ON KQED TODAY ''MY NAME IS BELLE " 2:30 PM broadcast
$16.99
Hardcover
MY NAME IS BELLE presents an autobiographical snapshot of the immigrant experience through the eyes of a 7-year-old child. Belle Yang, artist and writer, uses herself as the model for the fictional pig-tailed girl named Hannah who arrives from Taiwan. Belle, as Hannah, faces change and loneliness - the difficulty of learning a new language, a new culture, even a new name, and of living with tension while waiting for green cards, longing to be citizens.
Using vignettes straddling time…dipping into Belle’s past and present, the documentary capitalizes upon Belle’s distinctive vision of storytelling and paintings to tell stories. This documentary taps into the hopes and fears all immigrants must experience when they try to grab hold of the American dream.
" . . . one of the best resources I’ve reviewed. Through the voice of a child and the eyes of an artist, it explains the physical and mental struggles many immigrants endure. Materials like this video, to start and support discussions in the classroom are invaluable." -- Claire Tesh, American Immigration Law Foundation, Immigration Curriculum Center, Washington, DC
Recognition:
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
Pacific Rim Film Festival
*******
Keywords:
About Belle
Belle Yang, subject of the PBS documentary, “My Name is Belle,” is often asked whether she is primarily a writer or a painter. Answer: "When I'm writing, I'm a writer; when I'm painting, I'm a painter." Is she a children's author or writers of adult...
Connections
Causes Belle Yang Supports
826 Valencia Street
Belle is a fan of
Your book deals with pain honestly
Dear Belle,
The reason I love this book is that it makes children feel the pain of immigration - not knowing if you're going to be homeless and sent back to a country that doesn't want you or may kill you for leaving or just for the heck of it.
Children should not be sheltered from this - you can just see how they tease those children who do not "fit in" to realize that they know way more than we give them credit for. I am so glad I read Philippe (?) Aries's book Centuries of Childhood to know that "childhood" is a cultural construct and not a biological phenomenon.
Children might cry when this book is read to them in some places, but pain is the beginning of empathy I believe. I guess this book touches me so much, because I have been an immigrant in France and in my own country when I came back from France.
Much success to you as always Belle - I think you deserve a Madame Tussaud wax effigy to go in the Smithsonian one day for bringing humanity to the debate on immigration.
Best,
Ruth
Dear Ruth
My Chinese-American girlfriend married a Frenchman, Olivier. Her years in France were tough. She said she felt like a foreigner, ready to be ejected at any moment. I think with French citizenship, she still feels the same. But then I've never felt I fit in anywhere. Maybe you and I (and many more who may be reading this) feel like eccentrics--those who live on the periphery, not the center. Eccentrics are best at seeing the humor and the absurdity of those at the center. Eccentrics make good writer ;)
Eccentric is one of the nicer things people have called me :)
My favorite scene in this book is where you learn about Martin Luther King and think that maybe what he had to say would help improve your life, too. He transformed mine when I read his speeches. Keep the pages coming from your graphic novel, too. I love your commentaries.
Ruth
I agree.
No better compliment than being called an eccentric!!
Eccentric just means "out of
Eccentric just means "out of center". Who wants to be there, anyway? :)
Someone once told me, "With a mind like yours, who needs drugs?"
I think that's been my motto for a long time, (if you exclude caffeine! :) )
Eric
Eric,
I knew that about you from the get go ;)