"maria Testa Uses Spare Verse To Tell A Poignant Story About A Child Touched By War. . . . An Excellent Choice For Classroom Discussion." — Booklist the Thirteen-year-old From Kosova Thinks Of Herself As A Typical American Schoolgirl. But For Her Parents, Moving To Maine Was Just A Sad Necessity, A Way To Escape From War And Find Medical Care For A Daughter Scarred Up To Her Chin. But Then A Hateful Event Changes Everything — Forcing Residents Old And New To Reexamine What It Means To Be An American. a New York Public Library Book For The Teen Age a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book Of The Year
jan Chapman - Voya this Slim Volume Of Prose Poetry Eloquently Tells The Story Of A Young Girl Who Has Come To America With Her Family To Escape The Horrors Of The Serbian Conflict. But The Scars Of War Are Difficult To Banish. At The Age Of Three, She Was Badly Burned Over Most Of Her Body In A Terrible Fire, Leaving Only Her Face Unscathed. Now She Hides The Physical Scars On Her Body With Colorful Scarves, But The Emotional Scars Are More Difficult To Disguise. Her Strategy For Coping With Painful Memories Is To Enthusiastically Embrace Her New Home In America. But Her Parents, Especially Her Father, Are Not As Eager To Assimilate Or Forget. Then A Protest In Her Hometown By A Local Hate Group Who Resent The Influx Of New Immigrants Spurs Her Father To Organize A Counter Protest That Unites The Family And Creates A Groundswell Of Support In The Community. The Author Uses Spare, Simple Verse To Illuminate This Poignant Story, Which Is Based On An Actual Incident That Took Place In Lewiston, Maine. The Writing Is Similar To A Haiku In Its Ability To Suggest A World Of Emotion In Only A Few Carefully Chosen Words. Teens Who Enjoy Books Of Prose Poems, Such As Karen Hesse's out Of The Dust (scholastic, 1997/voya April 1998) And Testa's Previous Books, almost Forever (candlewick, 2003/voya October 2003) And becoming Joe Dimaggio (2002/voya October 2002), Will Have Much To Ponder With The Issues Raised By This Story. The Book Would Be An Excellent Selection For A Book Discussion Or A Readers' Theatre Group. Voya Codes: 4q 3p M J (better Than Most, Marred Only By Occasional Lapses; Will Appeal With Pushing; Middle School, Defined As Grades 6 To 8; Junior High, Defined As Grades 7 To 9).2005, Candlewick, 96p., Ages 11 To 15.

Maria Testa

1st pbk. ed, Cambridge, Mass, 2007, ©2005

United States, United States of America

First Edition, PS, 2005

[curator]venus@archive.org[/curator][date]20111004134123[/date][state]approved[/state]

Immigration in contemporary America is explored in a powerful lyric novel from award-winning poet Maria Testa.
What happens to a dream divided?
Draping colorful scarves around her neck, the thirteen-year-old from Kosova thinks of herself as a typical American schoolgirl, happy to blend into eighth grade with her friends. But for her parents, seeking a new life in Maine was not a choice but a necessity a way to escape from a war and find medical care for a daughter burned in a fire that scarred her up to her chin. While her underemployed parents still talk about "home" and continue to feel like foreigners ten years later, their daughter is torn between the guilt about their displacement and pride in her new identity. Then a hateful event changes everything, stirring passions throughout the entire region and forcing residents old and new to re-examine what it means to be an American.
Narrated by the young daughter from Kosova, the nuanced and deeply moving immigration tale was inspired by true In October 2002, the mayor of Lewiston, Maine wrote a letter to the elders of the local Somali community, asking them to turn future refugees away because the town was "maxed-out physically, financially, and emotionally." Seizing the opportunity, a racist group staged a rally that drew thirty people, only to be met by some six thousand residents in support of the Somalis people of all cultures and backgrounds who knew something about America.

After ten years of living in America, a young girl is happy with the new world in which she lives and doesn't understand why her parents yearn to return to their war-torn land of Kosova, yet when a sudden damaging act reestablishes old fears of hate, the Americanized student is forced to reexamine everything she thought she knew

2023-10-09