Monday, April 19, 2010

YA Power!


I couldn't help but notice the correlation between "Borderlands/La Frontera" and the book I just finished reading for my Children's Lit. class, "Julie of the Wolves." Interestingly enough, the ideas presented in "Borderlands" matched almost word for word exactly to the themes of "Julie of the Wolves", a sixth grade level text. "Julie" is about an Eskimo girl who has runaway from her arranged marriage to live on the frozen tundra of Alaska while attempting to reach San Francisco. Oddly, aside from her efforts to win over the wolves and survive in the wild, at heart, Julie is struggling with her place in society, within her culture. She is caught between being "Julie" an American, and "Miyax", an Eskimo native. Just like in "Borderlands", Julie does not know which part of herself she should follow. Should she become Julie, and American, or should she stay true to her Eskimo roots. Adding to her struggle, her father raised her to be a true Eskimo, but then later in life, he has embraced the American lifestyle. Julie also struggles with language. Of course, she speaks both English and her native tongue, but she is unsure which language truly represents herself.

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