie tries to stay under the radar of the other fostergirls: Alisha (who continuously proclaims that her alcoholic mom will be taking her home soon), Buffy (who regularly snaps and becomes vicious) and two inseparable younger girls whom Sadie calls the K's (Kendra and Krista). Sadie convinces herself that she really doesn't care to know what has brought them into care, including knowledge of her own story (beyond her memory of wandering door-to-door with a five-year-old brother).

Having and being a friend are foreign to Sadie.  So, when she is told that Rhiannon is also labelled a "fostergirl" (because her mom and dad are enthusiastic foster parents to numerous children) and is just "collecting" another foster child in Sadie, Sadie uses that to rationalize a return to her disaffection.  But a death, a tragic accident, some educational testing, and another transfer (because of the closing of their group home) all bring Sadie to a point she never envisioned for herself: feeling embraced by caring.

Liane Shaw's professional background in special education has provided her with the experiences and understanding to share the narratives of any number of Sadies.  However, it is Sadie's voice, one based in despondency and unrecognized courage, that prompted me to investigate for myself the extent of  issues troubling children in foster care.  Sadly, my cursory search suggests that Sadie's educational and socio-behavioural challenges are not unusual amongst foster children.  As such, I congratulate Shaw in providing such a convincing context by which the lives of many foster children are expressed, and the impetus for the reader to pursue greater understanding with empathy.

Check out Second Story Press' book trailer for Fostergirls on my Book Trailer page