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Using Quilts to Teach Life Lessons...or Show Way to freedom. My grandmother used her sewing skills (and her old treadle sewing machine ) to make quilts for her family. In her later years she was careful to craft a personalized quilt for each of her children and grandchildren. My gift quilt was constructed of fabric swatches from the polyester clothes popular during my teenage years. Every time I pick up that quilt, I see a new patch of cloth reminding me of grandmother or other family member. It is truly a personal treasure for me.   When I entered by doctoral program at the University of Memphis, I didn’t have much time to think about family or friends. Graduate programs can be 24/7 timetables that last for years. Even though I was absorbed in writing and research, my family was still thinking of me. Like my grandmother, a good friend was also talented with crafting quilts. She contacted every one of my family members, and friends near and far, to invite them t

  A terrible tragedy occurred in India in 1947 . It was not an earthquake, or a tsunami. There was no pandemic or military attack from the outside. But, it was the desperate tearing apart of families and friends. It was the forced migration from home to a newly formed country called Pakistan. Great Britain released India from their colonial control and left the people to form their own governing institutions. The reasons for the mobs, protests, and murders are complex and hard to understand, but we know people were hurt and mad. This leads to terrible social unrest. You can see on the map the green regions that are Pakistan. Pink indicates India. The main difference lies in that age-old conflict that results from differences in religions.  I do not write of faith and trust in GOD or other deity. I speak of religious practices that are as varied as humankind.  British and Indian leaders made the decisions to set the borders you can see on the map. Pakistan is literally torn in two regi

    As you are looking for best-of-the-best in Realistic Fiction genre, I recommend The Paperboy by Vince Vawter. This Newbery award winner could be considered Historical Fiction, depending on YOUR age. For me personally, it is realistic as I am reading about life in a small town in the 1950's. If you were morn after 1990, it will seem to be more historical. For nostalgia and vintage seekers, it is one of the most realistic, and accurate to the times, story I've read. Vawter frequently includes television, movies, and athletic heroes well known during those "HAPPY DAYS"  of 1950 to 1960.    More important is the story of an 11 year-old boy who stutters. During this time period, little could be done to help stutterers. Research in providing strategies to overcome traumatic speech problems was sadly lacking. As our hero approaches the trauma of adolescence, he is further stressed while trying to communicate through his stuttering disability. The story is more th

  A dollar for the paper growls a tall man in a raggedy coat. His hair sticks up higgledy-piggledy all over his head. He thrusts a thin newspaper toward Lily's mother. Lily hides, clutching her mother's coat as she peeks out. I was drawn to Lily and the Paperman   simply because of the name Lily. My mother, who preferred being called Peggy, was named after her grandmother. The spelling Lily-dell was a little different and mother could never quite get used to the dell as an addendum to the name Lily. When I read Lily and the Paperman by Rebecca Upjohn and illustrated by Renne Benoit, I was captivated by a little girl whose generous heart also reminded me of my mother as a child. Being very tender-hearted she would have reacted just as our storybook Lily did on a cold city sidewalk.   The story is set in a major metropolitan area in a cold climate. Lily and her parents live in a high-rise apartment with an elevator rather than a front porch or a backyard.

Sugar In Milk

  Picture books, as a form of publication, are usually written for young readers, even nonreaders. But, there are many "picture books" with higher vocabulary and abstract ideas that would need an adult to explain to a young child. Grandma’s Gift, written and illustrated by Eric Velasquez is one such picture book. Assigned to the genre biography/memoir, the story is the realistic event described by a young boy whose family lives in Spanish Harlem, New York City. Sometimes referred to as El Barrio , this culturally rich community is Spanish speaking and African American in heritage. Receiving the Pura Belpre Award , some would call the story a memoir written by young Velasquez.  The story is set during the Christmas holidays. Young Eric will stay with his grandmother while his parents are working. “Grandma” is a perfect example of a loving, wise grandparent. She and her grandson remind me of Latino children I tutor. Their English language is excellent but ofte