李春燕谈如何做美国人(16): (1+2)/2=1.5? Who is Laurence Yep?


李春燕-1142  06/20   14919  
4.5/764 



什么时候和孩子谈有关族裔的问题?见仁见智,但家长和孩子多了解一下Chinese American authors 可以马上行动。今天先推荐Laurence Yep给孩子们写的memoir。我们妈妈俱乐部捐的书里就有他的作品。 他是Newbery Honor Author, 多产作家,很多作品适合小孩,也适合读书俱乐部讨论。一直说家长和孩子多沟通,这些书应该能打开话题。我和孩子们通过读书讨论,很多关于族裔的问题就在交流中明晰了。家长不需要说教,况且我们对华裔历史本来知之甚少,共同成长吧。

小Laurence不知如何fit in。他认为自己是美国人,但其他人并不这么想。他的笔帮助他找到自己的位置。最初他写science fiction 估计和他觉得是alien, outsider 有关。他曾一度觉得自己的笔就是沟通两种文化的桥梁,现在他认为跨东西文化对于一个作家很重要。当他提起在唐人街走路,那些因排华法案无法娶亲或和家人团聚的老光棍亲切地拍他头时,我的心也随着他动。当被问道华裔背景对他是否重要时,Laurence说“我小时恨中文学校,就想一切都美国化,但到了二十岁对我的华裔的根产生浓厚兴趣。”



8-12岁
http://www.amazon.com/The-Lost-Garden-Laurence-Yep/dp/0688137016
http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780688137014

12 岁孩子在淘金时代的日记(historical fiction)。完全可以作为book club 讨论。下面的template非常有很好的步骤。

http://achievethecore.org/content/upload/5.The%20Journal%20of%20Wong%20Ming-Chung.lesson.doc
http://www.fictiondb.com/author/laurence-yep~the-journal-of-wong-ming-chung~285342~b.htm

Newbery Honor book
http://www.amazon.com/Dragonwings-Laurence-Yep/dp/0064400859/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0NJFDX48DXS74WSBMPGY


"Young Laurence didn't really know where he fit in. He thought of himself as an American, since he didn't speak Chinese and couldn't understand his grandmother who lived in Chinatown. But others saw him as different in the conformist America of the 1950s. In this engaging memoir, the two-time Newbery Honor author tells how writing helped him start to solve the puzzle."

"How has being of Chinese heritage been important to you?"
"The answer to that question has changed dramatically more than once. As a child I hated Chinese school. I wanted to be as American as possible. Then in my twenties, I became very interested in my Chinese roots."

关于1.5, 请见文章
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