Smoky Night

Title: Smoky Night
Author: Eve Bunting
Illustrator: David Diaz
Publisher: Harcourt
Date of Publication: 1994

As we begin analyzing our journey from childhood to adolescents, and eventually adulthood, we can look back on many of our experiences and re-evaluate the situation that we were involved in, or were informed of. We can look back now and understand how someone in our life may have acted very absurd during a situation, leaving the answer simply in the hand of a child. In the story Smoky Night, a simple life lesson of recognizing and celebrating differences among people is brought to life.

On an evening during the demoralizing Los Angeles Riots, Daniel, a youthful naive boy shares his experiences of the frightening times he encountered. It is told from his point of view. This is essential to the story because it helps the reader relate with Daniel on a more personal level, and begin to understand what it was like to experience an appalling time like this as a child.

This story can be used to develop an understanding of the Los Angeles riots and it can introduce the evils associated with racial prejudices. The messages are pretty clear throughout the story. The riots in the story are a terrible part of America's past, and the story does a good job of presenting these horrible times, and the effects that they have on the main character and his family. The character is easy to attach with, and so it makes the story that much more meaningful to the reader, because being in a situation like this would be awful and possibly life changing. Smoky Night has social relevancy because prejudices, and stereotypes are ongoing occurrences, and introducing stories like this to children is a good place to start in overcoming these issues. The story is a youthful interpretation of the riots and i definitely consider this as a diverse piece of literature.