My Night in the Planetarium
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
7-year-old Innosanto spends an exciting night with his mom sleeping under the stars in the Jakarta Planetarium. Innosanto's father is a playwright and the boy memorizes lines during the actors' rehearsals, so they invite him to join the performance, which tours the country. The play is about a General, who doesn't treat people very well, "so they decided to do a play about how that was wrong." Fact: Indonesia aka The Spice Islands is the place Christopher Columbus was looking for when he crashed in the New World. Fact: Indonesia is made up of 17000 islands where people speak over 750 different languages. Fact: when Inno was a child, speaking out against the government could land you in jail. On the last night of the performace Inno packs a toothbrush ("they figured if you're going to go to jail for a long time, you may as well have your toothbrush with you so you can keep your teeth clean. (true story)."), the curtains go down, and with soldiers on the way, the actors scatter into hiding. On its surface, My Night in the Planetarium is a modern Indonesian children's story about one night in the late '70s that the author got to spend in the Jakarta planetarium. But it's actually much more than that. It's an introduction to the history and culture of Indonesia. It's about colonialism, revolution, how power corrupts, and how through art and solidarity liberation can be won.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The title of this autobiographical picture book from Nagara (A Is for Activist) might suggest a child awakening to the wonders of the universe. Instead, the book's revelations are darker and more local, as a planetarium becomes a refuge from political turmoil in the Indonesia of the author's childhood. Narrating with candor and casual humor, Nagara opens with a swift, context-providing overview of Indonesian history, including its ethnic diversity, colonization by the Dutch ("We Indonesians are really nice, so we let them stay. They stayed for 350 years"), revolution, and strict rule by President Suharto, who is referred to simply as "the General." Nagara's father was a playwright, and after an allegorical play about (and critical of) the General gained popularity, Nagara and his parents narrowly avoided capture by soldiers by hiding overnight in a planetarium. Though softened by warm, brush-stroked textures, Nagara's crisp-edged illustrations maintain a sense of danger and unrest throughout much of the story. It's a stirring tribute to the power of the arts to challenge injustice, recounted with the confidence of a practiced storyteller. Ages 6 9.
