Shelly Shaffer is concluding June Weekend Picks with another wonderful suggestions. To remind, Dr. Shaffer is an Associate Professor of Literacy at Eastern Washington University. She is our weekend pick contributor for this weekend. Dr. Shaffer loves sharing books she’s read and her passion for anything Young Adult. She is happiest curled up with a book and her bulldogs.
Thank you so much, Shelly, for your incredibly thoughtful book suggestions and their review!   

​For many YA readers, Amber Smith’s The Way I Used to Be (2016b) was a devastating read. It provided a mirror for teens who had experienced sexual assault and a window for those who–luckily–hadn’t (Bishop, 1990). The Way I Used to Be takes readers into the life of Eden, a freshman girl who tried to stay in the background, a good girl who was fairly anonymous at school and home. When she is raped, she realizes she cannot remain in the background any longer, but her desperation to be seen and heard results in a downward spiral of promiscuity, drinking, and drugs. When I first read The Way I Use to Be, I felt seen in a way that I, personally, had never felt before. Smith captured some of my inner psyche, and I felt both shame and absolution for who I had once been. 

​There is a story behind these novels. Smith’s original author’s note states, “Though this is a work of fiction, I recognize the millions of real-life teens who have, in some way, shared Eden’s experience. Unfortunately, theirs are not new stories, but they are ones that need desperately to be told. Over and over and over” (2016, p. 369). However, in The Way I Am Now, Smith acknowledges that her first book “was…writing…for myself, to work through my own thoughts and feelings as a survivor, as well as someone who has known many other survivors of violence and abuse” (2023, “A Note from the Author,” front pages). It took Smith several years to write an ending to Eden’s story that would do the character (and herself) justice. She shares, “I couldn’t bring myself to write an ending I didn’t believe in my heart could really happen. And I also couldn’t bear to give Eden an ending that was anything less than she deserved. So I left the story off with a hope, a wish” (Smith, 2023, “A Note from the Author,” front pages). The trauma was too close and too personal; “at its core it’s about finding your voice, and in writing it, I found mine” (Smith, 2023, “A Note from the Author,” front pages). Smith finally found the fortitude and strength to write the next chapter in Eden’s story–a new beginning that finally seemed possible. ​

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​Her newest book, The Way I Am Now, takes us to the second half of Eden’s senior year and into college. This book takes place after Eden has disclosed her rape to her friends and family, and the rapist is now facing charges in court. This book shows us a glimpse of how to move forward. Eden is healing. She has finally opened up about her experience and is waiting to testify at her rapist’s trial–though she is terrified to face him in open court and to publicly acknowledge her trauma. She now knows that she wasn’t the only victim; others have come forward to testify in the case, as well. 

Do you know what you are going to read this weekend? If you haven't decided yet, check out our Weekend Pick for this Friday.
Shelly Shaffer continues to provide suggestions for reading throughout June. To remind our readers, ​Dr.  Shaffer is an Associate Professor of Literacy at Eastern Washington University. She loves sharing books she’s read and her passion for anything Young Adult. She is happiest curled up with a book and her bulldogs. 
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In today’s world, our daily activities are often video recorded–by somebody’s cell phone, by CCTV, or by other surveillance. But, imagine a world where your life is recorded by every mirror or reflective surface. In the world that Ryan La Sala creates in Beholder (2023), that is exactly what happens. Mirrors (or any reflective surface– think silverware, glass, stainless steel) record everything that is captured in their reflections. However, not everybody has access to these recordings; only the very powerful can access the images that have been recorded, and La Sala’s newest main character, Athanios (Athan), is one of the few who has the power to view the images. 

​Athan is suddenly a person of interest in the murders of all of those people in the penthouse, and this sends him on a frantic mission to figure out what’s going on. He rushes home only to discover that his Yiayia is missing. He realizes that he must act quickly before he loses everything he has left. His best bet is to track down the mysterious stranger that pushed him into the bathroom the night before. Athan begins to unravel the mystery, only to discover that his YiaYia and Uhler–and even the mystery boy–are more involved than he imagined. La Sala takes readers in a dark underworld of New York City, where collectors are interested in artifacts used in murders and other mayhem.
It is a race against the clock, and only Athan can ultimately save the day. 

Our Weekend Pick contributor in June is Dr. Shelly Shaffer, an Associate Professor of Literacy at Eastern Washington University. Dr. Shaffer loves sharing books she’s read and her passion for anything Young Adult. She is happiest curled up with a book and her bulldogs. 
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​Wide Awake Now (2024) is an update of David Levithan’s 2004 novel, Wide Awake. While Wide Awake (2004) is set in a futuristic 2024, the characters in Wide Awake Now (2024) live in a realistic 2024.

​In this new novel, the characters speak of true events that have occurred in United States society and politics during the last 20 years. It’s a place where Donald Trump and Barack Obama have served as President and where the COVID-19 pandemic shook the world. It’s a reality where a huge divide between Democrats and Republicans exists, where neighbors dislike (or even hate) neighbors when their beliefs don’t align, where love and kindness have virtually disappeared from U.S. society. Levithan imagines a 2024 where love and kindness are gaining traction. Tired of the bullying and hate, many Americans have turned to religion. They have begun to rethink their beliefs about politics and God’s role in their lives. Like some marginalized groups of the past, they disempower their opponents by remaking hateful language. They take words that have been demonized and make them their own. They remake Christian values and popularize God and love. 

​In true David Levithan style (think Boy Meets Boy), Wide Awake Now tells the story of a more ideal world, where the 2024 election results with a gay, Jewish man (Klein) winning the electoral college and popular vote (by more than 5 million votes). Yet, in recent American style, the losing side challenges the election results and claims that illegal votes have been cast. The battle for Kansas begins after the election has been called; the election hangs in the balance of Klein winning by a thin margin (1,000 votes (Levithan, 2004) or 76,000 votes (Levithan, 2024)), and both sides seem to be willing to do whatever it takes. Klein calls on his supporters to take a stand, and Levithan’s story follows Jimmy and Duncan as they, along with nearly 2 million others, make an exodus to Kansas’ state capitol in Topeka to protest the shady recount. Klein’s opponent also asks his supporters to come to his support. Readers fear the worst since recent protests have often led to violence. And, Levithan’s characters are, indeed, faced with violence and fear and must decide whether to risk their safety for democracy. Levithan’s novel exemplifies a protest novel, asking readers to consider what they are willing to do in order to ensure a fair election process is followed by our leaders.

I’d heard so many older people talk about it, about what it meant to know you had the same right as everyone else. I wasn’t alive when Obama was elected, either, and instead came to consciousness at a time when there was a bigot on the megaphone, dividing the country further and showing us right into a pandemic. I spend sixth grade at home, barely learning and never seeing my friends. Even when the bigot with the megaphone lost his election, things didn’t get much better. We were still in a pandemic. People yelled at each other more and more, in no small part because they could yell from their bedrooms instead of having to actually leave the house to do it face to face. This past election was absolutely brutal. But the brutality of it was an issue itself, and I think finally enough people were like,
This is not how we should be. Enough of us believed we had to unplug the hate machine before it destroyed us all.
I understood that now that Steing had won, he was likely to become more moderate to get along with Congress…
                                                                                                                --Levithan, 2024, p. 5-6

Throughout the new book, there are instances of additional details and clarity. Though I have a copy of the paperback original and a hardback of the new novel, the additional details added 40 pages to the book. This additional detail really adds to the book and creates strong connections for today’s readers who experienced both the COVID-19 pandemic and the divisiveness that is currently plaguing the United States.
 
Readers will appreciate the resolution of the book and hope for a brighter future where conflicts can be resolved and humanity wins. The world that Levithan imagines for us demonstrates that we can grow and learn from our current conflicts. Readers hope that, like Levithan’s 2024 world, kindness and love can triumph over hate and division. 

​​Many of us have been waiting for the 3rd installment of The Gilded Ones trilogy, The Eternal Ones (2024). This series is written by Namina Forna, who notably likes to write about “fierce female leads” (book jacket, The Eternal Ones). Featuring strong, female leads of color, this fantasy series imagines a world where those with darker skin and kinky hair are the most beautiful, the most sought after, and the most powerful. Each book in this series focuses on Deka, a girl living in Otera–a nation that has strict, hegemonic roles for males and females. 
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