The Land by Mildred D. Taylor; Phyllis Fogelman Books: New York, 2001; $17.99 “Can’t figure how you can be so crazy ’bout them white brothers of yours neither, when once y’all grown, they’ll be the boss and you’ll be jus’ another nigger.” One of the factors that made The Land so interesting was a unique conflict. Paul-Edward grew up with a black mother and a white father during the post—Civil War era. There was still a good deal of hate between the two races in the South. Though slavery was illegal, blacks were still treated like dirt. As Paul-Edward was growing up, he was the proverbial “man without a country.” Blacks didn’t like him because he had white skin and whites didn’t like him because they just knew that down deep he was a black. As I said earlier, this presented a very unique conflict. Another reason that The Land was so good was that it played my emotions better than Yo-Yo Ma can play the cello. When Paul was trying to win the horse race, my blood pressure rose higher. When Paul was missing his dad because of running away on the train, the next time I saw my dad I hugged him tighter. When Paul was running from the whites, I pulled my bed covers a little closer. The two main characters are Mitchell, a black who starts out hating Paul-Edward, but eventually—through a deal with him—becomes his best friend. Mitchell isn’t afraid of anything, and has a great sense of humor. The other main character, of course, is Paul himself. He is very intellectual, has a healthy amount of worries, and doesn’t understand why whites hate blacks. These characters’ clashing personalities give the book pizzazz and bring two, usually opposite, views of each situation into the mix, making it a lot more fun to read. Most people would say this book is simply preaching against racism, but the moral goes deeper than color. The Land is not just simply about blacks vs. whites, but it tells a story of how through friendship, love, and determination a man beat the odds and made his dream a reality. It doesn’t matter if it’s a black who wants to own land in a white man’s country, or a boy who wants to become president when he grows up, the moral is that nice guys don’t necessarily finish last. The Land is fast-paced, a quick read, and very well written. I normally do not even enjoy historical fiction, but this was one of the best books I have read in a while. Sam Gates, 13Louisville, Kentucky
September/October 2002
Mystery at the Marsh
“Look!” A little brown head bobbed out from under the dock; the feet under it propelled it around the reeds and out of sight. “What was that thing?” asked Ted, almost falling into the water trying to find it. “A muskrat, kids. You can use that in your essay when we get back to school,” said Miss Cole. Ann Dover looked out at the ripples shimmering and glistening with the reflected sun. She sighed, her breath sending a gray smoke-like puff over the lake. The gently swaying cattails rustled and Ann caught a whiff of the dusty incense they gave off, tickling her pink, cold nose. “OK, class, you may start taking notes now.” Ann stared into the water. The bottom was covered with long, stringy algae, which she assumed was making the almost-faint stench. It looked cold and lonely, but Ann knew it was full of life. “Full of life,” she wrote. As Ann looked back at the warm biological station, she noticed something by the bank. It was a big pile of what looked like algae, but it was more clumpy, like individual things. She started to examine it, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw her teacher looking disapprovingly at her, and quickly started writing. “OK, kids, pack up. It’s snack time!” It looked cold and lonely, but Ann knew it was full of life Ann heard people hiss, “Yesssss!” under their breath. Everyone got up and formed a line. As they trudged back up the dock, stomping their feet to warm them, Ann heard Bob whisper to Jeff, “Finally. It smelled like dead fish over there.” Dead fish. That was what the pile was. But how did all those fish die? Ann thought. Best not to think about that now, she decided. All she was thinking about was having a nice snack in the warm biological station. * * * Ann was relieved when the class stepped in front of big doors leading to a warm, cozy habitat. Everyone wanted to get in, and there was a scramble as the doors of the biological station opened. Along the wall were all sorts of stuffed marsh birds, displays of life cycles, and glass cases of rock samples marked with little labels. Off to one side, there was a little shelf. In it were eleven or twelve species of fish. Fish. Ann caught up with her class and seated herself against the wall. After unzipping her backpack, she took out a fruit rollup. Dead fish. True, it was still cold from the winter that had passed, but they should have been hibernating, or whatever fish do. She would have to look around the lake again. Sitting up, she saw a little plate that said “Men’s Room—205. Women’s Room—128.” The women’s room was downstairs! She could ask to use the bathroom, and then slip out the door that led to the lake. Getting up, she walked over to her teacher. “Miss Cole, may I use the bathroom?” Ann held her breath. “Hurry back. We’ll be working on the trail next.” Rushing downstairs, Ann started searching for the lake door. She had only seen it from the dock, and it wasn’t a main door. “Hi!” Ann glanced up. Looking down at her was a kind-faced woman in a scientist’s white lab coat. Her name tag read Biologist Mason. “May I help you?” she asked. Ann thought quickly. “Could you show me to the bathroom?” she asked, hoping her face didn’t give her away. “Right down the hall, and through the third door on the left,” the woman answered. Ann thanked her, and started to the bathroom. “Do you like the lake?” she heard Biologist Mason call after her. Ann turned around and nodded, trying to make it look like she was in a hurry. “Come with your family sometime, and I’ll show you around. My name’s Jennifer.” With that, finally, the biologist turned and retreated into a lab. Ann stood a moment, thinking. Then, she realized how little time she had. Stepping down the last of the stairs, she looked right. There was a lab. She looked left. There was a big door propped open by an oar. Ann pushed open the door and stepped out onto a dirt path. A little to the right stood the dock. Ann ran out to where the fish were. It hadn’t changed from a few minutes ago. There was nothing she could see to cause the fishes’ death. Crushed, Ann turned around; she was face-to-face with Jeff Schiller, one of her seventh-grade classmates. Ann stared at him. Then, knowing they would both get in trouble if they were late, they started walking back. “You’re going to tell on me, aren’t you,” Ann said without looking at him. “No, I was coming out for the same reason. To see about the fish.” Seeing Ann didn’t trust him, he added, “We can find out together.” “OK,” Ann said. “But not now, we’ll be late. I’ll talk to you at break.” She immediately regretted it, but there was no time to take it back. Jeff followed her as they ran up the stairs, clanging on the metal, making an echo loud enough for the world to hear. * * * “Rinnnnnnng!” Back at school, break time had finally crept its way up to pounce on Ann. She looked around, but in the mass of kids, she lost sight of Jeff by the door. Slowly, she slipped her essay paper (titled “Wingra Marsh”) in a blue folder and, putting her pencil back in her desk, got to her feet. Other girls have crushes on boys, but not me, she thought, staring at the door. What will people think when they see me talking to Jeff—the most popular boy at Henry James Middle School? She took a deep breath and started outside. “Ann.” Ann jumped. She had forgotten about Miss Cole correcting papers at her desk. “May I see your essay, please?” “Oh,” Ann
Esperanza Rising
Esperanza Rising by Pam Murioz Ryan; Scholastic Press: New York, 2000; $15.95 Did you know that esperanza means hope in Spanish? That word, and that word alone, is the perfect way to describe the young heroine of this novel, Esperanza Ortega. Esperanza Ortega is a pampered little rich girl in Aguascalientes, Mexico in 1930, who has all the food, clothes, and toys that any twelve-year-old child could want. She has many servants and she has her love for her mother, father, and grandmother. The novel starts by showing the theme of the book: when Esperanza was six years old, her father took her for a walk in El Rancho de Rosas, their home, and told her to lie down in the field, and she could feel the heart of the valley. When Esperanza did as he said, it turned out to be true, and she and her father shared this little secret. The day before Esperanza’s thirteenth birthday, however, a horrible thing happens: her father is attacked and killed by bandits, who believe that they killed righteously, because Papa is rich and most likely scorns the poor, like them. When this dreadful news is delivered to Esperanza and her mother, they go into mourning, and Papa’s older stepbrothers, Tio Marco and Tio Luis, come to supposedly help them through their time of need. The true purpose for their staying comes clear, though, when Tio Luis announces that he wishes to marry Mama. However, Mama turns his proposal down. But after the uncles burn their house to the ground, the family realizes that they must leave Mexico. Esperanza, Mama, and their former servants—Miguel, Alfonso, and Hortensia—take the train to California and begin to work as farm laborers. Esperanza is enraged, however, because she is not used to “being treated like horses” or living among poor people. Even after she befriends Miguel’s younger cousin Isabel, she still scorns and fears the labor camp because there are the strikers in it who are trying to get better working conditions and will stop at nothing and no one to get what they want. I liked Esperanza Rising, but there was one big thing that I didn’t like: Esperanza was so real a character that I felt a little bit queasy. I’m not very comfortable around realistic fiction books. I’m more the fantasy-novel type. I still don’t like books that don’t end “happily ever after.” There were some things that Esperanza experienced that I have as well. When Esperanza was asked to sweep the porch and she didn’t know how to even use a broom, I knew just how she felt, because I’ve had that feeling more than once. When I was little, I begged my mom to let me have a bike, so I could be “just like the big kids,” and I never rode it, so I’ve never learned how to ride a bike. When my friends ask me to ride my bike with them, I always have to lie and say that it’s “much closer to walk,” and “oh, couldn’t you walk, too?” It’s very difficult when you can’t do something that most other people can. But Esperanza learned how to use a broom, while I still have yet to learn how to ride a bike! Esperanza Rising is written so you could definitely feel what the characters were feeling. I very nearly almost laughed out loud at the part when Esperanza had to wash the babies’ diapers and she didn’t know how, so she was just dipping them into the washing basin with two fingers. Esperanza Rising is a vivid, well-written book. The author takes her time, and describes every scene and every character as though the whole novel revolved around them. And she shows how Esperanza changes: from a pampered, stuck-up girl, to an understanding young woman. And the whole story contains hope. Hope that the strikers will understand why Esperanza and her family and the other workers need their jobs and will not join them. Hope that Esperanza will one day become rich again. And hope that Abuelita, Esperanza’s grandmother, will one day come and join Esperanza and Mama in the labor camp, because she was left behind at El Rancho de Rosas. Luisa V. Lopez, I INew York, New YorkLuisa was 10 when she wrote her review.
