In Our Mothers' House by Patricia Polacco

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Polacco, Patricia.  2009. IN OUR MOTHERS' HOUSE.  New York: The Penguin Group.  ISBN 9780399250767

PLOT SUMMARY

IN OUR MOTHERS' HOUSE is a story told by an African-American girl (her name is never given) who is adopted as an infant by two women, known affectionately as Marmee and Meema.  The family is made complete with the addition of her adopted brother, Will (of Asian-American decent) and adopted sister, Millie (Caucasian decent).  Set in Berkeley, California, the young narrators tells of the family's everyday life experiences,  lively holiday celebrations, and neighborhood gatherings.  However, one neighbor, Mrs. Lockner  doesn't want her children to associate with this multicultural family.  The children learn that families can look different, but the most common thread in all of them should be love and acceptance.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This book chronicles the story of two women choosing to build a family and raise them in a household full of love.  The women's homosexuality is not the focus of this story; instead, the message that prevails is one of familial love and support.  As children turn the pages of this book, they see this blended family participating in everyday activities other families take part in: sitting by the fireplace telling stories, trick-or-treating around the neighborhood streets, and playing in the backyard tree house.   The pencil-sketch and watercolor illustrations depict the family's happiness and love.  The characters are seen happily playing and running carefree.  Young readers receive the message that nontraditional families can be just as loving and caring as traditional families.  This point is driven home when the narrator states "There wasn't a day in my life that I didn't feel deeply loved and wanted by Meema and Marmee.  Our mothers were willing to do anything for us.  We knew that."

Although most people in the neighborhood are supportive of the family, one woman is not:  Mrs. Lockner.  The author describes how the Lockner kids are invited to play in the tree house, but their parents quickly take them away: "They barely spoke to us... They just plain didn't like us, I guessed.  I couldn't quite understand why.  We always tried to be respectful and friendly, the way our mothers taught us to be."   Mrs. Lockner's disapproval of the women's lifestyle and family comes to a head at the neighborhood party when she angrily confronts and screams at the two women, "I don't appreciate  what you two are!"  Having witnessed this tense exchange, Millie asks her mother why Mrs. Lockner lashed out at them.  Meema explains to her children "She's full of fear, sweetie.  She's afraid of what she cannot understand: she doesn't understand us."  Marmee adds that "there seems to be no love in her heart, either."  Thus, young audience members begin to realize that not everyone is acceptable or comfortable seeing blended families in which parents are of the same-sex.   The mothers' explanations to their children expose a hard truth; one that many are not willing to admit to.

While this book presents a loving story about a lesbian couple raising a blended family, it feels as if the author tried too hard to present a perfect story.  On nearly every page, all of the characters are smiling from ear to ear.  Even the neighborhood dogs and cats are smiling!  While the message the author wants to get across to young readers is that nontraditional families can be just as loving as others, the illustrations feel like overkill in presenting readers how happy life can be.   Another concern I had with this story is how the author seems to sweep the incident between Meema and Marmee and Mrs. Lockner under the rug.  No mention is made about how the family handles the tense confrontation or how the children were affected.  It seems that life goes on for them.  I think it would have been much more meaningful if the author had build in a conversation the two mothers have with their children, describing to them that there may be people who do not understand their family, but it doesn't change the fact that they are still loved and cared for.  

Finally, one of the drawbacks of the story is found in the illustrations that seem to confirm the stereotype of lesbians and lesbian couples.  The women are drawn as brawny and masculine looking, with short cropped hair and wearing men's clothing.  This is further emphasized when the narrator describes how the mothers begin to prepare for a mother-daughter tea party they will host in their home. After she tells her mothers they will need to wear long dresses for the special occasion, she notes "Meema and Marmee looked at each other and shrugged.  We had never seen either of them in a dress... ever!"  Young readers may interpret these illustrations to mean that lesbians always have short hair and do not dress in a feminine way.  I fear that these pictures will solidify the stereotypical beliefs other may have instead of breaking down those barriers.

REVIEWS

THE BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS: "Polacco's distinctive pencil and marker illustrations abound with strong, warm-toned colors, softened by the pencil linework, and smiling faces; facial expressions are at once goofy and joyful, and the multitudes of loose-limbed characters create a general sense of ebullience and cheer. Unfortunately, the lack of coherent storyline and overdose of sweetness make the narrative an uneven and text-heavy stroll down a very selective memory lane. The didacticism is only heightened when the family is confronted by an evil neighbor (identifiable by her grumpy expression, the only such face in the book) who doesn't accept them, whereupon the narrator immediately asserts that "there wasn't a day in my life I didn't feel deeply loved and wanted by Meema and Marmee."

KIRKUS:  "Unfortunately, while this ambitious picture book seeks to offer an inclusive vision of family, it ultimately comes up short. Meema and Marmee's eldest daughter offers a sweeping narrative about three children embraced by their loving, interracial, adoptive family and multicultural community, with their "mothers' house" at the center of it all. It is outside of this safe haven that the children face overt and neatly contained homophobia in the character of one bad apple, who declares, "I don't appreciate what you two are!" The distillation of hate into a single character undermines the reality of systematic oppression faced by same-sex couples... There is a desperate need for books that present queer families as just another part of the American quilt, but this title, despite its obvious good intentions, doesn't do it."

CONNECTIONS

* Have students read similar stories detailing families with same-sex parents:

Garden, Nancy.  2004.  MOLLY'S FAMILY.  ISBN  9780374350024

Newman, Leslea.  2011.  DONOVAN'S BIG DAY.  ISBN  9781582463322

Oelschlager, Vanita. 2010.  A TALE OF TWO DADDIES.  ISBN 9780981971452

Oelschlager, Vanita.  2010.  A TALE OF TWO MOMMIES.  ISBN  9780982636664

Setterington, Ken.  2004.  MOM AND MUM ARE GETTING MARRIED.  ISBN 9781896764849