Anne Sibley O'Brien (illustrator)
Who Belongs Here? An American Story
Tilbury, 1993
After losing his parents and fleeing from the Khmer Rouge, Nary escapes with his grandmother and an uncle first to a refugee camp in Thailand, then to the United States. Here, Nary finds food in abundance and freedom, but also ignorance and verbal slurs. One classmate calls him a "chink." Another tells him to "go home where you belong." But, who belongs and who would be left if everyone was told to leave? In between Nary's story, Margy Burns Knight weaves in broad strokes the story of immigrants from all parts of the world who came and continue to come to the United States. Nary's encounter with intolerance becomes a teaching moment, which leads to the story's happy resolution. I remember hearing those ugly words and phrases myself, and am glad to see Knight's book. The prose is, at times, somewhat heavy-handed, distancing, and didactic; but I couldn't agree more with the book's message.
No comments:
Post a Comment