Kira-Kira "A Glittering Outlook"

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Kira-Kira

By: Cynthia Kadohata



Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

Copyright: 2004

Newbery Medal Winner 2005

Genre: Fiction

Grade Level: 5th or 6th grade

Brief Synopsis: Katie Takeshima, a young Japanese-American girl, and her family have to leave their home in Iowa in order for her parents to find work in rural Georgia.  Her parents both get jobs in a chicken sexing factory in order for their family, including her, her older sister Lynn, and her younger brother Sammy, to survive from day to day.  Katie looks up to Lynn in every way from her knowledge of school work to her knowledge of the racism in the world around her.  When Lynn starts getting sick the whole family is affected.  They try everything to keep her healthy and happy, including buying a house that Lynn has always wanted.  This story is very moving and covers a lot of different topics that evry person can learn and grow from.
Glittering. That's how Katie Takeshima's sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason. And so are people's eyes.  It is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering -- kira-kira -- in the future.

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About the Author:
Cynthia Kadohata- Cynthia Kadohata is a second-generation Japanese American.

Even though she hailed from Chicago, most of her childhood was spent on the road. The wandering Kadohatas moved from Illinois to Arkansas, where Cynthia's brother was born, then on to Georgia, Michigan, and back to Chicago, where her sister was born. When Kadohata was fifteen years old the family put down roots in Los Angeles, California—although by that time her parents had divorced and established separate households.

Her father became a chicken "sexer" in a poultry plant, which greatly inspired one of her themes in this story Kira-Kira.  She felt as an outsider because she noticed that the "sexers" in the plant were only Japanese-Americans. 

At the age of 21 Kadohata was hit by a car and this gave her a new perspective on life, and this was that it could be gone in an instant and to make the most of it. 

Themes: Stuggling to Survive
Coping with a family member's illness
Trials and tribulations of growing up
Losing your childhood innocence
Dealing with racism
Always being there for your family
Finding the little things in life that are truly beautiful

Pre-Reading Activities:
- Students will create a Kira-Kira bookmark for unknown vocabulary words.  They will be able to decorate the bookmarks with glitter pens and glue to stick with the meaning of kira-kira being "glittering."  While they read each chapter they will write down the unknown vocabulary word and page number.  They will then be responsible to go to their vocabulary sheets (that will be printed for them) and write down the word again and a definition that makes sense in its context.  They will be required to have at least 40 words by the end of the book.

- Have a lesson on character traits and character development.  Give the students a short story and have them create a graphic organizer with the character traits of each character.  

After they finish they will get into a small group and discuss their ideas.  I will them have them discuss how the main character develops throughout the story.  By doing this activity with a short story the students get the practice with it before having to do it with a chapter book.

Post-Reading Activities:

- Have students create a picture of something they think is Kira-Kira.  This can be anything to them that they think is "glittering" in a sense.  It is finding beauty in anything, but they will have to explain why their picture is Kira-Kira to them on the bottom.
- The students will fill out the same graphic organizer as in the Pre-Reading activity, but this time instead of the short story they will use Kira-Kira to fill out the characters and the character traits.  They can work in small groups for this and then discuss how the main character, Katie, develops throughout the book.
- In their journal they will react to how they liked the book.  What did they like or didn't like?  Would they recommend the book to others? Why?  They are free to include whatever else they felt about the book in this reflection as well.

Reflection:

I had an immense emotional reaction to this book.  Kadohata writes in a way that gets a reader very emotionally attached to the characters, and thus creates a reaction much like the charaters in the book as you are reading.  Although this story is full of very serious and deep themes it is told in the perspective of a young girl, which allows young readers to relate to her as she tells her story.  Kate, the main character, also experiences some prejudice, and would allow the teacher to address this topic with the whole class.  Katie's build many relationships with others while growing up, and these relationships can also be compared to relationships students have with others.  I love this book because it is so rich in morals and teaches students to take the time out to find what is really important in life.  It also lends itself to teach literary skills as well.  I would use Kira-Kira as a book for a literature circle because students could have great discussions while reading through this, and really express themselves.

Links:

Book Information
Book Synopsis
Author Biography
Cynthia Kadohata's Website

The Zabime Sisters: A Summer of Life Lessons

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The Zabime Sisters

By: Aristophane

Translated By: Matt Madden



Publisher: First Second

Copyright: 2010

Genre: Graphic Novel

Grade Level: 5th or 6th grade

Brief Synopsis: This graphic novel follows three sisters, Celia, M'rose, and Ella as they experience a day of their summer vacation.  They live in the lush, mountainous jungles of Guadeloupe.  The girls try to find something fun to do to occupy their hot summer day.  They run into boys that were arguing over a broken pipe while the girls are picking mangoes from another person's trees.  They find out that one of the boys is going to be in a fight with a tough boy from school.  M'rose decides to go to see the fight while the other sisters go for a picnic at a cabin.  These three girls are confronted with several situations that allow them to grow up.  This story offers a portrait of youth and exploration. 

About the Author:
 Aristophane- He dazzled the French independent comics scene of the 1990s with a series of intense, singular, and highly confident books and short stories. He was born in the francophone Carribean archipelago of Guadeloupe and moved to France first to study art in Paris and later to study comics in Angoulême. He only has a small collection of novels, but his work is praised all over the world.  He died in 2004 at the age of 37. Tragically, Les Soeurs Zabîme, published in 1996, was to be Aristophane’s last published work.


Matt Madden- Teacher and creator of comics.  He teaches at New York's school of Visual Arts.  He is one of the most important experimentalists in comics.  He has also written occasional criticism for the Comics Journal and other publications. His first book, 'Black Candy', was published in 1998 by Black Eye Books. His second book, 'Odds Off', was published by Highwater Books in late 2000. Since 2000 Matt lives with his artist wife Jessica Abel in Brooklyn, New York City. He translated this story from French to English.

Themes:  Growing into adulthood
Standing up to bullies
Making Mistakes and Learning from Them
What does Sisterhood consist of?

Pre-Reading Activities:
- Becoming more familiar with the setting: The story takes place in Guadeloupe in the French Caribbean.  Have students each look up a different aspect of this location in pairs.  Then they will quickly present the information to the class.  (They can look up things like statistics, language, culture, politics, economy, etc.)
- This book takes place in summertime so the students can draw or write what they usually do in the summer or their most memorable summer memory.  Then while they are reading they can note the similarities and differences between themselves and the characters in the story while reading.

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Post-Reading Activities:
- After reading have students predict what will happen to the Zabime sisters after the end of the story.  They leave off in quite some trouble, so what wll happen to them next?
- Have students critique the graphic drawings in their journals.  Why did the author use only black and white? What do you think the author used to draw the pictures? How do the comics (pictures) help to tell the story? What do the pictures add to the story?

Reflection: This story may be more difficult to present to younger grade levels.  It addresses more mature themes of alcohol, fights, and boys.  If I were to use this graphic novel with 5th or 6th graders I would definitely have to prepare them for these themes.  I like this story in that it tells of three sisters in a different place, but having some of the same experiences we might have in an American summer.  It allows children to view the conflicts that come with growing up and making decisions.  The illustrations really have to be studied because they are not always clear cut.  The drawings being black and white may play a role in the story maybe because the decisions being made in it are not always black and white.  They give the story a sort of rustic, foreign feel.

Links:

Aristophane
Matt Madden Bio
Matt Madden Website

Smile: Living with Braces

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Smile

By: Raina Telgemeier



Publisher: Scholastic GRAPHIX

Copyright: 2010

Brief Synopsis: Raina, a sixth grader, has to get braces to fix her overbite.  One night before getting her braces on she was getting dropped off from girl scouts when she trips and falls on her face.  After this, things get from bad to worse for Raina.  Her front two teeth get knocked out, and she has to go through a series of 4 ½ years of braces, headgear, and false teeth in order to get her teeth back to normal.  Besides just trying to cope with the embarrassment of braces she goes through the 1989 San Fransisco earthquake and all of the other struggles of being a teenager.  This book of cartoons shows Raina dealing with family life, friend drama, and also crushing on guys in school. 

Author:
 Raina Telgemeier grew up in San Fransisco, California and then moved to NYC where she earned her degree in illustration.  She also adapted and illustrated the Babysitter’s Club graphic novel.  This book is a true story of Raina’s experience getting braces.  Every illustration and scenario came from her own memory of the experience.  Her love for drawing and animation is shown in this story, and it demonstrates why she was inspired to be a graphic novelist.  Smile was recently named an Honor Book in the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards. Her short comics have been nominated for numerous awards, including the Eisner, Ignatz, Cybil, and Web Cartoonists' Choice awards.

Themes: Struggles of growing up

Feeling confidence in oneself

Being happy with who you are

Coping with hardships

Growing into your own skin

Pre-Reading Activities:

- Have students make a web of times they felt uncomfortable, embarrassed, or frustrated.  This will help them when reading because they will be able to relate their experiences to Raina’s.

- Have students draw a self-portrait and then around the portrait write words about their personality.  At the bottom in big bold letters they will write their favorite thing about themselves.  This will help students to see themselves and how they view themselves.  Throughout the book Raina never views herself positively because of her braces and teeth.  She has to try to find what she likes about herself. 

- Mini-lesson on how to read a graphic novel.  Show students the order in which to read the boxes and also the talk bubbles.  Discuss what the different talk bubbles mean…

Post Reading Activities:

- Have students do a character analysis of Raina.  Describe her inside and outside traits.  After they finish this have them answer the question:  What traits does Raina have that lead her to smile once again at the end of the book?

- Have students analyze the title of the book…beyond the obvious reasons of a girl getting braces on, why else would the author name the book “Smile.”

- Have students create their own graphic novel having to do with a difficult experience in their own life.

Reflection: This is a very delightful animated book that many children can relate to. Many students are traumatized when they find out they have to get braces. They can relate to the stresses that Raina experiences in the story.  The illustrations brilliantly help to show Raina’s personality and emotions as she tells her story of her teenage struggles.  Her thoughts and insecurities can aid students in addressing their own insecurities and find comfort in that it all turns out fine for Raina.  Life’s changes are heard for children to cope with at times and fun books like Smile really allow kids to read, enjoy, and learn from.  Here are some examples of the animated characters Raina delights her readers with. 

Links:
Raina's Bio
Raina's Website