Bay Books event promotes cultural acceptance in trying times
By Berry Kendall
Sun contributor
“The world is held together by tiny friendships.” So explains the wise grandmother character in Lynne Rae Perkins’ latest novel At Home in a Faraway Place. On March 29, Perkins will be one of two authors featured at an event at Bay Books highlighting literary selections for young readers on the opportune topics of immigration and cultural acceptance.
The program will open at 10:30 a.m. with Bay Books owner Tina Greene-Bevington reading Thrity Umrigar’s children’s book, Sugar in Milk. Described by Running Press as “a timely and timeless picture book about immigration that demonstrates the power of diversity, acceptance and tolerance from a very gifted storyteller” Sugar in Milk made several best book lists and garnered two awards when it was published in 2020. It is intricately illustrated by acclaimed Vietnamese illustrator Khoa Lee. Born in Bombay, India, Umrigar immigrated to the United States when she was 21. Her books have been translated into multiple languages and published in more than 15 countries.
Awarded the prestigious Newberry Medal in 2006 for Criss Cross, Perkins has written and illustrated a new novel for middle grades from the perspective of an American child venturing to live in an unspecified Central America country for a period of time. According to HarperCollins, “At Home in a Faraway Place explores themes of empathy, friendship, discovery and life changing epiphanies of travel.”
The protagonist is a girl named Lissie who sets off with her dad and grandmother “to a faraway place, in a different part of the world” to live with her dad’s high school friend, Raúl. While her dad is fluent In Spanish, Lissie doesn’t know more than a few words, so her initial interactions are confusing and daunting. With a youthful receptivity and fearless nature undimmed by age and experience, she conquers her reticence to explore the unfamiliar language and surroundings. Her inquisitive nature arms her with growing confidence to attempt speaking Spanish. She’s encouraged by every native speaker she encounters, many of whom also want to practice their English with her in turn. An explorer and adventurer of experiences, language and cuisine, Lissie is rewarded with both “tiny friendships” and one “forever friend,” Flory.
The format Perkins employs in At Home in a Faraway Place is unique, organically drawing the reader into a foreign language lesson while the engaging story unfolds. Each chapter introduces new Spanish words accompanied by definitions, phonetic pronunciations and Perkins’ whimsically delightful watercolor illustrations. At the end of the book is a comprehensive glossary of the Spanish words introduced throughout the story.
Asked how she settled on the book’s subject matter, Perkins says, “When I set out to learn Spanish, I wasn’t thinking of making a book out of it. All my life I’d never pursued a language to the point of fluency but always thought I’d like to do that. So, when I turned 64, I said to myself ‘if not now, when?’ While I was learning Spanish, I was reading various novels and some of the literature on migration so I was becoming attentive to that topic.”
After undertaking an online Spanish program, the opportunity arose for Perkins and her husband to travel with a group to Guatemala for two weeks where she took daily Spanish lessons. Upon returning home, she continued lessons via Skype with her teacher in Guatemala for three years. “Because I’m an illustrator as well, I started to make these elaborate flash cards. I was having trouble keeping track of the difference between two words that were very similar but I would also come across these things that were very fun about language. For example, the Spanish word for turkey is ‘pavo.’ And the Spanish word for peacock is ‘pavo real’ which is like ‘royal turkey.’ If you think about how a peacock looks, they both have those feathers that fan out in a big way.” The illustrated flash cards led way to large watercolor paintings detailing her impressions of the trip. Perkins’ book editor encouraged her to play around with her ideas which eventually evolved into a novel for young readers.
The cover art for At Home in a Faraway Place shows Lissie gazing out the window at a lush vista while sitting on her bed. Upon closer examination, her bed is actually an open suitcase, the baggage tags still attached to the handle. “Essentially it looks like she’s living out of a suitcase but it embodies two ideas: the idea of travel and the idea of feeling at home in a foreign country,” Perkins explains. “And there’s another illustration on the title page where the suitcase is upright and she’s stepping out of it.” The end page features an illustration of an empty suitcase unzipped and standing on its end. While all art is open to interpretation, the reader might deduce that Lissie is open to future trips to faraway lands, not quite ready to zip up that suitcase and hoist it onto a high shelf.
Asked what message she’d like to send to her readers, Perkins says, “I don’t usually start a book with a theme in mind but as I was working on this one the theme kind of evolved in two parts. One, that it’s fun and interesting to go to new places, meet new people and learn new languages and two, how the grandmother character says ‘The world is held together by tiny friendships.’ I really believe that they do and I thought in terms of when I go to the post office and they have a little poster on the bulletin board [offering online services] that says, ‘Save a trip to the post office.’ In our little towns up here we often have to physically go to the post office to get our mail and I get to see my neighbors and have real conversations.”
Bay Books will kick off its program with Greene-Bevington reading Sugar in Milk at 10:30 a.m. followed by a Q & A discussion. Perkins will then read a passage from At Home in a Faraway Place with a Q & A discussion and a book signing to follow. Greene-Bevington plans to serve some Guatemalan fare to highlight this is both an educational and cultural event. Bay Books is located at 220 N. St. Joseph Street in Suttons Bay.
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