Teen

Loving vs. Virginia by Patricia Hruby Powell

| Tasha

loving-vs-virginia-by-patricia-hruby-powell

Loving vs. Virginia: A Documentary Novel of the Landmark Civil Rights Case by Patricia Hruby Powell, illustrated by Shadra Strickland (InfoSoup)

Released on January 31, 2017.

In 1955, Richard and Mildred fell in love in the countryside of Virginia, in Caroline County. Their neighborhood was special and people of all races congregated together. As they went to drive-in movies together and started spending time together, the larger community showed its prejudice since Richard was white and Mildred was African-American. The two of them could not attend dances together, even though Mildred’s family was playing the music at the dance. The two of them get married in 1958 in DC, but their marriage isn’t legal in Virginia. Eventually, they are thrown in jail even though Mildred is pregnant with their second child. The two of them are forced to move to DC and never return to see their families together for decades. As Mildred begins to reach out to lawyers to help, she writes to the ACLU who take up their case which becomes a landmark case for interracial marriage in front of the US Supreme Court.

Written in verse, this novel shows the courtship of Richard and Mildred, their lives together and the damage done by the initial judgement against them that forbade them to cross the border into Virginia together. The use of poetry as a format allows readers to see both Mildred and Richard’s points of view as their relationship grows, flourishes and then is challenged. The book inserts other important Civil Rights events in between the poetry, so that readers can keep an eye on the other changes happening in the United States. It’s an important piece of their story, showing that other changes came much faster than theirs.

The illustrations by Strickland are done in limited colors of oranges and blues. There are beautiful moments captured such as the two teens running through the woods together at night, silent and free. There are also bleak moments like being pulled over by the sheriff with a flashlight shining in their eyes. The illustrations move from freedom to constraint much in the way the story develops and are important in revealing emotional elements to the tale.

This verse novel tells the true story of Loving vs. Virginia and speaks to the importance of regular people standing up to unjust laws. Appropriate for ages 13-15.

Reviewed from copy received from Chronicle Books.

 

 

25 Best Teen Novels of 2016

| Tasha

It was a great year for teen novels with lots of wonderful fantasy and realistic fiction. Here are my 25 top picks for the year:

After the Woods The Dark Days Club (Lady Helen, #1)

After the Woods by Kim Savage

The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman

Draw the Line Exit, Pursued by a Bear

Draw the Line by Laurent Linn

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston

Falling Over Sideways The Female of the Species

Falling Over Sideways by Jordan Sonnenblick

The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis

The Great American Whatever Highly Illogical Behavior

The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley

Julia Vanishes Learning to Swear in America

Julia Vanishes by Catherine Eagan

Learning to Swear in America by Katie Kennedy

The Memory of Light On the Edge of Gone

The Memory of Light by Francisco X. Stork

On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis

The Passion of Dolssa The Radiant Road

The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry

The Radiant Road by Katherine Catmull

Saving Montgomery Sole Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, #1)

Saving Montgomery Sole by Mariko Tamaki

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

The Star-Touched Queen (The Star-Touched Queen, #1) The Steep & Thorny Way

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters

Still Life with Tornado The Sun Is Also a Star

Still Life with Tornado by AS King

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Symptoms of Being Human Thanks for the Trouble

Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin

Thanks for the Trouble by Tommy Wallach

Three Dark Crowns When the Moon Was Ours

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

Vassa in the Night

Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

| Tasha

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Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake (InfoSoup)

The author of Anna Dressed in Blood returns with a spectacular series opener. On the isolated and shrouded island of Fennbirn, magic still exists. Separated from the mainland, the island governs itself. Every generation triplets are born to the queen, each one heir to their own type of magic. But only one of them can become queen, the other two are destined to die. Katharine is a poisoner and she should be able to feast on poisons that would kill others, but her magic is weak though that fact is hidden. Arsinoe is a naturalist and should have the ability to grow plants and find an animal familiar, but her familiar has never come. Mirabella is an elemental, able to call down enormous storms and dance with fire. She has more power than any elementalist before her. Behind the three girls exists a web of politics and power willing to lie, steal and kill their queen onto the throne. Let the fight begin.

Blake has created a deep tension in this book that plays across the page beautifully. Everything is balanced on a knife’s edge, from the deception of the two weak queens to the unwillingness of the strong queen to kill her sisters. Readers get to see the mechanization behind the throne, the various factions teaching the queens, pushing them into power and punishing them when they fail. For each queen, there is pain, threats and powerlessness despite their station, each expressed in different ways.

The world building here is exquisite from the mist shrouding the island to the vague mentions of the mainland. It is the politics that frame the book, making the horror of the climb to power so immensely readable. The entire novel is riveting with pacing that is skillfully done, the slower sections allowing for the build of despair or horror, love or lust.

A dark delight of a novel that is a rich mix of fantasy and horror. Appropriate for ages 13-17.

Reviewed from library copy.

You can check out the book trailer too!

10 Great Books on Immigration & Immigrants

| Tasha

Immigration is huge in the news right now with the Syrian refugees, Mexican immigration to the United States, and the promises of the incoming administration. As libraries and librarians, we serve our entire community wherever they hail from. Here are some wonderful books to celebrate the power and importance of immigration for our nation and the world:

The Arrival insideoutbackagain

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

The Land of Forgotten Girls Mamas Nightingale by Edwidge Danticat

The Land of Forgotten Girls by Erin Entrada Kelly

Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation by Edwidge Danticat, illustrated by Leslie Staub

The Matchbox Diary pancho rabbit and the coyote 

The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline

Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: A Migrant’s Tale by Duncan Tonatiuh

the-sun-is-also-a-star-by-nicola-yoon Their Great Gift by John Coy

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Their Great Gift: Courage, Sacrifice and Hope in a New Land by John Coy, photographs by Wing Young Huie

The Turtle of Oman unforgotten coat

The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye

The Unforgotten Coat by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Useless Bay by M. J. Beaufrand

| Tasha

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Useless Bay by M. J. Beaufrand (InfoSoup)

When a boy goes missing on Whidbey Island, it’s expected that he’s hiding out at the Gray’s house. But Grant isn’t there. Pixie is one of the Gray quintuplets, large kids who seem to have special talents. When Pixie heads out with her scent dog, the best in the state, to find Grant, she discovers something else instead – the body of his mother. Henry, Grant’s half brother, is also part of the search. He knows the attention and problems that come with living in a very wealthy family. His family has staff that travel with them, and it could have been any of them who took Grant and killed his mother. Through the ensuing search, secrets are exposed and powers are discovered in this teen book filled with magical realism.

 

This book is great fun to read. One never quite knows when something mythical and amazing is going to suddenly happen. Those are mixed in with more mundane happenings like murder and kidnapping to create quite the setting for mayhem. Still, there is a feeling of truth through it all, of teens rising up through difficulty to heroism. There is a sense of fate and of purpose too, of destiny combined with the wonder of magic and myth.

The writing is strong and direct. It is haunted with death and pays homage to the damage of abuse and the strength of family. This book is not simple or easy, it is strung with danger and traps. The entire feel of suspense and the claustrophobic island setting combine to create a feeling of doom laced beautifully with hope and love.

A teen novel that is a compelling and vastly enjoyable read, this is a winner. Appropriate for ages 12-14.

Reviewed from copy received from Abrams.

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian – The Movie

| Tasha

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

My heart just soared! The Hollywood Reporter has the news that The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie will be made into a film. Even better, Alexie himself will be adapting the screenplay.

Hugh Jackman will be playing a supporting role and serve as a producer. Temple Hill, who also produced The Fault in Our Stars will be producing as well.

 

Jess, Chunk and the Road Trip to Infinity by Kristin Elizabeth Clark

| Tasha

jess-chunk-and-the-road-trip-to-infinity-by-kristin-elizabeth-clark

Jess, Chunk and the Road Trip to Infinity by Kristin Elizabeth Clark (InfoSoup)

Jess hasn’t spoken with her father for years, ever since he refused to support her in getting the hormones she needed to start to transition from the male body she was born in. Now her father is getting married to her mother’s ex-best friend halfway across the country in Chicago and Jess decides to attend the wedding and confront her father. It’s going to be a surprise for her father, since she had already responded rather negatively to the RSVP in the invitation. Happily, Jess’ best friend Chunk has both a car and time, so the two of them make the road trip together. As the trip unwinds, they visit roadside attractions, pick up a passenger, and discover things about themselves, their friendship and one another.

This book joins many others this year in providing strong transgender characters in teen novels. Clark does a great job of showing how safety is a huge concern for people who are transgender, particularly in more conservative parts of the country. She also shows what a long-standing friendship looks like as it leaves high school and heads into the future. There is little angst about the future here in terms of college or school, and more of a focus on the approaching wedding and Jess’ feelings.

Happily, Jess as a character is far from perfect. She is often self-absorbed and lacks interest in others, particularly her best friend. Readers will be shocked at times by how internally focused she is and will cheer when her best friend finally stands up to her. Jess also ignores how she makes other people feel, like the nickname bullies gave Chunk that she continues to use.

However, even as I understand that the nickname and Jess’ behavior is both condemned and indicative of a complicated look at a character, I do have issues with how larger people are viewed in the book and how much emphasis is placed on how people look. There is a focus on hair and clothes that is near obsessive. But it’s the fat shaming that is problematic, particularly when it’s in the title itself. The fat shaming happens both for Chuck, the best friend, and for others throughout the book. People are referred to by their size, their looks and then their personality comes later.

A complex look at friendship, being transgender, self esteem and acceptance, this book tackles a lot of issues and fails to handle a major one with enough grace and attention. Appropriate for ages 13-17.

Reviewed from e-galley received from Edelweiss and Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

 

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

| Tasha

the-sun-is-also-a-star-by-nicola-yoon

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (InfoSoup)

A finalist for the National Book Award, this book for teens is exceptional. It is the story of two teens, Daniel and Natasha who meet one another through a series of events. Daniel, a poet, firmly believes in love at first sight and destiny bringing them together. Natasha though does not, believing in science and what is provable. The day is a big day for both of them. Natasha’s family is being deported back to Jamaica that night unless she can figure out a way to stop it. Daniel is being interviewed for Yale, a school and a career path that his Korean parents have chosen for him. When the two meet, the chemistry is palpable, but the timing is horrible. Daniel decides that he can prove to Natasha that love is real and measurable, but can he do it in time with their deadlines working against them both?

I can see why this book is getting all of the attention and praise that it is. It’s an amazing read, filled with possibility and the sense that the universe may just be on our side sometimes. It’s filled with romance and chemistry. The prose has a lightness that is exceptional, creating space for these two amazing characters to meet, breathe, and tumble head over heels in love with one another.

Meanwhile, it is also a story of New York City. It’s a story of immigration and illegal immigrants, of losing a culture and then losing the dream of America as well. It’s a story of overt racism and the new generation of teens who see beyond that and into hearts. It’s a story of profound loss, of parental betrayal, of hope that manages to rise again and again.

A book perfect for today, this teen novel is a voice of hope despite our challenges and loving through it all. Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from library copy.

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

| Tasha

scythe-by-neal-shusterman

Scythe by Neal Shusterman (InfoSoup)

Released November 22, 2016.

Set in a future where death no longer exists for humans, the only way to die is to be selected at random to be gleaned by a Scythe. Scythes live separately from other people and want for nothing though they usually live minimally. When Scythe Faraday appears in Citra’s home, her life changes even though he is only there for a meal and not to glean anyone in her family. Faraday also visits Rowan’s school where he gleans the school’s football star. Faraday then selects Citra and Rowan to serve as his apprentices and compete for the honor of becoming a scythe. However, there are forces at work in the scythe web of power that will set Citra and Rowan truly against one another and call into question everything that the scythes have been built upon. Citra and Rowan must figure out how to maneuver through the political and personal intrigue and survive.

Shusterman has created a future that many of us would say is a utopia, one where no one dies. Against that vivid and bright wonder he has created killing machines, people who glean or  murder with a personal touch that is horrifying, unsettling and all too real and logical. Shusterman has built a world that is striking and vivid. He has teens who kill themselves just to be restored to life again. He has elderly people who can reset their age back to their twenties again and again, so no one knows how old people actually are. It is a society both free from death and still obsessed with it.

Shusterman at the heart of the novel is also asking what makes us human. And could it be that mortality itself is a vital part of our lives? Is that what makes us musicians, artists and lifelong learners? It is against this dearth of art and knowledge that Citra and Rowan are growing up, looking forward to nothing in life other than its inevitability and endlessness. Then they are made scythe apprentices and the world shifts to something dark and dangerous. Suddenly though, they are alive.

Brilliant and complex, this novel asks real questions about life, death and the ability to murder for society. Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from ARC received from Simon & Schuster.