Ben Mikaelsen: A Bolivian American Writer Of Children's Literature

Throughout reading the book “Undocumented: A Dominican Boy Odyssey” one situation that caught my eye exceptionally would be page 34, where he was explaining the situation where his mother didn’t want any other family members to acknowledge the struggle that she had to go through. Reason why she didn’t want her children to mention the situation they’re in would be that she doesn’t want to receive any sort of pity, questions or help. Yando’s mother is a strong independent woman who is not only capable of providing for her family without anyone else’s help but she knows it too. This struck me because my mother is as strong as the Yando’s mother. She does her best to provide for us even if times were tough. As I was younger, I didn’t understand

Noah Haynes Swayne was born December 7,1804 and he passed away on June 8,1884. Swayne was born in Frederick County, Virginia. His parents were staunch Quakers, and Swayne's strong antislavery views may have been shaped by Quaker hostility to the practice. When Swayne's instructor passed away, his plans to become a physician had changed. Then he had turned to the study of law and was admitted to the bar before his 21st birthday. Choosing not to practice in Virginia, however, he moved in 1823 across the river to Ohio, a free state. There his vigorous antislavery views may have contributed to the rapid growth of his legal practice.

The book I choose to read is: “Mexican White boy” by Matt De La Pena. Matt was awarded the ALA-YALSA top ten best book for young adults a distinguishable book according to Global Society and Junior Library Guild Selection. Matt’s first novel was “Ball Don’t Lie” also a ALA-YALSA best book for young adults and quick pick for young adults, and was also made into a major motion picture. Matt went to college at the University of the Pacific where he played basketball on a scholarship and San Diego State University where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative Writing. Matt lives in Brooklyn, New York, and teaches creative writing. Matt is also completing a third novel called “We Were Here”, and a fourth novel “I will Save You”. “Mexican White Boy” has earned several recognition awards as a top ten best books for young adults. “Mexican White Boy” was published in New York 2008 by Random House Inc., but was originally published in hardcover by Delacorte Press also in 2008. The Genre of the Book is family life. The intended audience in the book is young teenage adults; however parents

I started this essay off with a quote one of the characters mention in the book because it basically gives us the main idea the author is trying to get readers to understand throughout the book. By looking at the title of this novel, “The Book of Unknown Americans” and by looking at the author’s name- Cristina Henriquez, we can already get an idea of what this novel is going to be about. When someone first takes a look at the title and author of this book they would assume that it is going to be about immigrants who moved to the United States and struggled to fit in. After reading this novel, I now understand how difficult it was for these Latino immigrants to leave everything they have in hope for better lives here in the United States. Each person has their own meaning of what it means to be an American and their own reason of what most immigrants come here for. The Rivera family came here in hope for better resources to help treat Maribel because they didn 't have the resources they needed back in their country.

     Both, “The Interesting Narrative Life of Olaudah Equiano” and “Amistad” are important stories about slavery in pre-civil war america because they both address the issues of slavery. These gentlemen in the story made a difference in the slave trade. In “The life of Olaudah Equiano”, Olaudah was sold on a slave ship that came to the Barbados. Olaudah worked for his freedom, and in the end became efficient in American language. He worked his way to the free life and in the end it worked out for him, although it leaves scars on his soul. In “Amistad”, Cinque is a slave that leads a revolt on a slave ship after escaping. When they get to america, Baldwin, a

When we think about society there is often a stark contrast between the controversy projected in our media about the issues that our society faces and the mellow, safe view we have of our own smaller, more tangible ‘local’ society. This leads us to believe that our way of life is protected and our rights secured by that concept of society that has been fabricated and built upon during the course of our short lives. However, what if society were not what we perceive it to be, and the government chose to exercise its power in an oppressive manner? As a society we would like to think that we ourselves are above such cruelty, yet as The Lonely Crossing of Juan Cabrera recounts the state of Cuba in the 1990’s so must we remember that all societies and governments view the individual differently as opposed to the whole. Each group has unique expectations that are enforced upon the individual goes beyond those expectations. The individual can very quickly find their rose glasses view of their society cracking before their very eyes as the reality of taking such a rise comes into view.

For more than 300 years, immigrants from every corner of the globe have settled in America, creating the most diverse and heterogeneous nation on Earth. Though immigrants have given much to the country, their process of changing from their homeland to the new land has never been easy. To immigrate does not only mean to come and live in a country after leaving your own country, but it also means to deal with many new and unfamiliar situations, social backgrounds, cultures, and mainly with the acquisition and master of a new language. This often causes mixed emotions, frustration, awkward feelings, and other conflicts. In Richard Rodriguez’s essay “Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”, the author

He writes a book about his moments in his life that he remembers the most. One of my favorite stories that he mentions in the book was about how a random stranger he met near his house asked him to use his house to propose to his girlfriend. This random stranger name was Ryan. Ryan came by almost everyday and had a new idea every time he had seen Bob. What really surprised me how Bob never said “No” to all his ideas. Every time Ryan came up with a crazy idea Bob was totally up for it. If I would be in Bob’s place I would probably be in shock and not be so enthusiastic about a stranger using the house for his proposal. Imagine if some stranger randomly came up to you and simply asked you can I use this house to propose to my girlfriend. A whole bunch of crazy thoughts would come into our mind thinking what if this happened or this happened. But, instead of thinking of what could happen Bob allowed Ryan to do his crazy idea. The day came when Ryan was going to propose to his girlfriend. Everything went well like planned and the way Bob described it in the book was seemed like a dream. Ryan was so happy that his girl said “Yes” and everything Bob did, made it come true for

In the novel The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez struggles of humans are conveyed through a view that is rarely expressed: the individual points of view of immigrants to the United States. The novel uses the individuals of an apartment complex in Delaware to demonstrate struggles faced by humanity. It has within it lessons that every young adult should learn. The novel teaches, through the distinct views of individuals, that all individuals have value based solely on the fact that they are human and that every action has an effect that must be considered.

A small little lamb lives very happily on a farm at the foot of a mountain. Until one day as she grazes Coyote comes along and sees a fat little lamb and wants to eat her up. Borreguita the clever little lamb tricks Coyote by convincing him that she will get much fatter than she is and that he should come back later to eat her. As Coyote comes back he is tricked over and over again until Coyote has learned his lesson, and Borreguita is never bothered by him again.

wrote his book his, and has nothing left to live for he comments on the gift he has, and

Martel is also the author of the novels Beatrice and Virgil and Self the collection of stories The Facts Behind The Helsinki Roccamatios, and a collection of letters to the prime minister of Canada, 101 Letters to a Prime Minister. He lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

In Richard Rodriguez's essay , “ Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood ” he writes about how he struggled as a child who only spoke Spanish language but lives in a society where the “public” language is English . He believes that speaking proper English will somehow help him fit into society and find his “true” identity. Throughout the essay he contrast the Spanish language identity and English language identity. As a young boy, Rodriguez finds consolation and safety in his home where they only speak Spanish. He feels that he only has a true identity when he is at home surrounded by those who speak the same language as him . On the contrary , he becomes trapped and disoriented when not being able to speak / understand the English language . He feels as if he is not part of “their world” and has no identity in society. By comparing and contrasting Spanish language identity and English language identity . Rodriguez's essay is an example that speaking different languages should not make anyone choose an identity . In fact being able to speak and understand multiple languages in his case Spanish and English makes the language a part of his identity, but with two different sides .

His big break as a children’s book writer came as a result of his wife. She was a producer of a television show and invited one of the show’s guests home for dinner on night. After dinner she and Chris Van Allsburg showed him some of his illustrations as part of a casual after-dinner conversation. He was immediately impressed and gave the number of Walter Lorraine, an editor with Houghton Mifflin Company, to him and asked him to call him. When he finally contacted Mr. Lorraine, the man was so impressed with his drawings that he convinced Chris Van Allsburg that he should venture into children’s book writing.

Initially, I was an Ecuadorian girl that had a Christian family, I grew up surrounded by my family and loved ones. My cognitive development was in progress, and I had created fundamental bonds in Ecuador. Provided that my dad is an American citizen and due to his work in America, he could not spend too much time with us in Ecuador, so, my mom, my little brother, and I immigrated to America. After three years of my life, our family reunited, and I became an Ecuadorian-American. Since I was very young, assimilating the changes came to be unnoticed, if it weren’t for the fact that during the next years I spoke Spanish at home and English at school. As a result, my translations of these languages affected my communication, creating slow comprehensive