Kenya is home to the Dadaab Refugee Camp. It is the home for thousands of refugees that fled Somalia during the Civil War in 1991. The camp struggles with famine, drought and poverty. The graphic novel When Stars Are Scattered by Omar Mohammed and Victoria Jamieson, describes Omar Mohammed's experience in Dadaab. Omar spent fifteen years in this "open prison." This is a great novel to teach students appreciation for what they have and to never lose hope even in the darkest times.
Teaching the Holocaust can be a very difficult subject to discuss and teach in the classroom. I often share images of the concentration camps and use document based questions. Reading and analyzing the young adult novel Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz also conveys the depth of horror. The book includes the starving ghettos, horrific concentration camps, gas chambers, brutal train rides, and unfathomable torture. This book is a great springboard to a discussion on morality and the dangers of following a ruthless dictator.
Zitkala-Sa was a Native American advocate, teacher, musician, and civil rights leader. She graduated from an Indian boarding school in 1895 where she was taught a new language, a new religion and given a new name. She was forbidden to speak her native language and stripped of her native heritage. She was “lost” between two worlds that did not accept her. After graduating, Zitkala wrote articles exposing the horrors of the Indian boarding schools and the complex culture that was forcibly erased by the United States government. At the pinnacle of her career she wrote a successful play called The Sun Dance. It was the first operetta written by a Native American. Lastly, she fought to raise awareness about many issues related to Native Americans. As a member of the National Council of American Indians she helped pass the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924. This historic journey is written and illustrated in Red Bird Sings: The Story of Zitkala-Sa by Gina Capaldi.
