The Hate U Give by
Angie Thomas (Required Reading)
Thomas,
A. (2017). The hate u give. New York: Balzer Bray. The book is about Starr and her inner
conflict to come to terms with where she is from and who she is. Starr was born in the ghetto. Her dad, Maverick Carter, was a drug dealer
and part of the gang King Lords.
Maverick ended up in jail when Starr was eight years old for a crime he
did not commit. He was granted access to
leave the gang for taking the rap for the head of the King Lords, King. Upon Maverick’s release he started working a
local grocery story. The store owner
later passes the property and the contents of the store to Maverick. Maverick works and runs the store and Starr’s
mother, Lisa is a nurse and works many shifts at the local clinic. Starr’s uncle is a detective, Carlos and she
has two brothers, Seven and Sakani. The
story begins when Starr is invited to attend a party with Kenya. Kenya is seven’s sister but not Starr’s
sister. At the party she gets reacquainted
with an old friend, Khalil. Starr and
Khalil used to be very good friends as they have known each other since they
were kids. Gangs enter the party and end
up shooting a rival gang member. The commotion
forces Khalil to take Starr’s hand and out of the party. As they were driving a white cop pulls Khalil
and Starr over. Khalil attempts to check
on Starr’s welfare. The cop ends up
shooting Khalil in the back three times.
The entire affair sparks up anger in the community as Khalil was unarmed
and free of illegal substances. Starr is
from the community but attends a school forty-five minutes away. There only her brothers and another boy are
black. There is one Asian girl and
everyone is white and rich. As a result,
she struggles to find her identity and it makes it difficult for her to speak
up and defend Khalil. Starr even decides
to keep the tragedy and her background from her boyfriend, who is white and her
friends at school. She eventually speaks
up for Khalil and exposes herself to her boyfriend and friends. She decides to come forward from the shadows
where she had been hiding. One night, as
in many nights, protests and riots erupted in her community and her father’s
business was burnt down by King, the head gangster in the King Lords. The community comes together and decide to “snitch”
and as result, King gets arrested. The
family tries to piece their lives back as they begin to clean up and will
rebuild the store. This story resonates with
so many on different levels. I can’t pretend
to know how people in black community feel when it comes to seeing their unarmed
youth being killed. I do know that my
sister is married to a white man. They
have two sons. The oldest was a baby and
they wanted to take him from her at the Mexico port of entry, because she was
supposedly “not the mother”. Never mind
that we are third generation Americans and speak English fluently. I personally have not experienced anything
like that, but my husband has questioned behavior toward me, that I hadn’t
previously noticed. This book can be
read for many reasons. It develops
empathy and brings awareness to the violence and the bi-standards that co-exist
in a community. I think for that for many,
this book can be read autobiographically where this book justifies and
validates the “Black Lives Matters” movement and some can read for vicarious
experiences. The following is the
trailer to the movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MM8OkVT0hw.
#Not your Princess
Edited edit by Lisa
Cgharleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale (Excellence in
Nonfiction for Young Adults)
Leatherdale,
M. B., & Charleyboy, L. (2017). #NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native
American women. Toronto: Annick Press.
The book has a lot of stories from different Native American Women. One of the stories is about the blanket of
shame. The blanket of shame is a way of
living. The government gives you what
you need. In return you pay with your
dignity your respect and your sense of self.
When they leave, they give you a blanket to shield you from the
shame. A shame that should be covered up
and not ever exposed. Another story is
about reclaiming the indigenous women’s’ heritage. This writer explains that for over twenty-five
years of her life she was unaware of what it was to be an indigenous woman. She explains it as if it was a divorce between
her and her Ojibway ways. She begins to
explore and research what it means to be an indigenous woman as she is ready for
self-reclamation. In her research she
found where indigenous women were characterized with behaviors entrenching within
the confines of “Western Americans”.
They were described as being inferior, promiscuous, horse slaves and
squaws. There are stories where the
women describe the importance of awareness to the culture and their
attire. For example, a writer describes
attire as sacred and symbolic and that we need to stop wearing their style of
clothes for Halloween or as costumes.
Another describes her inner conflict and not knowing where she belongs
as her father is white and her mother is Native American. The book is a compilation of indigenous women
that have come together to have their story known. That although they were taking a back seat,
that they are ready to emerge and rise to become Native American Women Leaders. I can associate with being a female because, in
our culture, we were told that we were not able to turn the television station
to our liking. The boys would be the ones
in charge of what we were going to watch.
We were unable to partake in sports or talk back to the men/boys. We were meant to be in the kitchen cooking
and cleaning. It was through education
that we found our voice and were able to work through the stereotypes that we
still see within our culture. I found
this book to be autobiographical for me.
Although, technically I am not American Native, my mother states that we
come from Mexican Indigenous people. I
was able to see my story through the eyes of others. The following is the trailer for the book https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Hm5UmR7TSs
Grand Theft Horse
by G. Neri and Illustrated by Corban Wilkin (Graphic
Novels for Teens)
Neri,
G., Ruffu, G., & Wilkin, C. (2018). Grand theft horse. New
York: Tu Books, an imprint of Lee & Low Books. The story is about a woman who loved horses. Her mother is an Indian and her father is
white and in the military. Growing up,
Gale always wanted a horse. When she was
fourteen, they moved to Texas and Gale finally was able to get a horse. The problem was that the horse was wild and
she had to tame the horse in order to make it hers. After months of working with the horse, she
was able to tame it. It was then, that
the military family had to make another move.
This time the move was to Europe.
There she took classes in all things Equine. She later married a military man herself and
moved back to the states. Her marriage
and the move to the states was not joyful.
She fell into a deep depression that eventually landed her in a
divorce. It was then that she was
determined to have a horse. She worked
hard and eventually bought a horse with other investors, one of which was
Clayton, an attorney. The horse was purchased
with the intention of racing the horse. Gale
would train the horse naturally and would ensure that the horse was not
injected with steroids and other chemicals.
Eight months later, Clayton and the other associates deemed the horse
ready to race. Against her advice, the
horse raced and did not do well. As a
result, Clayton and his associates decided to take charge of the horse’s
training. Clayton was well connected and
was able to get a restraining order against Gale. He was eventually able to get her training
license suspended. Thus, they began to inject the horse with steroids and other
drugs. During the training, the horse
got a hairline fracture. Gale was unhappy
and eventually “stole” the horse. She
hid the horse and, in the process, proceeded to take legal action against
Clayton and his associates. The outcome
was two. First, Gale regained her
training license and second, the order was for her to return the horse. Gale was obsessed with horses. She felt that her involvement was helping a
horse. However, through the journey she
was able to help many horses and was later recognized as the “horse whisperer”. The process has brought awareness to the
sport and the horses must be drug tested in order to compete. Although I am not a horse trainer, I think
that many can relate to this book. Often,
we start a journey not knowing where or how far the journey is going to take
us. However, the end result may be a
positive impact to others. I was a
migrant farm worker growing up. I can
relate to how Cesar Chavez brought awareness on chemicals and pesticides on crops
and the impact on the worker. I can see
how this book makes a connection to these types of scenarios. I feel like this book is read for unconscious
delight. Where the reader reads for fun.
I can also see how others read for vicarious experiences to understand
the impact of taking a stance on important issues. Other books with the same topic Stolen Horse
ISBN: 9781432832001 or How to Think Like a Horse ISBN: 9781580178358.
We Are Okay by
Nina LaCour (Printz
and/or Printz Honor)
LaCour,
N. (2017). We are okay: A novel. New York: Dutton Books. It is winter break and Marin has nowhere to
go. With the help of the counsellor, she
is able to stay at the dorms for winter break.
Her friend Mabel is schedule to visit her for a few days during the
break. While Marin waits for Mabel, she
remembers everything that she has been through over the past year. Marin lived with her grandfather and referred
to him as Gramps. Her mother and grandmother
have passed away. Her father was never
in the picture and was never aware of Marin.
Gramps has been raisin Marin by himself.
Marin is a senior and they need to turn in a baby picture for the
yearbook. Marin asks Gramps for a picture,
but Gramps tells Marin that no picture of her being a baby exist. During that time Marin and Mabel attended a
party at Tommy’s. They have a good time
and retreat for the night. One day the
girls decide to sneak out of their homes and go to the beach. Marin brings a bottle of whisky that belonged
to Gramps. That night was the first
night the girls were intimate. The
following morning, they return and they continue the relationship throughout
the remaining time at home. Mabel leaves
to college a few weeks before Marin.
During Marin’s absence Gramps disappears. Marin makes her way to Gramps’ room to look
for him or check for clues. When Marin
opens the door, she finds many items that belonged to her mother, including pictures
of Marin as an infant. Marin freaks out
and runs away to school prematurely.
There she rents a motel week until it is time for her to enter the
dorms. Since her disappearance, Mabel and
her parents have been trying to get a hold of Marin to no avail. Marin does not answer calls or respond to
texts. The first time Marin speaks to
Mabel is when she shows up at her dorm during Christmas break to visit. There is tension in their visit. Marin is still attracted to Mabel, but finds
that Mabel has a boyfriend. Marin is
still holding back from sharing what she has endured and the trauma she felt
discovering that her Gramps was missing and that he was living with the dead. She eventually lets Mabel back into her heart
and tells Mabel everything that she had been through. She and Mabel remain friends. The day Mabel is to leave back to college is
the day Mabel returns to the dorm with her parents. They all surprised Marin as Ana, Mabel’s mom,
Javier, Mabel’s dad and Mabel show up at the dorms. There Ana tells Marin that she wants to adopt
her. Marin agrees and all suppressed
emotions surface. I feel that Marin
endured solitude her entire life.
Although her Gramps was in the picture, he never embraced her
emotionally. She was growing up with
Mabel’s parents always in the picture.
In essence, they were always Marin’s family. This book was mean to be read
autobiographically. Many readers can
associate with Marin and Mabel’s journey as they explore beyond the life of
High School. For the most part, most high
school love interests disappear as one enters the work force or attend post-secondary
schools. The book has a sense of
solitude and despair throughout. I feel
that in that regard many can associate, but I feel that this books finds a way
to show how one can learn to let go.
Other books by Nina LaCour are Everything Leads to You ISBN: 9780142422946
or You Know Me Well ISBN: 9781250098641
The Knife of Never
Letting Go (Required
Reading)
Ness,
P., & Ness, P. (2014). The knife of never letting go / With Bonus
Short Story. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. Todd Hewitt is a young boy that lives in Prentisstown. Prentisstown is a town in the New World. The New World is a planet that is far from earth. There are only men who live in Prentisstown
and Todd is the youngest. According to
the mayor and others in town, the women were killed as a result of a germ that
was released by the native inhabitants, known as Spackles. The mayor and the townsmen eliminate the
Spackles as they have blamed them for the tragedy and the noise. Todd is thirteen years old and not yet a man. He is less than thirty days away from his
birthday and his becoming a man. Todd is
an orphan as his mother died as she was infected by the germ and his father
later passed away. Todd has been raised
by Cillian and Ben. One day Ben sends
Todd to collect apples from the swamp.
Todd goes to the swamp accompanied by his dog Manchee. Manchee makes so much noise that Todd gets agitated. Noise is the thoughts of men and animals. All men in the New World can hear noise made
by the men and animals, however, they are unable to hear the women’s noise. While collecting apples, Todd encounters an
area of no noise. He can not understand
what this no noise is, but he gets spooked and returns home. On the way home he tries to take a route around
the town so that the others do not hear his noise as he has just encountered no
noise. On his way home he is unable to
avoid listening to the noise of others.
When he returns, he meets up with Ben, which he then inquires on the
apples. Ben hears Todd’s noise and finds
that he has run into no noise and is quickly alarmed. Cillian and Ben have
already packed a bag for Todd, which they hand to Todd. They tell Todd to leave and run and explain
that it is no longer safe for him to stay in Prentisstown as the mayor, the
sheriff and the townspeople are after him.
Without further explanation Todd obliges. Todd encounters Aaron on the way out and they
both find what the no noise was. It was
a girl by the name of Viola. Todd helps
Viola escape the trenches of Aaron and they run away together. During this time the mayor and the rest of
the men embark on a mission to capture Todd.
Todd and Viola then encounter a town by the name Farbranch. Farbranch is inhabited by men, women and
children. It is there where Todd finds
out that Prentisstown men are not wanted there or anywhere else in the New
World. Todd and Viola continue to run
from the mayor and his men. Everywhere
they go, the Mayor and the men kill the people that the encounter along the way
without remorse. They continue on their
quest as they can follow Todd due to his noise. Aaron keeps running into them
and eventually takes Viola from Todd and almost kills Todd with Todd’s knife.
Todd is sick, but he needs to find Viola and runs for days until he finds Viola
and takes her from Aaron. It is then when Aaron kills Manchee. They eventually run into the Mayor, the
sheriff and Arron and these encounters occur in cycles multiple times. The last time Todd encounters Aaron, he
realizes that Aaron is the sacrifice who is supposed to die by Todd’s
hands. Todd does not want to kill and
Viola does not let Todd kill Aaron as she kills Aaron in his stead. They run into the city of Haven, where there
is supposedly a cure for the noise. They
hope that in Haven they can be safe from the mayor and his men. When they get to Haven, they run into the
sheriff. They have an altercation and
Viola is shot. Todd takes Viola to Haven
to save her life. There they find that Prentisstown’s
mayor, Mr. Prentis has taken over Haven and is now the president. Todd surrenders to Mr. Prentis as a bargaining
chip to save Viola. This book is reading
for unconscious delight. We can follow
the story through a series of books. I
find the plot interesting, I find that there are questions that have not been
answered. Some questions to consider is
the importance of capturing Todd when previously people were not followed when
they ran away. The books discuss other
inhabitants on the way to the New World, what will occur when they arrive? The following is a trailer to the book. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPIhj9hVARM.
The other books in the series are The New World ISBN: 9780763656492, The Ask
and Answer ISBN: 9780606358743 and Monster of Men ISBN: 9780763656652
The Stars Beneath
Our Feet by David Barclay Moore (Best
Fiction for Young Adults)
Moore,
D. B. (2019). The stars beneath our feet. New York: Yearling. Wallace Rachpaul, known as Lolly is a young
boy living at the St. Nicholas Houses, known as the projects. Wallace lives
with Sue Ellen, his Ma and her girlfriend Yvonne. Wallace’s father is Benjamin, and he recently
lost Jermaine, his brother due to gang violence. Lolly attends the St. Nicholas community
center. There he works on homework and
learns how to Cook. Lolly lives in an area where there are drug dealers and gangs. Often, there are shoot outs and
violence. His brother was involved with
drug dealing and was part of a gang. Mr.
Ali is the director, social worker and psychotherapist. He talks to Lolly regarding his brother and
his recent behavior. Recently, Lolly has
been sad, but he has also been a little angry. Lolly attends regular meetings
with Mr. Ali. At some point, Mr. Ali
agrees to let him build in a storage room in the center. This is great, because Sue Ellen has been
asking Lolly to get rid of his buildings in the apartment. Lolly finds comfort in building or creating
buildings and objects with Legos. Everyday
at the community center he completes his homework and then goes into the
storage room to work on his Legos. His
Lego projects were his way to cope with what he has just endured. It is also a way for him to retain serenity
in an environment of drugs and gangs.
The building is going great until one day the teacher tells the others
of what Lolly had been doing in the closet.
As a result, Rose, makes her way into the storage room and begins
building as well. Rose keeps to one side
of the room with no conversations. Rose
is different and everyone knows. One day
during a health fare at the center, Lolly and Rose display one of their
creations. Everyone compliments them on
their creation. One day Lolly and his
best friend Vega get jumped by a couple of neighborhood gang members who had
been pressuring the boys to join their gang.
This drives Vega to join his cousin with the rival gang. At the end Vega agrees to not join the gang
and Lolly finds a way to hope and to continue to stand his ground. The book is reading for vicarious
experiences. The books is an example of
the pressures that are part of growing up in a impoverished area. The following is the trailer for The Stars
Beneath Our Feet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv20ZnqOr88
.
Between the Lines
by Nikki Grimes (Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers)
Grimes,
N. (2018). Between the lines. New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books. Darrian is a junior and is thinking about a
career as a writer for the New York Times.
He goes and the local librarian to get advice on his career choice. The librarian advices Darren to find a summer
job at the local newspaper and to “study the dailies and to learn about all
sorts of writing, including poetry”.
Darren signs up for a poetry class.
Their first assignment is to write a short narrative that would
eventually be converted into a poem. The
class does as instructed and they have been assigned the poem for
homework. The students come back the
next day, many of which had a difficult time with the poem as they were trying
to get their poem to rhyme. Mr. Ward,
the teacher explains to them that poems don’t necessarily have to rhyme. “A poem…tells a story and paints a picture
using words.” said Mr. Ward. They are to
write poems and be ready for open mic on Friday. Before students prepare for their poem, there
is a section that describes their circumstances. Jenesis Whyte was left in the hospital. She is black with blue eyes and natural blond
hair. She lives with foster parents and
two foster sisters. At home, the foster
sisters are mean and deliberate with ill intended actions. She resists temptations to avoid being moved
as she hopes for a house with a bed and a blanket until the age of
eighteen. Li is Chinese, but her parents
do not allow her to learn Mandarin because they want them to be Americans. Marcel Dixon is a troubled young man. It began when his father was wrongly
arrested. His father cannot get a decent
job as a result and has resorted to drinking.
This has affected Marcel and was recently in a fight. It was then that was instructed to take Mr.
Ward’s class to learn to deal with his issues.
Freddie is a caretaker of her niece, because her sister is a heroin
user. She also takes care of her sister
as her mother is a drunk. Valentina
Alvarez is Hispanic and feels the discrimination all over. She speaks of everyone believing she is an
immigrant even though she is an American. Kyle Newton has a heart condition and
has a man-made valve. He takes blood
thinners and loves to skate board. The
students have been given a tool and w they share their poems Mr. Ward explains
the power of the words within their poems.
In the process the students find that through the journey the poems bring
them together sharing in their vulnerability and taking courage to trust one
another to help with the self-healing process of their struggling pain. I feel like this book can be read for
multiple reasons. One can read this book
as an unconscious delight. It is fun it
speaks of growth and discovery through relationships and poems. I also feel that this book can be read autobiographically
as many can associate with having a parent in jail and unemployable. Some students have been raised by aunts,
grandparents or friends. The book is
great in bringing to light many issues within one book. It totally is a book for the reluctant
reader. Other books by Nikki Grimes is Dark
Sons ISBN: 9781423102519
Persepolis by Marjane
Satrapi (Required
Reading)
Satrapi,
M. (2013). The complete Persepolis. St. Albert, AB: SAPL. Marjane is a little girl growing up in Iran
in the 1980s. She was very into
socialism. Her idols were Che Guevara,
Karl Marx and Fidel Castro. When she was
young, she attended co-ed schools. Then there
was a religious revolution and the schools were separated and the girls were made
to wear a vails and attend all girl schools.
The boys were sent to all boy’s schools.
The government was micromanaging the schools to ensure that the learning
was in compliance with their religious beliefs.
She witnessed a lot of her family members that were tortured and killed
by police. One of her uncles was killed
for being a Russian spy. Her parents
were activists and they would protest daily against the religious group in the revolution. She would always say down with the king,
which meant that she wanted the socialist to win. Marjane was unaware that down with the king
meant down with the socialist ways. In
school she was taught that the king was chosen by god. This is when her father told her the story
where her grandpa was the son of the emperor, which made her grandpa a prince. She thought her parents were conformist but
having the conversation with her father made her realize that she was wrong. Marjane was very vocal and she ended up
getting kicked out of schools. She would
always retaliate against the teachers. Her parents decided to send her to Vienna
Austria to live with her mother’s friends.
She didn’t stay with her for very long as she was sent to live with
nuns. There she was exposed to different
cultures and religions. She also learned
about independence. Her roommate was
German and did not speak French or Iranian.
One Christmas vacation her roommate Lucia invited her to her parent’s
home in Germany. During another Christmas
break she stayed at the school. At one
point she was eating in the Television room and got into a fight and was expelled
for being belligerent. She then went to
live in a commune. She had eight
roommates that were all male and they were all homosexual. When she was studying, she met many different
groups, such as anarchist. She ended up
going and staying with her friend Julie.
There she found out a lot about sex and drugs. Julie was open about her promiscuity. She didn’t have many boyfriends. The first boyfriend she had ended up being
homosexual. She later found another boyfriend,
which she caught cheating. She returned to
Iran, where everything was different from when she left. She ended up meeting her future husband,
which they later divorced. She found
that she didn’t find herself in Iran and returned to Austria. This book is can be read for a vicarious experience. It exposes the reader to other cultures and
religious beliefs. Some may read
autobiographically as they have experienced war zones in their countries. Recently, Central Americans have come to the
United seeking asylum as the conditions in their country have become
unbearable. The following is the trailer
for Persepolis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qzgQ29vllM. Other books by Marjane Satrapi include
Broderies ISBN: 9780375423055
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