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Weekend Pick for June 24, 2022

6/24/2022

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Weekend Pick for June 24, 2022

Looking for something to read? 
​Check out our weekly suggestions!
Are your students looking for book recommendations?
Send them to browse through the picks for this or past years.
​
For the picks from 2021 click here
For the picks from 2020 click here.
For older picks click from 2019 click here.
For the even older picks click here.

We send our deep gratitude to Dr. Celeste Trimble for her wonderful, insightful picks for the month of June! 

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Akata Woman by Nnedi Okorafor

This weekend’s pick is Akata Woman by Nnedi Okorafor. The epigraph at the beginning contains two quotes from novels that have been important in my life. The first one contains the beginning lines of The Famished Road by Ben Okri, which won the 1991 Booker Prize for fiction. “In the beginning, there was a river. The river became a road and the road branched out to the whole world. And because the road was once a river it was always hungry.” 

The next is a quote from On the Road by Jack Kerouac. “The road must eventually lead to the whole world.” Because both of these novels were pivotal for me as an adolescent, I was incredibly excited to read this third installation in the Nsibidi Script Series which began with Akata Witch, then Akata Warrior, and most recently, Akata Woman. And I knew that the story would center on the road. I knew it would be a spirit filled journey.

I had already been drawn in by the story of Sunny and her friends, each in a different place with their connection to, study of, and practice of Juju in the Igbo tradition of Nigeria and their Leopard powers. There is so much here about being true to one’s self in the midst of chaos and crisis, and about seeking and finding one’s strength. One element of this third installment of the series that is different than what drew me in initially but that I find particularly compelling is the connection with the Biafran Civil War (1967-1970). I only learned of this incredibly important aspect of Nigerian history three years ago because of an Uber driver who told me he was from Biafra, which I hadn’t heard of, so I looked it up. I am particularly drawn to fiction that will also help me learn about a history or place or tradition that I don’t learn much about in other ways and I want to share this aspect of the power of fiction with the young readers I know, too. Akata Woman does not shed too much light on this history, however it does provide a familiarity enough to inspire curiosity and give readers the tools to ask questions about it. I hope, just like I did when I first heard about Biafra, readers will do some further research.

Akata Woman is best read after the first two installments of the series. Readers who love magical realism, strong female protagonists, fast paced adventure, and rich descriptions of otherworldly beings will find so much to love in this novel and series.

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Weekend Pick for June 17, 2022

6/17/2022

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​Weekend Pick for June 17,2022

Looking for something to read? 
​Check out our weekly suggestions!
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Send them to browse through the picks for this or past years.
​
For the picks from 2021 click here
For the picks from 2020 click here.
For older picks click from 2019 click here.
For the even older picks click here.
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The Turning Pointe by Vanessa L. Torres

This week’s pick takes us to 1980’s Minneapolis in The Turning Pointe, a debut novel by Vanessa L. Torres. Rosa Dominguez is a sixteen year old Latinx ballet dancer studying under her father, who is an abusive teacher. Upstairs from her studio, Prince himself is in rehearsals, and Rosa wants nothing more than to take off her pointe shoes and dance for him.  

This novel has so many compelling thematic branches, but they all lead to the idea that we must follow our own passions and not let anyone else tell us who we are or should be. Many of the characters are stifled for one reason or another, because their parents are controlling, society is homophobic, and so many restrictions placed on them from beyond themselves. But when these characters defy the restrictions, they begin to become more fully themselves, proving to themselves and others that it is okay to let them be in charge of their own destinies. It is a necessity.

Rosa’s sister, Gloria, used to be on track to become the principal dancer at the studio, but after a tragic accident, she was left unable to speak much or eat solid foods, let alone dance on pointe. Torres does a wonderful job letting readers into the sisters’ relationship, tender and close despite communication difficulties. She also brings her extensive knowledge from being a firefighter/paramedic into the depiction of Gloria’s medical realities. The novel culminates with Gloria defying expectations and assumptions not only about her abilities, but also where her passions truly lie and her gift for profound and artful communication.

Rosa’s friend Nikki is working towards someday joining the Ballet Trockadero, an all male dance company where men dance on pointe. Nikki’s femme and funky style of dressing as well as well as his unaopologetic self expression is inspiring to Rosa, but also to the reader. Nikki tries to hide his femme self from his grandmother, not knowing that she is supportive of him no matter what. Nikki’s father died of AIDS and conversations between Rosa and Nikki help readers learn a bit about the early days of the AIDS crisis and the many barriers to treatment.

Kat, Rosa’s best friend, might be incredibly financially privileged, but she is stifled by her plastic surgeon parents, wanting her to follow in their footsteps and dictating the course of her education. So she hides the fact that she is training to be a paramedic not only from her parents, but also from Rosa, leading Rosa to believe she is in real trouble and helping create a temporary rift in their relationship.

Rosa, of course, is dancing through her own self discovery, learning that it is okay to take a leap into following her dreams. Luckily, readers are invited on this journey with her. 

For fans of Prince, of course, or anyone else who likes a funky beat.

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Weekend Pick June 10, 2022

6/10/2022

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Looking for something to read? 
​Check out our weekly suggestions!
Are your students looking for book recommendations?
Send them to browse through the picks for this or past years.
​
For the picks from 2021 click here
For the picks from 2020 click here.
For older picks click from 2019 click here.
For the even older picks click here.

Weekend Pick for June 10, 2022

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Break This House by Candice Iloh
Sometimes, when I am struggling with grief, what I need more than anything is someone to grieve with. I don’t necessarily need someone to understand my grief, but I want to grieve near someone who is also grieving. I want to be in a space where grief is accepted because it is known. I often look to novels with characters who are working through their grief to be my guides, even if the characters aren’t sure if or how they will make it through themselves. It feels like grieving together and that helps.

In Break This House by Candice Iloh, Yaminah’s mother has recently passed away, but she had been losing her for years before that. Trying for a fresh start, Yaminah and her father move to Brooklyn, away from Obsidian, Michigan. But when Yaminah finds out that they will be holding a memorial for her mother, she decides to go back to Michigan to be with family and sort through her feelings about her mother. The announcement for the memorial said that her mother died of cancer, but what Yaminah learns is that addiction took her mother, information that was kept from her before. That was why her mother changed long before her death, leaving her and her sister each night. That is why she became a different person

Yaminah struggles with the idea that no one in her family was really honest with her, shielding her from the truth, or just not talking about it. So, in a sense, she is grieving alone, even though she is surrounded by family. But her family is also grieving for something else. Her neighborhood is being purchased by outside developers, little by little. Her grandmother decided to sell her house to the developers, and this fact is just one facet of the larger grief of the community - losing their neighborhood to gentrification. 

I see the loss of a mother to addiction and the loss of a community to gentrification as deeply interwoven in this novel. Iloh brings their characteristic depth and emotional acuity to Break This House, guiding the reader through Yaminah’s very personal grief as well as the collective but still not freely expressed grief of the larger community, so that the reader might move through grief with them. 

Despite so much grief, the novel ends on a note that is necessary and uplifting. These two forms of grief need two different paths for healing. Acceptance and understanding for Yeminah, and action and communication for the community. Yaminah begins the healing process after months of running away, and the community takes action to save Yeminah’s grandmother’s house and more, working as a collective to improve all of their lives. We are witness to this interior and exterior transformation as Iloh allows Yaminah and the reader to move through grief together.

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Weekend Pick for June 3, 2022

6/3/2022

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Looking for something to read? 
​Check out our weekly suggestions!
Are your students looking for book recommendations?
Send them to browse through the picks for this or past years.
​
For the picks from 2021 click here
For the picks from 2020 click here.
For older picks click from 2019 click here.
For the even older picks click here.

Happy June! This month we are excited to introduce our newest guest contributor, Dr. Celeste Trimble. 
Dr. Trimble is an artist, a writer, and an Assistant Professor of Literacy at Saint Martin’s University in Washington State. She specializes in Indigenous literature for youth, queer literature for youth, and the intersections of book culture, youth culture, and the arts.
Weekend Pick for June 3, 2022
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The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess with Laura L. Sullivan.
When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, I was struck by the images of pets on social media. Ukranians evacuating with their pets, those unable to bring their pets, lost pets, and the reunification of pets with their people. Each story was heartbreaking in one way or another in part because I could easily relate to the love for an animal and how important animals can be in our lives. 

I also kept thinking about The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival, an incredible YA memoir by Amra Sabic-E- Rayess with Laura L. Sullivan. I first heard about this book at the virtual Tucson Festival of Books in March 2021 as I listened to the author speak powerfully about justice and war. The memoir details Amra’s experiences as a Muslim teen in Bosnia in 1992 during the Bosnian genocide. Amidst war and hatred, Amra develops a very special relationship with a stray cat despite her family’s objections. Maci, the Bosnian word for cat, returns to Amra and her family even when she is taken far out into the country. When the cat saved her brother’s life, it is clear that Maci is no ordinary cat, but then Maci saves Amra’s life, too! 
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Through this text, readers will get a very clear understanding of what it feels like to be in the midst of a war based on ethnic hatred. Amra’s relationship with the cat makes her and her story relatable in a way that is deeply affecting. Additionally, this particular war is not one that is widely studied by teens in the United States, so the historical context is an important addition to fill gaps in history curricula. Plus, it is a very compelling read.


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    Curators for the Weekend Picks

    Leilya Pitre
    Leilya taught English as a foreign language in the Ukraine and ELA/English in public schools in the US. Her research interests include teacher preparation, clinical experiences, secondary school teaching, and teaching and research of Young Adult and multicultural literature. Together with her friend and colleague, Mike Cook, she co-authored a two-volume edition of Teaching Universal Themes Through Young Adult Novels (2021). ​
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    Cammie Jo Lawton
    Cammie is a current doctoral student at the University of Tennessee Knoxville and serves the Center for Children and Young Adult Literature as a graduate research assistant. She is especially interested in how YA can affect readers, create empathy and possibly shift thinking. 
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    Nikki Bylina-Streets
    Nikki is a elementary librarian who just keeps reading YA literature. She is a constant advocate for reading at every level. You can also follow her through her ​Instagram account dedicated to my school library work. @thislibraryrocks
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