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Dear Reader,

As two individuals who are either first generation immigrants or have immigrated ourselves from a foreign country to the United States, we have experienced marginalization in our very own lives, such as in the TV shows we watch, the books we read, and many other things that we see everyday.

There are many different places where voices are not heard in society. There are voices such as immigrants, the disabled, and homeless people. It is essential that these voices are heard because they will start to feel as if they are not important in society, even though that definitely is not the case. We desire to give the voiceless a voice, and to give people an opportunity to see themselves reflected into society so they can appreciate themselves more.

There are a number of voices represented in this anthology, ranging from people with autism, people who are homeless, immigrants, African-Americans, disabled people, Muslims, people in poverty, and LGBTQ community. Our mission is to represent these voices in a good light so people can appreciate those categories a lot more, and we hope our anthology can help many different people.

Sincerely,

Janardhan and Vivan

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And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, Little Simon. 2015. 

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And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, Little Simon. 2015. 

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And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell is a story about two penguins, Roy and Silo. Both of these penguins are gay, and they both fell in love in the Central Park Zoo. The zookeeper noticed that they were doing everything together and came to the conclusion that they were both in love. After the couple realized that they could not lay eggs like the other couples in the zoo, they decided to take care of a rock like an egg hoping that it would hatch like the others. However, they kept on waiting for it to hatch but it never did. After the zookeepers noticed this, they put an egg in their rocks in the night and soon, the egg hatched and Roy and Silo had their own baby which was named Tango.

And Tango Makes Three is a really good story for children even though it is an actual event that took place in real life. The authors represent the LGBTQ community in a very good way by showing how being different from other does not make you less capable of doing anything. Roy and Silo were able to raise their own kid just like any other couple which is very empowering for the LGBTQ community. Since this is also a children’s book, it is putting the idea in their minds that being different does not make you less capable at an early age which is very good because they will grow up to be very accepting of these things. The LGBTQ community does not get represented that well in society and there is still a lot of problems in society regarding them to this book belongs in this anthology.

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The Hate U Give is a story about a young african american girl dealing with racism and police brutality after witnessing her friend being murdered by the police. This story is very meaningful and powerful because it deals with a very recent and controversial issue, police brutality. There are many lenses in this book. One lens would be power and privilege. The cops have more power and privilege than african americans, so they get away with most of the crimes they do. African Americans often do not get equal treatments, and they have less power and privilege than other people, who are of lighter color. Another lens would be social commentary. The social commentary in this book is that we need to stop racism in our country. Racism will cause more problems in our country, and it will be no good for us.

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When a Muslim Child is Called “Terrorist”

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When a Muslim Child is Called “Terrorist”

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“What happens when a muslim child is called a terrorist” by Shaheer Rahman is a story of bullying. Shaheer is an ordinary muslim boy, but when his bullies take things too far and tell him that he betrayed his country when he did nothing, he reports them to his guidance counselor.  This teaches a lesson of islamophobia, since the students were calling him terrorist and other names for no reason, only because he was muslim. Many other people like him are bullied to this day just because they are muslim, and this needs to stop. The social commentary in this story is to treat muslims the same as any other person. We have no reason to be afraid of them, they are normal people just trying to live out their lives. There is also power and privilege because the friends had more power over him since they were not muslim, and they were the one bullying him.

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“You cannot fight when you are alone and so I call on women to come together”

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“You cannot fight when you are alone and so I call on women to come together”

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In “You cannot fight when you are alone and so I call on women to come together”, Deodanta Tukamushaba talks about the struggles of being a women in their village, and she explains how if you are a women, it is very good to come together with other women and form a group. In her village, there is a problem with domestic abuse and women’s rights. She says that women are expected to stay in the kitchen instead of doing other things that men can, and that is not right.

Tukamushaba represents women because she is standing up for what she believes is right for women in her village and that is very important. Women around the world struggle for some of the same problems that Tukamushaba is facing in her life, so this story is very empowering for them. Also, the Tukamushaba is showing who has the power and who has the privilege in this village. It is clear that the males in this community have the power over the women, which is shown when she talks about how the men abuse the women and when she explains how men sometimes steal the women’s crops and sell them as their own. This shows how the men are a lot more privileged than the women because they can get away from doing these things,

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Red: A Crayon’s Story is a story about a crayon, Red. He has been labeled as red, so everyone around him expects him to draw in red. They don’t realize that he cannot draw in red, but draws in blue. Due to a series of events, Red realizes his label is wrong, that he is not red, but blue. This story utilizes symbolism to deliver a message for the LGBTQ community. The story uses symbols like red and blue, which can be interpreted as genders, and labels as sexuality. The social commentary for this story is empowering and acknowledging LGBTQs in literature. Doing this is important because our next generation also needs to know about LGBTQs and how they are often treated unfairly. This book is a children’s book, so children can know about the LGBTQ community and respect them for the person they are. This story belongs in this anthology because the LGBTQ community is not represented enough in society, and making young children learn about these topics is good for the next generation and the future of society.

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The Immigrants Song is a song written by David Rudder and it talks about how immigrants are really important in America and how they have been here. In one part of the songs, Rudder writes, “Am I an immigrant or am I a new slave, made for all brutality? I don’t think so.” This explains how immigrants are coming to America and are being treated very unfairly. Rudder also writes, “America remember Ellis Island, we all came here to take the plunge I hope you understand it.” This is also referencing America’s history and how America was built and shaped by immigrants. Ellis Island was where immigrants from many different places came into the United States, and it is a very important place because of that so if we are turning against immigrants, it is going against what made America what it is today.

Rudder’s social commentary about how immigrants are being treated in America is very prominent here because he is explaining how Americans are turning against immigrants and how society is a lot less accepting of immigrants as well. Also, Rudder’s use of juxtaposition in the song is very powerful too. He talks about what America is doing wrong with immigrants and then goes on to say what should be happening and how immigrants are going nowhere. This song belongs in this anthology because immigrants are not represented in society enough, and this song is very empowering.

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On the Job: Stories from Youth with disabilities by Beth Swedeen

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On the Job: Stories from Youth with disabilities by Beth Swedeen

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On The Job: Stories from Youth with Disabilities is an anthology by Beth Swedeen, Molly Cooney, Erik W. Carter, and Colleen Moss. They have collaborated and shared many stories of disabled people working on a job, not letting their disabilities stop them from doing their jobs. There are many collections of stories of these young men and women with disabilities doing their job normally, like all other people. These stories help prove the point that even though disabled people can be different, we should still give them the same chance as any other normal person, because they could be as good as the next person. This belongs in the anthology because it has many stories of people with disabilities, who are marginalized. People with disabilities rarely get the chance to share their lives with the rest of the world and share their stories, so this anthology is perfect for this.

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Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting is a story about a father and son that are struggling to find a home and are living in an airport. They had to resort to living in an airport after the mother in the family died, and the father was struggling to support the family financially. They have to act like they do not exist, and they have to make sure no one notices them at all because if they do, they will get caught and the will be sent out of the airport like countless other families. This story shows how no one is willing to help these people and how difficult it is to survive when you do not have a home, and it makes children feel empathy for people that are struggling at an early age.

In this story, Bunting does a really good job representing people who are struggling with finding a home. It shows how frustrating it is to find a home in this society and how to survive. It also shows how hard it is to find help because in the story, the father is working with an extremely low pay and cannot even find another job to sustain the family. Bunting also shows the how the powerless are struggling. In this story, the other people in the airport have power over the people who are homeless because they can send them home very soon just by figuring out that they have been living there. Also, it shows how they have the power when the boy sees the people who get off flights and talk about how they are “happy to be home”, and the boy got angry. They are a lot more privileged, and it is shown very well in the book. This story belongs in this anthology because homeless people are not represented in society enough, and they are ignored even though they are struggling a lot in society.

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My Friend Has Autism by Amanda Doering Tourville

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My Friend Has Autism by Amanda Doering Tourville

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My Friend Has Autism by Amanda Doering Tourville is a story of two friends, one of which has autism. The kid who has autism is named Zack, and the story explains autism to kids in a friendly way. It explains what people with autism may experience, and how it is okay and it does not matter. It is an excellent way of spreading awareness to young children because if they realize how having autism is perfectly fine and normal, they may start acting a lot friendlier towards those people and they will be a lot more accepting.

Tourville’s work is very important in society. When young children start growing up and start having to interact with people that are different from them, they may not understand and they may act the wrong way towards them which is why they need to understand these things at an early age. Tourville does a great job representing the people with autism in a good way which is important. There are not many books that have people with autism, so this book belongs in this anthology.

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“Are You Poor Or living in Poverty? This Story Will Make You Smile & Motivate” by Harsh Agrawal is a story of perseverance. Agrawal was born into a middle class family and was living a very comfortable life in his childhood. However, his family bought an apartment, were having a marriage for his sister, and they had to pay for Harsh’s college all at once, so they went in debt. Harsh was told by his dad to keep going to college and learning, and that his parents will take care of the money part. Harsh struggles a lot, but soon he gets his dream job at LinkedIn and manages to bounce right back from the old situation.

Agarwal gives hope to all of the people in the world that are in poverty or in a bad place in life by describing how his life turned around once he started to work very hard to get what he wanted. The message here is very inspiring and everyone who is in the same situation can benefit from the piece. Agrawal shows representation because he is representing the people in poverty and the struggles that they experience by showing how the things that he went through affected his entire life, and he even says, “Adversity causes some men to break, others to break records.” He also shows how in society, the people with the money have the power over the people without the money, and how the powerless get beat up by the people with the power. This is very important because people all over the world are struggling with money issues, while we are spending away on things that are not necessary for our lives, and we do not even acknowledge the people who are struggling.