Amy Hodgepodge: All Mixed Up!

By: Kim Wayans and Kevin Knotts

This book begins by introducing readers into the life of Amy Hodges. Amy has been home-schooled until now - the middle of her fourth grade year - when she decided she wanted to make friends, wanted to be invited to birthday parties and sleepovers on the weekend. Throughout the book we get to see the struggles and rewards of going to school. Amy was introduced to how children interact with one another and the school environment. Jennifer and Lisa, were two girls that were constantly making fun of Amy. From who she was, to what she wore, to her good singing voice, to her ethnicity- Black, White, Japanese, and Korean. Amy did find a good group of kids she could relate with. Lola and her friends were also mixed and were very inviting. Lola and her group of friends started inviting Amy to lunch everyday and started to plan their routine for the talent show all together. The group decided to sing and dance about diversity called "celebrate You and Me". Although they did not win the talent show - they came in 2nd place. But the biggest accomplishment and reward was giving Amy and her group of friend, which was self-confidence and courage to be who they are, and nobody else.  

Classroom Activities: Like the author stated in the back of the book, the author stated "that they were inspired to write the Amy Hodgepodges series by their beautiful nieces and nephews - many of whom are mixed race children - and by the fact that when you look around the world today, it's more of a hodgepodge than ever. " This being known, teachers should educate students about differences and accepting people for these differences. Also, this story could be used as a read aloud book in the classroom - teachers could then have discussions about the book as a group. After discussion, the teacher can ask students to write about how Amy Hodges must have felt going to a real school after being home schooled and if they were in her shoes, how would they feel? Why?