#17
Medina, M. (2016). Burn,
baby, burn. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
This work of historical
fiction is set during the hot summer of 1977 in New York City when the Son of
Sam was murdering young, dark-haired women, and there was a streak of blackouts
and arson filling the summer nights. The protagonist is Nora Lopez, a 17
year old girl just trying to make it through high school, turn 18 and get out
of the apartment where she lives with her mom and her brother Hector. Her brother is selling drugs, stealing, and
physically assaulting Mima (mom) and Nora. She is afraid of him and what
is happening, but her mother will not let Nora do anything and every time she
tries to protect herself or her mother, she is lectured about how they have to
protect Hector. Meanwhile, Nora and her
best friend Kathleen are trying to enjoy senior year and dating. Nora
meets Pablo at the deli she works at and dates him, even though she is afraid
that she will be targeted by the Son of Sam.
Nora goes so far as to cover her hair when she is out with
Kathleen. To connect in the fear of
arson, Kathleen’s father is a fireman, so he not only is in danger, but also
has information that the regular citizen would not have. The novel
definitely gets scary when Kathleen and Nora are followed home from the movies,
when Hector goes nuts on Nora and a brave neighbor intervenes, and she and her
friends come desperately close to being at the club where the Son of Sam
attacks and kills another girl. The
story does have closure and hope for Nora to be able to achieve her dreams of
gaining an education in a field most women do not enter and escaping the
dangerous home situation. She stands up to her father and forces him to
see how much she and his son need him- and he pays for her to go to
college. She also learns how to speak up
for herself, and also that you can’t always protect the people you love if they
won’t let you.
This novel is probably
the first book I have read set in this time period. Medina does a
wonderful job of setting the scene with her choice of literary elements- from
the description of the neighborhood, the hairdos and clothing styles of the
characters, the cars the boys are driving and the music everyone is listening
to. She describes the heat of the summer so well that the reader can feel
the sweat and the oppressive heat on the characters. Medina also creates the mood of fear with her
utilization of a dark-haired girl and the close relationship she has to a
fireman. Not only does Medina create an excellent portrayal of the fear
during this summer, she also creates a believable protagonist in Nora. Nora struggles with problems that our readers
have today, so even though they will be learning about history, they will also
be able to see either a mirror or a window into the world of domestic violence,
poverty, and abandonment by a parent. This novel is aimed at high school
readers, as the protagonist is a high school senior trying to figure out how to
go to college (at a time when girls, especially minority girls) didn’t get to
do so most of the time and to move out of the violent home she lives in with
her mother and brother. Nora must move through Kohlberg’s levels of
morality and, instead of choosing her brother over the law, choose the law and
safety over family loyalty. The theme of standing up for yourself and not living
in fear emerge through the novel as Nora finds the strength to follow her
heart.
#18.
Fey, T. (2011). Bossypants. New York,
NY: Little, Brown and Company.
BOSSYPANTS starts when
Fey is in high school and trying to find her place. She was a chubby
girl, and was slashed in the face in kindergarten and so she always had low
self-esteem and felt un-pretty. Everyone around her compensated for this
by telling her how awesome she was at all the other things, and it turns out
she is! Tina started out working a
summer job at a theater camp in her area and that is how she got into acting.
Tina was raised by a super loving middle-class family- her dad was one of
those guys that demanded respect and was given it. The book chronicles Tina starting to work in
high school, go off to college and see how her love life did not take off-
except the guy who only hung out with her alone and then talked to her about
liking other girls. She starts out
working for the YMCA at the front desk and meets all kinds of interesting
people- and hates it- but she needs the job.
Then, when the other front office lady shares with Tina that she is
going to apply for a job at the upstairs office, Tina FINALLY decides to stand
up for herself and take the good job. And she does. And then she ends up working for the Second City,
traveling with the traveling group, making little money, but acting and
learning and honing her skills in improv. She explains her journey from
that to SNL and eventually to creating her own show, 30 ROCK. She explains what it is like to be a boss,
what it is like to be a female boss. This book shows her path from a
self-conscious high school student to a famous comedian, writer, and actress.
It is powerful for students to see the hard work, time, and dedication it
takes to achieve success in business and in life.
This autobiography is
absolutely hilarious. I listened to the audible version and think it is
enhanced by listening to Tina Fey read it herself. This novel has won
multiple awards and is from YALSA’s recommendations of “Books for the College
Bound,” and after reading it, it is clear why. This story will appeal to
readers that feel self-conscious about themselves and have big dreams. Reading the story of someone who started out
as a super drama nerd and ended up as a famous comedian doing what she loves
will inspire and motivate them to reach for their goals. Fey describes her
character very well and makes it easy for the reader to empathize with and see
themselves in her position. Maslow’s developmental theory with
self-actualization being the top of the pyramid fits the YA reader who picks up
this book. Fey shows this reader that
they are worthy of chasing their dreams and have the chance to achieve them.
#19
Telgemeier, R. (2010). Smile.
New York: Graphix.
SMILE is the absolutely precious
autobiographical story of Raina Telgemeier’s experience with an extreme dental
problem that she faced from 6th grade through 10th grade. Just as she is
beginning to start liking boys and worrying about her appearance, Raina falls
and knocks out both of her front teeth.
First they are knocked out, then they are stuck back in with a “cast”
and then they heal too high and she looks like a vampire. Eventually they
pull the teeth out and she wears a little retainer with two fake teeth until
she wears braces long enough to pull her original teeth in close enough to
close the gap from the missing teeth.
Then, they bond and file and- tada!
Her teeth look normal (and she shares a picture in the back to prove
it). This is an amazing dental story complete with endodontists,
periodontists, orthodontists and more dental knowledge than I ever
imagined. At the same time Raina is
dealing with such a huge physical and emotional trauma, she is also going
through puberty. She talks about growing
breasts, zits, hair changing textures, and how awkward she feels dealing with
that as well as her teeth. Raina also has a group of friends that tease her and
laugh at her and expect her to go along with them. Finally, in high
school, after one of her “friends” pulls her skirt down in the middle of the
cafeteria, she leaves that group and eventually finds a new set of true friends. By the end of the memoir, Raina has a
beautiful smile, has grown into her body, and has a group of friends that make
her feel happy. Raina realizes that
being happy with herself determines how others see her.
This graphic novel is
intriguing and sucks the reader right in when Raina falls on her face in the
opening pages. The beautifully colored illustrations (Telgemeier starts
her books with a cityscape) add to the mood and feeling of the drama. This
novel is a great mirror for our young people to see their young selves in. I
can’t imagine what young girl (and probably boy) could’t relate to the
awkwardness of navigating middle school and a changing body. The added struggle
of the dental situation at this point in life makes Raina a character that is
easy to empathize with. Maslow’s developmental theory fits Raina’s friend
situation because it shows how hard it is for students when they are not
accepted for who they are by their peers.
It also has a large emphasis in the physical stages because Raina not
only has the normal concerns about growing breasts and popping zits; she also
has the added stress of not having a tooth (or having a denture sometimes).
This graphic novel does a fantastic job of showing kids real struggles
and problems that someone was able to overcome just with time and standing up
for herself. This theme is born naturally through the events of the novel and
the choices that Raina makes. This novel
will be wonderful for YA at every level. It is very popular with my middle school
students and so is the sequel SISTERS.
Students who love this series will also like other books by Telgemeier,
including GHOSTS and the graphic novel edition of the series THE BABYSITTER’S
CLUB.
#20
McManus, K.M. (2017). One of us is
lying. New York, NY: Delacorte Press.
SPOILER ALERT!
SPOILER ALERT! If you have
stumbled upon this blog and have not read the novel, DO NOT CONTINUE READING!!!
As the title indicates,
this novel is the story of a group of students who are present during the death
of Simon, the boy who runs the school gossip blog, and the mystery to unravel
which of them is responsible for his death. The novel toggles between the
point of view of the four students- Bronwyn, Addy, Nate, and Cooper. As the story unfolds, the reader learns that
Simon had juicy stories on each of these four students and so each one of them
is a suspect. Bronwyn- the future valedictorian is accused of cheating
her way through a challenging class.
Addy- the beautiful and popular girlfriend of one of the most popular
boys in school is accused of cheating on him.
Nate- already a juvenile delinquent- is accused of dealing drugs.
Cooper- the future baseball star- is accused of using steroids to improve
his game. Each chapter gathers more
evidence, but it seems to be pointing to all of the suspects being
innocent. As other characters are
presented, the reader begins to question whether we are being tricked by the
title and the murderer is outside of the detention circle, or if one of the
characters is lying to us. The police leak the accusations levied at each
of these students to the student body, and it is all too soon that the news and
their families find out. Bronwyn faces
the truth that she felt pressure to be perfect and cheated. Addy admits to her boyfriend that she cheated
on him and gets dumped. Nate’s drunken
father continues not to support him and he becomes the go-to suspect. Cooper is revealed not to be using steroids,
but to be gay. All of the suspects must face their darkest secrets and
find a way to deal with them while standing in the spotlight of their city and
eventually the nation. The facts,
details, and intrigue grow until the climatic ending… when Nate is imprisoned
and Bronwyn, Addy, and Cooper face the coconspirator of the crime, save each
other, and reveal the truth to the world that Simon is the murderer.
This novel is a great
read. It deals with lots of different pressures and problems that
teenagers face. This novel also features a diverse cast: wealthy
students, middle class, and poor students; all different family structures;
problems from academic dishonesty, sexual identity, parental pressures, dating,
etc. all while entertaining the reader with a mystery to try to unravel. I
will admit, I guessed who the murderer was, but totally missed the
coconspirator until the end! This is one
of the novels that you pick up to read for the sheer joy of reading. The author does a fantastic job of using
first person narration to cover four different people. McManus uses literary devices well. She uses
flashbacks to build the tension of the main plot. The subplots are all
added together until they intersect with the main plot in a nail-biting climax.
Throughout the novel, the reader must discern not only who they think is guilty
based on the evidence, but they must also determine which, if any, of the
narrators are an unreliable narrator and if the title is true, and if so, how
true. This will be a great novel for the mystery reader or for a student who
doesn’t feel like reading because this novel will suck them in. I
listened to the audiobook, and even my husband was sucked in and wanted to read
the whole thing with me!
#21
Quintero, I. (2014). Gabi:
A girl in pieces. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press.
This novel looks very
unappealing to me because the cover shows a distorted face and the colors are
unappealing, but I love that it has words crossed out and that some are in
Spanish.
This story is about Gabi
Hernandez’ senior year. The story focuses on her family and her two best
friends. All Gabi wants is to be happy, find a boyfriend, and be normal.
She is a chubby girl, and her mom is always telling her that she will get
a man if she loses weight. Also, the biggest home problem is that Gabi’s dad is
a meth addict and is sometimes home, sometimes out about town on drugs.
Gabi and her brother do their best to pretend like everything is okay,
while their mom holds the whole family together. Gabi’s two best friends also have
problems. She is deeply involved with
Cindy and her unexpected pregnancy and with Sebastian, who is gay and has had
to come out to his family causing him to be kicked out.
Over the course of the
novel, Gabi starts dating, dealing with her body image, and realizing that if
she believes she is worthy of dating, then she is. She takes a poetry
writing course and finds it to be a powerful way to use her voice to talk about
issues that are important to her and by the end of the novel she has shared
many poems in public. But by the end, Gabi finds her voice, plans her
future, and knows who she is.
This novel is a very
powerful work of realistic fiction. Quintero chose a powerful protagonist to
share issues of consent and body image. The contrast between Gabi’s
boyfriend and the rapist are strong and show how consent works. The novel
grapples with the very real family struggle of drug addiction, which so many of
our students deal with. The fact that Gabi’s dad dies, and all she is
left with is the pile of letters she has written to him is moving. It shows that it is okay to love someone and
mourn someone even if they are not what you wish they had been. This
novel provides students a window into another world, or a mirror into their
own. This novel shows a level of diversity
with a chubby Latina protagonist. This novel is relevant and fits the real
situations of students today and uses the language and a setting that is
believable and current. The themes of consent and following your own path
are intertwined between Gabi and her best friends’ stories. This novel also has
many beautiful pieces of poetry and imagery throughout, especially the last
piece Gabi shares in poetry class. This
novel will be great for high school students.
#22
Emberly, M. &
Harris, R. (1994). It’s perfectly normal. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick
Press.
In this nonfiction,
objective text, Emberly and Harris explain concisely and clearly the process
from how human bodies change from child to adult all the way through making
decisions about sexual health. This text uses a bird and bee (kinda
cheesy, but cute) to add an air of levity to a pretty serious topic. The book starts out describing the four
definitions of “sex” and then describes male and female bodies and how they
change. It describes what the bodies look like on the outside and on the
inside and use illustrations of the anatomy to help the reader understand. The book also uses a few well placed comics
to show how the egg travels, how the sperm travels, and how they meet and join.
The book travels through the journey of pregnancy and uses another comic
to show a birth. Besides covering just the physical aspects of puberty and
change, the authors also cover the emotional side. They discuss the feelings that accompany the
changes in our bodies, “feeling sexy” and how we can have strange feelings.
It also covers topics such as masturbation, STDs, decisions regarding
sex, sexual abuse, and abortion. The
information on these topics is clear and simple, but it also points out that
there are strong feelings about them and that it is important to talk to
someone about these things. The book also has a section on IVF and different
ways to make a family such as adoption. In conclusion, the book contains an
excellent table of contents and a thorough index. Throughout the book, the
authors maintain that all of the feelings, physical changes, and everything
else are perfectly normal. Instead
of sounding cliche, it sounds reassuring.
This book is an
excellent reference piece. The illustrations and comic strips are a strong
addition to the clear and straightforward text. The scope of this book is
huge- it covers everything from the onset of puberty to pregnancy and
everything that can happen in between.
This makes this book an excellent window for young people to see
themselves going through these changes and realize that even though they are
having these weird feelings and strange changes, they are normal and it is
okay. It is written for older children/young teens whose bodies are
starting to go through these changes. I shared some of this information with my
teenage sons, and they were embarrassed, but the one sitting beside me was
slyly looking at the pictures the entire time because even though they think it
is weird, it gives information that they never hear in such a clear and
straightforward way. The book even discusses the slang and “dirty jokes”
that accompany this topic. The fact that
it not only discusses the topics, but also the awkwardness makes it refreshing
and powerful. I really liked that it had
people of multiple races and variations of skinny to chubby characters in the
book. It would be great to see an update
to this book, with additions such as trans and cis gender, surrogacy, and HPV
included to cover contemporary topics.
#23.
Slater, Dashka. (2017). The
57 bus. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
The 57 Bus tells the
true story of Sasha and Richard, two teens growing up in Oakland California.
The novel begins with a short introduction to each of the protagonists, and
then tells of the fateful day when Richard lit Sasha’s skirt on fire while they
were sleeping on the bus. The novel then follows the court case as the
reader learns about Sasha, an agender student from a middle class family who
attends a private school, and Richard, a poor African-American student from
Oakland High School. The novel tells, in
brutal honesty, the way these two young people ended up on the bus that day and
what happened to them afterwards. The story follows Sasha as they
realized that they were agender and how they deal with life after receiving 2nd
and 3rd degree burns following the incident.
The story also follows Richard as he loses friends to violence and
poverty and then follows his incarceration and trial after the incident. The story does not paint Richard as the
antagonist or villain, but portrays both young people as victims of our society
and the divisions amongst us. Slater includes facts about trans/cis/a
gender juveniles as well as facts about African-American juveniles in the legal
system at various points in the novel.
She also shows the meetings and communication that occur between Sasha
and Richard’s families. The story ends
with hope for each of these young adults, but leaves the reader with a
startling realization that our society has a long way to go to reach equality
for all.
In this multiple award
winning work of nonfiction, Dashka Slater tells a true story with care and
consideration for both juveniles involved. This meets the criteria for
non-fiction because Slater is qualified to tell this story. She researched all of the legal information
and news reports and met with both families multiple times. At the end of the
book, there is a section where she shares this information with the reader to
confirm that she indeed did the research required. This novel shows both
the physical and developmental stages of young people: It shows Richard making
poor choices (setting someone on fire) because he had poor judgement and felt
like he had to take his friend’s suggestion to fit in and it also shows Sasha’s
struggle to become who they really are even though everything in society told
them that they were supposed to be a boy. Slater does a beautiful job of
interweaving the two stories through her use of switching her third person
narration to follow each boy and including facts and statistics when
needed. This book will be eye-opening
for the YA reader (and the librarian/teacher reader as well). I was not surprised to feel compassion for
Sasha, the victim, but was amazed and impressed with the author’s skill at
making me feel compassion for Richard, the perpetrator of such a heinous and
needless crime. This novel would be a great jumping off point for
research. A great place to start would
be this article https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/01/magazine/the-fire-on-the-57-bus-in-oakland.html (which also includes a picture of Sasha if you
want to see their fabulous and unique style!).
#24.
Levinson, Cynthia.
(2012). We’ve got a job: the 1963 Birmingham children’s march. New York,
NY: Penguin Random House.
In this powerful
recounting of the 1963 Children’s March in Birmingham, Alabama, Levinson uses
four children- Arnetta, Anita, Wash, and James to tell the story of how it came
to be that the youth of Birmingham became the voice of the Civil Rights Movement.
The novel is told in 3rd person point of view and tells the entire story,
yet it focuses on these four young people and what each one did during the time
the novel covers. This novel is broken
into chapters based on dates and events.
It begins with what happened before the Children’s March and follows
through until well afterwards. The novel ends with the Civil Rights Act
being passed and then follows up with what happened to each of the young people
involved. Throughout the novel, the children’s feeling and fears are shared, as
well as their experiences with water hoses, jail, hunger, and school. This novel puts a face and a soul to the
movement that seems to our young readers to have happened so long ago. Interviews
with people involved on all sides of the movement are included, and graphic
details are present.
This novel is long and
hard to get through, but it teaches a lesson that our young people have a
unique position to raise their voices and move their feet- and because of their
youth- they have a power that is mind-blowing. This novel seems
particularly fitting right now with the March for our Lives movement rolling
along. This novel not only tells about
an important time in American history, not only teaches our young people that
their voices matter, but also serves as a blueprint for how to successfully
pull off such a widespread movement. The author proves the credibility of
this book by using multiple sources of references and interviews. She includes a lot of quotes and facts within
the narrative she creates for each of her narrators. This book creates a window
for readers into a world that seems to our current YA readers to be in the
long-distant past. It also allows our
African-American students to see examples of heroes that look like them.
Piaget’s development theory is perfect here because it talks about how students
at this age are starting to have different beliefs than their parents, and the
protagonists in this novel are handling a situation in several different ways
with varying support from their families. Also, this book is the perfect
example for Kohlberg’s moral development because the young protagonists in this
book are having to make the choice to actively and willfully break the law to
prove that it is unjust. This novel
teaches our students the right way to go about civil disobedience and the right
reason. The parallels in this novel and
what is happening in America today make this book a perfect and timely read.
#25
Kidd, C. (2014). Go: A Kidd’s guide to graphic
design. New York, NY:
Workman Publishing.
This nonfiction
introduction to graphic design tells the reader everything there is to know in
order to have a basic understanding of graphic design. The author begins
by introducing himself and the topic. He
then divides the book into sections that explain each element of graphic design
in depth, such as “typography” and “content.” Each chapter has
definitions, easy to understand descriptions, and lots of illustrations and
images to illustrate the author’s points.
The examples come from his own work, as well as other popular graphic
artists and are current. Kidd ends with a chapter of 10 Design Projects”
that he challenges the reader to create.
The projects build on each other and the reader is able to become a
creator by following what they learned in this informative turned how-to book.
In this fantastic work of nonfiction, Chip Kidd takes his reader on the novice’s guide to graphic design. From the front cover with a big red stop sign with the word “Go” in it all the way to the back cover with a big green circle bearing the word “Stop”, this book is fascinating and intriguing. It makes the reader, who only moments before had no idea what graphic design meant, thinking, “hey, I could be a graphic-designer too!” The author of this book, Chip Kidd, starts out the novel proving his credentials in the section “Who am I, and why should you believe anything I say?,” which is hilarious and to the point. He is in fact an expert, and he has many famous clients to back him up. Throughout the book, he continues to use examples of his own work to back up what he says. He also uses examples of others in his field to show that the techniques he is describing are universally used, not just by him. The purpose of this book, as Kidd indicates in the
