THE NOTABLE BOOKS FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY PROJECT 1

The Notable Books For a Global Society Project

Alexis Hopkins and Brianna Richards
Washington State University

Introduction:
THE NOTABLE BOOKS FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY PROJECT 2

This is an examination of eight books that have received the award for the Notable Books
for Global Society before the year 2018. We will only be analyzing eight books, there are a lot
more books that have received the award and been honor books for the Notable Books for Global
Society. The books that we read were published between the years of 2006-2015. Throughout
this paper we will be discussing what the purpose of this assignment is, the steps that we took to
complete the assignment, our definition of what multicultural literature is, and how our definition
has evolved over the completion of this assignment. We will also be presenting in this paper a
summary of each of the books along with their strengths and weaknesses as well as a critique of
one of those eight books. The book that we chose to thoroughly critique will be the one that we
would use in our classroom as well as two honor books. Throughout this paper we will have a
better understanding of what is multicultural literature and how we can bring these books in the
classroom and use them to teach our students on different cultures that they may have never been
exposed to before.

Purpose of this Assignment:

The purpose of this assignment was to learn how to evaluate multicultural literature
books using the Notable Books for Global Society criteria as well as gain a better understanding
of what multicultural literature as compared to what we thought it was. Our job as future
educators is to be able to provide my students with all types of different books, which also
includes multicultural books. Multicultural books are not provided in classrooms as much today
because they are topics that society does not want to discuss. The students that we will have in
our futures classrooms will be surrounded by culture in their everyday lives so it is extremely
important for students to have books that they can learn about different cultures to have better
understanding of those around them. Students from other cultures could feel left out or not as
important if a teacher chooses to ignore certain cultures and only focus on the American culture
because it is the easiest for them to understand. It is our job as a teachers to be able to provide
insight on the different types of cultures within my classroom and outside of my classroom. Both
of us had very little knowledge of multicultural literature before this assignment other than it was
literature about different cultures. Learning about multicultural books it opened a new door to a
lot of different books that should be read within the classroom. All of these books have great
moral value as well as information about the culture and what the culture is like. This assignment
also helps us as future teachers because we are getting a jump start on all the different cultures
there are to explore. We are also able to evaluate multicultural books and what makes them a
good book to have in the classroom.

Steps in completing this assignment:

We started this assignment by looking ahead at what was to be done. Then we figured out
what type of books that we would like to read so that we could start reading immediately. We did
so by going on Blackboard and looking at the lists of books that could be read and picked ones
that seemed interesting to us. We then split up the reading so that we both read four books each
THE NOTABLE BOOKS FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY PROJECT 3

and then met up together to talk about our books in detail so the other had knowledge of all
books. We then either checked them out at the library or rented them online and read them on
our laptops. While we read our books we took very detailed notes while also making notes about
how the book matched up with the NBGS criteria before we met to discuss the books. After
going over each book in detail with each other, we then decided on our winner and then our two
honors. After I read all of the books we began to write our paper taking turns on different tasks
that we were to complete.

My own definition of multicultural:

Before to completing this assignment we both had very little knowledge of multicultural
literature. The previous knowledge of multicultural was just from reading the word and
recognizing multi as more than one so therefore it was more than one culture. After reading the
in more detail about what multicultural literature is from the textbook we came upon the
realization that it isn’t just for people of color, it also has to do with religious groups as well as
people with intellectual and physical challenges (Tunnell, M. O., Jacobs, J. S., Young, T. A., &
Bryan, G, (2016), p 211). Multicultural books can allow children to learn about other cultures
and help sensitize them of those cultures. Growing up, there weren’t very many multicultural
books in the classrooms that we attended, at least not like the ones that we are reading from the
NBGS list. Multicultural literature must go into deep detail about one or several different
cultures or ethnic groups that are in a society. The information that is coming from these types of
texts must be researched in great detail so that the facts are true and are credible to the reader. It
is important for multicultural text to be able to present the struggles’, beliefs, and experiences
through text so that a student can relate more to the text and be able to compare different cultures
while reading. Throughout this semester we have learned how extremely important it is to bring
those types of texts into the classroom and expose our students to other cultures. Most
classrooms are very diverse and it is important to include all cultures so no person is singled out.
Our definition of multicultural has further developed from doing this assignment.We now
have a better understanding of how important these books are to have in our classrooms. We
have also learned what types of characteristics make a multicultural book able to be a NBGS
award winner by the criteria that we have looked at and learned to use. One of the characteristic
that was learned to be a NBGS winner is the intellectual and problem solving abilities, and
leadership and cooperation of the culture within the text. Another aspect of the NBGS award is
that the book should include an interesting style or language including details like images that
could bring the text to life, which we previously had not known about before doing this
assignment. Also including text that is within the native tongue from that different culture can
allow the reader to have a deeper understanding of the culture and connect more with the text
itself. We learned that there are so many different aspects that fall under multicultural literature
and how interesting all the books were that we read. While reading these books it was a lot of fun
to be able to learn about different cultures that as advanced readers, we didn’t know much detail
about. As said previously, we were able to learn how important these type of texts are to have in
THE NOTABLE BOOKS FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY PROJECT 4

our classroom and as future teachers, it is guaranteed that we will have them in our classrooms
now.

Summaries

Alexie, S. (2007). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Art by Ellen Forney.
Boston: Little, Brown Young Readers.
Summary: This story is a not only multicultural but also very constroveral. The author has a
sense of humor that makes some harsh topics in the book seem a little lighter and easier to talk
about. The story starts off with the main character Junior, struggling to find his place of where he
fits in by being half Indian and half Caucasian. When Junior decides to go to this all Caucasian
school off the reservation he soon realizes that he feels like he does not belong in either his
reservation school or this new Caucasian school. Junior in the end, realizes he does not need to
strictly resonate with just being part Indian or part Caucasian, but that he can belong with both
and be his own person.
Strengths: This book touches on very real topics that affect certain families every day
and show the realistic life on Indian reservations. The topic of alcoholism or eating
disorders like anorexia, could help some students who have seen these issues in their
family/friends help relate more to the book and appreciate the humorous way the author
brings this subject up. This book is in a diary/letter format so it make reading this chapter
book easy to read with the use of cartoon-like pictures to back up the text.
Weaknesses: This book brings up controversial topics that some schools would not be
allowed to have students read or parents that would support reading this book. This book
is also on the ALA Most Challenged List for bringing up controversial topics like
masturbation, the use profanity, and being very sexually explicit. This book would need
to be reviewed by the teacher and made sure there was consent to teach this book.

Boyne, J. (2006). The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. New York, NY: David Fickling.
Summary: This story is set in a time where there was many concentration camps during
World War II and when Hitler was in power. An unusual friendship is formed between
two little boys. The son of a German SS officer (Bruno) and a Jewish boy (Shmuel) stuck
in the Auschwitz internment camp. Bruno’s dad is a typical SS German officer that
supports Adolf Hitler and even invites him to their house for dinner. The boys are both
separated by a fence also symbolizing one side being freedom and one side being
enslavement. Bruno lives in a house with his family near the camp, brings food to
Shmuel, and becomes friends with the Jewish boy in striped pajamas by visiting with him
at the fence. Bruno struggles to understand why Shmuel and his are treated different.The
ending is a very sad one, where Shmuel asks Bruno to help him find his dad in the camp.
Bruno then pretends to be a Jewish boy and tries to help Shmuel find his dad, only for
both of them to be killed in the gas chamber together.
THE NOTABLE BOOKS FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY PROJECT 5

Strengths: This book is a fictional tale but can be a great way to show and connect to a
part of history that happened. It also shows the power of friendship and love does not
care who you are or what cultural/religious background you come from. It also stresses
how horrible this time period was for Jewish people and how it should never be repeated.
Weaknesses: This book has a harsh ending that is very unexpected and very hard to read
about two children dying together in a gas chamber. Some might say this book was too
graphic on making the two boys die in the gas chamber and describing how that process
went.

Konigsberg, B. (2013). Openly Straight. New York, NY: Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine

Books.
Summary: In this book, the author is straight to the point about the main character (Rafe) being
gay and ready for his new life at college. He is struggling to be open about his sexuality and
often lies that he is straight. Rafe has only told his parents and they often get in fights but in the
end only want him to be happy and even throw him a surprise party with his friends. Rafe finds
comfort in writing about what he is going through in his Literature class and finds that it helps
him work out issues he is dealing with in college. Rafe starts to get close to his friend Ben and
even start to be like a couple. Rafe deals with so much hate from people calling him gay and sees
that Ben is struggling to own up and accept that he might like boys. Rafe not only finds support
with calling his mom he starts attending G.S.A meetings to talk to other guys like him about
opening up more about being gay and owning who he really is.
Strengths: This story can help readers just like Rafe feel comfortable with who they are. Also,
this story can bring awareness and support the community of homosexuals and to show that they
are regular human beings who deserve love. It also brings a positive way to heal and get through
hard situations through writing and to write out what you are feeling. It does give
awareness/support to topics that a lot of college students might experience including mental
illness, struggling with drinking/ partying, and struggling to own your own sexuality.
Weaknesses: This story has explicit language about sexual awakening some experiences in
college, the hard realities of depression, and the negative effects of underage drinking/partying.
These topics are controversial still and to some may be too inappropriate and uncomfortable to
read for some.

Murphy, J. (2015). Weaknesses Breakthrough: How three people saved “blue babies”
and changed medicine forever. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Summary: This nonfiction book in set in 1944, where medicine is starting to advance but
so is who can be in the medicine field. The story follows a new heart operation that can
help fix a congenital heart defect (blue baby syndrome) on baby, Eileen Saxon. The
operation was performed by the doctor Alfred Blalock, and with the help of his African
American lab assistant, Vivien Thomas. This story shows readers how Alford and Vivien
had to take risks to do this operation and keep in mind that this new operation could fail.
THE NOTABLE BOOKS FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY PROJECT 6

Both of them had faith in each to try this operation to help medicine advance and to try to
save more babies that are affected by this defect. The story shows that it took both
Alfold’s technique as a surgeon and Vivien’s instruction of how to remove the defect to
successfully complete the operation. The success of this operation helped other doctors in
the future come up with new safe ways to perform surgery and do even riskier operations
like open-heart surgery.
Strengths: This book can help spark interest in students that like medicine or are
interested in saving lives. The book has a character that is the doctors lab assistant who is
African American which is uncommon in the 1940s. It also gives support and hope to
people of color that anyone can be in the medicine field no matter what race you are. The
book also encourages people to follow their passion no matter how hard it might be. The
story's main strength shows that it takes a team to successfully tackle a hard obstacle.
Weaknesses: A weakness of this book is that is might not be appealing to students who
don’t see the topic of medicine interesting or relatable. Also, students/readers might not
like this book because this book is nonfiction which some find this genre boring to read.

Sis, P. (2007). The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain. New York, NY: Farrar
Straus & Giroux.
Summary: This book tells of the time in history where Communism divided countries
such as the Soviet Union and much of Eastern side of the world whose leader was Joseph
Stalin. In this autobiography, the author Peter Sis explains how growing up in the
communist era where is dominated his country, Prague. Peter goes into detail about his
experiences during the Cold War actually as a child and growing up with no information
from the Western side of the world. Peter explains as a child he was told what to do and
what to believe and needed to support communism. There was no tolerance for Peter and
most of Prague to have their own opinions. “The Wall” was the Berlin Wall that
seperated the East from the Western influences such as the modern and popular 1920s-
1970s culture. Peter writes that he secretly had to sneak banned books to his room to read
and was secretly apart of a rock band. He was curious of why the East side of the wall
was closed off from the rest of the world that seemed to have endless possibilities and
freedom. Peter shares his life story through beautiful artwork sketches created by himself
in a way all children can understand with the use of timelines.
Strengths: This story shows readers how people lived in a time where limitations and
restrictions were normal. This book’s strength is that freedom is something people take
for granted sometimes and brings awareness that there are parts in this world where
freedom was not a thing. This story could bring up topics to discuss with children that
freedom in some countries is still not a reality and to be grateful for the right to be free.
Weaknesses: The story shows Communism in a way that is very negative with the use of
military forcing people to be all the same/equal and to not be apart of the West. Some
THE NOTABLE BOOKS FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY PROJECT 7

parents might not feel comfortable reading this book to their kids because of how much
information it could be for a children of a certain age.

Tan, S. (2007). The Arrival. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Summary: This graphic novel that has no written words, it shows the story and struggles
of an immigrant man in the late 1900s. This immigrant man must leave his home and
family to go find some better opportunities. He is traveling by train and ship with many
other immigrants looking very concerned on where he might be going. He arrives in
another country where the author draws that a ticket man that looks confused and
frustrated at the immigrant man. He is not sure what he is saying because he doesn’t
know what language he is speaking. The immigrant man shows his old ID and is forced
to take a new picture for his new ID and is very sad looking. He tries to unpack and make
himself at home in his new place and misses being with his family. Seasons go by and the
story ends with what looks like his family arriving with a map to go find him.
Strengths: The story shows readers an immigrant's perspective on what life is like and
how hard it can be to not understand anything people are saying. The book’s also makes
the reader feel like an immigrant by not being able to really communicate and know in
words what the book is trying to relay.
Weaknesses: The story has no words and is a weakness because each reader could
mistake or come up with whatever ending they think based on the pictures and not get the
main point of the story about immigration. There is no written word to clarify the story
and could confuse readers. Also, this book would not be a great book for children to
practice their reading/vocabulary skills with having no words in it.

Williams, K. L.& Mohammed, K. (2007). Four Feet, Two Sandals. Illustrated by Doug
Chayka. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Summary: This children’s picture book follows the friendship of two refugee girls in
Afghanistan, named Lina and Feroza. Lina happened to grab one sandel from the refugee
cart that had clothes in it but couldn’t find the other sandel. Lina ran into a girl named
Feroza who was wearing the other sandel but Feroza took her sandel and left.Feroza finds
Lina to give back the sandals and Llina offers for them to share. They take turns every
other day wearing the pair of sandals. They both bond over not having their parents
around because the war killed them. Lina’s name is on the refugee’s list to move to
America but Feroza’s name isn’t. Feroza gives Lina her sandals so she wouldn’t go to
America barefoot. Lina gets a new pair a sandals but Feroza suggests that Lina keep one
old sandel and Feroza keeps the other sandal to remember each other. They both hope to
share the sandals together in America when Feroza gets there.
Strengths: This is a great book to show readers and children different cultures in the
Middle East and what being a refugee is like. A strength of this book is that is can be a
great book for ELLs that speak Arabic because it has some Arabic words mixed in the
THE NOTABLE BOOKS FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY PROJECT 8

story with the English translation. This book does a great job on showing the power of
friendship even in the worst conditions and the kindness two friends hold on to even
when separated.
Weaknesses: A weakness is some parents may not want their children to read this book
because it talks about the wars killing their parents and the fear of war. Some American
families may not want to read to their children about the refugees especially so soon after
the war between America and Afghanistan.

Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. New York, NY: Penguin/Nancy Paulsen.
Summary: This novel is written in verse form and starts off in Columbus, Ohio in
February of 1963 when Jackie Woodson was born. She born in a family with her mother
and her father along with and older sister and an older brother. She soon moves to South
Carolina with her mother and two siblings after her parents split up. They live with her
grandmother and her grandfather whom she calls “daddy.” Eventually her mother moves
to New York and has another baby and then shortly after the rest of the children move
with her. From there on out she spends her summers with her grandparents and the school
year with her mother. When she was living with her grandma while mom was away in
New York, she became a Jehovah's Witness as that is what her grandmother was. Not
only was she African-American, but also was a Jehovah’s Witness. Throughout the novel
the family moves around in New York a lot to make her mother happy but Jackie keeps
her best friend who speaks Spanish, Maria. Jackie also wishes to become a writer and
spends a majority of her time writing about equality and that everyone matters.
Strengths: This story touches on many cultures and the religion of Jehovah Witness.
This great story that gives insight on a religion that is not talked about and that the
stereotype is not just Caucasians being Jehovah Witnesses. African Americans were also
apart of this religion, but not many know this. This story is great because it shows the
power of writing and how writing can impact many people especially if you write for
what you believe in. Another strength is that the story shows even when you have to
move or change your life, you always have family and faith to help with major
transitions.
Weaknesses: The people of the Jehovah Witness faith could have a problem with how
the story described the faith and how it was portrayed in the story. A weakness of this
book is that is might not be appealing to students who don’t see these topics as interesting
or relatable. Traditional parents might not like how this book touches on some swear
words, or explanation of violent actions that happened in the 1960s era to African
Americans and civil right protesters.

NBGS Winner and two Honors:

THE NOTABLE BOOKS FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY PROJECT 9

The book that we have chosen as the winner for the Notable Books for Global Society is
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. While reading this book, we kept track of how
it would match up to the criteria for the NBGS so that we could critique what we thought about
this book.

The first criteria is: portray cultural accuracy and authenticity of characters in terms of (a)
physical characteristics, (b) intellectual abilities and problem solving capabilities, (c) leadership
and cooperative dimensions, and (d) social and economic status;
Since this book is an biography that is written by Sherman Alexie who is Junior in the
novel, it makes it so that the physical characteristics, intellectual abilities, leadership and
cooperative dimensions, and social and economic status are authentic and true. The physical
characteristics are obviously stated in details throughout the novel. Alexie writes about the older
native men who have long braids that are considered to establish their manhood. He also explains
how when he was born he had hydrocephalus which left him with a stutter and a lisp. Since
Alexie explains those intricate details of Junior as a character, it allows the reader to be able to
picture what Junior looks like as well as hear how he talks. There is also talk about Junior going
to an all white school in Reardan with the jock Roger who is 6’6”.
The intellectual abilities are displayed also. Alexie talks about how the Native Americans
are not seen as equal to the white people. It is extremely important for Junior, especially because
he is physically not a large guy, he must think of other ways to compete against the bigger boys
on the basketball team. Not only was Junior a Native American, he was also smaller which gave
him a huge disadvantage in trying to try out for the basketball team. He must use his small
stature and to beat Roger. He knew that he had to think of other ways to succeed. His abilities are
also displayed in that he had to figure out a way of transportation to and from school everyday.
Since his family did not have a lot of money he couldn’t always get driven to school by his
parents and had to ask people for rides or hitch hike. What is most displayed in this first part of
criteria is the social and economic status. When Junior was at Wellpinit, he was apart of the
regular crew. He was normal. He was surrounded by all kinds of people who were like him and
his family. When he moved to the all white school of Reardan, he was considered to be lower
class. The details in this book can help a reader see into what life is like on the reservation as a
Native American. Junior’s family was so poor that they didn’t have gas money, much like many
other families that were living on the reservation. There is a lot of talk throughout this book
about alcoholism that is on the reservation and how it is ruining people’s lives every single day.
Both of Junior’s parents as well as his sister are alcoholics and that is how his sister ended up
dying. She was so drunk that she passed out and couldn’t wake up to the fire that happened in
their house. The author was trying to make it extremely obvious that compared to the people in
Reardan, Native Americans were a lower social class. Junior was bullied constantly and called
racist names all the time. The white kids at the school did not respect Junior because of where he
came from. This also caused problems with his friends back home. His friends assumed that
because he was at an all white kids school, that he had thought he was better than the rest of the
THE NOTABLE BOOKS FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY PROJECT 10

kids who were at Wellpinit. This was a problem because Junior was being bullied on both sides
now.
More criterion that this novel meets is: be rich in cultural details; and provide in-depth
treatment of cultural issues. Both of these go hand in hand:
As stated before there are many details in this novel that provide rich detail about what
life was like on the reservation for Junior. Right off the bat Junior runs into a group of three men
who are around the age of thirty that beat up Junior and to fight back Junior’s best friends,
Rowdy, cuts off all of their braids. The braids are a huge part of the Native American culture as
this shows how the manhood of men as well as their culture. This type of fighting behavior
continues throughout the book especially when the Reardan basketball team plays Wellpinit’s
basketball team, Junior’s old high school. Junior also punches Roger in the nose when he is
being bullied by him when Junior first gets to Reardan. The fighting atmosphere is a big issue in
the Native American culture that Alexie addresses multiple times. The issue of alcoholism on the
reservation is also talked about a lot so that Alexie is able to get the point across that there is
strong alcoholism on the reservation and that is a huge reason into why Junior wanted to transfer
schools. He didn’t want to end up like everyone else and stay on the reservation and become an
alcoholic. He hoped that in transferring he would have a better life and be able to get off the
reservation and the pressures that come around it.
The criteria of honor and celebrate diversity as well as common bonds in humanity:
Alexie does a great job at ensuring the readers that even though there is a difference
between the whites and the Native Americans in school, they all come together as one united
front. The boys on Junior’s basketball team but do their best in protecting Junior from the
Wellpinit boys basketball team when they play them for a second time so that they are able to
defeat them without Junior getting hurt. Junior’s friend Penelope also helps Junior out by
donating money in both of their names after Junior was jumped when he had the money to
donate the first time. Both of the different races are able to come together and join as one to
reach a common point when it is needed. He does a great job at being able to represent the both
together and that they can work together despite their differences.
The second part of criteria that must be met for the novel to be considered a winner for
the NBGS are: Invite reflection, critical analysis, and response; demonstrate unique language or
style; meet generally-accepted criteria of quality for the genre in which they are written; have an
appealing format and be of enduring quality. We truly believe that The Absolutely True Diary of
a Part-Time Indian reach all of these other pieces. Out of all of them the appealing format is
what really makes this whole novel. Not only does Sherman Alexie write normally he also
includes pieces of drawings that Junior himself had drawn. This gives a very big insight into
Junior’s personality. Through writing alone you can grasp the type of humours and confused
personality that Junior has, but it really comes alive when you see his drawings that are displayed
in this novel. With every turn of the page you can’t help but wonder what the next drawing piece
will be, it keeps the reader engaged. This novel was also very thought provoking. Especially for
me, Alexis, as I went to Reardan High School. I was constantly comparing the atmosphere of my
THE NOTABLE BOOKS FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY PROJECT 11

high school to how it was back when Junior went to my school. It was also very important for me
to be able to put myself in Junior’s shoes and feel what he felt during his time and how hard it
must of been. I was asking myself questions such as “Could I do what Junior is doing? Would I
be able to stand up to Roger like he did?” “What is it like living a double life like he had to?”
This novel intellectually challenged me which I loved.
We chose this book to be the winner because it meets all criteria to be a NBGS as well as
is a high quality multicultural book. It displays life on an Indian Reservation and what life is like
growing up for someone who wants to get away from those negative stereotypes. This is a book
that I believe all students should read at some point throughout their schooling career because of
all the topics that are discussed throughout. They are very sensitive topics for some but it can
give them a deeper understanding of the Native American culture and have more empathy for
some students who do come from this type of background. Since this book does take place so
close to home for me and in the United States it would be a great book to include in the
classroom. Students will be able to have more of an image of where it is coming from as it is
right here in Washington. They are likely to have diversity of the sorts in their own classroom so
it allows them to delve deeper into the feelings of those from that culture and can even provide
them the right kind of attitude toward all cultures that are different from theirs, no matter what it
is. Since this is for more advanced readers this would be a book that could be read as a whole
class to be able to discuss parts of the book that may not make sense to some but make sense to
others. It would also be beneficial to have students do a project at the end of this book about
what they have learned and what it means to them to have read a book such as this. I would also
challenge students to read another book that is with a different culture to expand their thinking.
The first honor book that we would choose would be Four Feet, Two Sandals. This was
close to being the winner but it lacked more than one cultural group. It goes into a lot of detail
about the culture around Pakistan. The two girls, Lina and Feroza, are shown outside of where
the boys are studying. They are practicing writing their names in the sand but must erase it
because they can’t be seen writing. It is told in the book that only boys can study because there is
not enough room for girls to study. These two girls become friends because they each find one of
the same shoe and see each other wearing it. They decide to share the shoes and sometimes one
would wear both or each would wear one. When Lina finds Feroza wearing the one shoe, she
notices how cracked and dry Feroza’s shoes are. It was clear that Feroza was not as good off as
Lina was. Throughout this whole book you can really tell how underprivileged life is in Pakistan.
Most of the girls there don’t have shoes, they can’t read, and they must do chores. The gender
roles are very prominent in Pakistan and it is shown through this book. This multicultural book is
an honor because it meets most of the criteria for a winner but is missing the element of
including more than one cultural group. This particular book did indeed educate me on the
culture in Pakistan as I had no clue what it is like. This would be a great book to read aloud in a
classroom and point out the similarities and differences in the boys and the girls in Pakistan.
Having the students who are in America realize how extremely they privileged they are to be
living here is also something that is important to be discussed while reading this book.
THE NOTABLE BOOKS FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY PROJECT 12

The second honor book that we chose was Brown Girl Dreaming. This was another great
book that came very close to being a winner but is lacking some elements as well. The book that
is written through the eyes of Jackie during the time when rights weren’t equal for colored
people all the way until they were was a really important subject to talk about. Brown Girl
Dreaming had many different cultures that were talked about, such as muslim, Jehovah's
Witnesses, as well as African Americans. This was the strength of the book because it was so
culturally diverse. I was hoping to read more about what life was like during the time of no rights
for colored people. She touches on the marches that come about as well as sitting in the back of
the bus. It would have been helpful to hear about what her mom thought about it and how her
mother was feeling during all this. The stuff that was read through this book I know I read a lot
about in history books. To help this book become a winner it could have gone into more detail
about cultural issues and cultural detail. I would still include this book in the classroom because
Civil Rights is huge and is especially prevalent in America right now. It is important for students
to learn the history of the past so it cannot be repeated. It is also important for them to see that
Jackie was best friends with someone who was Hispanic. Having this kind of positive
relationship between two different cultures will allow students to see that it is good to accept
people of all backgrounds. Having class discussion about Civil Rights as well as acceptance
would be something that would be important when reading this class. It should also be brought to
students attention the facts of what was happening back then at this time because it is touched
upon but if a student didn’t know then they would be a little bit lost in the beginning of this
book. Overall, we really liked this book and thought it was a close winner but definitely and
honor in our eyes.

Conclusion
What we learned from this assignment is that Notable books are great books that touch on
mostly many different multicultural issues. Many issues in these books can be controversial as
well. The main point we learned from this assignment is that Notable books are books that make
you think about them long after you are done reading them because of what issues they address.

We both agree that we have a deeper understanding of what multicultural literature

actually is, and how important it is to bring multicultural text within the classroom as teachers.
With having books in the classroom with different multicultural texts, this can enrich our
students with different perspectives and different cultures. This will help us teach children to
have a well-rounded perspective about the world around them. Also, we learned the specific
criteria that needs to be met to be a true multicultural award winning book, the different types of
books that these can be, how these books could be applied in the classroom, and the amount of
research and time is taken to make sure that these books are accurate and full of rich detail. We
now know that we should always weight the strengths and weaknesses of any book we want to
include in our classroom before introducing it to our students.
THE NOTABLE BOOKS FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY PROJECT 13

In order to have a better understanding of what multicultural is, we would need to learn
about the other types of multicultural books that are published. We would like to know how an
author chose to write a book about a specific culture. Was it because they experienced it? Or they
just wanted to know about more that culture so they did extensive research and then published a
book? We would also like to know how long it normally takes to make a high quality
multicultural book from start to finish. We would also still need to learn why the emphasis of
multicultural books are not implemented within our classrooms or libraries.
If we could re-due this assignment we would plan out better time-management that we
spent on this project. We wish that we would have started the project a few weeks earlier by
ordering the books earlier and reading them earlier. This was because the library took a day
longer than we expected to get the books which put us in a panic. Also reading a ton of books all
at the same time can get confusing if you don’t take notes like we did. We would also try to pick
books that shared similar cultures so we would be able to compare and contrast how the authors
decided to depict the culture, and different ways to show a multicultural book on the same topic.
It would have made the project more interesting to be able to compare and contrast similar
cultures and see how others presented their culture.
We are able to tie this assignment into coursework for this course because it makes us
more aware of what it is that we are reading and the importance of all that we are reading. It has
also helped us realize how important it is to incorporate multicultural books within our own
classroom as well as adding them into our curriculum and different units. This can also be
connected to previous coursework as well as current coursework that we are doing because
overall this has made us more culturally aware. Both of us are getting ELL endorsements and it
is extremely important to learn about the different types of cultures that we could be coming into
contact with. In a lot of our coursework we are writing lesson plans, and having read these types
of texts and understanding that it is important to include multicultures, when writing our lesson
plans we can adapt to students who are from a different background than ourselves and help
them as best we can with the best support possible. We have also learned history of civil rights,
African-Americans, and so on, in our history courses in high school that we are able to make
connections with as we were reading these texts.

Bibliography

Alexie, S. (2007). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Art by Ellen Forney.
Boston, NY: Little, Brown Young Readers.

Boyne, J. (2006). The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. New York, NY: David Fickling.

Engle, M. (2010). The Firefly Letters New York, NY: Henry Holt and Co.
THE NOTABLE BOOKS FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY PROJECT 14

Konigsberg, B. (2013). Openly Straight. New York, NY: Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Books.
336 pp.

Murphy, J. (2015). Breakthrough: How three people saved “blue babies” and changed medicine
forever. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Sis, P. (2007). The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain. New York, NY: Farrar Straus &
Giroux.

Tan, S. (2007). The Arrival New York, NY: Scholastic.

Tunnell, M. O., Jacobs, J. S., Young, T. A., & Bryan, G. (2016). Children’s literature,
briefly. 6th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.

Williams, K. L. & Mohammed, K. (2007). Four Feet, Two Sandals. Illustrated by Doug Chayka.
Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. New York, NY: Penguin/Nancy Paulsen.