Candlelight for Rebecca - Jacqueline Dembar Green - American Girls

Another Young Adult / kid read for you! I enjoyed this little story a lot.

Good:

 Shows immigrants struggling with integration and participating in other religious activities that aren't theirs. I felt it helped demonstrate why people who move to other countries don't just suddenly "become like you."

It shows the limited view that the teacher has. She has told the kids ALL Americans celebrate Christmas. She's basically has associated Christmas with being an American which is not fact at all.

It shows her conflict with making the decoration that her teacher wants them to make. Her other friends have decided to make them but chunk them before they get home. Some of her friend's families have integrated the Christian stuff into their lives...so the kids don't have any conflict with creating the decoration for Christmas.

 Her conflict with the Christmas decoration becomes a gift to the janitor. She gifts him the decoration and he gifts her back candles for the Sabbath.

Also, the book discusses how Hanukkah became "big" in the United States and how it's not treated the same way in other countries.

Bad:

The idea that you listen and do what the teacher is wanting you to do...even if it conflicts with your personal beliefs at home. This book was published in 2009 and I know it's meant to be 1914 America but???

Thankfully, we've got to the point where Christian or anything religious focus isn't forced on students as much as it once was. 

Discussion Points:

"I was going to throw it away on my way home from school," Rebecca blurted out, "but I just couldn't." ... "I didn't know what to do. Miss Maloney said all Americans celebrate Christmas."

Bubbie put her hands on Rebecca's shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Teacher is right, and she is wrong," Bubbie said."Some Americans celebrate Christmas, and some don't. But at school you must do what teacher tells you."

This sentence right here would be a fantastic statement to talk about in class. When do you feel that it is fine to disagree with a teacher? Should you address the differences in what you believe and what is being taught in the class? When should you just go along with things?

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It shows the limited view that the teacher has. She has told the kids ALL Americans celebrate Christmas. She's basically has associated Christmas with being an American which is not fact at all.


What makes you American?