Earlier this month in my children’s literature course, I was part of a group that presented on Erin Entrada Kelly’s novels. I spoke about the theme of building friendships in the face of adversity in her first two novels, Blackbird Fly and The Land of Forgotten Girls. Here’s what I shared (spoilers ahead):
Blackbird Fly
12 year old Apple and her mother moved to America after Apple’s father died when she was four. Apple wants nothing more than to purchase a guitar and play songs by The Beatles, but her mother prohibits Apple from pursuing her passion. Apple is embarrassed by her mother for being Filipino – the strain on their relationship stemming from cultural conflict worsens when Apple is put on a list of the ugliest girls in school.
Apples’ experiences are informed by Kelly’s own experiences as the only Asian in her school (FAQ). To quote Kelly: “The biggest challenge on writing Blackbird Fly was working with a character who was a lot like me. She infuriated me at times. I wanted to shake her and say, ‘Don’t pay attention to what other people think!’ But really, it wasn’t Apple I wanted to shake. It was 12 year old Erin.” (Literary Rambles)
Apple experiences intense racist bullying that causes her to resent her identity and her mother’s identity. In order to overcome the adversity that’s crept into Apple’s relationship with her mom, she must repair that relationship. After Apple befriends Evan, he tells her, “I don’t listen to anything they say, because I know that whatever they think is wrong. But you think they’re right” (196). Evan questions why Apple appears to have such a negative opinion of her mother, spurring Apple to rethink her attitudes. She realizes how much other people’s racist comments about Asians has affected her own view, and she begins to appreciate her mother more.
“How come you don’t like your mom?”
p. 248
The question surprised me so much that a little gasp caught in my throat.
Apple’s friendships with Evan and with Heleena, a girl even more shunned and bullied than Apple, help her learn that she doesn’t need to believe bullies. Although the bullying towards Apple and her friends doesn’t stop at the end of the story, Apple now has the strength and support of friends who allow her to embrace her identities as a Filipino-American girl and a musician, without caring what bullies may say. Apple’s new friendships and renewed relationship with her mother make it easier for her to navigate the adversities that young immigrants may face.
The Land of Forgotten Girls
Sol and her younger sister Ming move to America under similar circumstances to Apple. Their mother and sister died, so their father remarried and moved them to America. However, this book has a darker tone than Blackbird Fly, as the two girls are abandoned by their father and left living in poverty with their abusive stepmother.
Sol’s relationship with her sister is the core of this book. Sol has been sheltering Ming from their difficult living situation by telling Ming stories about an imaginary aunt who might rescue them one day. When Sol develops a friendship with Caroline, an albino girl she once bullied, Sol “begins to rely less on her stories while Ming desperately holds on” (Kirkus) to those stories. Sol finds purpose in the face of adversity by building new friendships and caring for her younger sister, but she must find a new way to care for Ming if Ming is to become less dependent on imaginary tales.
Sol builds another important relationship with Mrs. Yeung, a quiet Chinese woman who lives in the same building. Mrs. Yeung recognizes the adversity the girls face in their own home and offers them a safe space in her own apartment. Although Mrs. Yeung can’t entirely rescue the girls from their stepmother, she offers them a caring relationship that they don’t get from any other adult.
As in Blackbird Fly, Vea’s abuse doesn’t end with the end of the book. Kelly has said “my goal is to write honestly – and it would have been dishonest for Sol and Ming to get whisked away by Daddy Warbucks” (SLJ). Kelly wrote The Land of Forgotten Girls to tell a story “about the power of hope in the darkest of circumstances” (SLJ). Sol’s relationships with Mrs. Yeung, Caroline, and Ming offer her that hope.
Conclusion
In both Blackbird Fly and The Land of Forgotten Girls, the protagonists’ Filipino identity is central to their character and to the adversity they face. With these works, Kelly provides young Filipino-American readers with a mirror that they didn’t have before
Have you read any of Kelly’s works? What other middle grade books have you read that illuminate this theme well?
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