Young Adult & Kids
Some great ideas for book clubs that like to read YA and kids
With the Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo (2019). The teen heroine of this book, Emoni’s life has been full of tough decisions as she tries to do her best for her daughter and her abuela (grandmother). Luckily, she has a place where she can temporarily forget her responsibilities - the kitchen. There, she somehow always manages to add magic to everything she cooks, creating food that is just amazingly good. This gift may also be her way to create something for herself. Ms. Acevedo's prose sings, and as the Indie Next List review stated, "The only word I can use to properly describe this book is ‘delicious.’" I could not agree more and I also recommend Ms. Acevedo's Poet X. ~ Lisa Christie Here to Stay by Sara Farizhan (2018) - A great book about high school life today. The main character, Bijan Miajidi, is pulled from the obscurity of JV basketball to the varsity limelight, which he hopes will help make it easier to talk to his crush Elle. Instead, he is targeted by an internet photo doctored to make him appear as a terrorist. As he tells the story of what happens next, his narrator voice is joined by his internal narrators - ESPN commentators Reggie Miller and Kevin Harlan - providing color commentary and comic relief to the often difficult events of the novel. In short, Ms. Farizhan compassionately and effectively covers coming out stories, cyberbullying, pressure to get into the right colleges, sports, and racism, without preaching, in a true page-turner. ~ Lisa Christie Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay (2019) - I know little about Philippines politics or life there; but, this tale of a Filipino-American boy has me curious. Jason - Jay - is a senior in Michigan ready to finish high school and move on to college until news arrives that his beloved cousin Jun has died under mysterious and shady circumstances. And, no one will talk about it. Thus, Jay decides to use his spring break to travel to the Philippines and find out for himself what happened. Full of details about Filipino life and coming of age in America as a "hyphen", I can't recommend this book enough. ~ Lisa Christie Frankly In Love by David Yoon (2019) - This novel is one of the best YA books I have read in a long time. I was surprised how this apparently simple (and honestly familiar) story of first love that does not meet with parental approval (hello Romeo and Juliet), as well as of navigating the final year of high school made me smile and tear-up a bit. Some plot points: Frank Li and Joy Song have been friends since childhood, attending regularly scheduled dinners with a larger group of Korean-American families in Los Angeles for as long as they have a memory of any event. As they navigate senior year, they are both in love with the wrong ("not-Korean") person. They decide to fake that they are dating each other to keep their parents happy, while still seeing their true loves. Their elaborate scheming provides the plot for this novel's terrific cast of characters. (I truly loved Frank's superb best friend.) And while Buzzfeed aptly stated, “Yoon's stellar debut expertly and authentically tackles racism, privilege, and characters who are trying to navigate their Korean-American identity”, I would argue you should read it for the fun. Give it to your favorite teen or your favorite adult in need of a smile or two (and distraction from the news). ~ Lisa Christie The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (2018) – Probably the best YA book I have read in 2018; and that includes a lot of great YA books. Reminiscent of Kwame Alexander’s style of telling stories in poetry, Ms. Acevedo uses poems to tease out the subtleties of her main character’s life in Brooklyn. In doing so has created a character – the fierce, gifted with words Xiomara Batista – who we care about, and whom we empathise with even if we are not a young black woman, even if we don’t live in Brooklyn, and even if our high school days are long behind us. The themes Ms. Acevedo intwines throughout this novel told in poems include, but are not limited to Latina culture, Catholicism, coming (or not) out, budding sexuality, high school teachers and curriculum, first romance, generation gaps, immigration, first gen issues, city life, poverty, music, and the power of words. Read this and rediscover the power of poetry, of youth, and of love – both first romance kind and the often much more complicated familial type. I find it hard to believe this was a first published novel for Ms. Acevedo; and, I thank children’s librarian extraordinaire Ms. Beth for bringing it to my attention. ~ Lisa Christie Allegedly by Tiffany Jackson (2018) – As a child, Mary B. Addison killed a baby. Or did she? The public thinks so and the many books and TV specials based upon her life definitely think so. However, maybe all is not as it seems. The answers didn’t matter until a teenaged Mary B. Addison is moved to a group home, gets pregnant, and wants to keep her baby. Ms. Jackson keeps you guessing as to Mary’s guilt or innocence throughout, but possibly most importantly, she shines a spotlight on the lives of young women and girls caught up in our legal system and prisons. ~ Lisa Christie Far From the Tree by Robin Benway (2017) – I loved this National Book Award Winner. The three bio siblings discover each other exists in their teens, when each is confronting a personal crisis in their adoptive and/or foster family. One is dealing with divorce and alcoholism, the other teen pregnancy, the third the foster system. They are all dealing with what it means to be family and how to become an adult. Perfect really. ~ Lisa Christie A Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (2017) – Mr. Reynolds tackles gun violence in an unique and powerful novel. The story unfolds in short bouts of powerful, insightful verse over the course of a 60 second elevator ride. During this ride, Will must decide whether or not to follow the RULES – No crying. No snitching. Revenge. – and kill the person he believes killed his brother Shawn. With this tale, Mr. Reynolds creates a place to understand the why behind the violence that permeates the lives of so many, and perhaps hopefully a place to think about how this pattern might end. ~ Lisa Christie Dear Martin by Nic Stone (2017) – A superb YA novel about being profiled by police for being black, and how current events, BLM, and politics affect black youth today. In this excellent debut novel, a black student – Justyce McAllister, top of his class, captain of the debate team, and set for the Ivy League next year – is handcuffed by a police officer and released without physical harm. The psychological toll of being profiled is explored as this novel delves into his life at his mostly white prep school and in his mostly black neighborhood. To help cope, Justyce researches the writings of MLK and writes him letters asking for guidance about how to live today. While Martin obviously never answers, the letters provide a great premise for thinking about how MLK would have handled life as a black man today. The letters also provide grounding once the novel’s action turns extremely ugly. Read it and discuss. (It could be considered the boy’s perspective on the situations in The Hate U Give reviewed below.) ~ Lisa Christie The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (2017) – Sometimes it takes a work of fiction to give life to current events. And sometimes it takes a book for children to give all of us a starting point for conversations about difficult issues. Ms. Thomas has done all of us a service by producing this fresh, enlightening, and spectacular book about the black lives lost at the hands of the police every year in the USA. Starr Carter, the teen she created to put faces on the statistics, straddles two worlds — that of her poor black neighborhood and that of her exclusive prep school on the other side of town. She believes she is doing a pretty good job managing the differing realities of her life until she witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood friend by a police officer. As a description of this book stated, The Hate U Give “addresses issues of racism and police violence with intelligence, heart, and unflinching honesty”. Just as importantly, it is a great story, with fully formed characters who will haunt you, told by a gifted author. Please read this one! ~ Lisa Cadow and Lisa Christie March: Books One, Two and Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell (assorted years) – John Lewis, the Congressman and man who worked with Martin Luther King, Jr., has, with two collaborators, written a memoir in the form of a graphic novel. This series begins with his childhood in rural Alabama and follows Mr. Lewis through meeting Martin Luther King and then his own student activist days in Nashville, and into his life as a Congressman. The pictures explore how his life must have felt during each moment in time. The prose explains what he was thinking as each of the momentous moments of his life unfolds. The 1958 comic book Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story was inspirational to Mr. Lewis and other student activists. We hope March series proves as inspiring to future leaders. ~ Lisa Christie and Lisa Cadow East of Eden by John Steinbeck (1952) – While Grapes of Wrath (1939) is probably assigned more often by English teachers everywhere, this book reads like a soap opera told in excellent prose. I also think that one can learn all the nuances of good and evil from this tale of Mr. Steinbeck. And I can say that almost 40 years later, I still remember how I felt reading this book as a teen. ~ Lisa Christie Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (1938) – This was the very first book that kept me up all night reading and for this pleasure I will forever be in its debt. Enter this gothic drama on the shores of Monte Carlo where our unnamed protagonist meets Max, the dashing, wounded, and mysterious millionaire she is swept away by and marries. The following pages whisk readers back to his English country estate “Manderley” where his deceased wife “Rebecca” haunts the characters with her perfect and horrible beauty. Can Max’s new wife ever live up to her memory? Will the lurking, skulking housekeeper Mrs. Danvers drive us all mad? How will the newlyweds and Manderley survive all the pressures pulsing in the mansion’s wings? If finding out the answers to these questions isn’t enough to entice you to curl up with this book right away, it also has one of the most famous first lines in literature. ~ Lisa Cadow (Reviewed in Fiction Lovers – a few classics) All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (2015) – A superb, superb book about love and life told from the perspective of two teens – Violet and Finch – living in Indiana, trying to figure out what their senior year of HS means, what colleges to attend and how to play the hands they have been dealt by life (him – abusive father, indifferent mother; her – she survived a car wreck, her sister did not). We can not recommend it highly enough; but, be warned you will be very, very sad, as well as happy, while you read this book. ~ Lisa Christie How it Went Down by Kekla Magoon (2014) – A powerful look at “what goes down” when a 16-year-old black boy in a hoodie is shot by a white man. Was it defense against a gang incident? Was it a man stopping a robbery gone wrong? Was it being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Was it none of these, or a combination of these? And, just when you think you have all the pieces and perspectives to know what happened, a new piece of information inserted into one of the multiple voices used to tell this story, sends you another direction. A seriously impressive book – cleverly staged, with superb and unique voices throughout, and a plot from today’s headlines. This book makes you think about how perspective influences what you see, how stories are told, how choices have implications, and – well, to be honest – the pull and power of gangs. Read it and discuss with your favorite teen. ~ Lisa Christie We Should Hang Out Sometime!: Embarrassingly, a true story by Josh Sundquist (2014) – Mr. Sundquist — a paralympian, a Youtube sensation who was helped along the way by the Vlog-Brothers – Hank and John Green (of The Fault in Our Stars fame), and a cancer survivor — has written an often hilarious, sometimes painfully awkward memoir about his attempts to find a girlfriend. As a reader, you follow him from his Christian Youth Group to college, and then to LA as he attempts to find a date. Ultimately, this book is about how self doubt and fear crippled him more than his actual amputation. Written for young adults, this memoir would make a great reminder to anyone that dating is awkward no matter who you are, but that somehow, we all manage our way through it. (PS – he finally gets the girl.)~ Lisa Christie The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – Many high schoolers across the country have read this as part of required reading lists because it is an amazing book of the Holocaust with an unusual narrator – Death. You should read it and give it because it 1) will change you and the gift recipient, 2) is well-written, and 3) reminds you that in the heart of the worst darkness there is hope and there are good people. And ultimately, this novel is about the power of books and stories. ~ Lisa Christie and Lisa Cadow Like No Other by Una LaMarche (July 2014) – West Side Story with an African-American as the male lead and a Hasidic girl as the female lead. Set in modern-day Brooklyn, this tale explores the feelings one’s first true love brings, and what it means to make your own way into the world — even if it requires navigating respecting one’s parents (and we loved that the main characters do respect their families) while still rebelling from their rules. A bonus for us — we loved the fact it wasn’t a traditional “happily ever after story love story”, although everyone ended happy. ~ Lisa Christie Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (2013) – When the book ends you will think hard about children from the “other side of the tracks” and from family situations that are less than ideal. Set during one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits — both from the wrong side of the tracks. They are also both smart enough to know that one’s first love rarely, if ever, lasts, but willing to try anyway. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own high school years, riding the school bus, any time you tried to fit in while figuring out who you were. And yes, you will remember your own first love. ~ Lisa Cadow and Lisa Christie While Beauty Slept by Elizabeth Blackwell (2014). This novel tells the “true” story behind the legend that is “Sleeping Beauty”. It is a truly fun novel, and a GREAT way to start conversations about getting the truth behind a story before judging anyone, any thing or any situation. ~ Lisa Christie The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (2013). The true story of a crew team heading to the 1932 Berlin Olympics. Described by one of our “Pages in the” Pub reviewers as honest, accurate, suspenseful, educational, uplifting and finally, heartwarming. A great book for teens who love sports or history or we guess most obviously crew. ~ Recommended to the Book Jam Lisas by our favorite retired dentist and avid reader Jim The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay (1996) – A powerful (pun intended) tale of what one person can do in their own life to affect injustices. Set in 1939, as Hitler casts his enormous, cruel shadow across the world, and as apartheid takes root in South Africa. The novel follows a boy called Peekay and his vow to survive a traumatic childhood. As he matures, he embarks on an epic journey through a land modern prejudice where he will learn the power of words, the power to transform lives, and the power of one. Last read years ago with young teens who loved it and then, in turn, loved the movie it inspired. ~ Lisa Christie and Lisa Cadow The Fault in Our Stars by John Green – Yes, it is a tear-jerker and yes it has become a movie, but John Green is a phenomenal YA author – true to life characters and interesting plots. And honestly if you can’t have a good discussion about teens with cancer, first love, parents and what that would mean if it were your life, what will it take to stimulate your book club? ~ Lisa Christie Zorro by Isabel Allende (2005). While Ms. Allende is known for magic realism, this novel offers a more straightforward narrative than found in most of her books. Ms. Allende’s account of the legend begins with Zorro’s childhood and finishes with the hero. Have fun with this book. ~ Lisa Christie Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez (2002) – Do not let the small size of this novel fool you; it appears sparse, but says so much about what happens to families when a country’s politics take a dangerous turn. In this novel (based upon Ms. Alvarez’s own experiences in the Dominican Republic), the young protagonist, Anita (named in honor of Anne Frank), is coming of age in a Latin American dictatorship. Most of her relatives have already emigrated to the United States, a few of her relatives have disappeared without a trace or gone into hiding, and the government’s secret police are terrorizing family members who remain because of their suspected opposition of the dictatorship. The power of family and the danger of politics hit home with the slim volume for middle grade readers. ~ Lisa Cadow and Lisa Christie
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