Sundee T. Frazier grew up with a large imagination. She was always curious about what would happen if she stuck olives up or nose or imagined bits of broken glass to be diamonds. She wanted to be many things when she grew up, but a writer never was one of them. She didn't think about writing as a career until, in college, she had a final project that required her to write and illustrate a children's story. And that's how it all began.
Sundee comes from a mixed race background of an African-American father and a white mother. Coming from a mixed race background, she says on her website (http://www.sundeefrazier.com/about.php), has greatly influenced the way she sees the world and the way she writes. Her parents were married one year after the Supreme Court outlawed any remaining laws (in 1968) in 16 states that prohibited mixed race couples from marrying.
Here's a little background in anti-miscegenation laws. All anti-miscegenation laws ended in 1967, as ruled by the Supreme Court. This is partially due to a mixed race couple who, after one week of marriage, were thrown in jail. This caused an uproar and the Supreme court case found it unconstitutional to separate married couples. Skipping to 2000, in this year, the census included a section where you indicate multiple races, instead of having to choose just one race. Choosing one race, stems back to the "one drop rule" where if you had any ancestors who were black, you were considered to be black as well, no matter how light your skin color. So by 2000, people were able to choose more than one race. At this switch, 9 million Americans have self-identified themselves as having more than two races (2.9% of the population). This statistic is probably higher.
Sundee's book The Other Half of My Heart is a book about twin sisters, but they are unlike most twins you will ever meet. They have mixed raced parents and it so happened that one of the girls, Minnie, was born "white" while her sister, Kyra, was born "black." The story debates the identities of the girls. It is told through Minnie's perspective. The girls are sent to live with their grandmother for about 10 days for a Black Pearl pageant. Minnie questions whether she will fit in or not, reasoning that though she has "white" skin, she has a black mother, so she is "black" as well. Whether or not you are a twin, it is easy to identify with the theme of identity and place. It is easy to find yourself asking, "Do I belong _____?" (fill in the blank with whatever problem, this race, this group, this club, these friends, this x).
Children's Books to accompany Other Half of My Heart:
Am I a color? by Heidi Cole
How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina Friedman
My Two Grannies by Floella Benjamin
This Next New Year by Janet S. Wong
Two Mrs. Gibsons by Toyomi Igus
Jalapeño Bagels by Natasha Wing
Black is Brown is Tan by Arnold Adoff
Discussion questions:
My Two Grannies:
Other books of interest:
The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to his White Mother by James McBride
Half+Half: Writers on Growing Up Biracial + Bicultural by Claudine Chiawei O'Hearn
What Are You? Voices of Mixed-Race Young People by Pearl Fuyo Gaskins
Websites of interest:
CCBC Book list http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/detailslistbooks.asp?idbooklists=143
Sundee Frazier -- http://thebrownbookshelf.com/2008/02/19/sundee-frazier/
Intermix UK-- http://www.intermix.org.uk/homepage/homepage_default.asp
Sundee comes from a mixed race background of an African-American father and a white mother. Coming from a mixed race background, she says on her website (http://www.sundeefrazier.com/about.php), has greatly influenced the way she sees the world and the way she writes. Her parents were married one year after the Supreme Court outlawed any remaining laws (in 1968) in 16 states that prohibited mixed race couples from marrying.
Here's a little background in anti-miscegenation laws. All anti-miscegenation laws ended in 1967, as ruled by the Supreme Court. This is partially due to a mixed race couple who, after one week of marriage, were thrown in jail. This caused an uproar and the Supreme court case found it unconstitutional to separate married couples. Skipping to 2000, in this year, the census included a section where you indicate multiple races, instead of having to choose just one race. Choosing one race, stems back to the "one drop rule" where if you had any ancestors who were black, you were considered to be black as well, no matter how light your skin color. So by 2000, people were able to choose more than one race. At this switch, 9 million Americans have self-identified themselves as having more than two races (2.9% of the population). This statistic is probably higher.
Sundee's book The Other Half of My Heart is a book about twin sisters, but they are unlike most twins you will ever meet. They have mixed raced parents and it so happened that one of the girls, Minnie, was born "white" while her sister, Kyra, was born "black." The story debates the identities of the girls. It is told through Minnie's perspective. The girls are sent to live with their grandmother for about 10 days for a Black Pearl pageant. Minnie questions whether she will fit in or not, reasoning that though she has "white" skin, she has a black mother, so she is "black" as well. Whether or not you are a twin, it is easy to identify with the theme of identity and place. It is easy to find yourself asking, "Do I belong _____?" (fill in the blank with whatever problem, this race, this group, this club, these friends, this x).
Children's Books to accompany Other Half of My Heart:
Am I a color? by Heidi Cole
How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina Friedman
My Two Grannies by Floella Benjamin
This Next New Year by Janet S. Wong
Two Mrs. Gibsons by Toyomi Igus
Jalapeño Bagels by Natasha Wing
Black is Brown is Tan by Arnold Adoff
Discussion questions:
My Two Grannies:
- How does Alvina's race fit into the book?
- Does Alvina address her race at all? Does she lean towards one culture more than another?
Am I a Color, Too?
- Think about the illustrations. Do they fit the subject? In what ways?
- The little boy in the story questions his color. What are the pros and/or cons of identifying with a color?
- What do you think about the rainbow theme?
How My Parents Learned to Eat:
- Do you think the book simplifies the topic of relationships between two people of different races? Think about the line "I don't even know if we like the same food. And if we don't, we'll go hungry" (8).
- What are some of the difficulties that exist today between interracial couples? Does the issues of learning how to eat still exist as a hinderance or are there other examples you can think of?
- Do you think a child could easily relate to this book? In what ways?
General questions:
- Do you think the books do a good job of authentically representing each of the cultures that make up the families? How do each of the books succeed or fail in achieving cultural accuracy?
- How might you, as an educator/librarian/parent use (any or all of) these books to bring awareness to/start discussion about mixed race people and families?
- Do any of the books present stereotypes or potential problems/red flags?
- How are the different cultures represented in the books (through illustration and/or text)?
- What is each book's overall message/statement about mixed race families?
- Who do you think makes the best audience for each book: a cultural insider or a cultural outsider? Why?
The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to his White Mother by James McBride
Half+Half: Writers on Growing Up Biracial + Bicultural by Claudine Chiawei O'Hearn
What Are You? Voices of Mixed-Race Young People by Pearl Fuyo Gaskins
Websites of interest:
CCBC Book list http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/detailslistbooks.asp?idbooklists=143
Sundee Frazier -- http://thebrownbookshelf.com/2008/02/19/sundee-frazier/
Intermix UK-- http://www.intermix.org.uk/homepage/homepage_default.asp
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