A story that addresses racism, bullying, mental health, preconceived biases, identity crisis, and social justice issues, all while piecing together the puzzle of Lambert, South Carolina.
What is this story about?
This story follows a young girl named Candice as she works to figure out the clues to a mysterious letter addressed to her grandma. She meets many people along the way and must dig up the past in order to solve the mystery. Along the way she befriends her neighbor, Brandon, and together, they solve the mystery that lies beneath Lambert, South Carolina.
Meet the Author:
Varian Johnson
Varian Johnson is an award-winning author of children's books. He has won awards such as: The Coretta Scott King Honor Award, an ALA Notable Children's Book, Kirkus Reviews Best Book, Texas Library Association Lone Star List selection, and Kids' Indie Next List pick. Some of his most notable books are: The Great Greene Heist and To Catch a Cheat. Varian currently lives in Austin, Texas with his family. Visit his website: http://varianjohnson.com to see more of his work.
My Critique/Review:
I absolutely loved this book. I loved the plot, the adventure, the mystery, and the historical ties that the author did a great job of referencing. Having readers follow along on a mysterious journey to crack the clues, made the story so engaging and fun to read. I think Varian Johnson did a great job of making this an interesting read for students, but also building the book off real historical events, incorporating important social justice themes. Furthermore, this book meets my expectations of a good children's book because it is adventurous, mysterious, relatable, incorporates friendship, real world issues, and imagery, and has important historical ties, making it an important read for students. This book is a must read!
Thoughts:
When reading this book, some themes that stood out to me were identity, friendship, determination, bullying, the impact of biases, and the importance of remembering the past. In the book, Candice befriends Brandon and together, they solve the mystery. At times, they hit dead ends, have other people question them, not believe in them, and tear them down, however, they continue to work hard and are determined to solve the puzzle to clear Candice's grandmothers name. The impact of biases is a big theme in this book. In the book, Mr. Rittenhauer, a white assistant principal, stops Candice and Brandon, both black, outside of the school. He accuses them of lying about why they are at the school and thinks they are up to no good (Johnson, 2018, pg. 131). Here, Mr. Rittenhauer's preconceived biases are evident to readers. This part in the book also recognizes the issue of racial tension that is still seen today. Furthermore, whenever Tori, Brandon's sister, sees a police offer, she holds her breath and makes sure it is clear she is following the rules, doing everything in her power to not get in trouble. Tori has biases towards the police, seeing them as unfair and violent towards black citizens. On page 151 she mentions: "Just don't trust the police. I don't want to give them any reason to stop me. You know about all the black people getting killed or hurt by the cops, right?" (Johnson, 2018). I think at this point in the book, the author is referencing all the cases in today's society where black citizens are targeted and hurt by the police. This is a prevalent issue in America today, being a main factor behind the Black Lives Matter movement. Finally, the importance of remembering the past is emphasized through this book. Many times throughout this book, the author directly or indirectly references historical events such as Jim Crow Laws and police brutality (pg. 42), shoe shining, Juneteenth (pg. 99), the KKK (pg. 32), Briggs vs. Elliot (pg. 147), and the secret basketball game of 1944. The author brings up these aspects of history to further represent a time when segregation existed and teach readers about this time in America. The author creates a book, using marginalized characters, that is based on past historical events to raise awareness and educate young readers, hoping the past does not repeat itself.
Some big issues that this book raises awareness about are the LGBTQIA community, bullying, and the racial tensions of the past that are still seen today. I think Varian Johnson does a great job of representing these issues exactly how they are and does not sugarcoat the facts. He hits LGBTQIA issues by representing characters of all ages who identify as this and normalizing it. Furthermore, he talks about the racial segregation that occurred in the American south, depicting what life was life back then. He describes how schools, sports, buses, and public places were segregated, as well as, how black people were treated. While researching resources for this book, I came across an interview with Varian Johnson where he states: "I spent a lot of time in libraries, researching the real incidents and people that inspired the book. I also interviewed some of the elders from my hometown of Florence, S.C., to try to better understand life as a black teen in the 1950s" (Shelf-Awareness, 2018). I think this says a lot about the author. It shows that he really emphasized gathering facts that were accurate and truthful surrounding the segregation era. He wanted to depict this time period in the most precise way possible, which adds to the authenticity of the book.
Aside from authenticity, I noticed areas of 'ideology' and 'verbal and visual sensitivity'. In the article, "Culturally Diverse Literature", it states that: "there are three broad categories to which we can look for guidance on how to determine a quality book: visual and verbal sensitivity; authenticity and accuracy; and ideology" (Boyd, Casey & Galda, 2015). In this book, areas I picked out that represented ideology or theories occurred when Candice and Brandon were working to solve the case. On page 82 and 127, Candice comes up with the theory that James Parker is the mysterious man behind the letter and donations, and that he may be Charles Douglass. Furthermore, on page 254, Candice says: "was it for gay kids like Quincy...or for gay kids like him?", when playing around with the theory that Brandon is gay. Verbal and visual sensitivity is another aspect I found while reading this book. Throughout the book, Varian Johnson creates believable southern conversations, using words like: y'all, negro, ain't, colored kids, daddy, ain't, mama, folks, young'uns (Johnson, 2015). By using typical southern dialect, Johnson is able to better represent the American south. Lastly, visual sensitivity can be seen when the author is describing the characters' appearance. He mentions things like skin tone and hair texture when he says: "with his dark skin and thick, kinky, hair (Johnson, 2015, pg. 65). Lastly, on page 162 the author writes: "he tucked the tobacco in his mouth, between his cheek and jaw", visually depicting a common occurrence in the south at this time. By the author being visually and verbally sensitive, authentic, and incorporating ideologies, he is able to create a believable, credible, and good quality book for readers.
Lastly, when thinking about how this book relates to the world through my eyes, it brought up a lot of issues that I see as prevalent. This book discusses racial tension and preconceived biases that people still have today. In today's society, there are events all over the news about racial injustices that occurring each day. The issues that this book brought up are so prominent in today's society, making me wonder 'has society moved forward or are we slowly moving backwards to when these issues became prominent in history?' Furthermore, the idea of biases that people have is another issue that is still seen in our world. It is sad, confusing, and mind-blowing when I think about the number of people who still hold these racist tendencies and ideologies. It makes me realize that these viewpoints are what is making society move backwards dealing with issues from history. Yes, we have moved forward as these marginalized groups have gained more rights in society, however, we have a lot more steps to take to create a better, more fair world. As a society, we will continue to be stuck or slowly moving backwards if these biases that people still hold, are unwilling to be changed or modified.
Making Connections:
When thinking about how to use this book in the classroom, there are many ideas and paths that can come from this book. After completing our class text set and researching more about this book, I would incorporate the secret basketball game that occurred in 1944 into a lesson. This game between the all white Duke University and the all black North Carolina College for Negroes basketball teams, was one of the historical underlying events when creating this book. One interesting article I found about this game came from the 1996 New York Times Magazine written by Scott Ellsworth (Ellsworth, 1996). This article, written more than 50 years after the game took place, is the first publicly recorded resource providing detailed events about the game, incorporating interviews with coaches and former players, making it more believable, accurate, and real. This resource would be considered a 'cluster text' with the book “The Parker Inheritance” (Ciecierski, 2017, pg. 289). In the book, readers learn about a secret tennis match that took place between an all white team and an all black team during the segregation era. This fictional game is based off this real life secret basketball game that took place roughly 10 years before the civil rights movement began. This article goes into further detail about the game, offering insights into this historical event that is overlooked in history. By using these two texts as cluster texts, students will learn about this event in a deeper and more meaning way.
After reading “The Parker Inheritance”, I would introduce this article to students. In the book, students would first learn about a fictional risky game that was played and the effects on the people involved afterwords. Then, students could learn about the real life event that this book is based off of. After introducing the basketball game that took place in 1944, I would use this as a stepping stone into the racial issues at the time. From this, students could talk about segregation issues, Jim Crow laws, and life in the south at the time. I think a major idea to focus on that we typically do not focus much on in school, is the idea of people breaking color barriers. This event happened three years before Jackie Robinson desegregated baseball, which many view as the starting point of the segregation movement. So, showing students the viewpoints of society and that there were many people, black and white, who did not agree with how the country was running. These people who pushed back against segregation are the “forgotten people” that were the building blocks to the civil right movement. This game is a representation of society at the time, pushback, and the viewpoints of the players that were changed because of this game. I would also show students images of the real life basketball teams, interviews, and other books relating to this event. From this, students could further build their own knowledge on this event, make it more believable, and give them the resources to do further research if desired.
Useful Links:
Sulwe: a new 2019 children's book by actress Lupita Nyong'o, celebrating colorism and self confidence: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Sulwe/Lupita-Nyongo/9781534425361
Teaching Resources (Varian Johnson is a contributor): https://thebrownbookshelf.com/2018/11/16/ncte-using-black-childrens-literature-to-amplify-all-student-voices/
Author's personal story behind The Parker Inheritance: http://varianjohnson.com/books/the-parker-inheritance/story-behind-parker-inheritance/
List of book honors this book has received: http://varianjohnson.com/books/the-parker-inheritance/
Varian Johnson talking about the plot, themes, and inspiration behind the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfOeRc5KByU
Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZqY9qTwXy0
Educator, Colby Sharp, travels the country presenting to other educators. He interviewed Varian Johnson and talks about the book, his review, and why it is a must read: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUiLIVxVogo
2019 best LGBT Children’s Book finalist list: https://bookriot.com/2018/07/26/lgbt-childrens-books/
2019 Multicultural youth book list: https://coloursofus.com/multicultural-2019-ala-youth-media-award-winning-books/
The importance of using culturally diverse literature: https://asulearn.appstate.edu/pluginfile.php/413201/mod_page/content/15/Culturally%20Diverse%20Lit%20The_Reading_Teacher.pdf
How to connect texts while still following the common core standards: https://asulearn.appstate.edu/pluginfile.php/413201/mod_page/content/15/Connecting%20Texts.pdf
Fox News interview detailing the secret basketball game of 1944: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GFCuzrhoOQ
1996 NY Times article about the secret basketball game (first public source): https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/31/magazine/sunday-march-31-1996-jim-crow-losses-the-secret-game.html
Interview with Varian Johnson about the book: https://www.shelf-awareness.com/max-issue.html?issue=281#m597
Information about the 'secret game' of 1944: https://nccueaglepride.com/sports/2011/3/8/MBB_0308110905.aspx
LGBTQIA Resources: https://lgbtqia.ucdavis.edu/educated/glossary
Bullying Resources: https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/all
Mental Health Resources: https://www.mentalhealth.gov/
Sources:
Boyd, F. B., Casey, L. L., & Galda, L. (2015). Culturally Diverse Literature. The Reading Teacher, 68(5), 378-387.
Ciecierski, L. M. (2017). What the Common Core State Standards Do Not Tell You About Connecting Texts. The Reading Teacher, 71(3), 285-294.
Ellsworth, S. (1996). Sunday March 31, 1996: Jim Crow Losses; The Secret Game. The New York Times Magazine, 19(6).
Johnson, V. (2018) The Parker Inheritance. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.
Shelf-Awareness. (2018). Kids' Maximum Shelf: The Parker Inheritance, Shelf Awareness. Retrieved from https://www.shelf-awareness.com/max-issue.html?
Varian Johnson. Photo of Author Varian Johnson. Reprinted from Shelf Awareness,
2019. Retrieved from https://www.shelf-awareness.com/max-issue.html?