|
|
|
This month The Edge of the Forest reviews new Middle Grade fiction
that breathes life into all-too-true realities. Into the Firestorm: A Novel of San Francisco, 1906 humanizes the
San Francisco earthquake of 1906, while Rickshaw Girl personalizes life in a Bangladeshi village. By placing
fictional characters and scenarios into challenging realities, Deborah Hopkinson and Mitali Perkins bring real truths to
their young readers.
Into the Firestorm: A Novel of San Francisco, 1906
by Deborah Hopkinson
Reviewed by a.fortis (Sarah Stevenson), ReadingYA: Readers' Rants
Good historical fiction is, in a word, impressive. It immerses the reader in the world of the past—its sights, sounds,
smells, and experiences. Through meticulous detail and a healthy dose of imagination, it brings different times, places,
and cultures to life.
Deborah Hopkinson's middle-grade novel, Into the Firestorm: A Novel of San Francisco, 1906, brings the
black-and-white earthquake photos we've all seen into the full color of the imagination. Published this year—the 100th
anniversary year of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake—the book tells the story of Nicholas Dray, going on
twelve years old and already a "road kid," on his own after his Gran died. Nick always dreamed of going to San Francisco,
even as he endured a hard life picking cotton on a work farm.
But just as Nick is getting settled in his new home, disaster strikes. While he's watching over the stationery store of his
new employer, Pat Patterson, the earth begins to heave, and not long afterward, fires break out and begin to spread through
the city. Mr. Patterson's loyal dog at his side, Nick helps a poor neighbor and her pregnant mother reach safety. In the
process, he loses track of the dog. He must make serious choices along the way about who he has the power to help, and how
much to risk his own life. In the end, he becomes just as much a part of his community as any of the lifelong residents he
counts as his new friends.
It's a simple, charming story, based on a factual anecdote. The reader roots for honest, hardworking Nick as he tries his
best to find a place for himself in San Francisco, and as he learns to trust his neighbors. There's a real sense of action
and danger, with an uplifting (I'd actually call it happy) ending. The only thing that detracted from this novel, for me,
was—ironically—the use of detail. At times I felt like facts about life at the time, or about San Francisco, could
have been incorporated more smoothly. The insertion of information jumped out at me, from time to time, as excessively
"educational." On occasion, it distracted me a bit from the story or character development, but it probably won't be as
noticeable by younger readers.
And there's certainly nothing wrong with books that inform as well as entertain; in this instance, the story was an
effective vehicle for conveying a sense of the time period and the events of the disaster. Hopkinson has provided a quick
and intriguing glimpse of one of the most devastating natural disasters in U.S. history, from the point of view of one of
its younger survivors.
Rickshaw Girl
by Mitali Perkins. Illustrations by Jamie Hogan
Reviewed by Kelly Herold, Big A little a
Mitali Perkins' Rickshaw Girl is set in contemporary Bangladesh. Naima, the young heroine of Rickshaw Girl,
lives with her parents and younger sister, Rashida:
Most of the homes in the village looked the same, with smooth clay walls, thatched roofs, dirt
paths, and large stone thresholds. They only looked different on holidays, when girls decorated
their family's paths and thresholds with painted patterns called alpanas, just as their
ancestors had done for generations. In Naima's village, on International Mother Language Day,
when the whole country celebrated the beauty of their Bangla language, the leaders gave a prize
to the girl who painted the best alpanas.
Naima just happens to be the best alpana painter in her village. But, while planning this year's design, her parents'
financial worries upset her plans. Her father recently purchased a brand new rickshaw, complete with gorgeous, unique
decorations, and he has to work night and day to pay it off. And, as the father of two girls, he has no child who can help
him in his taxi business. Naima witnesses how her best friend Saleem (with whom she can only meet in secret, now that she
and her friend are growing older) can help his father by driving the rickshaw while his father rests.
So, Naima comes up with a plan: To dress like a boy and drive her father's rickshaw. Unfortunately, she crashes and
damages her father's beautiful new machine.
Naima is despondent and feels horrible that not only can she not help her family, but that she's actually hurt them. Her
mother may have to sell one of her precious, gold bracelets, inherited from her grandmother, to pay for the rickshaw repairs and for
Rashida's school fees.
Naima's life comes back together when she realizes she can use her talent as an artist to help her family and herself.
She heads off to the new rickshaw repair shop, dressed as a boy, and offers herself as an apprentice. She's shocked to
discover the new repairman is actually a woman, who opened her shop with money from a women's bank. When Naima reveals she
is also female, the repairwoman agrees to take her on.
Rickshaw Girl is not only timely, with the
2006 Nobel Peace prize going to Muhammad Yunus of
Bangladesh for his work with microloans in local communities, it's also a universal tale about a girl trying to prove her
worth and equality to herself, her family and her community. When the repairwoman tells Naima, "things are changing whether
people around here like it or not," it's a source of revelation for Naima and the reader.
Into the Firestorm: A Novel of San Francisco, 1906, by Deborah Hopkinson. Knopf Books for Young
Readers, 2006. ISBN: 0-3758-3652-7.
Richshaw Girl, by Mitali Perkins. Illustrations by Jamie Hogan. Charlesbridge Publishing, 2006,
ISBN: 1-5808-9308-2.
|
| |
|
|