My Name is Hamburger by Jacqueline Jules

My Name is Hamburger is a verse novel. Jacqueline Jules packs a lot into this short book - Jewish culture, discrimination, hopes and wishes, friendship complications, bullies, belonging, making new friends, Holocaust survivors, school life and family life.

The year is 1962 and Trudie's parents are holocaust survivors and Jewish. Her father owns a printing business and her mother stays home to look after her new prematurely born baby brother. 

I like how my family sit at our round table

just eating a tasty food, not a last name

I wish didn't go with my first.

Trudie has a very special friend who lives nearby named Lila. They have been friends since they were babies. Trudie excels at spelling and so as this story opens she is competing in her school level competition. Trudie is in grade four. She and her dad have been studying hard for this. She spells homogenous and makes it to the final round of two contestants but then the judge gives her a word with a silent letter - rhythm.

Like a gherkin.

That little green pickle

Kids like to crunch

This gives rise to more dreadful teasing by one horrid boy in her class - Daniel Reynolds. Trudie is so disappointed about the spelling bee but there is the hope she can compete again next year - she did make it through five rounds. I loved the way her teacher celebrates her achievement. 

School should be a happy place for Trudie but every week there is the problem of the music class. Trudi cannot sing the Christian songs and so she spends her time in the library. She loves being with the librarian Mrs Nolan, doing tasks like shelving books from A to Z. It is lucky because Trudi loves to read and she is getting close to the target on fifty books on the class reading chart. She didn't win the spelling bee perhaps she can win the reading trophy. Then a new boy arrives. He is also subjected to racial taunts because he is thought to be 'Chinese'. In fact he was born in the US.

Meanwhile Lila seems to have found a new friend. A pretty and popular girl named Sue Ellen. Young modern readers might be shocked when they read that Trudie cannot be invited to Sue Ellen's birthday party because as a Jewish child and so she is not allowed into the Colburn Country Club. The new boy, Jerry Braswell, who lives next door also used to be her friend but then he joined up with Daniel Reynolds. They taunt the girls and one day they throw water bombs at them on their way home:

Only red balloons, scattered

in little pieces all over the street

along with my trust

in mothers who understand

Trudie loves doing things with her father. Her mother is always distracted by the baby. They decide to plant a cherry tree in their garden but then Trudie comes home one day and the little plant has been destroyed. Not long after this her father has a dreadful accident and he can no longer work.

Her father does not tell Trudie much about the holocaust but he does offer some wisdom:

"He says 'hate' starts with separation and grows bigger, until it turns to stones angry people throw through windows. ... Daddy doesn't like the way I say that word 'different'. Doesn't like when it pulls people apart, puts some on a pedestal and others in the dirt."

"In my life ... I've seen people turn their backs when others suffer. But today ... true neighbours show me the best of what people can be."

I read My Name is Hamburger on a Kindle but this 2022 book is still available in paperback. Here is an interview with Jacqueline Jules. And here is a review from the Jewish Book Council.

Bookseller blurb: Trudie Hamburger is the only Jewish kid living in the small southern town of Colburn in 1962. Nobody else at her school has a father who speaks with a German accent or a last name that means chopped meat. Trudie doesn't want to be the girl who cries when Daniel Reynolds teases her. Or the girl who hides in the library to avoid singing Christian songs in music class. She doesn't want to be different. But over the course of a few pivotal months, as Trudie confronts her fears and embraces what she loves--including things that make her different from her classmates--she finally finds a way to say her name with pride.

The Probability of Everything by Sarah Everett

Dear Reader,
If you are reading this, then chances are that 

our world has ended.

"My name is Kemi Carter, and I'm a scientist .... My favorite type of science is the science of probability. Probability is pretty great because it tells you how likely something is to happen or not happen. It is a way of predicting the world."

BREAKING NEWS: MASSIC ASTERIOD ALTERS PATH, NOW ON COURSE TO MEET EARTH! NASA RELEASES STATMENT: DO NOT PANIC! PRESS CONFERENCE TO BE HELD IN THIRTY MINUTES!

"How long did we have until the end of the world?"

Kemi knows the world is about to end. This is huge and impossible to process so she decides to collect a box of treasures so that the people who come next have some idea about her life and the lives of various members of her family. 

Begin here with this video by Colby Sharp - "this book is blowing everyone's mind" ... "this is the best book to read when you know nothing about it!" ...  "You are in for the ride of your life."

Colby also says do not read the back cover (blurb) - luckily I was not able to do this because I read the ebook of The Probability of Everything.

Now listen (just play it without the image) to this video where the reviewer explains it is best to come to this book knowing nothing about the plot. This review is 9 minutes and at the end the librarian says she would like one million dollars so she could buy this book for everyone - surely that makes you curious about this story.

This book will shock and shake you - it is utterly fabulous but any more plot points will spoil it. I will however list a few text quotes:

"A sudden chill entered the room. It was Narnia cold, the kind of cold that makes your bones ache, and I shivered. The front door creaked like it had been left open, and I wondered if that was the reason for the cold."

"Amplus ... has a 84.7 percent chance of hitting us."

"When Mrs Wallace had taught us about asteroids, I hadn't really considered the possibility of one colliding with us. It was kind of the way I hadn't paid too much attention to our lesson on Tasmanian devils because I knew they were only in Australia."

"Would Baby Z be born before the asteroid hit? Mom was only five months pregnant, which meant the world would have to last another four months at least, if we were ever going to meet the baby. We didn't even know if we had four hours."

"... the end of the world might sound like a whoosh, like a thunderclap, or like a peaceful silence."

"Four days meant less than a full week of school. It meant we would never meet Baby Z, that I would never have two sisters instead of one. It meant the world would end on a Thursday."

"There has to be a way to make sure they don't forget all about us."

"I'm make a time capsule ... If I save all the most important stuff, the things we love the most, then nobody has to feel so sad about the end of the world. ... If I saved one thing that was precious to each member of my family, then something that was part of them - something that they loved - would always be here. It wouldn't be destroyed by the asteroid, and the next earthlings could find it and know about us."

What are some things to put in a time capsule:

• Photographs
• Newspaper clippings
• Favourite books (Kemi likes The One and Only Ivan; Charlotte's web and Where the wild things are).
• List of movies or tv shows you love
• A mobile phone
• Food (that won't spoil) 
• Clothes
• A map of your town showing all your favorite places
• Letters between you and your loved ones

ONLY after you have read this book (yes you do need to read it) you might look at a few reviews such as this one from Kirkus (star review). 

Awards:

• NPR Books We Love 2023 
• Publishers Weekly Best of 2023 
• Winner of the Governor General's Literary Awards for Young People's Literature

This review by Betsy (my blogging/reviewing hero) contains spoilers - WAIT - read the book first please!

And while I’m generally a pretty slow reader, I devoured this baby immediately. How could I not? Sarah Everett wrestles with an outsized and ambitious bit of plotting, all the while keeping her cards close to her chest. Here’s some advice: Hand this to kids that like their books with a bit of a twist. And do NOT skip to the ending and read that first. You will live to regret it if you do. Betsy Bird

Companion book:

Wishtree

Born behind bars by Padma Venkatraman

You might like to begin with my discussion of The Bridge Home also by Padma Venkatraman. Born Behind Bars is not a sequel but it has the same setting and themes. 

Kabir has spent his whole life in jail. In the months before he was bor,n his mother was accused of theft from the house where she worked as a maid. A new warden arrives and Kabir, who only nine years old, is sent out alone to live in the community. A man arrives at the jail claiming to be Kabir's uncle but he is one of the people another jail inmate - Grandma Knife - has warned him about:

"All I know it your mother's a good judge of character - and that's a gift she passed on to you. So if something doesn't feel right, trust yourself and run as fast as that mouse."

When the man tries to sell Kabir - he runs away and luckily his running takes him to Rani. Rani is another street kid. She is wise. She is kind. She is a survivor. With her help Kabir now needs to find his grandparents and then find a way to set his mother free.

This compelling novel develops at a brisk pace, advanced by evocative details and short chapters full of action.  A gritty story filled with hope and idealism. Kirkus Star review

This is a story about finding where you belong, the wonder of family, and the desperation of so many children on the streets of India.  Here's our chance to walk in someone else's shoes, to be grateful for our good fortune, and perhaps to ask the question, "How can we help?" A book and a hug

Hear the author read an extract from her book here. In this interview Padma talks to Nerdy Book Club. In this video (4 minutes) Colby Sharp talks about Born Behind Bars.  He says, and I agree wholeheartedly, "I love all of the white space."  It makes this book so easy to read. In this video Padma reads the first page of her book. 

Companion reads:

The Warden's Daughter

A Cardboard Palace - Young Adult book

Girl of the Southern Sea

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Helpful Staff

There was no greater feeling in the world than reading those words. 

Let's begin with the cover of Front Desk. I really like the US (Scholastic) one but I don't think the one offered here (Walker Books) in Australia will appeal to readers. I do hope I am wrong.  Which cover do you like? I wish I had been in the meeting when Walker Books were discussing changing the cover. I would have argued to keep the original. My copy is the Walker one but if I was putting this book into my library I think I might print the US cover and perhaps attach it to inside of the book to show students a different view of this story. If you click the review at the end of this post you can read how Mr Schu actually cried when he saw the cover because he thought it was so perfect!

Mia has recently arrived from China with her parents, with big dreams and with very little money. After a series of horrible jobs her parents apply to manage a motel - The Calivista.

"The Topaz Inn and Lagoon Hotel were right next door and bigger, but I immediately decided I like our little motel the best. ... Our lives were about to change. We were going to become Disneyland-going people. As if things couldn't get any better, the Calivista had a pool! ... This was going to be amazing."

You have probably guessed that none of this dream comes true for Mia. The motel owner is a cruel bully who swindles the family out of the money they were promised, he bans them from using the pool and for every minute of every day some one must 'man' the front desk of the motel so there can be no family outings to anywhere least of all Disneyland.

Mia will not be defeated. She is a problem solver. She is hard working. She does make mistakes but she learns from them and is never defeated. There has to be a way to make things better for everyone but most especially for her parents who had such dreams for their new life in America.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The authentic voice of Mia still lingers with me. I love the connection (explained in the final pages) between this story and the real life experiences of the author. Having started this book one morning I raced home later in the day and continued reading it very late into the night. This is one of those books you cannot put down. There were times, as a I read, that I just want to reach out and help Mia navigate her complex life circumstances or at the very least reach out and give Mia a hug.  Luckily there are some kind "weeklies" living at the motel who do offer help and understanding.

As you know I rarely rate books but I give Front Desk a score of ten out of ten. You can see Kelly Yang talking about her book here in a short Scholastic video. You can read an interview with Kelly here by Kids Book Review. You can read a text extract here and listen to Kelly Yang talk about the real life inspiration for this story.

Read some reviews here if you need more plot details :

Kirkus Star Review
Ms Yingling Reads - this is a very comprehensive review
Horn Book
Mr Schu Reads


Front Desk is testament to how a great story can grab you by the heart and never quite let go. Asian Review of Books

Stella by Starlight by Sharon M Draper

"Red fire. Black cross. White hoods. They're here. Now,' ... It was 1932, in the little town ... Every negro family in Bumblebee knew the unwritten rules."

I love the name Bumblebee North Carolina - there is no such town but I felt compelled to check - when you read Stella by Starlight you will feel as though you have visited this small community in 1932 so vivid is the writing of Sharon M Draper.

Every aspect of Stella's life is affected by the racial discrimination of this time.  There is only one African American doctor for example.  Tony, the son of Dr Hawkins, observers : "It's hard to live like there's a boot in your back every second of your life." The white doctor even has a sign on his door WHITE PATIENTS ONLY.  When Stella's mother, Georgia, is bitten by a snake he refuses to help and Stella's mother almost dies.  These are scenes towards the end of the book and I actually had to stop reading because I was so afraid for Stella's precious mum.

Stella loves to read and wants to write but feels she lacks the skill.  Another unfair aspect of life in 1932, Stella is not allowed to visit the public library but she does have writing all over her house.  Her mother papers the walls with newspaper articles.  Her father reads three newspapers each day "Gotta know what's goin' on in the world,' he reminded Stella when she'd ask why one paper wasn't enough." But Stella is an observant child and she notices "colored people were rarely mentioned in those ... newspapers."  When she and a friend look through the Sears and Roebuck catalog she says "Did you notice - I don't see eve one single person who looks like us in this big old book."

Apart from the horror of the Klan and the extreme fear felt by the citizens of color in this community another aspect of this book relates to rights and in particular the right to vote.  If you are working on a unit about democracy you might like to use chapter 22.  Three men from the town, including Stella's father, travel to Amherst to register to vote.  Stella goes along with them.  The men are ridiculed by the town official and then told to take a fifteen minute written test. They even have to pay for this privilege.  Meanwhile some white men walk into the same office and all that is required a simple signature on a form.  Stella is enraged. Then the men from Bumblebee are told to come back in a week.

"Mr Spencer sat down on the floor. After a moment, Stella's father and Pastor Patton joined him." They sit on the floor of the office until their test is graded.  The consequence of this action is truly awful - the Klan burn down the Spencer home and endanger their thirteen children.  You will cheer, though, when you read how the whole town including some of the white citizens unite to assist the family.  Stella is called a hero when finds six year old Hazel who has run away in fear and the Spencer's give her a typewriter which came with the donations given to the family after the fire. Using a typewriter gives Stella the motivation to keep working on her writing.

All through this book we see Stella's writing progress but she is full of self doubt. I love the words of encouragement from Stella's mother :

"I'm a dunce?' Stella said, fear clutching her chest.
'Quite the opposite. You are an amazing thinker - a gemstone hiding inside a rock."

Stella is a very talented writer.  Here are some samples from her work :

"I've got thick black hair, and bushy caterpillar-looking eyebrows. When I look in the mirror, I don't see pretty, I just see me."

"At the mill ... they take sawdust and turn that into paper. Those big old trees become books and notebooks and newspapers. Dust becomes words. I like that."

"My papa voted. He is a pebble. Lots of pebbles make a landslide, right? His vote counted."


Watch this video where Sharon explains her family inspiration for this important story which is a snapshot of history.  Click here to listen to an audio sample from Chapter 17.  Here is a thoughtful review which will give you more plot details.  The author web site will give you further insight into this important and award winning book.  Here are a set of teaching notes.  If I have not convinced you that Stella by Starlight is a special and important book - read this review from the Nerdy Book Club - now!!

After or even before reading Stella by Starlight I recommend you read the picture book Goin' someplace special by Patricia McKissack and the novels Kissy Ann Stamps, Mississippi bridge by Mildred D Taylor and Walking to the bus rider blues by Harriet Robinet.

Stella by Starlight is not at all like Sharon's earlier book Out of my mind but you will want to read this one too I am sure. It was one of my top books this year.

Draper expertly creates a character filled with hope, dreams and ambition in a time when such traits were 

dangerous for a girl of color.