'Go Get a Book in Your Hand': Favorite Holiday Literary Choices 2

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The Wayans Family Presents "Amy Hodgepodge - All Mixed Up!" and "Amy Hodgepodge - Happy Birthday to Me" (Grosset & Dunlap/Penguin Group, 2008) by Kim Wayans and Kevin Knotts, illustrated by Soo Jeong, are two delightful paperbacks that shine the spotlight on today's world of diversity, mixed-race families and charter school experiences. In "Amy Hodgepodge - All Mixed Up," we first meet 9-year-old Amy who's been home-schooled and is now attending a charter school for the first time. At school, some of the students make fun of Amy, not only for being the new student, but also because she dresses differently and because she looks different from some of the other children. At the same time, other positive and inclusive students accept Amy and even give her the nick- name "Hodge- podge" because she is of mixed race. She is part Caucasian, African American and Asian. Yes, Amy is in for a challenging experience with the children at her new school, yet she's also a determined young girl who is ready to face the many lessons of Ufe from which she has been sheltered until now

Finally, a book with a boy hero! Yeah!!! And this boy is hungry, but not for food. You see, he has an "appetite for words." The title "Donavan's Double Trouble" (Amistad/Harper Collins Pub- lishers, 2008) by Monalisa DeGross, illustrated by [Amy Bates], is an excellent title, and one of the rare books that we have found about an African American boy with a purpose. He's not lost like most of the "boyz in the hood"-type titles that we constantly read when we do get a book about a Black boy. We love that Donavan has a family. Actually, it is an extend- ed family that includes his grandmother. He lives in a decent neighborhood, has two really cool best friends, and he has a strong support system at a school where they cele- brate such things as Her- itage Month. Donavan loves words, and therefore he has a strong vocabulary; howev- er, math is a challenge for him, although it is very easy for his younger sister. Our hero also has to deal with some of life's harsh realties such as war after his role model, Uncle Vic, loses his legs fighting in the National Guard and has now retuned home in a wheelchair. This is a book that everyone, but especially boys of color, can relate to. They will see pieces of themselves in various aspects of this fourthgrade character as he tries to maneuver in the real world. Amy Bates' engaging pencil illustrations begin each interesting chapter of "Donavan's Double Trouble." This hardcover title is a must for all the really cool boys on your list.

According to statistics shared by the Children's Museum of Manhattan, "obesity is an epidemic that affects an estimated 9 million American children over the age of 6, causing health issues such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes."

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'Go Get a Book in Your Hand': Favorite Holiday Literary Choices 2

By MISANI

Special to the AmNews

Greetings, Young Readers We'd like to wish you and your families a fantastic Thanksgiving. There are so many blessings to be grateful for, aren't there? So let's identify some of these blessings. First, we're grateful for our lives. Then we're thankful for our health. And, of course, we are grateful for our families and friends. This year, we're also thankful for President-elect Barack Obama and his family. We are also appreciative f...

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