List of Other books Read

 A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Bunce- Very engaging and would recommend

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins- Loved the whole series and I actually read them prior to seeing the movies

Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos- Loved reading this

Sparrow by Sarah Moon- did not enjoy

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds- not my favorite, but I'm not a fan of free verse

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman- great

Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older- highly recommend

Dig by A.S. King- great author and great book

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman- very engaging

Cinder by Marissa Meyer- love this series of the spins on the classic fairy tales

Breakaway

 

    This was a book that was recommended to me by one of my students.  It's not one of my favorites, but I found that it is on the Best Fiction for Young Adults List in 1998.  This story features an eighteen-year-old named Kwok-en Wong who lives in Vancouver in 1932 and faces anti-Chinese racism issues that keep him from  joining an all star soccer team.  He comes from a family that doesn't have a lot of hope due to the Depression.  Eventually, he is able to bridge gap between his family and the community in order to play soccer and grow closer to his family.

    I think that even though the main character is Chinese, a lot of readers today can relate to the feeling of being secluded or treated differently due to skin color or other differences.

    This book provides another lesson and discussions about segregation that don't stem from African-Americans. This would offer another perspective on the history of segregation.

Yee, P. (1994). Breakaway. Publishers Group West.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

 

    This novel not only made the Best Fiction for Young Adults list in 2002, but also was turned into a movie in 2005. The book follows four best friends, Bridget, Tibby, Lena, and Carmen who discover a pair of pants that magically fit all four of the very different body types.  The girls decide that these pants will keep their bond of friendship strong as they travel far away from each other one summer.  Carmen goes to South Carolina where she meets her father's new family and finds her to be a part of her dad's wedding and new life.  Bridget goes to soccer camp in Mexico and experiences intimacies with her coach.  Lena visits her grandparents in Greece and finds love and family history.  Tibby stays home and ends up meeting a young girl who is sick and will eventually pass away.  The girls discover their friendship is more than just a pair of pants.

    I chose to touch base with this book because I read it as a young adult and remember relating to it at time when I was moving away from childhood friends.  The struggles and decisions to try and keep those bonds alive are difficult, but sometimes very well worth the journey.

    Not only could this book be used for young adults to focus on friendships and other relationships, but it could also be done as another book and movie comparison.  A lot of readers don't realize most great movies were books first.

Brashares, A. (2001). The sisterhood of the traveling pants. Delacorte.

The Poet X

 

    This national acclaimed novel tells the story of a young girl, Ximoara, who is the daughter of Dominican immigrants.  She is growing up with strict Catholic parents where she is conflicted between current society and the beliefs of her parents and church.  They believe in the silence of women, which is appalling to Ximoara.  She also begins to notice her culture of being shamed and the boys never taking blame.  She decides to join a poetry society after school to help her handle her emotions where she meets a boy named Aman.  She decides to kiss him one day, but is caught and brought to her parents where they insult her for her sin. Ximoara is immediately taken to the church to she can receive forgiveness.  She continues to stand up for her beliefs without shame.

    I love the fact that Ximoara is attempting to stand up for her beliefs, try to adapt to her new society, and still tries to include her family in the process.

    Young adults struggle with building relationships with their families, specifically parents as they grow up. This book highlights ways to stand up for yourself, but also offers the outlet for the reader to use poetry and journaling to learn how to handle emotions.

Acevedo, E. (2018).  The poet x.  Harperteen.

The Fault in Our Stars

 

    Most people will say they know the movie, so they don't need to read the book.  I'll be honest, I saw the movie before I read the book, which is not normally how I operate.  Hazel has been living with cancer that started as thyroid cancer, but then spread to her lungs causing her to need an oxygen tank at all times of the day.  She goes to a support group where she meets Augustus who has been in remission after losing his leg years ago.  Hazel is reluctant to act on romantic feelings for him because her cancer could kill her.  She shares with him a book that she considers to be a favorite and Augustus develops a plan to travel to Amsterdam to meet the author.  The plan comes to light, but they discover the author is rude and drunk.  A surprise at the end of their trip comes to Hazel when Augustus shares that his cancer has come back and is much worse.  They return home where Hazel remains with Augustus until his death.  

    I do like how the author provided a small plot twist when Augustus passed away before Hazel.  When most readers hear a summary like this, they would have expected Hazel to fall in love and then be forced to make him let go due to her impending death.  

    I would definitely use this book as a way to compare the movie to the book. It would also be a fun project for secondary students to choose other books that have been made into movies and compare and contrast them to the books.  

Green, J. (2013). The fault in our stars. Penguin Books.

Winger

 

    In Winger, Ryan West is a junior at a boarding school that seems to be attended mostly by troubled girls and boys of the wealthy elite.  Ryan is determined to well liked by his classmates, especially his best friend, Annie.  Ryan works through school activities such as playing rugby along with building his self-esteem, discovering differing beliefs about himself, and identifying his sexuality.  Ryan develops a strong relationship with an older classmate, Joey, who turns out to be gay and is murdered.  Ryan struggles to overcome the death of his friend and to find himself in the process.

    Despite my own personal beliefs, I am enjoying finding novels that seem to be addressing some of today's biggest concerns for young adults.  Hopefully, murder is not something the majority of our young adults are dealing with, but finding themselves, defining their sexuality, creating friendships are all a part of the young adult growing up process.

    This book seems to connect to Annie on My Mind.  Realizing that even though more people in present day are accepting of same sex relationships, there are still a large amount of people who may not be as accepting. It's important for readers to be able to confident in who they are and where there place within society will be.

Smith, A. (2014). Winger. London: Penguin Books.

Please Ignore Vera Die

 

    

    This groundbreaking novel tells the story of Vera and her former best friend, Charlie.  The two were inseparable as children, but when the two entered high school, things began to change. Charlie found a new group of friends that Vera called the "Detentionheads" because they got in so much trouble smoking and doing other things they spent most of their time in detention.  Charlie falls in love with the ring leader, Jenny, who ends up destroying the friendship between Vera and Charlie.  Vera is also dealing with the abandonment of her mother and rebuilding the relationship with her father who is a recovering alcoholic.  Charlie ends up making even worse choices and ends being violently killed. Vera seems to know more about the fire and the possible murderer, but is struggling to come clean.  She is haunted by Charlie's ghosts and words. Vera eventually shares the truth with the police and her and her father begin the path to recovery.  

    I love that this novel was intense and kept me engaged the entire time.  There were some disgusting events included such as selling the used underwear to the town pervert, but these kinds of details led the reader to really understand what each character was trying to navigate through in each of their lives.  

    This book could definitely be used to show readers how important it is to share necessary information, stick by friends even when you feel they might have abandoned you, and to try your best to repair close relationships.

    King, A.S. (2010). Please Ignore Vera Dietz. New York: Ember.

    

The Chocolate War

 

    Jerry is a smart freshman at a Catholic high school that finds himself coping with life after his mother's death.  A secret society on campus requires random students to complete pranks of various severity levels within the school.  Apparently, if you don't abide by the tasks assigned to you, the consequences can be traumatizing.  The school's new headmaster is challenged to sell the most amount of chocolate for a school fundraiser, and is even plagued by the society's pranks.  Jerry is required to not sell chocolate for the first ten days of the fundraiser.  The headmaster impatiently waits the ten days, but then Jerry is put in another position by the secret society to not sell chocolate.  The book ends in a climatic scene where the secret society, along with the headmaster, create a schoolwide attack on Jerry where he is left with so many internal injuries that he needs the ambulance.

    The most powerful line to me is when Jerry brings up the note left in his locker that says, "Don't disturb the universe. It's not worth it."  It seemed so crazy that one society had so much power over a school- all the way up to the administration level.  Even when you have something simple like chocolate fundraiser for a school, there is still a system in place.  We teach our students and young readers to stand up for what they believe in, but to what end is it always worth it?

Cormier, R. (1974). The chocolate war. New York: Pantheon Books.

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes

 

    

    This novel is a powerful story about a boy named Eric, whose nickname in high school is Moby, and his best friend, Sarah who suddenly becomes catatonic and has to remain in the hospital.  The two became friends because they found safety in the fact that they are both outcasts: Eric for being overweight and Sarah has retained some bad scars from being burned on her hands and face.  Together they create an underground newspaper that publishes sarcastic articles and mocks the main bullies in their school.  As the two move through high school, Eric joins the swim team which takes his time away from Sarah and leads him to other friends.  Eric learns that Sarah's father is inflicting further abuse and he is convinced that Sarah is faking her catatonic state in order to keep away from her father.  With the help of Eric's swim coach, they get Sarah out of the hospital in hopes to find her mother, which doesn't work out, but the swim coach saves the day by adopting Sarah. 

    I love that even though Sarah had to go through and overcome some major battles, in the end, she found a family.  As a reader, I found a special bond with the ending of this book because I am adopted.  I am lucky in that my situation in finding my birth family turned out much better than Sarah's, but I understand the feeling and the need to belong and know where you come from at the same time.

    Using this book to teach friendship, bullying, and the importance of accepting and finding oneself would be vital in a young adult classroom.  Young readers relate to characters that are realistic and they can see themselves living in that literature world.

Crutcher, C. (1995). Staying fat for sarah byrnes.  New York: Bantum Doubleday Dell Books.

The Crossover

 

      In this novel, the main character, Josh, tells the story of him and his twin brother playing basketball.  The boys are learning from their legendary basketball player father who challenges the boys to always continue playing.  Josh ends up losing a bet to his brother which leads to his dreadlocks being cut off.  As Josh struggles to regain his composure and footing on the basketball court, Josh ends up taking the anger out on his brother and ends up almost breaking his nose.  His mom suspends him from the team  As the championship game rolls around, Josh makes amends and is allowed to play.  The boys' father ends up in the hospital due to heart issues and ends up passing away while Josh is scoring the winning goal at the championship game.  The story ends with the brothers sharing the championship ring and realizing they are now the heads of the household.

    I was not a big fan of how the story was written in verses like a poem.  I think this could be good for some readers, but it's not my personal taste.  It takes me a little longer to read literature presented in this way.  

    However, the way it is written would offer some teaching opportunities for readers, like myself, who may not read poetry very often.  They storyline is simple enough to understand, so even in verse form, the themes and character development could shine through.

Alexander, K. (2014). The crossover. Boston; New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Stamped from the Beginning

 

    

    

    This novel does a dive into the story and history of racism.  The book focuses on perspectives from the Portuguese writer Gomes Eanes de Zurara, Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, and Angela Davis.  I found the section from Angela Davis to be very interesting. I didn't know who she was until I read this book.  Angela is a feminist professor who is fired by the government for her beliefs and even accused of murder.  The book goes further into most recent times discussing Barack Obama  and his major speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004.  The fight against racial inequity is still present in current events, but it's important for the readers to know the history.

    I was quite moved by this book. I was surprised that a book that addresses a hot topic such as racism provided perspectives from not only throughout history, but also famous people from various backgrounds.  I didn't feel persuaded one way or the other by the book, but felt it more objective than other books currently written on this topic.

    I think young adults would enjoy learning the background of current events.  All they really seem to "know about" or are aware of is George Floyd and Black Lives Matter events that they see or hear about on the news.  It's time they start understanding the history of racism and not just that it started with slavery.

Reynolds, J. & Kendi, I.X. (2020). Stamped: racism, antiracism, and you. New York: Hatchette Book         Group.

    

The Hate U Give

 

    The Hate U Give is a powerful young adult novel that tells the story of a sixteen-year-old named Starr who lives in a primarily black urban neighborhood, but she attends a private school outside of the community.  This serves as an inner battle for her throughout the novel because she tries not to share or show where she lives when she is at school, however her community feels like she is a traitor because of the "privileged" school that she attends.  Starr's best friend gets mixed up in the drug dealing world and ends up being shot and killed by a police officer right in front of Starr.  She hides her encounter until later in the story, but then sees the value of fighting for injustice.  Starr also is shown by a friend of the family that not every police officer is corrupt and will abuse their power.  Starr continues to believe that she must be an advocate and fight against injustice in honor of her friend.

    I feel that this book is a significant novel for young adults in a time when social injustice and issues with the police force have been brought to the forefront.  Making connections to this story would be easy for young adults due to recent events in the news.  I loved the part of the story where Starr learns that yes, some police officers can be hasty and wrong with their actions, but not all police officers are going to be unlawful.

    I would love to complete a book comparison between The True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and this novel.  I think students would find it helpful to see that similar experiences can arise with characters who come from different backgrounds.  Finding oneself and where he or she fits within society is a battle most young adults fight.

Thomas, A. (2017). The hate u give. New York: Harper Collins.