Oscar's American Dream

Setting: Early 1900s, Bobrinets. 

My great great grandmother sent five of her nine children in the middle of the night to the US knowing full well, she would never see them again. She believed the gift of a better life for them was worth more than anything else.  

I cannot even imagine.  Sending my daughter to college in August was painful enough. I am barely surviving with frequent FaceTime calls and daily texts. Yet without my immigrant family working hard for their American dream, Croine's dream for them, we wouldn't all be here today. My admiration for her strength and forethought is overflowing.

Happy Book Birthday to Oscar's American Dream

By Barry Wittenstein and illustrated by Kristen and Kevin Howdeshell

Oscar's American Dream follows one storefront over a century of time. In 1899, Oscar sets foot o Ellis Island from Poland ready to make a dream come true.  I wonder, did his mother do the same thing my great great grandmother? He opens a barbershop on the corner of Front and Second and never looks back. Throughout the years, the story follows the property, not the family (with a twist and lemon drop at the end) as the barbershop becomes a clothing store, a soup kitchen, an army recruitment office, a bodega and more. Oh, what stories those walls could tell.

This book has a special place in my heart right at this moment. My mom just finished a wiki type website dedicated to our family history.  So cool! I love reading in print how I am connected to all of my cousins (who, yes, I know and love the dozens and dozens of my first, second, third cousins removed and all). Oscar's American Dream is a story of immigrants finding their way in a new land.  Like Oscar and the others, my family sought the American dream. They, too, worked hard in their own way as merchants, watchmakers, jewelers and more. (no barbers though).

This week we filmed Ruth Behar against an amazing challenger from Virginia on Ruth's book, Lucky Broken Girl for our Author Fan Face Off. It was great to see Ruth again (remember we have that PS 117/Briarwood, Queens connection).  Her latest book, Letters to Cuba, is another immigrant story, which could be paired well with Oscar's American Dream.

You will be inspired to pull out your history books, seek primary documents, explore maps, and dig out old family photos with this one.  Think about your own family, home or town. How it has changed over the years? How has it stayed the same?  What were your grandparents' or great grandparents' dreams? What are yours? Grab some lemon drops, read Oscar's American Dream and let it take you the next level, whatever that may be. And don't forget, "Immigrants. They get the job done." 🎵 My family, this book, and most likely your family, too, is proof.

Letters from Cuba

Happiest of book birthdays today to Ruth Behar's Letters from Cuba.

My Fountains of Silence trip to Madrid was still on the forefront of my mind when I read this book back in early, pre-Covid March. I was all set to plan my next international trip. Little did I know how much the world would change in a matter of days.

And here we are 5 1/2 months later celebrating the book birthday of the story of Esther, a Polish immigrant in Cuba.  It's 1938 and Esther joins her Papa in Cuba, leaving behind her sister, Malka, three brothers, her mother and Bubbe.  Together Esther and Papa work hard to save money to bring them all to Cuba. This is their story as Esther's letters to Malka.

I loved this book.  Thought it was even better than Ruth's Pura Belpre winner Lucky Broken Girl, which says a ton coming from another Briarwood PS 117 girl. It teachers us so much about hope, perseverance, acceptance, diversity, coping with prejudice. Read it with Emma Otheguy and Beatriz Vidal's Marti's Song for Freedom, Margarita Engle and Mike Curato's All the Way to Havana and another new middle grade novel about immigrants and food, A Place at the Table by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan. Yes, I love when food shows up prominently in my books and this one is no exception. To begin with you will be yearning for challah, sour cherry tea, latkes and bananas.

Need to take a trip without getting on a plane or even in a car? This book is perfect then. Find Letters from Cuba today, cozy up in your favorite reading spot and bon voyage.

Unicorn Rescue Society PARTY 5

Tomorrow we'll be celebrating our third book birthday for the Unicorn Rescue Society. Yeah, we're fans.  I love these kids and their "twitchy" Professor Fauna. It's like Magic Tree House and Miss Frizzle conquer the Koch Brothers.  I hope that sounds like a super fun read to you because it most definitely is!

In this "episode" Uchenna and Elliot are in Havana to find the mysterious Madre de Auguas of Cuba, the "Mother of Waters."  Could this magical creature responsible for the drought on the island? Hmmm....or could it be related to something else?

The Unicorn Rescue Society regulars fly to Havana in the Phoenix (oh my!) picking up their new friend, Yoenis, on the way in Miami.  A little Cuban history and literature (Jose Marti) are sprinkled throughout as well as environmental and capitalism messages, with bouts of humor, making this enjoyable for kids and adults alike and opportunities for many kinds of conversations.

While reading I thought of other books about Cuba and Havana that I have loved:

Margarita Engle and Mike Curato's, All the Way to Havana:

(The RIF website is helpful again! Here's a word search to pair with the book.)


I was also reminded of a book that we'll be celebrating in August, Letters to Cuba by Ruth Behar. I loved this book filled with hope, perseverance, acceptance and diversity with quotes, like URS, from Jose Marti.  I even wrote in my notes about it to pair with Emma Otheguy's beautiful Marti's Song for Freedom and the already mentioned Engle/Curato book. We'll all be Marti fans before the end of the summer, if we weren't already.

Remember the Pura Belpre honor winning book, The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya? Poetry and Jose Marti make an appearance in it, too, and delicious Cuban food!  If this video doesn't get you hungry for food and parties, I don't know what will!

So let's PARTY!
See you tomorrow at 1:30 to celebrate it up with the URS kids, friends and antagonists.

TWO amazing Skypes in ONE DAY!

Fifth graders met two amazing authors today from our Mock Newbery project. Tomorrow we have one Skype scheduled.  Needless to say, Skype season has officially begun!

During lunch my Lucky Broken Girl book group met my fellow PS 117 alum, Ruth Behar, peeking into the coziness of what appeared to be her living room.  We talked a lot about the book and Ruth's writing process.  Editing happens so often and finally "It is as good as good as it can be in that moment."

The kids asked why she decided to tell the story of Ruthie?  When she writes, Ruth listens to what her heart is telling her at any given time.  She tries to find the right moment and for Lucky Broken Girl, she finally "found the right moment."

We are always interested in finding out where and how authors write, especially if they listen to music.  Most of the time, Ruth told us, she listens to music.  Anything from "Waltz for Debbie" by Bill Evans to Argentinian tango to Cuban music to "These Boots Were Made for Walking."  "Except," Ruth shared, "for those moments when I need it to be as silent as snow falling."

The kids were fascinated with Ruth's Spanish and asked her to speak to us in her native tongue.  "Gracias carta." I'm sure that's not correct but it was something like "Thanks for the letters!"

GRACIAS, Ruth, for the Skype!  We 💓 Lucky Broken Girl!


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Then after school, Mrs. Kelliher's book group met Someday Birds author, Sally J. Pla in her studio in San Diego.  Mrs. Kelliher (and the kids!) went over the top for this party! Check out the snacks and the goody bags! Look closely! Mrs. Kelliher personalized the stickers on the bag for each student with a Someday Birds logo!  Evan made those nests last night with his Dad! And see those ceramic birds?  Mrs. Kelliher bought one for every member of her group, including Sally!  We mailed Sally a care package last week so she could show us her bird, too.

Sally was inspiring!  When asked about her writing process, Sally shared that she thinks of idea and character at the same time.  So for Someday Birds, she wanted to write a story about an autistic boy or one with sensory issues, who has to take a journey. Her next book, Stanley Will Probably Be Fine, comes out on Tuesday. The idea for that was initiated after she broke her ankle and was in a wheelchair.  She wondered what it would be like to be scared of everything. We'll have to read the book to find out! Book birthday, Tuesday!

Someone asked Sally what her favorite theme to write about is and she said something like this (Please excuse my paraphrasing):

Being your age and being an outsider and thrown into a situation....[writing about kids] whose brains work a little differently and are outside the norm and how you can push through that...Who you are now is not necessarily who you are going to be...

Thank you, Ruth and Sally, for two great meetings today!

Leaping with Sally!

Leaping with Ruth!

It all began at PS 117 for Ruth Behar and me...

I can't stop thinking about Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar.  This is how my story goes:

I had been hearing a lot about the book so when it finally came in at the public library, I ran over there to pick it up.  It was probably around 8pm and my husband had already retired upstairs to work on his crossword puzzle.  Both of my kids were at sleepaway camp so the house was quiet.  I settled into the sofa, read the first paragraph, then the second and then I screamed.  OMG! I'm surprised I didn't trip as I galloped up the stairs to Kevin. Hyperventilating, I read the words aloud:

PS 117!  That was MY elementary school! I couldn't believe it.  I talk about PS 117 all the time! I am a firm believer that my upbringing in Briarwood surrounded by diversity helped form who I am today.  Of course, I hated that Ruthie began in the "dumb class" so I was pulling for her from day one to get moved out.  Why weren't the classes heterogenous back then? Even though the book takes place about 10 years before my time at PS 117, we were still tracked in the 70s, too.  Check out Facebook and you can see the success of the cohort of kids from Mrs. Brown's fifth grade class: successful attorneys, journalists, library directors, businessmen and women, chiropractors...

Anyway, back to Lucky Broken Girl.

This is the story of Ruthie, the Hopscotch Queen of Queens, whose Jewish family emigrated from Cuba.  She even has a Bubby and Zady (Grandma and Grandpa in Yiddish).  We just celebrated my Bubby's (my kids call her "Super Bubby") 93rd birthday!

Ruthie's life changes in an instant, when one day, in her dad's new blue Oldsmobile, the family gets into an accident that leaves Ruthie in a body cast for a year.

"My leg is fractured, but all of me broke.  Who'll put me together again?"-p. 52

"Just the other day I felt so grown-up in my go-go boots.  And now I'm like a baby in diapers again."-p.61

Like a famous fictional middle grade character, Margaret, who wrote letters to G-d, so does Ruthie.  "...if I had to choose between going back to the dumb class and not being able to walk, I would ask you to send me to the dumb class." And she can't shake her hatred for the boy who caused the accident.  "Do you think you can help?  Maybe, while I sleep, you can come and snatch away all the hate that is like a stone in my heart?"

Being in bed for one year of your life wouldn't be easy for anyone.  Some days "the sadness arrives and sits on [her] head. It gets comfortable and stays there. Like a dark cloud that won't go away." But with the support and friendship of neighbors Chicho and Mark, tutor, Joy, Mami, Papi, Izzie, her good doctor, ambulance and hospital workers, Bobbie and Clay...Ruthie is brave, optimistic and a survivor. "You helped me survive a terrible experience.  I know that all of you helped me to get through it."

"Why is it that bad things have to happen so you learn there are lots of good people in the world?"- p.174

Lessons learned. Tears shed. Smiles worn.  Giggles heard. This book has it all and will bring out the best in you. You'll be cha-cha-cha-ing in your go-go boots and pulling for Ruthie from Day 1.

Side note to my PS 117 alumni, how easy it will be for you to imagine the sidewalks of Briarwood, Ruthie's apartment, our elementary school.  And I have to ask because I'm only vaguely remembering but wasn't Mrs. Margolis our third grade teacher?