You Are Here: Connecting Flights
Edited by Ellen Oh
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You Are Here
Connecting Flights
Edited by Ellen Oh
Informational Resources:
Editor Information:
Editor’s Website
Activities & Resources:
Stereotypes and Prejudice
“Bursting” Stereotypes Balloon Popping Lesson
https://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/03/lp294-01.shtml#google_vignette
How to Breakdown Stereotypes Classroom Lesson
Plane Travel
Using a flight tracker, track how long it will take some of these characters to reach their final destination
https://www.airmilescalculator.com/
Explore Chicago O’Hare International Airport
https://www.flychicago.com/ohare/home/pages/default.aspx
O'HARE/TSA SECURITY (2:00)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De9gBAB0EKM
Practice Speaking the Languages our Main Characters were learning
Counting 1 to 10 in Korean (1:03)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75VvwFw5jq8
Learn Filipino (Tagalog) - Greetings - Hello, How are you? (1:42)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v3ApoMRHPo
Four Vietnamese basic expressions: hello, thank you, sorry, goodbye (0:53)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ozzd3lD__M
Music
Berkley School of Rock website
https://www.schoolofrock.com/locations/berkeley
Van Halen Eruption (Instrumental only version) (1:42)
https://youtu.be/iPQIRdDFTzA?si=NKZ_3iradiJVWDFc
MakerSpace Activities:
Understanding Prejudice Through Paper Plate Portraits
https://ggie.berkeley.edu/practice/understanding-prejudice-through-paper-plate-portraits/#tab__2
Make a simple zine to start a travel journal
https://www.readbrightly.com/how-to-make-zine/
Paper Airplane Designs
https://www.printablee.com/post_printable-patterns-for-paper-airplanes_25263/
Design an airport using legos and any other on hand items
https://love-and-lollipops.blogspot.com/2012/05/make-airport-and-some-aeroplanes.htm
Discussion Questions:
This book has 12 different authors and one editor. What do you think the job of the editor is?
These stories begin in a very busy airport security line. What kind of mood does that set for the book?
In chapter one, a woman in the security line says “Just our luck that we’d get stuck behind these people.” What do you think she means when she says that and how does it make Paul feel hearing it?
On page 21 in Jae’s story, his mom’s supervisor carelessly calls him Jake. Why is it important to learn the correct name for people we are speaking to?
At the end of Jae’s story, he and his mom were in trouble even though Jae was just trying to do the right thing. What do you think would have happened had Jae not disobeyed the rules to help Jessie?
In chapter 3, Mindy is feeling anxious about going to visit Korea. What about her behavior tells us that?
Mindy holds all her worry in because she’s afraid her fathers will not understand how she’s feeling. After she finally tells them the truth, how is she feeling?
On page 72, the security guards suggest that Lee can’t possibly have a guitar because he’s Asian. How does making assumptions about someone based on their looks hurt them?
Later on in Lee’s story, the same guards accuse Lee of lying about who his uncle is. Why did they not believe him?
Ari’s story begins with strategies for flying alone with a six year old brother. Their parents are not with them so Ari is in charge. Have you ever been responsible for someone younger than you? How did it go?
On page 90, Ari discusses how she’ll react when Joan is shocked that Ari and her brother are Jewish. Why do you think most people have a hard time believing they are Jewish?
On page 112, AJ hears Derek and Erik talking trash about his best friend, Saul. What do you predict might happen if AJ stands up to them and defends Saul?
By the end of his story, AJ had found small ways to help those around him and found that they did matter. Why does helping people in small ways impact the world in the long run?
In Natalie’s story, her best friend Beth is excited about a cosplay idea she has. What about the costume bothers Natalie?
On page 140, Natalie tells Beth “It’s okay to like something, you know? But that’s different from taking it and saying it’s yours.” What does Natalie mean when she says this?
In Henry’s story, he’s worried about his grandmother not understanding his autism. What are the challenges people face when their family members can’t understand who they really are?
Camilla’s story begins with her describing her special space at home where she feels the most safe. What would the perfect spot for relaxing look like to you?
On page 197, Jane tells the story of when her Gonggong was assaulted outside of the bakery. How do you think she handled that emergency and would you have done the same?
In Khoi’s story, he’s feeling stressed about going to Vietnam but his parents don’t understand why. Why would visiting Vietnam feel different for Khoi than it does for his parents?
In chapter 12, Soojin does not want to move back to Korea. What are some of her reasons why?
Book Talk Teasers:
Read the reader’s theater for You Are Here edited by Ellen Oh.
Watch the book trailer on the Texas Bluebonnet Award website.
Read Alikes:
Cho, John. Troublemaker. On the first night of rioting in the wake of the Rodney King verdict, Jordan's father leaves to check on the family store, spurring twelve-year-old Jordan and his friends to embark on a dangerous journey through South Central and Koreatown to come to his aid, encountering the racism within their community as they go. (NoveList Plus)
Kelkar, Supriya. American paneer pie. Feeling like she lives two lives as the only Indian American girl in her school, Lekha Divekar is excited to meet a Desi newcomer only to discover that her proud new friend has just relocated to America and is not content to be quiet about bullying. (NoveList Plus)
Reynolds, Jason. Look both ways: a tale told in ten blocks. A whimsical exploration of the role detours play in life follows a group of students who become so engaged in everyday activities while taking 10 different routes home from school that they fail to notice a school bus that has dropped from the sky. (NoveList Plus)
Saeed, Aisha. Grounded. Told in alternating points of view, at Hurston Airport, four unlikely kids' lives are changed forever when their flight is grounded by weather following a Muslim convention. (NoveList Plus)
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. Ancestor approved: intertribal stories for kids. In a high school gym full of color and song, people dance, sell beadwork and books, and celebrate friendship and heritage. Young protagonists will meet relatives from faraway, mysterious strangers, and sometimes one another (plus one scrappy rez dog). They are the heroes of their own stories. (NoveList Plus)
Reviews:
Booklist starred (December 1, 2022 (Vol. 119, No. 7))
Grades 4-7. This short-story collection is unusual in several ways. Each story features a different East or Southeast Asian American young person. Some of them will observe, meet, or talk with others from the group. And all 12 stories take place on the same day in the same place: Gateway International Airport in Chicago, where a thunderstorm has led to numerous flight delays and cancellations, unhappy travelers, and crowded terminals. Each story has a different author and is complete within itself, yet the collection becomes more than the sum of its parts when readers become aware of the connecting characters and thematic links among the stories. A bystander in one narrative might be the protagonist in another, and one character’s choices may unintentionally affect another’s thoughts, decisions, and actions going forward. Some help others even when it involves some personal risk, while several stand up for themselves or their friends by explaining microaggressions, confronting prejudice, or speaking candidly to their parents. The list of authors includes familiar names such as Linda Sue Park, Erin Entrada Kelly, Grace Lin, and Christina Soontornvat as well as other writers. The individual narratives are consistently engaging and rewarding, and together they form a unique collection of interconnected stories about young, contemporary Asian American characters. High-Demand Backstory: With a roster of high-profile authors in the contributor list, expect those writers' fans to be eager to get their hands on this one.
Gr 4-7-In this beautifully written short story anthology edited by Oh, every main character has three things in common: they are all East or Southeast Asian American; they are all stuck in an international Chicago airport with every flight delayed or canceled; and they all have racist interactions, most of them with the same white woman in a pink sweater who repeatedly spouts anti-Asian xenophobic comments. As quoted in Linda Sue Park's introduction, each author (including Erin Entrada Kelly, Grace Lin, and Christina Soontornvat) is "refusing to buy into the model-minority fraud, they're exploring what it means to be Asian American on their own terms." All of these characters are on unique journeys (shuttling between divorced parents, aspiring to become a rock star, visiting family in Thailand) and readers can feel how the authors bring their own life experiences to them. Every intertwined story builds on one another, allowing readers to see the same interactions from different angles and perspectives. Many of the characters experience racism so casual (and in a setting heavily informed by contemporary pandemic-related sinophobia) that it will probably make some readers examine their own biases, unconscious or not. In a world where anti-Asian hate is on the rise and a mass shooting occurred on the Lunar New Year, this collection is not only important, but essential. VERDICT A must-purchase for all middle grade collections.-Kerri L. Williams © Copyright 2023. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.