A story about three families, two worlds, one magical portal, and how their stories collide. Jump into a world where magic is real.
What is this story about?
This story starts out by telling the story of Venus, Swimmer, and Uncle Caesar. It talks about how they escape the slave ship, with historical references back to the Middle Passage, and find their way through the portal into the second world. The story then introduces Kinchen, Pip, and old Ren, who are Islanders from Tathenn. Pip is taken by King Raft, leader of the Raftworld, to aid in helping him find the way back to the first world. Lastly, the book takes readers on a journey with Thanh, Mai, and Sang as they escape Vietnam and find their way into the second world. The story jumps from the first world, our world, to the second world, connecting the families and stories.
Meet the Author:
H.M. Bouwman
H.M. Bouwman is an author writing books such as A Tear in the Ocean and the Owen and Eleanor early chapter book series. She is a professor of English at the University of St. Thomas and currently lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her two sons. To find out more about her work, visit her website https://hmbouwman.com/blog/.
Meet the illustrator:
Yuko Shimizu
Yuko Shimizu is an award-winning Japanese illustrator. Her work combines Japanese heritage and typically addresses issues like: race, cultural identity, and sex. Her work can be seen world-wide on things like: Pepsi cans, VISA billboards, Apple, Nike, Target, and Microsoft ads, and on the pages of the NY Times. She lives in New York City and is an instructor at 'School of Visual Arts' there. Visit her website: http://yukoart.com/category/work/ to see more of her work!
My Critique/Review:
A Crack in the Sea, was such a complex, interesting, and magical read. I loved how the author took the readers through a magical portal across two worlds. The story-line of this book is definitely very complex, jumping back and forth between stories and characters. This book is so detailed with so much adventure on every page. I love how the author connects the characters and constantly references back to other characters, showing the connection between all. Lastly, I think the author did a great job of incorporating real-life historical aspects into this action-packed, fantasy fiction book. This book meets my expectations of a good children's book because it is adventurous, magical, incorporates friendship and bravery, and has important historical ties, making it an important read for students.
Thoughts:
When reading this book, some themes I was able to pick out were the themes of bravery; the importance of friendship and family and being there for one another; and that everyone has individual gifts that make them special. In this book, there are so many instances of characters representing bravery. One that stands out to me is on page 191 when Uncle Hung "stepped forward, a true brother. 'you've taken everything we have,' he said loudly and slowly. 'Leave us now" (Bouwman, 2017). In this scene, the pirates had just demanded the shirts off the characters back. Uncle Hung knew that if they took Sang's shirt, and even Mai's, they would notice they are girls and not boys, leading to bigger troubles. So, Uncle Hung stood up to the men, who were armed with knives and guns, showing true bravery and selflessness. Furthermore, the importance of friendship and family is scene throughout this whole book. With each sibling pair, they are always there for one another. Kinchen travels far across the ocean to protect her brother Pip; Thanh stands up for his sister Sang when the Englishman is giving their boat supplies; and Venus shows leadership and the idea of loving strangers as family, as she leads the slaves across the ocean into the second world. Lastly, throughout this book the reader learns about the characters' magical gifts. We learn that Mai, Venus, and Caesar can walk in/on water; Swimmer, Pip, and Old Ren can talk to sea creatures; and Thanh has the gift of telling stories. At times, Sang and Kinchen feel left out because they do not have a special gift, however, the author reminds them that "most people don't have magic like Pip or Mai or Caesar. Only a few do. Most people don't have a special calling to be a story-teller, like Thanh does, or like I did. Most people are like you. Good at some things. Medium-good at other things. Maybe not so good at other things" (Bouwman, 2017, pg. 329). This is a great reminder to readers that you don't have to be good at everything, because most people are not. You must find something you love, work at it, and you will get better, just as Sang finds art.
When reading this book, one character that struck me was Thanh. It was neat to see Thanh evolve throughout the book, starting out as a young, insecure, scatterbrained boy who couldn't do anything right, to becoming a leader, a mature, protective, and strong person. The author makes Thanh a believable character because he shows many emotions of a typical young boy. With his sister always having to get on him, he is constantly battling his wondrous brain as he daydreams. In the end, however, his imagination is his gift as he becomes the next storyteller of Raftworld.
Before reading this book, I was reminded about the Atlantic Slave Trade through some videos. Going into this book, I had a feeling it would touch on slavery I already knew about, but I actually gained some important information after reading. I learned that the author wrote this book based around the 'Zong ' slave ship (Bouwman, 2017, pg. 356). I was able to read about the experiences on this ship and just how many people really did die. I think the author was trying to raise awareness about this ship in history and the lives lost, but do it in a more light-hearted way for young readers, by having them escape into a magical world. I really liked how H.M. Bouwman created this book with underlying ties to these historical events that some may say, are overlooked in history.
When thinking about this book in the classroom, I would focus on the standard: RL.5.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text. Due to the complexity of this book, the details, the imagery, and the strong characters, I would have students break this book down using the 8 main characters: Swimmer, Venus, Sang, Thanh, Mai, Pip, Kinchen, and Raft King. I would have students focus on one of these characters and describe elements of them such as: their appearance, personality, relationships with other characters, and challenges they face and how they overcome them. Students could then use this information to make connections and compare and contrast the characters of the book.
Making Connections:
Before reading this book, I think it is vital for students to watch the videos on the Atlantic Slave Trade, as well as, the Boat People. This would give students background knowledge on the events and get them in the right mindset for reading this book, as there are a lot of details referring to these events. This book is written about the Atlantic Slave Trade, as Venus and Swimmer escape a slave boat, finding the second world. It also references "Boat People", as Sang and her family escape Vietnam to the second world. So, I think it is important to make a connection between the two Atlantic Slave Trade videos and the Ted Talk on "Boat People" listed in the useful links section below.
Useful Links:
The Atlantic Slave Trade: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-atlantic-slave-trade-what-your-textbook-never-told-you-anthony-hazard
The Atlantic Slave Trade Crash Course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=dnV_MTFEGIY
Ted Talk on "Boat People" & a personal experience of being a refugee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwkVk16xecw
Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPeoz84tVpM
Teacher Resources: https://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=56823
NC Standards: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/curriculum/languagearts/scos/adopted-ela-standards.pdf
Sources:
Bouwman, H.M. (2017) A Crack in the Sea. New York, New York: Puffin Books.
H.M. Bouwman. Photo of Author H.M. Bouwman. Reprinted from H.M. Bouwman, by
Greg Stoeckel, 2019. Retrieved from https://hmbouwman.com/bio/
Yuko Shimizu. Photo of Illustrator Yuko Shimizu. Reprinted from Wikipedia, 2019. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuko_Shimizu_(illustrator)
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