About this book:
This is a story about an Asian man torn between two countries that he loves. When he grew old enough, he decided to leave his homeland in Japan and discover "The New World", where he ended up in San Francisco, California. He comes to his homeland in Japan and marries his childhood sweetheart, then brings her to California to live. They have a child and then he becomes homesick for Japan again. We see him moving back and forth between countries because he finds that once he's landed in one country, he becomes homesick for the other.
What comes from this book:
This teaches the lesson that no matter who you are or where you come from, you can find multiple places on this earth to call home. It also teaches students that just because you have one identity, doesn't mean that you only identify with the place you came from. People have their own connections to different things, no matter what their race may be.
Classroom uses for this book:
This is more of a story for younger students. A lesson that can be taught using this story is by asking them to explain what is "home" to them. Maybe they came from a different neighborhood, state, or even country, like the character in the story. Ask them if they can identify both or more of these places as home. Are they extremely different or are they pretty similar?
Further information about this book:
Say, Allen. Grandfather's Journey. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. Print. ISBN: 0-395-57035-2
This is a story about an Asian man torn between two countries that he loves. When he grew old enough, he decided to leave his homeland in Japan and discover "The New World", where he ended up in San Francisco, California. He comes to his homeland in Japan and marries his childhood sweetheart, then brings her to California to live. They have a child and then he becomes homesick for Japan again. We see him moving back and forth between countries because he finds that once he's landed in one country, he becomes homesick for the other.
What comes from this book:
This teaches the lesson that no matter who you are or where you come from, you can find multiple places on this earth to call home. It also teaches students that just because you have one identity, doesn't mean that you only identify with the place you came from. People have their own connections to different things, no matter what their race may be.
Classroom uses for this book:
This is more of a story for younger students. A lesson that can be taught using this story is by asking them to explain what is "home" to them. Maybe they came from a different neighborhood, state, or even country, like the character in the story. Ask them if they can identify both or more of these places as home. Are they extremely different or are they pretty similar?
Further information about this book:
Say, Allen. Grandfather's Journey. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. Print. ISBN: 0-395-57035-2