The Parker Inheritance
The Parker Inheritance is a book full of social justice, ideology about gender expression and gender norms, racial biases, challenging stereotypes, and puzzles. This book is unlike anything I have ever read before. When Candice Miller is forced to spend her summer in the small town of Lambert, South Carolina with her mom, she is expecting the worst summer of her life. When she finds a mysterious letter from an anonymous benefactor who poses her with a series of riddles, her summer makes a complete 180. With the help of her neighbor, Brandon, the two set out to solve the riddles and find the missing money. However, what the uncover are the dirty, buried secrets of the town of Lambert that no one intended on being brought back to light (Johnson, 2018).
What moral values and social-political messages (race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, class, poverty, environment, immigration, education, homelessness, etc.) are dominant in the text? Does the author foster social consciousness?
Not only is this book composed of entirely African-American characters (other than the Allen family who plays a small role in some parts of the story), but it also tackles other biases other than race. During most of the story, Brandon's sexuality is discussed and thought about. He talks a lot about "girl books" and "boy books", to which Candice tells him that she doesn't believe in. He then shows her that he likes to read so called "girl books", but didn't want her to make fun of him like the other kids in the neighborhood. To protect himself even further, he makes Candice check out the "girl books" while he checks out the "boy books" and tells her they can switch piles when they are both finished reading. The other kids in the neighborhood, especially Milo, tease Brandon because not only is Brandon a little different, but he has a friend, Quincy, who is outwardly gay. The kids in the neighborhood bullied him as well, forcing his parents to send him to Seattle for the summer to get away from it all. But because Brandon is his friend, he is receiving both of their torments now that Quincy is away. Candice comes to the conclusion that she doesn't care if Brandon is gay or not. She even says ,"I don't know for sure, but I don't think it really matters" (Johnson, 2018, page 309) which is the attitude all people should have towards their friends, no matter their gender identity, expression, or sexuality. She is even able to apply this newfound opinion to when her dad comes out to her later in the book. Because she loves her dad, she is able to accept his sexuality and accept him, and love him, for who he is and his ability to live out his truth.
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In this text, who had the power to make choices for a better world?
I love that Varian Johnson allowed children to solve the James Parker mystery. Not adults, but children. This serves as an inspiration to young readers. They can be the ones to enact change if they see something that doesn't sit well with them. They can be the ones to solve something that adults can't seem to figure out. Even as children, they can be the ones to give adults the answer. I think this not only empowers youth, but also gives them a voice they didn't know they could obtain. This story bestows power to children who read, like to solve puzzles, and who are good at math. This story rewards those who work hard and seek to make the world a better place. What better message could we give to our future students than that?
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In the article, Culturally Diverse Literature, by Fenice B. Boyd, Lauren L. Causey, and Lee Galda, we are reminded that children not only need to see another world portrayed in books, but they need to see themselves portrayed in books, as well. In the article, they quote Nancy Larrick, who is a poet and an acclaimed critic who wrote this: "...if children never see themselves in books, they receive the subtle messages that they are not important enough to appear in books and that books are not for them. Conversely, if children see only themselves in the books they read, they come to the conclusion that those who are different from them are not worthy of appearing in books" (Boyd, Causey, & Galda, 2015). Again, the words of Rudine Sims Bishop prove to be true. If we seek to have culturally diverse literature in our own classrooms, we must have books that provide mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors for our students.
This article also talks a lot about three components or categories we can look at when selecting culturally diverse books in our classrooms: visual and verbal sensitivity, authenticity and accuracy, and ideology. I could easily use The Parker Inheritance as an example when talking about this criteria, why it fits them, and what makes this book a great culturally diverse text to include in classrooms. First, Varian Johnson, the author of The Parker Inheritance, writes from an "own-voice" perspective, meaning he lived in a town similar to the fictional town of Lambert, South Carolina where the story takes place. He was able to use his childhood home and its predominantly African-American population and rich culture as a foundation when he created the setting for this story. He was also able to use his own personal experience as background to the prejudice and racial biases portrayed in The Parker Inheritance. In one of the scenes, two characters, Candice and Brandon, are stopped by the assistant principal of the high school. He demands to see their ID's, even though they are obviously children and do not have any sort of identification other than their elementary school ID cards, which they do not carry with them because it is the middle of the summer. Varian and his twin brother faced something similar. When he picked his brother up from the airport, they hugged and got into the car. They were both stopped by a police officer who said he was on the look out for drug smugglers, and the two of them were instant suspects. The officer said it looked like the two did not know each other, but the boys were identical twins. But because they were two black teenage boys, they must have been drug dealers, in the police officer's eyes (Johnson, 2019). This true story serves as a base when Varian writes on and on about the racial biases the people of Lambert had against the Washington family, ultimately forcing them to run away and create new lives.
Varian creates a very lively and vibrant town when he writes about Lambert. Most of the people are kind to one another and there are really no "bad" parts of town, even Vista Heights. But there is no gun violence or gang involvement like many books with African-American characters may lead readers to believe. Johnson was able to create a normal town free of any uses of inappropriate stereotypes or dialects when any of the characters spoke, making it not only an appropriate story, but also an accurate one. Any of the history he includes in the story also matches up with historical timelines we learned in school. The tennis match occurred in the 1950's, which was around the time of the Civil Rights Movement, making that event seem entirely believable. When Johnson talks about Althea Gibson, the first African-American woman to win Wimbledon, he is actually talking about real history there, as well. Varian Johnson's The Parker Inheritance is able to match up with so much of the criteria needed when we are selecting culturally diverse texts for our classrooms, making this the perfect addition to anyone's shelves.
Boyd, F. B., Causey, L. L., & Galda, L. (2015). Culturally Diverse Literature.
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Johnson, V. (2018). The Parker Inheritance. Scholastic.
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Johnson, V. (2019). The Story Behind The Parker Inheritance. Retrieved from http://varianjohnson.com/books/the-parker-inheritance/story-behind-parker-inheritance/.
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