About that book...

Alexie, S., and Forney, E. (2007). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown.

Junior lives on a reservation and attends school where he is constantly bullied for his size and appearance. His best friend, Rowdy (true to the name),  sticks up for him but it is not enough for Junior to stay in the school where he is unhappy. He decides to attend a “mainly-all-white-school” and is supported by his parents-his often-drunk-father and too-tolerant-mother. The book follows Junior's struggles of being a new kid in a school with kids that don't look like him, the relationship between Junior and Rowdy, and the problems that surface in a family (and culture) that struggles with alcohol addiction. Alexie does not shy away from the often uncomfortable and awkward topics in a teenage boy’s life and will have you laughing at the hilarious thoughts and events Junior must encounter. The conflicts and trials Junior must face will have you in tears of compassion and cheering for his success to have a somewhat normal day. The “Unofficial and Unwritten Spokane Rules of Fisticuffs”  will definitely give you reason to chuckle. The illustrations by Ellen Forney are amusing and encourage the idea that as serious as life is, sometimes humor is the best way to deal with tough circumstances. For students that like this book, Matt de la Pena's novel, Ball Don't Lie, is about a high school student feeling like he is an outsider and just doesn't have a place where he fits but he has a love for basketball.

(YA by Kwame Alexander)
Alexander, Kwame. (2014). The Crossover. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing.
Josh Bell, nicknamed by his dad as Filthy McNasty, is a 13 year-old-student-rapper and basketball player and twin brother of Jordan (JB). Jordan is also a basketball player but much more interested in a particular girl. Their mom, an assistant principal, and their dad, a former professional basketball player, have high expectations for their sons. When Josh and JB begin drifting apart, Josh becomes angry and lonely, longing for the days when his brother was his best friend and basketball partner. When his father collapses during a basketball game, Josh is unsure what the future holds for his family. He has one last chance to visit with his father, but decides to play in the championship game. Throughout the book Josh learns that life is about dealing with the consequences of the decisions he makes. Kwame Alexander grasps his audience on page one with this incredible poetic masterpiece that is a realistic fiction story told in various styles of verse. The rich and unfamiliar vocabulary become chapter titles that the character explains with multiple sentences in the chapter. For example, the word pulchritudinous is defined and then explained in sentences on page 55. “As in: I’ve never had a girlfriend, but if I did, you better believe she’d be pulchritudinous.” And on page 142- “chur-lish” “As in: I I don’t understand how I went from annoyed to grumpy to downright churlish.”
The author has a good balance between thoughts of the protagonist and the dialogue with his family and friends. The well-developed characters experience change throughout the book by going through real-life experiences that often affect teenagers and families. The devastating conclusion will leave the reader wishing for an alternative ending, but understanding that authors write to mimic true life. The mixtures of font along with words read vertically add to the style and rhythm of the poetry. The book is a quick-read and would be most appropriate for young teenagers, but young adults would also appreciate the way in which Alexander writes. It would also be an excellent choice for a developing reader that struggles to complete a novel. Other books by Kwame Alexander written in poetic-style are: Rebound, Booked, Swing, and Solo (told through verse, text messages and song lyrics).

Myers, W. D. (1999). Monster. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers

Steve Harmon is a 16-year-old African American boy on trial for a convenient store robbery gone awry. A man was killed and since Steve is was the lookout guy, he stands the chance of spending life in prison. Being called a MONSTER by the prosecuting attorney, Steve is haunted by what he hears and what he has become to the justice system. To handle the events that stand before him and to separate his emotions from the trial, Steve begins to write about the daily occurrences in the courtroom as if it was a script for a movie. He also uses a journal to express his fears of the future and the loss of his youth. With stage directions, dialogue, and “off camera” notes that are found in the script to the diary entries that Steve writes to the flashbacks from Steve’s childhood, Walter Dean Myers is able to communicate in a way that is unique of any other story. The reader is emotionally pulled in all directions of feeling sadness and sympathy for Steve to feeling that he may somehow be guilty for a man’s life, to the anger of seeing the flaws within the judicial system. Students are introduced to what the defense and prosecution must go through in a criminal trial and see the human side of heartache when bad choices are made.  Monster was the first ever Michael L. Printz Award recipient, an ALA Best Book, a Coretta Scott King Honor selection, and a National Book Award finalist. Monster: A Graphic Novel was released in 2015.

Anderson, L. H. (1999). Speak. New York, New York: Penguin.

The main character in the book, Melinda, is 13 years-old and going into her freshman year of high school when she experiences something so traumatic that she is not developmentally ready to even process the pain or recover. Melinda is an outcast. She has no friends, is ridiculed and bullied by the entire student body at Merryweather High, and parents that are too busy with their own problems. When she finally does make a friend, it is short-lived. But, Melinda has a secret. One that she hasn’t shared with anyone. And it consistently eats at away at her spirit. Hiding in an abandoned janitorial closet and reliving the memories of the boy who raped her, Melinda begins to find her voice through an art project guided by an art teacher that believes she has a story to tell. Anderson writes a narrative that allows the reader to share the emotions of pain and agony that Melinda silently endures as she processes the events of that night alone. It's a powerful story released over 20 years ago about events that are still happening to our young teenagers. This book is sure to bring up emotions and hopefully spark the conversation to give young adults the power to speak out about sexual assault and rape. Anderson released the graphic novel version of Speak in 2019.  Speak was a Printz award winner in 2000. Shout: The True Story of a Survivor Who Refused to be Silent  is a memoir set to be released March 2019.

(Printz Honor Book)
Reynolds, J. (2017). Long Way Down. New York, N: Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing Division.

Will’s brother, Shawn, has just been shot and killed by a neighboring rival gang and “the rules” say that Will should take his opportunity to even the score. As he takes the gun and steps onto the elevator, Will is confronted by the ghosts of gun violence victims that have a connection with his brother where they offer their view of the situation and help guide him into making a decision. The time it takes the elevator to reach the first floor is just a little over 60 seconds-the same amount of time that Reynolds delivers each character to examine Will’s plight. Written in artistically constructed verse and with such power in his words the book is impossible to put down. It examines the cycle of gun violence in a way that will leave you shocked and breathless. I read it in just under an hour but couldn’t help but go back and study the passages afraid that I had missed something because I was reading so fast. The experience of the elevator ride, holding on to the hope that Will discards “the rules” (no crying, no snitching, and revenge) before he sets foot out of the elevator to retaliate the death of his brother, is both terrifying and inspiring. Long Way Down has received the following honors and awards:

• 2018 Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults
• Newbery Honor Book
• Coretta Scott King Honor Book
• Printz Honor Book
• A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner for Young Adult Literature
• Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
• Winner of the Walter Dean Myers Award
• An Edgar Award Winner for Best Young Adult Fiction
• Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner
• An Entertainment Weekly Best YA Book of 2017
• A Vulture Best YA Book of 2017
• A Buzzfeed Best YA Book of 2017

Other books written in verse are Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall, The Crossover by Kwame Alexander, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, and All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg.

 

 

Behar, R. (2018). Lucky Broken Girl. New York, NY: Puffin Books.

Ruthie Mizrahi is a happy, energetic, 10-year-old Cuban-Jewish immigrant with a love for jump rope. She arrived in New York City in the 1960’s and  lives with her parents and brother. She loves school but wants to be in the “smart” class. A horrific car accident leaves Ruthie bed-ridden in a full-body cast for a year and on a strict diet to prevent her from outgrowing the cast. The frustration of her mother to care for her, the encouragement from her homebound teacher and neighbor, and the loss of friends during that year is just too much for a young girl to process. As Ruthie heals, she remains scared and timid to experience success for fear of setbacks that will put her back into bed with an injury. She prays and write letters for healing and forgiveness while often losing her patience and understanding of the events that happened to her. Some themes from the book are based upon the friendships that Ruthie sustains, overcoming trials and setbacks, and the fear of moving forward into the unknown.  I love the role that the neighbor, Ramu, plays in this story because he encourages Ruthie to be an artist and his love and support help to strengthen her emotions. Based on the real experiences from the author’s life, the reader feels the hopelessness of Ruthie and cheers for her to find victory in overcoming a substantial misfortune in life. Lucky Broken Girl was the winner of the Pura Belpre Award in 2018.

The following novels are also about immigrant families and situations: Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo and Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix.

 

(YA by Raina Telgemeier)

Telgemeier, Raina author, artist. (2014). Sisters. New York: Graphix

Raina, along with her mother, sister and brother are setting off on a roadtrip to visit extended family in Colorado. As the family travels Raina experiences memories of her previous years as being the oldest sibling. At first,  Raina wanted a little sister and couldn’t wait to help care for the baby. Then Amara was born and was nothing like she imagined; she was cranky, grouchy, and spoiled. As Amara gets older, she and Raina rarely seem to agree and Raina wonders why she ever wanted a little sister. A little brother is born to make them a family of five. The trip includes experiences with rainstorms, dead animals, rush-hour traffic problems, live king snakes in the van, being stranded in the desert, her mom as a hitchhiker and then the admission that her parents needed to momentarily separate. Raina realizes that even though they may not always see eye to eye, they are still family and all of their experiences create memories of love and support.

Based on the experiences of growing up, Telgemeier writes and draws a humorous story of being an older sister dealing with the conflicts in a family. This graphic novel is engaging and entertaining and holds the attention of the reader in a comic book style format (like the Sunday comics in a newspaper). Through the flashbacks of the main character’s previous years, the struggles of being the oldest sibling shows in pages that are yellow. The present situation is shown in white pages. The author uses a variety of large fonts to display emotions from the characters along with emphasized facial expressions. Tween and younger teenage readers can identify with the trials of being a sibling and a family that is not always perfect. The author includes real pictures at the conclusion of the book of herself and her sister to make the real-life connection. Students who may be struggling in their family dynamics or are dealing with the pains of growing up with siblings can connect with Raina and would appreciate this story. Other graphic novels by Telgemeier include: Smile, Drama, and Ghosts.

  

(YA by John Green)

Green, J. (2017). Turtles All Way Down. New York, NY: Dutton Books.

Aza  Holmes is a sixteen-year-old high school student struggling with anxiety and the spiraling thoughts that are constantly causing her to overthink and deeply analyze every situation in her life. She is obsessed with germs and learning about self-diagnosed diseases that she convinces herself she has. Daisy is Aza’s best friend and together they decide to investigate Aza’s wealthy neighbor who has gone missing in return for a hundred-thousand-dollar reward. The missing neighbor’s son, Davis, is Aza’s age and through the investigation, the two of them form a romantic relationship, which really isn't the main topic of the story. This book really opened my eyes to the thoughts that someone with an obsessive compulsive disorder is going through. Aza’s thoughts are a constant and nagging internal conflict and John Green allows us to see inside her mind throughout the entire story. My heart broke when Aza is in the hospital with a lacerated liver and her willpower to fight against shoving the sanitizer in her mouth overcomes her rational thoughts that it will make her sick. It took me longer to finish this because I would have to go back and re-read pages where I thought I missed something. So much was happening in Aza’s mind that I felt like I was losing the plot direction, but now I believe that is what the author intended for the reader to feel. The relationships between Aza and Daisy, Aza and her mother, and Aza and Davis show us the importance of friendship, love and acceptance. This was not an "easy" read or a book that I would want to read while relaxing on a vacation. It is, however, a book that requires attention to the characters and details while often stopping and contemplating the struggles of mental illness. This realistic fiction/mystery that John Green gives us certainly lives up to the title. Other books that deal with mental illness are: Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella, All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, and Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman