Soto, G. (1996). Too many tamales. New York: Puffin.
This is a book that I can sadly make many connections to! Maria and her mother were making tamales for their family Christmas celebration. The author Gary Soto provides the readers with a bit of foreshadowing at the beginning when Maria reveals that she has always wanted to wear her mother's diamond ring. I automatically predicted that Maria would sneak her mother's ring on at some point. This provides a great opportunity to have students make predictions. Maria does slip her mother's ring on and continues making tamales. It is not until after cousins, aunts and uncles come that Maria realizes she is no longer wearing the ring! She begins to panic and makes her cousins eat each and every tamale hoping someone will bite down on something hard! Of course they are stuffed and miserable by this time and still no ring! This is where I begin making connections - I actually lost a ring of my mothers and panicked! Maria realizes that she is going to have to own up to her mistake and admit to her mother that she has lost her ring. Soto develops Maria's character through her actions - we learn that she is impulsive because she cannot resist wearing the ring, somewhat bossy because she forces her cousins to help her look for the ring, and humble because she realizes she has made a mistake and learns from her mistake. Soto writes the story using a chronological plot that focuses on character against self as the story is written in the order in which the events occur and Maria is battling her self and the choices she made throughout the story.
This is a great story that I would highly recommend for first, second and possibly third grade. It is an excellent example of the multicultural genre because it is about a Hispanic family and is built around one of their traditions - making tamales for Christmas.
Some questions to ponder are:
- Can you make any text to self connections to this story? Have you ever done something similar to what Maria did? How did you feel?
- How would the story be different if Maria's mother had not been wearing the ring all along?
- What is the theme of this story? Use details from the text to support your answer.
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Ryan, P. M. (2007). Esperanza rising. New York: Scholastic Inc.
Esperanza Rising is a beautifully written book that explores the topics of migrant workers, racism, discrimination, familial relationships, growing up and death. Esperanza is a young girl living on a profitable ranch with her mother, father and grandmother. Also living on their farm are the many servants and workers who help her father run his farm, including her friend Miguel and his parents. The story opens with a prologue introducing Esperanza and her father Senor Ortega and giving readers a glimpse into the depth of the relationship.Sadly, Esperanza's father is murdered by bandits the night before her birthday and her mother is faced with the prospect of marrying her evil brother-in-law to keep their ranch and their wealth. The Ortega's only option is to leave Mexico. They travel with Miguel and his family to California. On the way Esperanza is faced with a series of obstacles in which she must accept that her life and lifestyle is changed. Once they reach California they are forced to work in a migrant camp. Here they are met with challenges such as striking and sickness. When Esperanza's mother is forced into the hospital Esperanza is left to make their way in the United States. How will she help her mother and make a life for them in the United States?
I was really impressed with this Pura Belpre award winning book. The plot was written in a progressive chronological format with the events being told in the order in which they occurred and with the conflict being presented (they are forced to live poorly and work in a migrant camp), climax (Ramona Ortega, mother, gets sick) and the solution occurring afterwards (you need to read it to find out this part!!). There is a great deal of character development throughout the story, Esperanza grows and learns constantly throughout the story - whether she is realizing that she is no longer like a princess or she is dealing with the struggles of working life.
This was a really great read and I would love to use it in my classroom. Although I have some readers who may be ready to read this independently I would love to use it whole group. I've mentioned before that I have a difficult time making time in my schedule to teach social studies and science in isolation. This book would be excellent for teaching about different cultures, social issues such as discrimination, as well as history lessons since this story deals with the Mexican Revolution, the Great Depression and migrant camps. What really stuck with my was the author's notes in which Pam Munoz Ryan reveals that this story is actually based on her grandmother's life and she also gives details about the involuntary deportation of Mexican workers during this time - which was a history lesson for me.
Some questions to ponder are:
- What connections can you make between this story and Cinderella or versions of Cinderella (Esperanza Rising is very much the opposite of this rags-to-riches stories)?
- What connections can you make between this story and your life? Have you ever felt like Esperanza felt during __________? (Given part of story)
- There are a lot of opportunities to infer and predict in this story - What can you predict will happen next? What can you infer Esperanza, Miguel, Marta, Ramona (any character) is feeling? Justify your answer.
