Bick's Picks for 2016

If you are a reader, somebody probably gave you money during the holidays so you could buy a book. I have picked five books published in 2016 that I hope more people read. This is harder than one might imagine. Some of best books I read during the past year really came out in 2015, I have put those to the side and I focused on 2016. I also focused on books that, in my opinion, have not recieved enough attention--yet. Here are  five books that remain powerful when I think back through the year, browse through the blog, and think about other peoples' lists.

So in no particular order here they are:

I think that the field of Young Adult Non-Fiction has put up some remarkable books over the last few years. One of my selections for this year Is Blood Brother: Jonathan Daniels and His Sacrifice for Civil Rights. I loved this book. It forced me to rethink about how I experienced the civil rights movement in the late sixties and early seventies in the west. Rich and Sandra Wallace have a fine achievement to add to there list of excellent books.

Jennifer Niven's Holding up the Universe is a book that took me by surprize. I don't want anyone to misunderstand me, I think Jennifer Nevin is a tremendous writer and I was a big fan of All of The Bright Places. However, when I started Holding up the Universe, I was captivated from the beginning. I loved the narrative exploration of two characters that too many people seem to think they understand just from what they see. I taught high school long enough to learn that the look of a student and/or the accolades they might be recieving don't always tell the full story. Some kids are lonelier than they appear, some are more confident, and some might need just one more vote of support. Not all books hit all readers the same way, but I hope you like it. For my money, I think this is a book that deservses to be on your short list of books to read, especially if you recieve a lot of books. It just might be that novel that should be book talked and set in a dominate place in the classroom.

Maria Padian's Wrecked came to me in a package with several others from Algonquin Young Readers. This one was different, it came with a note from Trevor Ingerson. Tevor knows enough about my reading habits to understand that I dift to realistic fiction that might best be describe as edgy inheritors of the legacy founded by the publication of The Catcher in the Rye. The note suggested that I should read the book and then we should talk about it. Well, everyone should be talking about this book. It is a perfect candidate for a university summer reading program. Told from several view points, this novel explores a campus date rape. If you are a fan of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak or Chris Lynch's Inexcusable, then this a book you should investigate. Without question, Padian is an author to keep reading. You can find my first blog post about her and a link to her responses to my interview questions here. 

 To say that I like Brednan Kiely's The Last True Love Story is a serious understatment. Like all of the books on this list it stays with me. Furthermore, I knew it was a book I wanted to write about. As I have written about before, my son, Isaac and I have written about how to use this text to integrate music into the ELA classroom. (Due out next summer.) If you teach The Odyssey or love music, this is a novel that will capture your heart. I encourage you to let this book take you on its journey.   

I was fortunate enough to work with the Vegas Valley Book Festival this last year. I tried to read a sample from all of the YA authors who visited this year. Some of them I knew about, but a new one for me was Mary Penney. Mary Penney's Eleven and Holding is a treasure. Macy is eleven and absolutely unwilling to have her birhtday until her father returns from a special assignment. He has survived the war, but he is still dealing with its effects. This novel deals with a trauma that too many children in America have to deal with on a daily bases; yet, some how we don't seem to talk about it to the degree that would demonstrate that we understand their sacrifice. Penney has created a character portrait of her main character, Macy, that is compassionate, but still manages to capture the precosious nature of a bright child who is 11 going on 17.  

To conclude, I hope you consider reading these novels. I would love to hear your opinion. Read one and if you fall in love with it, consider writing a blog post.

Oh, and don't you need one more for the road? As I wrote briefly about these five, I kept thinking: "Are you really not going to mention The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock." A couple of weeks ago it was my Friday pick for the weekend. I meet Bonnie-Sue as she was waiting for her first appearance at the ALAN workshop this year. It was lovely to talk with her as we both sat at the back of the room. As I read the book a couple of weeks ago, I just keep thinking: "Man, this is great writing." I loved the characters and the interwoven plot lines.

See down the road in 2017.