Something Beautiful

The main character gives a memoir of her life in an urban area and what it is like to live in a place that she thinks is not beautiful.  The main character’s name is never given; perhaps this is so that many students, especially those in urban areas can see themselves in the story.  She describes the degrading scene around her without any plants instead with broken glass and the graffiti on the door to her home that reads, “DIE” in big red letters.  She describes the agony of walking past homeless people, and walking through unsafe places at night.  She then learns the beautiful at school and comes up with her own definition of beautiful.  She goes back through her town asking people in her town to help her find something beautiful to share about at school.  She finds many things surprisingly beautiful, the good homemade food from the diner, things her friends play with, a store, playing with friends, and her baby cousin’s laugh.  Seeing all the beauty surrounding her despite her circumstances, she is inspired to wash off the nasty letters on her door and plant flowers in her neighborhood.  Finally when she asks her mom if she knows of anything beautiful she responds by telling her that she is beautiful.

                Something Beautiful, by Sharon Dennis Wyeth, has very realistic illustrations.  Illustrator Chris Soentpiet creates a world that is realistic to many students, but to others seems unreal.  Through the illustrations, even students who live in rural communities can relate to what it might look like and feel like to live in an urban community similar to the one in the book.  While the illustrations have detailed scenery of the urban areas, the focus seems to be on the people.  The focus on the people connects back to the meaning of the book, Something Beautiful.  She learns that while she can do things to beautify her community, the true meaning of beauty lies in the people surrounding her that make up her community.

                This book would be an excellent read for both rural and urban students.  For rural students it can give them a glimpse into what another person’s life across the county, state, or nation may look like that they would not otherwise see.  Many rural students will not in their elementary years be exposed to such a community as this, but seeing this community may make them realize what they maybe are missing in their own community, or appreciate the aspects of their community even more.  For urban students, this unnamed character gives them someone they can relate to.  They can see themselves in her, and through the text and pictures began to think of some of the beautiful things about their own communities that outsiders may not always see.  Finally, this book would be perfect for a community that has some urban areas similar to those pictured in the book, but also students who are from other areas who may not be familiar with such urban areas.  This book can create common ground on which to discuss how different people come from different places and how everyone lives life differently.

                While this book may not be appropriate for early elementary grades discussing issues of homelessness and graffiti with the word die, it could be an excellent launching point for a discussion on different types of communities for older students.