camellia~original drawing 7x9 graphite/tinted graphite on bristol ©the enchanted easel 2015 |
camellia~original drawing 7x9 graphite/tinted graphite on bristol ©the enchanted easel 2015 |
Anastasia Suen has started Nonfiction Monday. BookMoot is planning to participate as often as possible, although, my most disliked word is "schedule."
Let the facts flow!
Surfer of the Century by Ellie Crowe, illustrations by Richard Waldrep, Lee & Low Books, 2007
Duke Kahanamoku was an Olympic gold medalist, the father of modern surfing, and an icon of Hawaiian culture.
Crowe tells the story of Kahanamoku's boyhood in Honolulu where daily swims in the ocean developed his strength and technique. Qualifying for the Stockholm Olympics in 1912, he made friends with another American athlete, Jim Thorpe.
Duke almost missed his first Olympic race because he overslept. In a wonderful display of Olympic spirit, his chief competitor, Cecil Helay, from Australia, refused to swim unless the officials let Duke compete. Such magnanimity is hard to imagine in today's endorsement rich, high-stakes winner-takes-home the-Wheaties-box environment.
He popularized surfing and promoted Hawaii all his life. Duke's Creed of Aloha is a fitting ending to an excellent biography of a man who always exhibited good sportsmanship and Olympic ideals.
Richard Waldrep perfectly illustrates the story with wonderous full color illustrations that evoke vintage art deco travel posters.
It’s very rare for me to find a teen novel based in Hawaii that reflects a realistic perspective on racial tension and gay issues in Hawaii, without being culturally generic or watered down. Clays Way by Blair Mastbaum is an honest and gritty depiction of a portion of teen life on Oahu. The story revolves around Sam a pale, skinny, 15 year old, punk-skateboarder who abhors, but at the same time wants to fit into a culture that worships tanned muscular surfers. Sam is an only child and has trouble relating to his bourgeois parents, who try to ignore him as much as possible. One day Sam meets Clay a local surfer at a skate shop and they bond after smoking pot. After a crazy night of drugs and alcohol Sam and Clay hook up. Sam then becomes obsessed with Clay and pursues him with a first loves intensity. However, Clay is not ready to declare he is gay and is torn between being a macho surfer, and admitting that he is in love with Sam. After a Lord of the Flies like experience in the Kauai jungle Clay and Sam have a lover’s spat, which results in Clays almost near self-destruction. The book snowballs into a dramatic ending leaving both Clay and Sam broken, but changed forever.
At first glance, both Sam and Clay are unlikeable characters because they are self-centered, angry, and destructive. However, one must remember that they are two gay teen boys trying to find themselves in a nihilistic way. (Hence, the reason why they listen to a lot of Punk rock throughout the book.) Based on some on-line reviews I found that people either hated or loved this book. And I agree, that this book is not for everyone and a lot of people may find the teen angst and explicit gay sex scenes extremely raunchy and tiresome. In addition, the characters are not positive role models nor is there any apparent moral to the story. However, upon close inspection this novel reveals a truth about human nature, in that all we really want is to be loved and accepted by others. In addition, non-native readers may have a hard time identifying with the local terminology. Hence, a glossary of terms at the end of the book might have been helpful for non-native readers. Also, librarians may be reluctant to recommend this title to younger teens due to the graphic sex scenes, drugs, and a plethora of swear words. However, this book might be helpful for older teens who are going through an identity crisis or who are dealing with gay issues.
*Just a side note: Mastbaum’s appears on the cover. He’s the one smoking.
by Rafe Martin
illustrated by David Shannon
Scholastic / Arthur A. Levine Books 2001
In this adaptation of a native tale from Hawaii, two children, a boy and a girl, find a shark tangled in netting on the shore. Their attempts to get adults to help them are met with derision so the decide to free the shark themselves. The shark can sense the children mean to help and once freed gives them a bit of a nod of thanks before disappearing into the ocean.
Jubilant at their rescue, the children run through the edges of the jungle, stumbling on the king's sacred drum. In their excitement they long to sound the drum, to announce their achievement to the world, but to do so would be kapu (forbidden). But they're kids, they lightly tap the drum anyway, under the watchful smirk of the king who sees it all. Having waited until they have hit the drum the king then calls out his guards to seize the children and have them held for punishment.
Their parents plea to the king, hoping to appeal to his softer side, but his heart has grown cold to the entreaties of his people. Likewise, appeals to the other members of the community are cold and the parents decide that they must make their case elsewhere.
Seeking out the cave of the Shark God they place their lives on the line as the mountain-sized god swoops them up for a snack. After hearing their story the Shark God agrees to help and sends the parents home with instructions to prepare a canoe filled with goods and to wait for a sign.
The Shark God brings about a massive wave that floods the village and frees the children from their cells. The parents, having seen the sign they were waiting for, launched their canoe before the wave hit and were well at sea when their old village was destroyed. They quickly found their children (with the aid of a friendly shark) and the king's drum and with it sail to anew island where they hoped to find (or start) a new community, one with an open heart.
The author points out in an afterword the differences between the original folk tale and the modifications made for this version. The differences mentioned appear slight and motivational and make a good case for maintaining the essence of the original. A little casual Internet research shows that this story has many variations across the South Pacific and not all of them pleasant. In one, "Kauhuhu, The Shark God of Molokai," the children belong to a priest and they are killed for beating on the drums when the chief is away, no mention of freeing a shark. There are greater details about the ordeal necessary for avenging the children's deaths and the wave brings a hoard of sharks who feast on the cold-hearted villagers.
So on the one hand we have these tales collected by a couple of German brothers that are filled with all sorts of strange dismemberings and transformations and gore, and despite there being no solid evidence they were meant for children we consider them as such. On the other hand when we get a story from a non-Western culture we see a need to make it more palatable and perhaps soften the rougher edges? True, many a Grimm tale are themselves softened to the point of innocence though they are far from their original spirit and, for the most part, have been co-opted by Disnefication. But where we have the original tales in translation for ready comparison such isn't always the case and a lesser-known tale like The Shark God, without research, becomes practically gutted and filleted from the original to a piece of nicely presented same at a sushi bar.
In the end, I'm not taking a stand on this book either way. No, really. I read it knowing nothing about its origin and enjoyed it. Had there not be the author's afterword I might not have gone searching for the original story and not known what had been changed. I think I would prefer that when we introduce stories from another culture to children -- especially if there is little to suggest they will one day be taught it's true origins -- then I guess I'd like that "one shot" to be an accurate one. I wouldn't want any child drawing all their knowledge of ancient Egypt from watching mummy movies and don't like the thought of children learning about the culture of our island state in such a sanitized manner.
It’s so good to see you again!! I still love your whimsy and joy for life!
For some reason “IF” said my thumbnail/entry was accepted but it hasn’t shown up. That was 6 people ago! I even tried 3 times. Again it said success but again, no thumbnail or link
have you had trouble today?
I love your entry…super wonderful and delightful!
your drawings are so comfy and magical! I love them!
simply beautiful, the writting, the colors, the style, very very nice work
Each new drawing is so amazingly beautiful and poetical! No one can stay indifferent to your world of words and colours… I like the humming birds, the music fountain, but most of all the Woman, Knitting Poems… Thank you!:-))
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!