Becoming Naomi Leon

I actually really enjoyed this book, although I did have to put it down a few times because Skyla made me so angry. I think that this book is a perfect representation of diversity in children's literature; it not only talks about Latino culture, but it also touches on physical disabilities that Owen has, Naomi's brother. Owen was by far my favorite character in this book. He had such a positive attitude that was almost contagious and there were many times where his responses and words made me actually smile. He is a great role model for children with disabilities, having a positive outlook on life despite the fact that he is a "FLK," as the doctors called him. The book also portrayed him as being extremely intelligent which is also breaking the misconception that people with disabilities aren't as smart as people without them.
I loved the use of Spanish language in this book, especially when they were all actually in Mexico. It added a reality and authenticity to the book. The last part of the book when they were in Mexico was rich with description of the area around them, and the use of the Spanish language gave the reader a sense as to what it is like to live in this part of Mexico.
Overall I thought that this book was a wonderful story with a very positive portrayal of the closeness of family and the Latino culture, and I would definitely include in my classroom library.

Living with Autism

Last week, we watched a short portion of a documentary about a women named Sue Ruben who is 26 years old and who was diagnosed with autism at a very young age. Autism is a brain development disorder that results in impairments in social interaction and communication. The documentary was written by Sue, but she was not the narrator. Still, there was a positive attitude that could be heard in the way that the script was written. By making this documentary, Sue wanted to bring people into the world of autism and show them how she has grown into an adult and her struggles that she has experienced along the way.
Sue has always lived with the assistance of others and her neighbor, Jackie, is her psychologist. Between these individuals who help her with daily life and her family which was also shown throughout the movie, Sue has a lot of support. She even said that she "has never felt aloneness" which I thought was absolutely amazing. I think it would be so difficult to trapped in this world that no one else close to you can fully relate to, and having a difficult time being able to communicate with others would definitely make relationships difficult.
I loved the scene when the video showed her eating dinner with her family. Her father talked to her like she was completely normal. He did not speak slowly or censor big words; he spoke to her as if she was any other normal adult. If Sue's parents treated her like this throughout her life, if can be easily seen why she is so comfortable and positive with her disability. I can't imagine what it would be like for her parents to raise her in this state, and I respect them for their extreme patience and unconditional love that she seemed to show throughout the documentary. There was mention of self-abusive behavior that would occur with Sue when she was without supervision. This would be so scary for a parent; I would want to be with my child every minute of the day!
Watching this video reminded me of videos that I watched in CEP240 about children with both physical and learning disabilities. Just like those, this video opened my mind and my heart up to people who live with this disability, and it made me more aware of just how difficult simple tasks and daily life can be. I must admit that sometimes I do forget that people with these disabilities do exist out there right now and are living a completely different life that I could never even begin to imagine. Seeing videos like this helps me remember that this is a real problem, and encourages me to want to find out more information on this and other disabilities.

Concerns about Habibi

So far from the two books that we have read for this class, I have learned a lot about stereotyping and how it is so easy to do when writing about a certain culture. In the first book that we read, The Heart of a Chief, I noticed major Native American stereotyping throughout the text that really made me dislike the book as whole. I did the QTT paper for Habibi for this past week and I also focused on stereotypes looking at how Arab Americans were portrayed throughout the text. I was so concerned and wrapped up in examining how the author portrayed Arabs and Arab Americans that I didn't even notice the negative portrayal of the Israeli soldiers until we started discussing the issue with the book at West Bloomfield school in class.
I do agree with the school district for removing Habibi from their curriculum, especially since it was being used in a 7th grade classroom. I think that this book would be more appropriate if used in a high school level English class where more in-depth discussion on the portrayal of stereotypes could be conducted. This book does not do a great job at portraying the actual Israeli/Palestine conflict, and I don't think it's the richest piece of diverse literature to be using simply for the sake of its diversity in a middle school language arts classroom. This book would be more useful if it was critiqued by higher level students and if the stereotypes were closely examined by a more mature set of readers.