 |
Reviewed by: Taylor Coonelly, Elementary School Librarian Title: We Sing from the Heart
Author: Mia Wenjen
Illustrator: Victor Bizar Gomez
Publisher: Red Comet Press
Year: 2024 Good for Grades: 1-5 Genre/Type of Book: Biography
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: Mentions of racism and racist language Recommended for a school library: Undecided Reason(s) for choosing the book:
Nominated for the CYBILS award for Elementary/Middle Grade Fiction
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
One band's fight for freedom of speech, reclaiming hateful rhetoric, and the power of the arts.
|
Review:
One band's fight for freedom of speech, reclaiming hateful rhetoric, and the power of the arts.
Simon Tam was drawn to music at a young age, staging concerts for his family and vowing he would perform music for millions on T.V. Because of his background, Simon also faced microaggressions from his peers and those around him, but he learned that by taking ownership of a stereotype, he could claim it's power. After years of trying to suppress his love of music, he gave up his college scholarship and decided to join a rock band. He realized, however, that the music industry didn't have many familiar faces to his, so he decided to start an all Asian American band named the Slants. The band used this name to stake claim over an insult that had been used against them and other Asian American people. There was another band with the same name, one made of non-Asians, and so Simon fought to trademark this name for his band. This journey wasn't easy, as he was continually rejected on the basis of the name being racist. He continued to fight and use music for his message, taking the battle to the Supreme Court and challenging the racism of the judicial system. After giving a hearing to the Supreme Court, they unanimously ruled in favor of Simon and The Slants. After this win, the band continued to speak for freedom of speech in their music and started a nonprofit organization focusing on activism in the arts.
I had never heard of the band The Slants before reading this book. I really enjoyed how the messaging of this book was the fight for freedom of speech and racism in both the judicial system and the arts. The author used text and musical lyrics throughout the book to create the story. While I think the story and the illustrations are appropriate for an upper elementary audience, this book might not garner individual student interest and reading based both on the cover and the material (even though it is an important story and message). The illustrations are well don, but do have a more muted and understated color palette. The back of the book does feature some interesting biographical notes on the author's sources and other anti-Asian racism advocates. I could see connections being made with this text to musical activism projects/activities, discussions on music as a tool to share societal issues or focusing on the pop culture individual's work on social issues.
Number of party hats:
Find this video and more resources for this book at TeachingBooks.net
For more information about this book, see the Publisher's Website