Both are husky and buxom; both are outstanding cooks and both share a love for classical music and reading. Aunt Tiny as well as her sister-in-law, Yolanda and Andrew's mother are professionals who set their sights high. Andrew, also is musically talented. A harmonica afficionado, the boy has been playing songs and setting background sounds to music since infancy.
His harmonica was a gift from his late father, a police officer who died in a fishing accident. Yolanda was 4 at the time. Andrew has a harder time in school; he rarely talks; cannot read and spends his free time thinking about music. A kind speech teacher takes Andrew under his wing and teaches him to read by applying the lessons to musical terms and interests, e. He also teaches Andrew how to read music. Yolanda is fiercely independent and very bright. She can defend herself against any bully with reason, logic and a well applied foot in some cases.
Yolonda's Genius
She is also very funny. When a group of older boys demolish her brother's harmonica, Yolanda comes up with a resourceful way of getting even with them and providing a new harmonica for her brother. This is a wonderful story about a strong, intelligent black family with a very appealing cast of characters. The story ends on quite a blues note! Yolanda is a great character. She really comes to life in the book Yolonda's Genius, by Carol Fenner. Fenner has a remarkable ability to portray the inner life of this complex pre-teen; Yolonda is confident, self-rightous, and passionate, yet there is a vulnerable side to her as well.
She is constantly testing the limits of her power with her mother, with her new friend and with her peers at school and figuring out how to navigate her way through new situations. I think there is a streak of Yolonda in many pre-teens, as they waver between childhood and adolecents.
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There was definatly some pain and confussion in Yolonda's life, and this was not really addressed in the book; that is my main critisism. All of the other reviewers for this book saw Yolonda as a big, strong, African-American girl. But I don't think that is the whole picture. She was a compulsive over eater; everywhere she went she was "getting some energy" from chocolate or fried foods or plates of beans and rice. Her mother was a background voice, always injecting comments about her weight or her eating too much.
This indirect communication was really annoying and, in my opinion, unhelpfull. What was going on here with this food issue? Never once did Yolonda reflect on it herself. The character of Andrew was a bit weak. I was not convinced that he was a "genius", although I am sure his big sister believed that, which was very touching in itself. This book is most sucessfull in portraying the highs and lows of a fiesty, celf-centered pre-teen, who is a real survivor.
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Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. I enjoyed this story. I liked the strength and originality of Yolanda's character. I appreciated the gift she gives to her brother.
Yolanda is a shero. I graded it 3 stars because some of it was a little boring and it was a good not great book. This is a fabulous read, one of those books you can't put down until you reach the end. Do you need a story about facing personal challenges, seeing the value each of us has to offer to others? Perhaps you want a story where the characters have a different life view than yours?
This is the story of Yolanda and her family. Yolanda's mother, a widow, finds a new job and moves Yolanda and her brother away from Chicago to a safer, quieter place. Yolanda uses her genius to help her younger brother who doesn't speak much, has difficulty learning written language, but who in Yolanda's mind is a genius who can create a sound or tune and play it on his harmonica to represent nearly anything.
This is a story with many levels to motivate and inspire all of us. Yolanda, 10 and her brother Andrew, 6 live with their widowed mother in Chicago. When Yolanda tells their mother that a classmate shot another child to death, that ends her days as a Chicago resident. Her mother, a paralegal, moves the family to a Michigan suburb with a good school system.
Yolanda quickly adjusts, after initially pining for the familiarity of her old neighborhood and the close proximity to her Aunt Tiny. Aunt Tiny is a large, husky woman with a large heart. She gives her piano to Yolanda, who is plainly talented and enjoys listening to and playing the classics.
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A delightful, intelligent woman, Aunt Tiny owns several hair salons in Chicago and her work has been featured nationwide and in magazines. Oprah Winfrey was a client at one of her shops. Yolanda identifies with her aunt. Both are husky and buxom; both are outstanding cooks and both share a love for classical music and reading. Aunt Tiny as well as her sister-in-law, Yolanda and Andrew's mother are professionals who set their sights high. Andrew, also is musically talented. A harmonica afficionado, the boy has been playing songs and setting background sounds to music since infancy.
His harmonica was a gift from his late father, a police officer who died in a fishing accident.
Yolonda's Genius by Carol Fenner | Scholastic
Yolanda was 4 at the time. Andrew has a harder time in school; he rarely talks; cannot read and spends his free time thinking about music. A kind speech teacher takes Andrew under his wing and teaches him to read by applying the lessons to musical terms and interests, e. He also teaches Andrew how to read music. Yolanda is fiercely independent and very bright. She can defend herself against any bully with reason, logic and a well applied foot in some cases. She is also very funny. When a group of older boys demolish her brother's harmonica, Yolanda comes up with a resourceful way of getting even with them and providing a new harmonica for her brother.
This is a wonderful story about a strong, intelligent black family with a very appealing cast of characters. The story ends on quite a blues note! Yolanda is a great character. She really comes to life in the book Yolonda's Genius, by Carol Fenner. Fenner has a remarkable ability to portray the inner life of this complex pre-teen; Yolonda is confident, self-rightous, and passionate, yet there is a vulnerable side to her as well. She is constantly testing the limits of her power with her mother, with her new friend and with her peers at school and figuring out how to navigate her way through new situations.
I think there is a streak of Yolonda in many pre-teens, as they waver between childhood and adolecents. There was definatly some pain and confussion in Yolonda's life, and this was not really addressed in the book; that is my main critisism. All of the other reviewers for this book saw Yolonda as a big, strong, African-American girl. But I don't think that is the whole picture. She was a compulsive over eater; everywhere she went she was "getting some energy" from chocolate or fried foods or plates of beans and rice.
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Her mother was a background voice, always injecting comments about her weight or her eating too much. This indirect communication was really annoying and, in my opinion, unhelpfull. What was going on here with this food issue? Never once did Yolonda reflect on it herself. The character of Andrew was a bit weak.
I was not convinced that he was a "genius", although I am sure his big sister believed that, which was very touching in itself. This book is most sucessfull in portraying the highs and lows of a fiesty, celf-centered pre-teen, who is a real survivor. One person found this helpful. See all 36 reviews.
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