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Weekend Pick for June 30, 2023

6/30/2023

Weekend Pick for June 30, 2023

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A special thank you to our friend, Meg Grizzle, who has provided some amazing choices for our summer reading weekends this June! If this is your first pick of Meg's, I recommend you go back for the other books in June's picks :)

While I’m a voracious reader, I’m slow. I’m known for keeping library books well past their due dates and for finishing books months after I start them. None of this rang true, however, when I began Tiffany D. Jackson’s White Smoke. I read it cover to cover in one day. Jackson’s novels are known for their plot twists (see Monday’s Not Coming for a real shocker), and White Smoke is no exception. I’m not typically a fan of horror or any fiction that could keep me up at night, but Jackson creates characters that are so engaging and settings that are so vivid, it’s possible for me to look past, and perhaps even forward to, the creep factor.

White Smoke tells the story of Marigold, who moves with her family and siblings from their home in California to a house in Cedarville, a town in the Midwest. As Marigold and her family try to get settled in their new home, Marigold learns that Cedarville is plagued by a violent and racist history that continues to shape the dynamics of the town. In time, Marigold also comes to realize that her new house, one that has been completely remodeled and sits prettily among a row of forgotten and neglected properties, is seemingly haunted. Marigold finds herself on a mission to understand Cedarville’s past and her new home’s place in the community.

White Smoke is a thriller with substance. Throughout the novel, Jackson examines racism, generational trauma, socioeconomic status, and family dynamics all while maintaining an intense plot-driven narrative. This is a young adult novel that is self-aware. Jackson knows how to engage young readers with story while asking them to consider how the events reflect their everyday, lived experiences. For that reason, White Smoke would be an excellent pick for student book clubs where students could discuss not only the book’s excellent plot but also its larger salient themes.

After reading White Smoke, I have become a Jackson completist, devouring all of her backlist titles. I’m looking forward to (finally!) reading her newest novel, The Weight of Blood, a retelling of Stephen King’s Carrie. I encourage readers of White Smoke who aren’t familiar with Jackson’s other works to get acquainted and to pass them along to the teen readers in their lives.

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Weekend Pick for June 23, 2023

6/23/2023

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Weekend Pick for June 23, 2023

In The 57 Bus, a narrative, non-fiction retelling, Dashka Slater examines the non-binary experience and the effects of the juvenile justice system. Slater tells the intertwined story of two Oakland, California teens whose lives tragically intersect on a public bus one afternoon. Sasha (they/them), a middle-class white student at a private school, becomes the target of a prank gone terribly wrong. Richard, a black teen who attends an inner-city Oakland high school, answers a friend’s dare to light Sasha’s skirt on fire while they napped at the back of the bus. Richard, who only expected the skirt to smolder a bit, looks on in horror as Sasha’s legs become engulfed in flames. Scared of the repercussions, Richard and his friends leap off the bus without aiding Sasha. Slater describes in vivid detail this single event, one that will simultaneously change Richard and Sasha’s previously separate lives.

The 57 Bus is a heartbreaking but essential study in nuance and empathy. Sasha and Richard each belong to marginalized communities and experience the effects of systemic injustice. While Sasha is fortunate to have found love and support from their family as they form their identity, they are still a target for hate outside of their circle of family and friends. Richard is a black boy in Oakland, trying to navigate a world that actively and systemically oppresses his community. Richard and Sasha are both swimming against a current of injustice, and their story highlights the complexity of living as a minoritized person.

Richard admits that he has committed a heinous act but maintains that it was not done out of hate but was instead a poor choice that was never intended to cause Sasha physical harm. Richard’s admission leaves him vulnerable to the juvenile justice system, a system that is broken in its ability to rehabilitate. Black male teens like Richard are overwhelmingly represented in the juvenile system, and they often ultimately find themselves part of the adult prison system. While Richard must face incarceration within a system that is designed to maintain power over him, Sasha must recover from the physical and emotional harm that Richard’s actions have caused him.

The 57 Bus is a high-interest text and a quick read. It is not, however, an “easy” read. Slater’s retelling of Sasha and Richard’s story is fast-paced and compelling, but it is not without grief and frustration. Slater has rendered a narrative that asks readers to consider the complexity of humanity and the effects of systemic injustice on both a victim and a perpetrator. Slater concludes the book with two important chapters: “Some Gender Neutrality Milestones” and “Some Numbers: US Juvenile Incarceration”. These two chapters speak to the lived experiences of both Sasha and Richard, two teens navigating a world that is hostile toward their identities.

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Weekend Pick June 16, 2023

6/16/2023

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Weekend Pick June 16, 2023

Everything about Darcie Little Badger’s A Snake Falls to Earth is beautiful, the prose, the plot, the characters, even the cover art. Little Badger has crafted a narrative unlike anything I have read in young adult literature. Little Badger draws from her Lipan Apache heritage to tell the story of Nina, a Lipan teen who is determined to uncover the meanings of the fantastical stories passed down by her family.

Throughout the novel, Little Badger skillfully weaves tales from the “land of spirits and monsters” with Nina’s pursuit of the truth behind the stories she has heard. Woven throughout the plot is Nina’s grandmother’s attempts to protect her piece of Texas land from a malicious and greedy neighbor. Nina’s life and Lipan legend eventually collide to bring justice for her family.

A Snake Falls to Earth is a complex text that touches on many topics relevant to contemporary life. Perhaps the most salient themes are identity and environmental justice. In the chapters that trace Lipan stories, Little Badger focuses on the story of Oli, a young cottonmouth negotiating his identity. Oli, like the other animals in his world, is a shapeshifter. He has two identities: his true form as a cottonmouth and his false form which transforms him into a human with the subtle characteristics of a snake. Nina also explores her identity as she negotiates her place within the real world and her encounters with animals like Oli. Both Oli and Nina must parse out who they are as their worlds collide and intertwine. Little Badger also asks readers to consider how historically disenfranchised groups are directly impacted by disruptions in the environment. Nina’s grandmother’s fight to save her water and her land from her neighbor, Paul, speaks to the trauma inflicted upon communities who do not have the resources or the power to fight against environmental injustice.

Little Badger has masterfully crafted a fantasy that feels real. Each character, both human and animal alike, is rich and offers a unique perspective. This text would be an excellent pick for students who are fans of both fantasy and realistic literary fiction. The audiobook is also expertly narrated, and I highly recommend it for readers who prefer to listen to stories.

Darcie Little Badger

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Weekend Pick for June 9, 2023

6/9/2023

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Weekend Pick for June 9, 2023

The rest of our picks for the month of June will be chosen by guest contributor Meg Grizzle. Meg Grizzle is a PhD student in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Arkansas. Her research interests include young adult literature, multimodalities, libraries, writing instruction, teen mental health, and rural education. Prior to entering the PhD program, she taught high school English. She is returning to the classroom this fall to teach 10th grade ELA and will continue her graduate work. When she is not researching, writing, and lesson planning, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two boys, ages 5 and 7.

Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher

When I’m trying to hook reluctant readers, I often turn to dystopian YAL. Plot-driven, fast-paced dystopian YA usually pulls young readers in quickly and holds their attention until the end. Most ELA teachers have witnessed students devouring series like The Hunger Games and Divergent, and my students have reported that it’s thrilling narratives and futuristic settings with a tinge of reality that keep them coming back to dystopian YA. I have noted another aspect of YA dystopian novels that seems to be important: a sense of hope. Unlike classic dystopian texts like 1984, Brave New World, or The Handmaid’s Tale, YA dystopia tends to end with the possibility of a better future. Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher’s Sanctuary does exactly this.

Sanctuary is disturbing in its proximity. Set in 2032, Mendoza and Sher’s dystopian nightmare feels far too close to the immigrant experience in America, with the main characters remaining ever vigilant to avoid the nefarious Deportation Force and the separation of families. Immigration status is tracked with microchips slipped beneath wrists and California has succeeded from the union, designating itself as a sanctuary state. Apart from the drones that spot, track, and physically remove immigrants without American citizenship and the landmines that pepper the borderland between Mexico and America’s “Great Wall”, there are few aspects of the novel that do not mirror life in 2023 America, a mere nine years prior to the novel’s setting. Sanctuary provides commentary on the immigrant experience and asks readers to consider a future that isn’t far removed from our current reality.

Sanctuary is told through the perspective of sixteen-year-old Vali, who immigrated to the United States from Columbia. After their mother is taken by the Deportation Force, Vali and her younger brother Ernie must navigate a country whose government is determined to erase them. The story follows Vali as she leaves her home in Vermont to make the journey to safety and refuge in California. Vali and Ernie’s journey is perilous and plagued by danger, but they ultimately find themselves on the other side of a river, safe on the banks of California.

Mendoza and Sher have created a terrifying and all too possible world that is rooted in the realities of contemporary America, but rather than allow Vali and Ernie to fall victim to injustice, Mendoza and Sher infuse hope throughout the plot. Vali and Ernie’s journey highlights the power of community, love, and resistance, making the novel an excellent pick for readers who love dystopian narratives but don’t want to leave the text feeling disparaged about the future.

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Weekend Pick for June 2, 2023

6/2/2023

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Weekend Pick for June 2, 2023

Happy June and Happy Pride dear readers! Our pick to kick off the month is debut, Stonewall and William C. Morris Honor novel, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson. In a discussion on the novel, Ferguson shared that in reading YAL after a long academic journey through her doctoral degree she came back to life, and this novel certainly offers both an incredibly complex storyline and wildly stubborn hope.

Sweetness and bitterness live side by side for Lou as she faces working all summer at her family’s creamery full of homemade oranges, blues, and yellows as well as her co-workers newly ex-boyfriend and former best friend. In this space, she feels confusion about her relationship with her ex who never made her feel passion, but rather discomfort while also trying to sort out a new relationship with previous best friend, King, who has returned to their Canadian prairie town after leaving without explanation three years earlier. As Lou begins to sort through her own identity and relationships, she receives a letter from her biological father–someone she hoped would stay away and behind bars for the rest of his life.

Though friendship and healing bring Lou closer to herself and to King, her father’s requests (demands) to meet her become more insistent. She knows she cannot meet him, but when her family business comes under threat, Lou knows she cannot ignore him forever. Drawing together issues of intergenerational trauma, the spectrum of human experience, and how we fight to heal ourselves and each other, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet is a beautifully resonant and sticking story. Lou’s journey exemplifies her observation that, “Sometimes you need one person–and sometimes you need all your people with you” (Ferguson, 342).

As always, please take care as you read and find Jen’s letter to readers and content warnings here. Until next time, keep reading!
Cammie

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Weekend Pick for June 30, 2023

Weekend Pick for June 30, 2023

Weekend Pick for June 23, 2023

Weekend Pick for June 23, 2023

Weekend Pick June 16, 2023

Weekend Pick June 16, 2023

Weekend Pick for June 9, 2023

Weekend Pick for June 9, 2023

Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher

Weekend Pick for June 2, 2023

Weekend Pick for June 2, 2023

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