Hidden Gems: Unearthing Old Family Stories and Literacy

THIS SESSION HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO A FAMILY EMERGENCY

About This Session

Summary

A fear of English in an immigrant child would morph into a reluctance to read in a teen. It would take years and a forgotten book in a public city bus before she’d discover the magic of books.

Despite immigrating to the United States as a baby, Alda wasn’t exposed to English until her first day of kindergarten. Traumas experienced at school would delay her learning of the new language for four years.

These challenges developed in Alda a reluctance to read and write. However, her passion for stories, especially family stories, was always strong. Despite this passion, Alda never made the connection between books and stories, and it would take another decade before she discovered the magic of books.

Almost twenty years later, Alda overcame her long-lived fear of English, and her first novel, Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna, was published, receiving honors at the state and national level. Alda now speaks to educators and students about ways to overcome fears of English, books, and adversities.

What we'll cover:

For this session, Alda will present a visual depiction of her family’s stories and discuss the reasons behind her love-hate relationship with English. She will delve into her family’s story and explain the investigative process and research methods used to verify it.

After showing how she uncovered the story’s facts, she’ll emphasize the importance of family tales and their value for bringing literacy to families. She will also show how teachers can encourage students, including non-English speakers, to seek and investigate their own family stories in hopes of creating a bond with books.

After this event, teachers will be able to encourage students to:

Explore family stories
Embrace literacy through family stories, including non-English speakers
Discuss the story’s social, historical and geographical origins and impacts
Compare stories to current events
Develop ways to share family stories before they’re lost forever.

Alda P. Dobb’s MG historical novel, Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna, delves into the mass migration of Mexicans into the US that occurred during the Mexican Revolution (1913). The novel was nominated for the Texas Bluebonnet Master List Award and was named a Notable Book by the American Library Association. Her second novel, The Other Side of the River, depicts the refugee crisis that parallels today’s plight.

In both novels, inspired by the author’s great-grandmother, twelve-year-old Petra Luna struggles to survive the wrath of the Mexican Revolution. Her struggle for survival continues even after reaching the safety of the US. The books draw on the social divide and ethnic prejudice that ultimately led to the Mexican Revolution.