Hannah Is My Name by Belle Young

Hannah Is My Name by Belle Young is a book I picked up at the library without even trying. We skim the library and grab about 30 books and then test them all out at home. With my luck, this one is written by a woman "born in Taiwan in 1960 and came to America with her parents at the age of 7. She says this book is based on her first years in San Francisco. She arrived in the fall of 1967 via Japan. She missed her old friends and teacher but it was not a miserable yearning. It was a great privilege to come to the U.S. and we didn't look back."

This book has beautiful vivid pictures and the way the people are drawn is very simple yet expressive. The book discusses the feelings of a young girl arriving in America, gaining a new name and hoping to make a life here in America, but this fragile American existance balances on whether or not a green card will make it's way to their home. It discusses much of what I feel was the American Dream of seeking to make a better life for themselves but with a very childlike ease that has something for everyone.

Just thought I'd share this with ya. I think I may do reviews of children's books every so often since it has become a little hobby for the children and I to search out cultural books at the library. We search all heritage books not just our own so this week was polynesian and Chinese & Taiwanese. Last week was Kenyan, African American (in honor of Black History month) and Korean. I was just starting off with listing book names but I want to write reviews on them so I can remember which ones I liked and why.