Trina's Family Reunion

by Roz Grace, James Melvin (Illustrator)

Trina joins her Big Mama and Granddaddy in North Carolina in advance of the big family reunion, where she shares some special time alone with them before relatives start coming home from as far away as France and Mexico

28 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1999

Reviews

[Jazmyne Henry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This charming Fiction story is about young girl named Trina who explains to her friend Irene what a family reunion is and how excited she is to sit in Big Mama's lap. However, the family reunion is not quite what she expected when she had to share Big Mama with her other family. Trina also learns that she has family from all over the world and she learned that just because they are far away it doesn't mean that they are not still family. As a literacy teacher I would use this text to teach students a foreign language. In the story Trina's cousins from France taught her a little bit of French. The students can use this text to tell a story about their own family reunion or if they have never been to one they can write what they think it would be like. The author dedicated this book to one of her good friends Irene who was also a character in this story. The illustrator does a good job in using different mediums to illustrate the story. They also do a good job in making the letters Trina writes to Irene child-like and realistic. This story shows that you can be culturally diverse within you own family. Some may be of a completely different race or complexion like her cousin Pierre but it doesn't change the fact that you are still family.

[Andrice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story told by a little African American girl named Trina about her family reunion. Trina attends her family reunion where she gets to interact with her family and at the same time meets new family for the first time. Her new family is of a different ethnicity and from a different country as well. Her french cousins amaze her and also annoy her at the same time. All Trina looks forward to is seeing her Big Mama and sitting on her lap but having to share her with her new cousins is something Trina isn't willing to do. With Trina being forced to share her grandparents and space with her cousins she learns a lot from them in the mean time. They teach her french words and she realizes how similar they really are. The story is truly about diversity between families and how we are different even in our own families. No family is the same and the way Trina describes her family to her friend is humorous and relatable at the same time. The author, Roz Grace writes a lot of culturally diverse books. I assume that she has a culturally diverse family and wanted to write books for children to relate to. I would definitely read this book in my classroom. I am sure that the students would enjoy it and its a great way to teach on diversity.

[Michel Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trina’s Family Reunion, a children’s book by Roz Grace, is a story that focuses on a young African American girl, named Trina, during her first family reunion. As Trina gets to know her French cousins, who are of a different ethnicity and speak another language, she comes to realize their similarities and learns to share her favorite grandmother, Big Mama. Although her newfound cousins both aggravate and intrigue her, Trina ultimately learns to cherish how diverse her family is. As a literacy teacher, I would use this text to teach students that there are multiple aspects to diversity and that diversity can exist within a particular family unit. I believe that students would respond positively to this text because the narrator’s tone is very humorous and relatable. The author has written many books about cultural diversity, so she has a unique voice when approaching this subject. The author has created a text that many students can relate to, especially students that have family members in other countries. For the purpose of exploring various family units, this text is really great because it explores diversity within a family in a very humorous and relatable way.

[Enasia Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trina's Family Reunion is a great story that tell about a young girl, Trina, and her discovery that her family is very different. Even though a family is whole, there might be people that are different shapes, sizes, and color. Trina never realizes that there might be so many differences inside of one family. Trina writes a letter to her best friend back home to tell about her family reunion. I can teach my students how to write and format a letter and use this story in a more authentic way. Also, students can look around their own families and list the differences even in their own families. I could not find out any information about the author, but I'm sure this story was created because of a memory or to show that family is very important.

[Omolayo Adenrele · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a little girl name Trina who visits North Carolina for the summer with "Big Mama" and granddad before their family reunion. It is related to my topic because african american families are depicted. The genre is Family. Not too hard to follow for children because of the simple word usage in it. However, the pictures in the book could make it a little uneasy because they are pretty dull and bland.