My Name is Maria Isabella

My Name is Maria Isabella
Ada, Alma Flor
Thompson, K. Dyble
Realistic fiction novel, Multicultural
Atheneum Macmillan Publishing Company NY, NY, (1993)
4-6

Maria Isabella Sanchez Lopez is a girl who was born in Puerto Rico and began school there. Her family move to the united states and she attended a new school where her and her teachers spoke Spanish. Maria Isabella liked that school and had dear friends there but she and her family had to move because her dad got a new job as a superintendent ant the apartment complex where they would be living. She was very nervous about starting in her new school. Her new school was taught only in English and her teacher did not understand her culture. Maria Isabella is named after her grandmothers, grandfather, and her father. It was her family's custom to be named after family members whom were very important to the child. Maria Isabella was very proud to be named after her family members. Her teacher called Maria Isabella Mary out of convenience because their were all ready other Maria's in the class. She did not know how to tell the teacher how she felt. The teacher became very annoyed with her when she did not answer questions when the teacher referred to her as Mary. Maria Isabella was not used to answering to her new name. Because of the two's miscommunication, Maria Isabella was left out of the class performance. The teacher thought that because she did not immediately answer she did not want to participate. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. Maria became very sad that she was not in the Hanukkah performance. Maria Isabella was having a very difficult time at school and at home. Her family was full of love but they were struggling financially. Her mother had to find a job outside the home which was a hard adjustment for her. She became lonely when she was home alone. Maria Isabella finally found the courage to tell her teacher through a writing assignment how much she wanted to be called by her name and sing in the performance. The next day her teacher addressed her by her full name and asked her to lead their song. Maria Isabella was very happy that her teacher now understood her and that her parents could see her sing.

I found this book very touching. The author did a wonderful job making understand the characters in this book. For this reason I don't think that the sketched illustrations were necessary.I felt so bad for Maria Isabella when her teacher decided to ignore her name and gave her a new one. I don't think her teacher meant to hurt her feelings I think she was probably just trying to organize her class. When I was tutoring in after school I tutored a girl who was in a similar situation. Her name was Elizabeth but she wanted to be called Beth because that is what her family called her. Her teacher and all of the after school staff continued to call her beth. Every day she marked through the Eliza in her name that her teacher wrote on her papers. I don't think that Beth was as upset by being called something other that what she wanted, But it did have a clear impact on her.

The Hispanic population in our country is rapidly growing. For this reason teachers need to find ways to expose students to Hispanic cultures as well as being sensitive to Hispanic students who may feel out of place. Many people in our country bare a prejudice against Hispanic Americans. I feel that most prejudice is a result of a lack of understanding of the cultures around them. For this reason, teachers should try to incorporate as many different cultures within their curriculum as possible. I think this multicultural book would be an excellent way to introduce students to The Hispanic culture and to help them see that Maria Isabella's Hispanic family were good, hard working, and loving people. All students should be able to identify with Maria Isabella's struggle to fit in. I would like to read this book to my class within the first week of school and have a discussion about how people are different and how we are all the same. I would then have the class write a narrative about how their heritage and culture is important to them. I feel that this activity would make students more aware of the world around them as well as them selves.