The Game of Silence

Bibliography:
Erdrich, Louise and Anna Fields, reader. The Game of Silence. Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., 2005. ISBN 0060758392

Plot Summary:
The Game of Silence continues the story of Omakayas and her Ojibwa family. It covers the daily lives of the Ojibwa, the growth of Omakayas as a person, the loss of loved ones, and the fear of leaving one’s home.

Critical Analysis:
Told from the perspective of a girl approximately 9-10 years old, The Game of Silence puts as much emphasis on a great snowball fight or the story of a little person as it does the arrival of starving refugees. This only helps to make Omakayas a real person to the reader (or listener in my case). It goes from serious topics to what adults may call unimportant matters from one page to the next, but each event is important in its own right. Omakayas’ childlike questioning brings up some wonderful questions that children reading The Game of Silence will probably want answered as well, the most potent of which would be, “Why are they making us leave?” Through the eyes of a child, the inhumane treatment of the Native Americans during the settlement of the United States can be clearly seen.
The game of silence also acts as a wonderful documentary of how life was like for the Ojibwa during the mid 19th century. Descriptions of the bead work, leather making, fishing and rice gathering, and the importance of abiding by your word all showed through in the daily interactions of the story.

Review Excerpts:
School Library Journal – “Although the story is set on an island in Lake Superior in 1850, readers will identify with the everyday activities of the Ojibwa, from snowball fights to fishing excursions, providing a parallel to their own lives while encouraging an appreciation for one that is very different. The action is somewhat slow, but Erdrich's captivating tale of four seasons portrays a deep appreciation of our environment, our history, and our Native American sisters and brothers.”
Booklist – “In addition to an abundance of details about life through the seasons, Erdrich deals with the wider meaning of family and Omakayas' coming-of-age on a vision quest…Readers familiar with the first book will welcome the return of several richly drawn nonreverential characters, including Omakayas' pesky brother, her irritable mom, and her bold, tough mentor, Old Tallow. As Erdrich said in the Booklist Story Behind the Story, "Little House on the Lake" [BKL Ap 1 99], about The Birchbark House, her research into her ancestors revealed the horrifying history and also a culture rich, funny, and warm. In this heartrending novel the sense of what was lost is overwhelming.”

Connections:
Other books dealing with Native Americans include:
Erdrich, Louise. The Birchbark House. ISBN 9780786814541
Erdrich, Louise. The Porcupine Year. ISBN 9780060297879
Bruchac, Joseph. The Journey of Jesse Smoke: A Cherokee Boy, Trail of Tears, 1838 (My Name is America). ISBN 9780439121972
Shaw, Janet Beeler, Bill Farnsworth, ill. and Susan McAliley, ill. Meet Kaya: An American Girl (American Girls Collection). ISBN 9781584854234

A Single Shard

Bibliography:
Park, Linda Sue. A Single Shard. New York: Clarion Books, 2001. ISBN-10 0395978270

Plot Summary:
A Single Shard is the story of a poor orphan, Tree-ear, in 12th Century Korea. His only “family” is Crane-Man, who took him in when he had no-one else. They live under a bridge and scavenge for food. Tree-ear is fascinated by the pottery workings of Min, the best of the local potters, and through accident comes to work for him. The story centers around pottery and how Tree-ear grows as a person the more he learns.

Critical Analysis:
Linda Sue Park based her pottery descriptions on actual pots and techniques from Korean history; consequently the story comes to life. When Tree-ear is feeling the silt for quality, you can feel the texture right alongside him. You feel his fear when he is being attacked, and you understand how terrifying it must have been to continue on. You also feel his sense of obligation and his sense of loss. Because Park so clearly portrays her characters, the aspects of Korean culture and geography simply become part of the background, easily infiltrating the mind without distracting from the rest of the story in any way. And yet, at the same time, the cultural aspects are the key elements of the story, which would not exist without them. The entire story contains beautiful symmetry, just like one of the pots.

Review Excerpts:
School Library Journal – “In this tale of courage and devotion, a single shard from a celadon vase changes the life of a young boy and his master…This quiet story is rich in the details of life in Korea during this period. In addition it gives a full picture of the painstaking process needed to produce celadon pottery. However, what truly stands out are the characters: the grumpy perfectionist, Min; his kind wife; wise Crane-man; and most of all, Tree-ear, whose determination and lively intelligence result in good fortune. Like Park's Seesaw Girl (1999) and The Kite Fighters (2000, both Clarion), this book not only gives readers insight into an unfamiliar time and place, but it is also a great story.”
Booklist – “When the polite greeting in a society is "Have you eaten well today?' one may guess that subsistence is of prime concern. Surely no one in this twelfth-century Korean village is more accustomed to hunger than the orphan boy Tree-ear and his guardian Crane-man who is lame…This quiet, but involving, story draws readers into a very different time and place. Though the society has its own conventions, the hearts and minds and stomachs of the characters are not so far removed from those of people today. Readers will feel the hunger and cold that Tree-ear experiences, as well as his shame, fear, gratitude, and love. A well-crafted novel with an unusual setting.”

Connections:
Other historical fiction based in Korea includes:
Park, Linda Sue. The Kite Fighters. ISBN 9780440418139
Choi, Sook Nyul. Echoes of the White Giraffe. ISBN 9780618809172
Michener, James A. The Bridges at Toko-ri. ISBN 9780449206515

Jip, His Story

Bibliography:
Paterson, Katherine. Jip, His Story. New York: Puffin Books, 1996. ISBN-10 0140386742

Plot Summary:
Jip is the story of a boy who grows up on the Poor farm because he fell out of a wagon when he was approximately two and therefore became, essentially, an orphan. It tells the story of his development as a person, through his relationships with others, and his questions about where he comes from. His past is revealed near the end of the book, to his dismay.

Critical Analysis:
Katherine Paterson did a wonderful job of creating in Jip a character people understand and sympathize with. Because of his sweet nature, and the fact that he could be the boy down the street, the change in attitude of the townspeople after his past is discovered is even more shocking. The most potent example of the attitude adjustment comes when Lucy tells Jip that her mother would turn him in if she caught him. While the Booklist review below claims that the characters are on the extreme ends of good and bad, I feel that those extremes are needed to help shock the reader into understanding the harsh realities of certain aspects in United States history.

Review Excerpts:
School Library Journal – “Paterson's story resonates with respect for the Vermont landscape and its mid-19th-century residents, with the drama of life during a dark period in our nation's history, and with the human quest for freedom.”
Booklist – “What a story. It's not often that the revelations of the plot are so astonishing--and yet so inevitable--that they make you shout and think and shiver and cry. Paterson has taken the old orphan foundling tale, set it in Vermont in the 1850s, and made it new. Jip (as in ‘Gypsy’ ) doesn't know where he came from; they say he fell off the back of a wagon and was found on the road somewhere when he was about two years old. Now, as a young boy, he lives and works on the town poor farm with the other paupers and strays… At school, Teacher reads aloud from Oliver Twist, and Jip wonders, as he always has, whether he might have a loving parent far away somewhere. Is Jip somebody's lost boy? The answer is devastating. There are some problems with this book. Jip is idealized, too saintly to be true; in fact, as in Dickens, most of the characters are either totally good or totally bad. But the time and the place are drawn with powerful realism. Paterson's simple sentences lay bare the dark historical truth and the transforming light of love.”

Connections:
Here are some books that also deal with the era during the Civil War:
Paterson, Katherine. Lyddie. ISBN 9780142402542 (prequel to Jip)
Keith, Harold. Rifles for Watie. ISBN 9780064470308
Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage. ISBN 9780812504798
Parry, Owen. Faded Coat of Blue. ISBN 9780380797394 (First in a series of mysteries)