My Basmati Bat Mitzvah by Paula J. Freedman
I sucked this book down like a mango lassi. It was smooth, sweet and went down quickly. So quickly, in fact I read it in 24 hours. And then like my girls, I sat back, took a breath and dove back in for a second reading, running my finger along the side of the cup looking for some goodness that I left behind.
Paula J. Freedman created a strong female character, for which I thank her. Tara Feinstein is the girl we all want our daughters to be. She has her own fashion style—
vintage. She plays hoops with her best boyfriend. She still plays dress up at the age of 12 with her best girlfriend. She is pumped to join the robotics team. She is not afraid to stand up for herself, although she is learning to manage it with words and not fists. She also stands up for others, especially when they need a friend. She gives second chances, preferring to see the good in people. She questions her beliefs and seeks for answers.
But life is not all easy peazy lemon squeezy for Tara. She and her friends are going through a season of preteen changes—bat mitzvahs, changing bodies, shifting relationships and first crushes. As Tara prepares for her own bat mitzvah she struggles to understand how she can be Indian, like her mother, Jewish, like her father and remain herself. How can she be Jewish if she is not even sure she believes in God? If she goes through with this Bat Mitzvah, does that mean she is picking her “Jewish side” over her “Indian side”? Will she only date and marry Jewish boys, like her other Jewish friends? My Basmati Bat Mitzvah raises topics many of our bi-racial, bi-cultural children will face or are facing. Tara’s voice is honest and sturdy, allowing readers from all backgrounds to easily put themselves in her place.
On my second read of the book, I unfortunately did not find many leftover bits of goodness stuck to the side of my cup. I found myself bothered by the underdeveloped characters, orbiting around Tara. I wanted more connection with her parents. Tara’s Jewish Gran and her Indian Auntie seem a bit too stereotypical for my liking. And many of Freedman’s characters seemed like superficial offerings- the immigrant child gone wild, the Korean adopted child, the always in trouble child with ADHD, the Muslim child whose father jokes about getting her married at the age of 12, and the perfect child who turns out to have trichotillomania and problems with shoplifting. Perhaps this book would be a good fit for a book group or classroom, so readers could find ways to make these distinctive characters more vibrant and “finish” them. I was also bothered that the robotics club storyline just disappeared. It held such promise of a preteen girl not only psyched about science but also talented, and then offered us nothing except for scenes of teenage romance and angst. The one bright point in my re-read was to explore Tara’s special relationship with her open-minded and very patient rabbi. Every teenager needs to connect with a trustworthy adult outside of their family.
Recommendation: I recommend this book for ages 12-14. The writing itself is suited for ages 9+ but some of the topics, such as, first heterosexual kiss and a friend suffering from trichotillomania might be better received by an older reader.
Book Reviewer: Amanda Setty
Friends by Eric Carle
I came across this book in my walk through Barnes & Noble today and thought “how precious”. It is the very simple story of a boy who searches through mountains and valleys, trekking a long way through trees to find his friend who moved far, far away. He happens to be a white boy, his friend happens to be a brown girl and in the end, they get married. There is no mention of the fact that the two are different as he goes on his adventure. The illustration is inviting and the book is much more of a display of Eric Carle’s illustrations than of the story. I so like the message of marrying one’s best friend and the fact that the couple resembles so many of our children’s parents.
Recommendation: Recommended; Ages: 3-Adult
Book Reviewer: Omilaju Miranda
Mommy, Mama, and Me by Leslea Newman
Parenthood through a child’s eyes can’t get any simpler than the way it is presented in this book by Leslea Newman. Mommies are the people who care for you and make sure you have fun. If you have a child under the age of five who you want to see that having two mommies is just regular life, this book should be a part of your home library. It is a board book so if your child younger than three-years-old gets attached in a way that they play roughly with the books, the texts are durable. One mother is white, the other appears to be of multiracial African descent; The child also looks to be multiracial. The book simply carries the reader through a fun day in life; there is no discussion of adoption or biology. When I read Mommy, Mama, and Me with my daughter at age two, she was very interested in clarifying the gender of the child. My daughter asked me several times “Is she a boy or is he a girl?” and she kept trying to figure out which mother was “mommy”. By opening these questions in my daughter’s mind, the book gave, and continues to give us a doorway to discuss having two moms. When this book is read with it’s companion book, Daddy, Papa and Me, my daughter’s questions about the child’s gender elucidate the one problem I have with Mommy, Mama, and Me and the books as a pair—the child in Mommy, Mama, and Me is androgynous and the child in Daddy, Papa, and Me is a boy but what of girls who have two parents of the same gender? I still think these are “must have” books, which are easily accessible and enjoyable for kids of all ages.
Recommendation: Highly Recommended; Age 0-5
Reviewer: Omilaju Miranda
Daddy, Papa, and Me by Leslea Newman
Parenthood through a child’s eyes can’t get any simpler than the way it is presented in this book Daddies are the people who take care of you, play with you and fix things for you. If you have a child under the age of five who you want to see that having two daddies is just regular life, this book should be a part of your home library. It is a board books so if your child younger than three-years-old gets attached in a way that they play roughly with the books, the texts are durable. One father is white and the other father is Asian and the child is white. Because these are books that simply carry the reader through a fun day in the life, there is no discussion of adoption or biology. A few months ago when my daughter was still two, we read Mommy, Mama, and Me by the same author and my daughter kept trying to figure out which mother was the mommy. However, when we read Daddy, Papa, and Me last night, my daughter, now three-years-old, only had questions about what the father was doing on the page where he is fixing a stuffed animal while a mug of coffee sits on the table beside him. She wanted to know why he was drinking coffee and why he needed scissors. This is a “must have” book, which is easily accessible and enjoyable for kids of all ages.
Recommendation: Highly Recommended; Age 0-5
Reviewer: Omilaju Miranda
Care Bears: Ups and Downs featuring mixed heritage protagonist
‘Care Bears: Ups and Downs’ features Jake, a child of mixed heritage whose family has just moved to a new town. Jake is afraid to make new friends but the Care Bears fly in on a care rainbow and help him open up to making friends. His mom (white) and dad (a man of color) are shown but there is no mention of their family’s ethnic heritage. There is a subplot that takes place in Care-a-lot about surprises and gratitude. Rated: G; length: 45 minutes. Ages: 3+; Recommendation: Highly Recommended.
I am Mixed by Garcelle Beauvais and Sebastian A. Jones
Layers of Love for I Am Mixed
From the first page of I Am Mixed, we enter the magical world of the twins, Nia and Jay—one where the frogs have top hats and butterflies land on little girls’ fingers; straws are made of licorice, grasshoppers are students alongside humans and of course, there are twins—boy and girl twins which in itself is magical—automatic friends who are the same (Mixed) while different (girl/boy, chocolate/vanilla) but have each other and you, the reader can be like them too! You are walking into a mystical fantasy land of wonder and amazement and all this sweet wonder is what makes up the mixed twins.
Book Review for I am Living in 2 Homes by Garcelle Beauvais and Sebastian A. Jones
From authors, Sebastian A. Jones and Garcelle Beauvais, we have the second book in the “I am” series of children’s books featuring fraternal twins, Jay and Nia. We met Jay and Nia in their first book, I am Mixed and now in I am Living in 2 Homes, the happy family that we met originally has experienced a split. Mom lives in the country near a river and dad lives in the city near sky scrapers. The children have fun playing in nature doing things like fishing and running after butterflies with mom and doing city things like baseball in the street and eating hot dogs off of food carts, with dad. This book captures the full spectrum of emotions that children feel in the face of their parents splitting up all the while showing us children who are celebrating life; who are joyful in the time they spend with each parent. The difficult feelings that they have to deal with like guilt and fear of their parents forgetting them if they remarry are illustrated first on the faces and in the gestures of the trio of frogs and toads that magically befriend and serve as entourage to Jay and Nia throughout the book. The trio of frogs adds humor throughout the story, which deals with the complexities of this heavy topic through a poetic narrative and many illustrations of parents hugging and reassuring their children.
James C. Webster’s illustrations are evocative and poignant. Adults will feel every emotion I’ve described and more as they read to their children. At the end of the book there’s a note from Jay and Nia about appreciating all family. Children have an opportunity to fill out a discussion form that allows them to identify good things about themselves and good things about living in two homes. There is also a parent discussion guide on using the book to discuss your family. Overall, this is a good book for children to have in the face of divorce or separation and is a great companion for parents who have to discuss the split family with their children and may have difficulty steering the conversation.
Recommendation: Highly Recommended. Age 3-8
Review by Omilaju Miranda
Book Review for We Adopted You, Benjamin Koo by Linda Walvoord Girard
This is a first person narrative from the perspective of the adopted child, Benjamin Koo Andrews. In it he tells his life history from birth to his current age—nine-years-old. His story discusses everything from being left at the doorstep of an orphanage when he was approximately 10 days old through his toddler years, early childhood, discovery of his racial difference from his parents and rebelling because he was adopted, adopting his sister and dealing with taunts at school. The book feels like a documentary but it is very informative and acknowledges a wide range of life experiences and feelings that a child who doesn’t share the race or country of his parents may face. The illustrations make the heaviness of the narrative approach a little lighter and this definitely is a book that I feel is a powerful tool for a parent to use to discuss adoption with their child; the text feels like it was written for that purpose moreso than anything.
Recommendation: Recomended; Age 6+
Book Reviewer: Omilaju Miranda
Book Review for Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match/Marisol McDonald No Combina by Monica Brown
Just looking at the cover image of this book—a little red-head with toasty brown complexion and Punky Brewster clothing hanging upside down, pink and blue polka dot wrapped pig-tails flapping against her arms, I couldn’t wait to read it. With the title written in English and Spanish, I knew it was going to be a fun read. And, it didn’t disappoint. Once finished, I was so excited, I had to take a few minutes to calm down before writing this review. Marisol embodies and off-beat charm: think Pippi Longstocking, think Eloise, think Madeline; except, Marisol is a Mixed Heritage, Peruvian-Scottish-American and her story is written in English and Spanish with some dialogue in both languages as well. But she is just as confident, plucky, and determined as the other children’s stories’ heroines. Just as her friends and family say she doesn’t match because of her freckled brown skin and red hair (“the color of carrots” says her cousin; “the color of fire”, says Marisol), they say she doesn’t match because she puts peanut butter and jelly on tortillas, they say she doesn’t match because she paints stars in the same sky as the sun, Marisol says all these are good and tasty and unique. Then a friend says she couldn’t match if she wanted to. In true scrappy style, Marisol responds to this comment as if it is a challenge and tries to “match”. Matching is woefully, sad-faced boring until her teacher gives her a note encouraging her to be her mixed up, non-matching self because that is mismatching is true to her. So Marisol in the end is dressed in her Peruvian hat with pink ballet tutu, polka dot skirt and striped leg warmers. She likes herself not matching in every single way. You and your kid will like her too.
Recommendation: Highly Recommended; Age range: 4-8
Book Review by Omilaju Miranda
Book Review for How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman
A Caucasian USAmerican sailor and Japanese student fall in love after dating for a year but they’ve never eaten together! In a suspenseful, delightful story we learn how they overcame their anxieties over how to eat “Japanese” (with chopsticks) and “Western” (with knife and fork) and got engaged. The narration is sweet and this is a simply told, dynamic story that you and your children will enjoy.
Recommendation: Highly Recommended; Age: 5+
Book Reviewer: Omilaju Miranda
Diverse Kids Books--Reviews 