When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Rating: ★★★★★

It amazes me how this famous opera singer never graces the pages of history books in terms of historical and remarkable tale of overcoming struggles in the United States. I remember vividly reading this book in my civics class and being enchanted by the story, how relatable Marian Anderson is, and how I never came across her name before reading this book. I couldn't believe this story to be true and I wish they would make a movie out of her character. If they could cast anyone for the role of Marian hands down I have to say Audra McDonald. 

Audra McDonald has the looks, the talent, and the capability of tapping into Marian and bringing her story to life and definitely Oscar-Winning performance. Marian predates Martin Luther King Jr. and yet both their performances have changed a nation. I applaud the author of writing this story and beautiful illustrations to make the story colorful and relevant in the 21st century. 

We meet Marian Anderson who has the natural gift to sing. She grows up in the church and as time passes she dreams of being a singer particularly an Opera Singer. The only exception is she's poor and sadly black in the early 20th century. It was never heard of a black person to sing Opera let alone sell sold out concerts between the prejudice they suffer both professionally and in society. Marian is desperate to accomplish her dreams and yet they seem so far away from accomplishing.

No teacher wants to accept her to a music school because of the color of her skin, she has to work to support her family since her father passed away early in her life, and luckily the church will pay for her private lessons because they believe in her dreams and are willing to donate to the church. I've never seen that religious experience before and regardless whether you are religious or not I believe we need that in our community. We should take care of our own and help others to aspire to their dreams especially children.

Then the magical event happens is when she discovers a famous opera singer who is accepting students for private lessons and she is granted the opportunity to work with him and she trains hard to become the singer she is meant to be. After two years of lessons she is prepared to make the next move and that means to travel to Europe where it's easier to land roles and feel free of living in a country and not worry about the color of your skin.

She becomes a overnight sensation in the opera world and decides to make the passage back to the States and immediately she suffers the consequences of racism in America. No hotels would allow her to check in, concert halls refuse to accept her, and she has to perform separate concerts for whites only and then for the color people.

One event that help fuel the fire allowed her to get press coverage and the chance of the lifetime to perform a concert at the Lincoln Memorial. The President of the United States and the 1st lady gave the permission to allow this event. This was never heard of in history which is part of the reason Dr. King used the venue during the civil rights moment and thousands show up to witness Marian Anderson. Everyone of every color and race show up to this event and she makes history. Years later she will break another record as the first African-American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera.

This book gave me all the feels the first time I read it and reading it for the second time I felt the same magic again. It always fascinates me when obstacles are presented to some people and how they careful analyze their choices and pick the different path that will help them achieve their dreams and more. In the beginning you connect with Marian and believe it's not possible for her to accomplish her goals and more and yet fate would present itself and by making the right connections at the right time, new doors of opportunities opened themselves up and allowed Marian to become an Opera Singer. Her goal was to just perform opera and yet she broke records never heard of in history and people should know about her and her story.

I cannot rave enough about this book and I suggest everyone to check out this book and read it! Cannot wait for the day when they turn her story into a movie...

Vietnamerica: A Family's Journey by G.B. Tran

Rating: ★★★★★

I am beyond grateful that I came into contact with this book. I checked out many graphic novels that are supposedly critically acclaimed and yet I found them to be complete rubbish. Then I randomly picked this book up without knowing much information and right away I am drawn to this story thanks to the illustration. I do not know how many times I have found graphic novels to be phenomenal partly by having the best illustrations. I honestly believe if you have the best graphics then you already won half the battle for the reader.

Even though I am not Vietnamese I felt this story to be personal and too close to how much this book is relatable to me. This book is the story of G.B. Tran who finally visits Vietnam with his parents and discover the whole story about how his parents met, how they left the country and the worst life experiences his parents and family had to suffer during the Vietnam War and after. While reading this book, the living conditions these people experience reminds me about Cuba where my family comes from and while not to the horrible extent this book showcases nonetheless the suffering is universal.

When I look back on how much my grandparents had to sacrifice to come to America, I will always be eternally grateful to them. They did not know any english, had only one relative to claim them to enter America, and how to support two children before they were even 30 years old. My grandparents didn't get the full extent of the horrors of a dictatorship but they got to see basic human rights throw out the window, all currency was forced to return to the government where they controlled how much you receive with new currency, and people suffering with less food to eat and not getting paid enough to support a family all in the name of a revolution.

With the Vietnamese experience the same situations but lack of medical care, free speech, through into labor camps and suffer countless death because intellectuals were a danger to society and craziness of brainwash of a peaceful government under communist rule. For G.B. Tran parents, they simply thought that they were going to flee for about a year to let the new government get settled and moved back into their old home but in the end they never went back and it took two decades before his parents could visit Vietnam.

I am not going to go into plot because it ruins the whole purpose of reading this book but just know that this book is not a happily ever after story. While we get exclusive insight into the authors life and his family, we get to see the backdrop of the Vietnam War through the eyes of the Vietnamese. I am incredibly shocked how uneducated I am when it comes to Vietnam because both of my parents lived through it. While no one in my family fought in the war, they were young enough to remember and seeing the horrors.

Through the course of the story, we keep hearing GB's parents or family member keep telling him that he does not understand what they went through during this moment of time and contradict themselves when they mention that they wanted their children to never grow up and experience these hardships. I can relate to GB because it wasn't until a few years ago that I got the grasp on how bad Cuba was and has become and the depths what an evil man did to an island. I remember growing up hearing Cuba this and Cuba that and being oblivious of it all.

I visited Cuba when I was little and I haven't returned since and not because I do not care for my family but I do not like to visit a country that feels like a 3rd world country, where food is scarce, and then knowing at the end of the day that I am returning somewhere that looks like paradise while they continue to suffer. GB experienced these same feelings and the only reason why he finally visited is because his parents asked him and he learned that he needed to know his families history before it is too late. I highly recommend this book to everyone and the illustrations are absolutely beautiful.

Here are some of photos on this marvelous book and I hope you could check it out and read it.

We Didn't Stop The Fire

This question is rather vague because it does not cater me to answer correctly. The question is name a song in which you know all the lyrics to? That's every song that I like and love so that wouldn't help me in no shape or form. But then a thought came to me, not many people know the lyrics to some major hits of famous musicians.

There is a song by Billy Joel called "We Didn't Start The Fire" and it is a tribute to his love of history and how if it wasn't for his music career, he would have been an history teacher. He chronicles the history of our lives and pop culture and surprisingly not many people either know the lyrics or just sing the chorus. I hope if anyone of you know the lyrics to please come forth and proclaim your awesomeness with me! 

"We Didn't Start The Fire" by Billy Joel