by Eve Bunting (2006)
2006 Arab American Book Award Winner
Fantastically illustrated by Ted Lewin, this book follows a newly arrived Arab immigrant girl, Farah, as she goes on a field trip to an apple orchard with her class. She cannot find the words to express herself to her teacher or classmates, but she is also worried about opening up to them. As the students pick apples Farah finds a small tree with green apples that does not seem to belong, but when she adds it to the class apple cider she feels she can taste her addition -- a clear metaphor for her feelings about belonging, but trying to find a place in her new world. The story is told through Farah's perspective in short but compelling sentences as she tries to understand the world around her and understand herself. I believe anyone could relate to the Farah's feeling of loneliness in a group of people who she has yet to understand -- and children of all backgrounds, especially, would empathize with the struggle to fit in with peers.
This book would be a great introduction for younger students to some of the struggles that immigrants face when they come to school for the first time. Since many immigrant children are bullied in their classes, it is important for other children to see through to a character's inner thoughts on the subject and understand the barriers they are facing on top of all of the other stresses in school. For this reason I have included it in a text set about modern immigrant families.
2006 Arab American Book Award Winner
Fantastically illustrated by Ted Lewin, this book follows a newly arrived Arab immigrant girl, Farah, as she goes on a field trip to an apple orchard with her class. She cannot find the words to express herself to her teacher or classmates, but she is also worried about opening up to them. As the students pick apples Farah finds a small tree with green apples that does not seem to belong, but when she adds it to the class apple cider she feels she can taste her addition -- a clear metaphor for her feelings about belonging, but trying to find a place in her new world. The story is told through Farah's perspective in short but compelling sentences as she tries to understand the world around her and understand herself. I believe anyone could relate to the Farah's feeling of loneliness in a group of people who she has yet to understand -- and children of all backgrounds, especially, would empathize with the struggle to fit in with peers.
This book would be a great introduction for younger students to some of the struggles that immigrants face when they come to school for the first time. Since many immigrant children are bullied in their classes, it is important for other children to see through to a character's inner thoughts on the subject and understand the barriers they are facing on top of all of the other stresses in school. For this reason I have included it in a text set about modern immigrant families.
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