Maya my favorite chaperone11/20/2023 Maya’s attempt at saving her brother from her father’s wrath comes from a deeply empathetic place she knows why her brother got into a fight, but this is something her parents will never understand. They try to make sense of their new identity as they confront completely different worlds at home and outside. Replete with instances of the diaspora’s struggle and perseverance to navigate their new identity, My Favorite Chaperone endearingly captures a brother and sister’s resilience in a world that is novel to them. They go to bed, Maya staying awake and happily wishing that her brother be her chaperone next year as well. Once back home, Nurzhan tells her that he escaped to the bathroom. When she is dancing with Daniel, Maya notices her brother is gone. She goes to the dance happily, while Nurzhan sits on a chair in the hall. Maya cannot believe her luck her mother also gifts her a bracelet that once belonged to her. Maya does not get her hopes up, but once her father is back home, Nurzhan comes back after a conversation with him to tell her that he has sought their permission and that she can go with Nurzhan as her chaperone. One day, Nurzhan spots the permission slip for the Spring Fling and tells Maya that he has a plan to make her go. Maya works very hard as her mother has a fall that does not allow her to lift her feet up for six weeks. Things stay tense for a week and gradually go back to normal. Once home, her father has an argument with her mother about how she raises the children, scoffing at Maya in the arms of an American boy. She slowly sits in the back seat of the cab. One day, her father sees her and yells from afar. Maya thinks Shannon likes David, and Maya too slowly grows comfortable with him picking her up. The next day after practice, Maya and Shannon spend time with Daniel and David the boys pick the both of them up like weights and fool around. Once home, Maya starts cooking, upset that she had to miss gymnastics, and Nurzhan softly thanks her for helping. On their way home, their father is angry but does not say a word. Shanaman’s words slightly incorrectly when he says that the other boy needed three stitches, Maya translates that he was only a little hurt and Nurzhan need not be punished much, he should only be disallowed from watching television. Maya, in trying to help her brother, translates Mr. Shanaman’s English to Russian for her father. Once her father reaches, she is asked to translate Mr. Shanaman was the principal, while Nurzhan sat in one corner quietly. Maya calls her dad, Aibek, who reaches by three-thirty at the same location. She asks Maya to call her parents and ask them to report to the office at Evergreen Elementary within twenty-four hours. Johnson tells her that her little brother, Nurzhan Alazova, had been in a fight with Ossie Nishizono, who had apparently told him he would never be truly American. Scared, Maya walks to the office where Ms. Walsh, the vice-principal, who tells her that she is wanted in the office. As she sits in her next class, Maya is suddenly called by Mr. Her parents speak perfect English, unlike Maya’s parents who speak Russian. Shannon’s grandparents came from China and her family is very American. Maya loves her gymnastics practices she especially loves gymnastics because Shannon Lui, her friend, is on the team. When Maya’s family came, Aunt Madina sponsored them and soon after, Maya’s father found a job driving a cab and her mother cleaned houses. She and her family came from Kazakhstan to America through a dating magazine through the magazine, her beautiful Aunt Madina had gotten married to an American man named Bob Campbell and came after Kazakhstan broke away from the Soviet Union and things got very bad. My Favorite Chaperone begins with Maya being handed the permission slip for Spring Fling, which she takes silently knowing that her parents will refuse to allow her to the dance.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |