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.