Callie is new to Rye Middle School. Being Black and Cherokee, she has a real problem with the school mascot being the Braves, and the cheers and tomahawk chops during the football and basketball games. In Callie's honors English class, Mrs. Williams assigns a presentation topic on the pros and cons of Native American mascots. Callie can't believe she has to argue the pros. The other kids in her class also have their stances on the Braves: Luis and Sean are proud to be Braves; Priya and Tessa are aware of the damaging impacts; and Franklin is on the verge of changing his position from pro to con. The tone gets pontifical but overall this is a timely work that explores discrimination vs. tradition through a diversity of perspectives. ( )

This novel in verse explores a middle school in the DC area with a mascot controversy. Callie, a Black Cherokee nation citizen, is a new student to the school and upset about the mascot (Braves), the way community perverts Native culture in their use of the mascot, and is spurned to take action. Six students from an 8th grade English class are given the assignment to explore the mascot and debate pro or con. A group in the class has strong opposition to the mascot and decide to take action for change. It shows the issue from varying prospectives (including their English teacher) from a range of backgrounds and perspectives. Lessons learned, friendships made and fractured, growth from all those involved. ( )

A novel in verse. Six eighth-grade students at a northern Virginia middle school fall on different sides of the debate about whether their school mascot is racist, and whether to change it. Callie, Franklin, Tessa, Priya, Luis, and Sean have different backgrounds, but share Ms. Williams' seventh period honors English class, where - after checking with Callie's family - she assigns them to debate the mascot issue. (Helpfully, each character's name and capsule bio is included on the front flap of the book.) Only one student changes sides from what they initially believed; another learns to be a better ally.

Sensitive and powerful.

See also: It Wasn't Me by Dana Alison Levy, Attack of the Black Rectangles by A.S. King, Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes, The One Thing You'd Save by Linda Sue Park

Quotes

Epigraph: "That non-Native folks think they get to decide what offends us is adding insult to injury." --Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne/Hodulgee Moscogee)

I'm privileged, ponytailed, and super sad
about the way the world is going. (Tessa, 34)

Covering sports [for the school newspaper] gives me a window
I never looked through before,
never paid attention to,
never cared about. (Priya, 67)

"We all have something
called cognitive dissonance.
The dictionary says it's having
conflicting beliefs in concert
with the decisions
we make in our lives." (Franklin's mom, 91)

Here's what I know for sure:
I have a lot to learn about other people. (Franklin, 130)

....I can feel myself changing.
And that's not such a bad thing, is it? (131)

"Discrimination is discrimination,
even when people claim it's 'tradition.'" (Franklin quoting activist DaShanne Stokes, 167)

...Ms. Williams gave us
books, poems, and short stories
where we could see ourselves and each other. (Callie, 227)

"Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47880/theme-for-english-b ( )

Mascot is a 2024 Lone Star novel.

Mascot preaches at the reader. The messages are spot on and accurate, but it's very much in your face. Each character represents different societal issues, bringing in hot topics. There are two sections to the book: the fall semester and the spring semester.

The characters include the following:

Callie: a new student who is immediately offended by the Native American mascot and speaks up. She, herself, is a Cherokee Nation citizen. She loves her English teacher who begins the year with an assignment of who they are and then a theme writing. She writes about the offensiveness of the mascot.

Franklin: an African-American, who is sometimes accused of acting too white, loves football but doesn't have any ability to play. He loves supporting the football team. He listens to the facts about indigenous peoples and decides they are correct. Even though his father is angry with him, Franklin chooses to advocate for changing the mascot. His friends abandon him as a result.

Priya: a Indian-American who gets told to go back home even though she and her parents were born and raised in the United States. She immediately feels that the mascot is completely offensive. She believes people should fight for what is right and not back down. She joins the other students in seeking a new mascot. She only wanted to be on the newspaper and make good grades, but she ends up spending her 8th grade year covering sports (not what she wanted at all) for the newspaper and fighting for a huge change.

Sean: a low-socio-economic student who loves his family and believes the mascot is part of the tradition of the high school. They are honoring the Native Americans' bravery and and power. Sean is super smart and hopes to be a teacher one day. He works hard to help the family, working when he can. He's super polite, but he cannot see the others' point of view. He finds an adult business owner who is Native American who believes the mascot should not be changed, pulling him into the discussion as well.

Tessa: a new student who has always been home-schooled. She appalled by what she sees and speaks out very loudly. Most people tune her out because she doesn't realize that she's blind to her own privilege and doesn't really understand. She's passionate, but she forces her way to the front of the outrage, not realizing that's the situation is not about her. They need her to see her white privilege.

Luis: a hispanic who loves futbol (soccer) but learns to love American football because of the sheer joy, fun, and camaraderie of attending games.

After the theme assignment, Mrs. Williams has the students take sides and debate the pros and cons of mascots that represent groups of people. Ms. Williams is a black lesbian, which has no relevance and didn't even need to be mentioned. Her poems explain good writing and how to make arguments. She leads the students well and is a good teacher.

I didn't love the book because it was repetitive and was almost angry in tone. There's no character development--each character represents the "idea" of a culture even if the culture isn't present in the story. It's pretty much a one-sided debate. There's also a reference to "cancel culture." I can't imagine many kids being interested in this book. This mascot issue would resonate more where mascots have come under fire and have needed to be changed. I've always been with schools named after animals, which is what I'm most familiar. This book will have a very limited audience here. ( )

Following the novel in verse, there are Spanish and Cherokee glossaries, as well as “About Mascots and Taking Action”