BIBLIOGRAPHY
Yep, Laurence. 2000. Cockroach cooties. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.
PLOT SUMMARY
When eight-year-old Bobby insults Arnie, the school bully known as Arnie-zilla, Teddy attempts to walk away and let Bobby “learn how to deal with problems on his own”. However, family responsibility wins out and Teddy saves Bobby and brings the wrath of Arnie-zilla down on his head also. The two brothers attempt to deal with Arnie but are unsuccessful until Bobby inadvertently discovers Arnie’s fear of bugs—especially cockroaches. Bobby adopts a cockroach and names it Hercules, and, with the help of Charlie, the Bug Lady who lives in their building, Bobby tries to get Teddy to see the world through the eyes of Hercules. While celebrating their Mom’s birthday at a Chinese restaurant, Uncle Mat finds a cockroach in his food and Bobby is sad when they kill the cockroach. When they arrive at home Bobby realizes that the cockroach at the restaurant was not Hercules, unfortunately his father ends up killing Hercules so Bobby mourns his death twice. The boys are now worried since they do not have anything to scare Arnie with. Bobby remembers Charlie’s cookies—the ones with a secret ingredient guaranteed to win the war with Arnie. Bobby and Teddy talk to Arnie and realize that he does not have a stable happy household and he bullies others in order to cover up his own insecurities. The story is filled with funny scenes and teaches a lesson about bullies.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)
Cockroach Cooties is a story about a Chinese American family living in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Although the characters’ heritage is shown throughout the story, their background is not the main emphasis of the story. The only reference about the appearance of the character is the picture of two books with Chinese heritage that is on the cover of the book. The family lives in Chinatown, and the boys attend a school where they have a one-hour Chinese lesson every day. The Chinese characters are used in the classroom “When I tried to write the Chinese character, everyone laughed.” (p. 31) Unlike her students, their teacher, Miss Lee, “liked to wear Chinese-style dresses that had a slit up one leg” and “liked the old-fashioned Chinese discipline, too”. (p.29)
When the family goes to a Chinatown restaurant to celebrate Teddy and Bobby’s mom’s birthday, there is reference to the behavior of a Chinatown waiter—“You just didn’t say things like that to a Chinatown waiter. It was like ordering around the president.” (p. 77) The food that the family eats at the restaurant appears to be traditional Chinese food—paper-wrapped chicken, fish in a black bean sauce, and a prawn dish “arranged so the prawns seemed to be dancing together in the center”.(p. 78) Bobby’s Uncle Mat ate the eyeball of the fish, which is considered a delicacy in some families.
There is no reference to dialect or traditional languages in the book, and the language patterns of the Chinese American characters are no different than the dialect and language found in books with characters from other countries. The names of the characters are not noticeably Chinese. The only reference to an accent or varying dialect is found in the words of the stall owner in Chinatown. His responses to the boys include “ver-ree han-dee”, “ver-ree love-lee”, and ver-ree use-ful”, intimating a strong accent that is not seen in the other characters.(p. 15)
Throughout the book, Yep incorporates images of San Francisco’s Chinatown and the life of a typical Chinese American family. The family’s dedication to education and each other is obvious as Teddy and Bobby deepen their brotherly bond and Teddy begins to see the world through the eyes of others.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Publisher’s Weekly. Full of the sights and sounds of San Francisco’s Chinatown, the tale zips along at a brisk pace, percolating with snappy dialogue. A seasoned craftsman, Yep (Dragonwings; The Imp Who Ate My Homework) effortlessly shoehorns in fun facts about insects (”Did you know that cockroaches have two brains?” Bobby asks the hapless Arnie as he pursues him with Hercules). An altogether chipper outing.
School Library Journal. Set in the Chinatown section of San Francisco, this modern-day tale is about two brothers, eight and nine, previously featured in Later, Gator (Hyperion, 1995). Teddy, the older child, narrates. Bobby feels responsible for getting Teddy involved with a treacherous bully at school, so he devises a plan to scare the fiend with a cockroach that he obtains from “The Bug Lady,” a neighbor studying entomology. The plan is effective until the roach meets with an unfortunate end, but Bobby has a new secret plan that brings Arnie to his knees. Eventually, they realize that his tough attitude is a result of uncaring parents and a difficult home life, and a tentative friendship is formed.
CONNECTIONS
With the fun facts about insects thrown in, this is a great read-aloud for students to hear during a study of insects and/or etymology.
Look for these other stories with an Asian/Pacific American cultural influence:
Yep, Laurence. The magic paintbrush.
Namioka, Lensey. Yang the youngest and his terrible ear
Na, An. A step from Heaven. ISBN 9780142500279
Kadohata, Cynthia. Kira-kira. ISBN 9780689856402
Park, Linda Sue. A single shard. ISBN 9780440418511
A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: the Sammy Lee Story. Paula Yoo, Lee & Loo Books, Inc., New York 2005
B. PLOT SUMMARY
Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds is a story about a young Korean boy Sammy that discovers that he loves to dive. Unfortunately Sammy is not allowed to swim in the community pool except for one day of the week. He does not let discrimination get in the way of becoming a diver. He dreams of participating in the Olympics and faces another obstacle, his father wants him to become a doctor and quit wasting his time practicing diving. They come to an agreement Sammy will continue his education and become a doctor and he will continue practicing his diving.
During this time Sammy also served in the US Army during WWII, but he never forgot his dream of becoming an Olympic athlete. In 1946, Sammy got permission from the US Army and competed in the 1946 National Diving Championship. In 1948, Sammy was on the US Olympic Diving team, where he won the Gold and the Bronze metal in diving. In 1952, Sammy came back and defended his Olympic title with another Gold medal. Sammy was the first Asian American to win an Olympic medal and also the first male diver to win gold medals at consecutive Olympics for the same event.
C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)
Paula Yoo writes the story about Sammy Lee a young Korean boy that faces many obstacles to become the first Asian American to win an Olympic medal. The story
allows the reader to see the Korean culture sharing their beliefs, dreams and obstacles that immigrants faced.
Discrimination was an obstacle that Sammy Lee faced throughout his life. “The sign at the swimming pool read, MEMBERS ONLY. The sign meant that only whites were permitted to enter even though it was a public pool.” (p.1) This was the practice in 1932. Paula Yoo transports her readers back through time to the bad old days of segregation;
“Despite his academic and athletic success, Sammy still faced discrimination. During his senior year of high school, Sammy could not attend his own prom.” (p. 12)
Sammy Lee’s father, who "left Korea for a better life in America," wants his son to be a doctor. Sammy wants to be an Olympic champion. Sammy fulfills both his father’s goal and his own.
He had to put up with discrimination because of his lack of education. “Then one afternoon Sammy witnessed a rude customer berating his father at the restaurant. “(p.13)
“Despite his achievements, Sammy continued to face discrimination. Once after performing at a diving exhibition with his friends, Sammy was forbidden from entering a restaurant to have dinner with them. And Sammy was still restricted from using some pools except on assigned days.” (p. 16)
Sammy’s parents had come to America to follow their dream of a better life. “In America, Sammy father said, “you can achieve anything if you set your heart to it.” (p.6)
Sammy’s dream to winning an Olympic medal was the driving force that made him a strong determined young man. “He no longer wanted to win just for himself. He wanted to win to prove that no one should be judged by the color of his or her skin.” (20)
“The crowd roared. Voices filled the cavernous stadium, but all Sammy could hear were his father’s words: “In America, you can achieve anything if you set your heart to it. (p. 26)
The story does not have any connections with the Korean culture that deals with food or physical image. The illustrations do have Korean characteristics with dark hair, eyes and skin color. The Language that is used is all English.
D. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Kirkus
The title refers to the 16 years he trained for the 16 seconds it took to perform his winning dive. This hero's inspirational story demonstrates determination and dedication by a man who never gave up and is still an active athlete today at the age of 84."
Publishers Weekly
Touching on themes of discrimination and determination, this motivational tale concludes with an author's note that provides details of Sammy's post-Olympic life."
E. CONNECTIONS
Use a case study to raise your group's understanding and awareness of discrimination. Begin with a real example, if you can find one that is age appropriate. Read the case together and go over the details to make certain everyone understands. Ask group members to identify the relevant facts; following the "fact or feeling" exercise, make certain they can verify the facts and distinguish them from opinion. As the group discusses the case, listen for comments that suggest a lack of understanding or a tendency to excuse discrimination. Encourage them to explain their thoughts.
http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/index_uk.asp
They Olympic Games office website
Biography of Olympian Dr. Sammy Lee
http://www.super-cool-products.com/thesammysporttowels/biographydrsammylee.html
A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Say, Allen. 1982. The Bicycle Man: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-395-32254-5
B. PLOT SUMMARY
A schoolyard filled with students and parents are participating in a sportsday. The children are on teams and they are playing games like tug of war and piggyback races. The parents also paired up and had a three legged race. Two American soldiers appear and are leaning over the fence observing the festivities. The children and adults are staring at them; they had never seen them on their mountain. One of the soldiers comes toward them and asked to borrow a bicycle. The principal lets him borrow his. He starts riding the bicycle and does the most amazing tricks on it. The red haired soldier acts as a ringmaster shouting encouragement. Everyone is astonished they have never seen anything like this before. After the bicycle show they decide to award the largest box from the prize table to the two soldiers.
C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)
Say’s description of the island is detailed, “The schoolhouse stood halfway up a tall green mountain.” “From the playground we could see the town, the ships in the harbor, the shining sea” (p.1) it helps the reader visualize the setting.
Another cultural marker is the food “The layers of lacquered boxes held picked melon rinds and egg rolls, spiced rice and fish cakes. Here were apples and peaches and sweets of all sorts. (p. 13). The illustration on p. 14 shows the people using chopsticks, the trays that hold the food and tea kettles. The boxes filled with food are stacked on top of each other. The shoes are removed and are placed outside of the mat.
The formal greeting is also a part of Japanese culture “The principal walked up to the American and bowed.” (p. 20)
The only time that Japanese language is used is on p. 34 “Ari-ga-tow, ari-ga-tow,” he said. “Thank you, thank you”
The illustrations use the dark hair and eyes for the Japanese children and adults, the banner has Japanese writing, and the clothing is mostly American with shorts and button down shirts, some of the adults are wearing traditional kimonos. The principal is wearing a suit.
D. REVIEW EXCERPTS
A Kirkus Reviews critic called the book a "delightful story"
Karla Kuskin, New York Times Book Review
"a master of his art." Noting that the author/illustrator wields a pen "as unerring as his eye," Kuskin added that Say's images of the Japanese schoolyard are "alive with wonderfully individual children and adults."
E. CONNECTIONS
Students can research WWII and the effect that it had on the Japanese and Americans.
Invite a member of the police department to talk to the students about bicycle safety and host a bicycle rodeo.
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/allensay/
Officials Publisher’s site for Allen Say
