Our pick for this weekend is brought to us by Oakland University' s Audra Slocum who has historical fiction lined up for this hot holiday weekend - but may your reading happen in a cool, shaded spot! 

​Dr. Audra Slocum is an Associate Professor of Secondary English Education and the Director of Teacher Education at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Prior to joining OU, she was an associate professor at West Virginia University and co-director of the National Writing Project at WVU for 10 years. She has presented at NCTE, AERA, and WVCTE and published in English Education, Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, and English Teaching: Practice and Critique. Her scholarship primarily focuses on how teenagers from linguistically marginalized communities navigate oppressive norms in secondary English classrooms. As a teacher educator, she prepares secondary English students to be actively anti-oppressive as they employ core teaching practices. 

​Bruised by Tanya Boteju is one of those stories. The protagonist is 18-year-old Daya who recently lost both parents in a car accident. In the aftermath of this tragedy, Daya is left to consider what her life might look like without her parents; she turns to physical outlets as a way to fill the void where those familial relationships once existed. Adding to this void is the absence of boxing – a sport she grew up learning from her father, sometimes at the disapproval of her mother. After their deaths, Daya wants nothing to do with boxing as it brings memories of her father and the pain of loss. Although she refuses to pick up a boxing glove, she does still crave a physical outlet for the emotional pain she feels. 

This is where skateboarding enters Daya’s life, and where the novel begins. We enter Daya’s journey as she catapults herself from one trick on her board to the next. She seeks the challenge of the sport and welcomes the crashes that come with it. What begins as innocent distraction in sport turns to a reliance on skateboarding as a way to self-injure: ​

​The solitary nature of skateboarding allows Daya the private space to self-injure through bruising without too many questions being asked. But when a friend suggests a new sport – roller derby – Daya is drawn to the competitive drive of the women she watches skate, and to the fierce roughness of the sport. She is drawn to the authenticity with which many of the characters on and around the team live (LGBTQIA+ found family), which is important to her as she navigates her own identity questions. 

Daya fights for a place on the team, but how will she continue to self-harm when teammates are relying on her to be her best in the rink? Daya must rise to meet the biggest challenges of her life: navigating emotions, relationships, and the physicality of a sport that requires the devotion of her whole self. 

Walk, run, skateboard, rollerblade, (or click!) your way to this story asap. Bruised by Tanya Boteju will not disappoint. 

​Dr. Kia Jane Richmond is Professor and Director of English Education at Northern Michigan University and author of Mental Illness in Young Adult Literature: Real Struggles through Fictional Characters (Bloomsbury, 2019). She is a frequent presenter at NCTE, ELATE, ALAN, CEL, and MCTE conferences and has published many articles and book chapters focused on young adult literature and teacher preparation in English Language Arts.

​She can be reached at [email protected].

Many 21st century adolescents and young adults have also developed an affinity for true crime books or novels featuring murder or a serial killer. High school and college teachers occasionally tap into this interest by including units focused on fictional novels such as Out of the Easy by Ruby Sepetys (2014), The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (2002) or Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco (2017), nonfiction texts such as The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater (2017) or In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (1965), or podcasts such as “Serial,” a podcast created in 2014 as a spinoff of the public radio show “This American Life.” 

One of the best books I’ve found to pique readers’ interests is My Friend Dahmer, a graphic novel written and illustrated by Derf Backderf. The text is based on Backderf’s own memories having grown up with Jeffrey Dahmer in rural Ohio in the 1970s. However, the text is not solely grounded in reminiscence; instead, Backderf completed extensive research on Dahmer’s life before he killed his first victim in 1978. ​

What makes My Friend Dahmer an engaging read is the author’s ability to represent four years of life in the 1970s so effectively while also telling the story of one teen’s daily routines as a high school outcast who frequently drank himself into oblivion while ruminating on the desire to kill first animals, then another human being. The visuals in the book are powerful examples of excellence in graphic art. For instance, in Part 2 (“A Secret Life”), Dahmer is represented in four panels having just caught a fish in a local stream. He cuts the fish’s head off with a “thwap,” bludgeons the fish in multiple strokes (“chok! chok! chok!), and kneels over the fish, fixated on its mutilated body. In a splash page that follows, a close up is shown of this last image, with the words “I just wanted to see what it looked like” in the speech bubble. Backderf’s use of shading (Dahmer’s face is very dark, his eyes blocked by lines drawn across his wire-framed glasses) and body positioning add to the reader’s experiences with this novel. 

Most of the author’s drawings in My Friend Dahmer fit into one of three categories: graphic comic, cartoon, or sketch. As the reader moves through the book, the images on the pages get progressively darker -- in shading and in content. However, Backderf deftly leaves details of Dahmer’s first of seventeen murders for the last chapter and the “Notes” section. ​

​​Lia Overbrook is an 18-year-old high school student who lives with anorexia nervosa. She is unable to see her body in ways that are healthy. Instead, Lia feels repulsive and frail, which will not help her reach her (unrealistic) goal weight of 80 pounds. Like many young people with eating disorders, Lia finds ways to lie about her eating habits to her family, over-exercises and weighs herself repeatedly– both in secret, and doom scrolls online in chat rooms and underground blogs filled with the voices of others who are seeking solace and advice for weight-loss. Those voices are loud in Lia’s head, bumping into the voices of her parents (who are constantly fighting) and her best friend Cassie Parrish (who has lived with bulimia since she was 10 years old), and the buzzing of “echovoices that made a permanent home inside the eggshell of her skull,” saying
​ 
":: Stupid/ugly/stupid/bitch/stupid/fat/stupid/baby/stupid/loser/stupid/lost/::” 

​Laurie Halse Anderson, a New York Times bestselling author and phenomenal speaker, has won numerous awards for her writing, including the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2023), the NCTE Intellectual Freedom Award (2015), and the ALA’s Margaret A. Edwards Award (2009). Her most recent novel, just published this year, is Rebellion 1776, a middle grade historical narrative about a young girl living through an epidemic during the Revolutionary War. 

​Dr. Kia Jane Richmond is Professor and Director of English Education at Northern Michigan University and author of Mental Illness in Young Adult Literature: Real Struggles through Fictional Characters (Bloomsbury, 2019). She is a frequent presenter at NCTE, ELATE, ALAN, CEL, and MCTE conferences and has published many articles and book chapters focused on young adult literature and teacher preparation in English Language Arts.

​She can be reached at [email protected].

​The narrator of Forever is Now, Sadie Dixon, is a self-described “sad, anxious Black girl” who lives in Oakland, California. Before she and her girlfriend Aria witness a violent incident of police brutality against a woman in the local park, Sadie is working with her therapist, Dr. Candace, to manage her anxiety through cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), exposure therapy, dialogue, and journaling/creative writing. After the incident, Sadie’s anxiety symptoms worsen, spiraling into ongoing self-doubt, more frequent panic attacks, bouts of insomnia, and a new diagnosis of agoraphobia. 

Sadie’s story includes many issues teens expect in fiction such as friendships,  family relationships, romances, and breakups. What makes this novel a standout is the deep self-discovery that Sadie shares with readers through discussions with her therapist, family, and friends. Agoraphobia and other anxiety disorders can be extremely isolating, often exacerbating symptoms. Sadie’s support system – including new neighbor Jackson Sweet and best friend Evan - helps her develop effective strategies for living with anxiety. 

Readers will find themselves captivated by Sadie’s powerful voice, which is enriched by poems she writes and (sometimes) shares with listeners/viewers of her broadcasts on an online activist app called Ruckus. For example, during one of her live shows called “Dispatches from Insomnia Garden,” Sadie reads a poem that blends her experiences with anxiety and the issue of police brutality with a call for an “Open Mic for Joy” event: 
​
… That’s what keeps me up 
       makes it hard for me to close my eyes most nights
Thinking of all those gone gone gone bodies
                                     floating in silence
no gravity, no light
no escape                  back to love
But the poet Nikki g wrote: 
‘Black love is Black wealth’
And despite all the suffering-there is joy too …  (267). 

​This book was one of the most fun reads I’ve had in the past few months. As a kid that grew up with Percy Jackson and the Kane Chronicles, this felt like a welcome back home to my happy place. 

​The Labors of Hercules Beal follows brothers Achilles and Hercules Beal, who are recently orphaned, and are left their parents’ Cape Cod farm and nursery. With Achilles working constantly, a vampire in his home, and a new school to start the year, Hercules is skeptical, especially when he’s assigned to complete Myth Hercules’ infamous Twelve Labors.

Even though the Hydras and Neiman Lion that Myth Hercules aren’t real, Boy Hercules has his own, and sometimes his brother’s issues to worry about. We get to follow along as Hercules might not be conquering monsters, but his own fears, stressors, and grief are beautifully contextualized as something just as terrifying. ​ 

​His biggest lesson learned? You’re never alone. Myth Hercules had aid, but was expected to do each labor himself. Boy Hercules learns to embrace his brother, friends, neighbors, and even his scary homeroom teacher: Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer. This sassy-mouthed seventh grader had me laughing and crying my whole way through this novel, and I really hope that our Weekend Picks readers will enjoy it as well.

Gary D. Schmidt wonderfully executes a very passionate story on grief and non-traditional familial structures. The Labors of Hercules Beal was such a fun read, with such an important message of bringing together communities, and holding onto each other through hell or high water. ​

​Everything We Never Had, written by Randy Ribay, follows the stories of the Maghabol family, and intertwines historical fiction with real questions on identity and the relationships between a father and a son. The story is told in generational pieces, leaving the readers to connect the dots. We hear from great-Lolo (Grandfather) Francisco’s perspective in the 1930 Watsonville riots, Lolo Emil who kept busy trying to make a living with his father’s flaky appearances as a labor organizer in the 1960’s, dad Chris’s experience with his overbearing father and his desire to study Filipino history in the 1980’s, and anxious Enzo who is feeling the pressure to bond in the 2020 pandemic. Hearing every man’s teenage experience, we get to see how each apple falls from the tree, and how one way of parenting doesn’t always result in the healthiest bonds between family. 
​
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lolo Emil, Chris, and Enzo are all stuck under the same roof. As Emil and Enzo begin to bond, we start to see how each man’s perspective in life is based in their own experiences and drawing the line between the four generations. Each of the novel’s perspective grapples with embracing ethnicity vs. nationality, masculinity, and living up to societal expectations. 

​This book coincidently lines up with Asian-American Pacific Islander history month, and I could think of no better way to teach such landmark moments in Filipino history, something I was very unfamiliar with before I started this novel. This read lead me to learn history that was entirely skipped over in my education, and I am so thankful to this novel for highlighting another minority perspective. Everything We Never Had, as well as other short stories and novels in Ribay’s catalogue highlight Filipino perspectives, again broadening libraries’ potential to support and represent students and readers of a similar background.

Everything We Never Had has won numerous awards such as: Winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature, 2025 International Literacy Association Notable Books for a Global Society, and Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APLA)-Literature Award. Ribay is also the author of titles such as: The Patron Saint of Nothing and The Reckoning of Roku: Chronicles of The Avatar. ​

Our second Weekend Picks for May comes to us from another Oakland University student Alyssa Engler. Her featured novel, Monday's Not Coming, focuses on the themes of friendship and loss as it weaves a mystery about a girl who has gone missing: Monday Charles. The story uses non-linear storytelling  as a way to blend the past with the present. 

Alyssa has this to say about herself as an introduction to our readers: "Hello! My name is Alyssa. I'm a full-time student at OU working towards an English Language Arts for Educators degree and a server by night! In my free time, I love hanging out with my German shepherds (the one in the photo is my late baby Bella; right now, I have two, Rebel and Ryder!). But outside of them, you can find me with my head in a craft of some kind!"

Many thanks to Alyssa for her contribution this week, and for pointing us toward another important YA novel read. 

We all have that person; yes, that best friend, sibling, or coworker you just thought of. The one who’s all in, no questions asked. Someone who feels like warmth in the coldest weather, or the sunshine slipping through in your cloudiest moment. Maybe you sat next to them in class randomly on the first day, talked to them at a party and just instantly clicked, or perhaps you’re like me; she happened to apply at your work, and within minutes, you’re laughing and talking like you’ve known one another for a lifetime.

We all have the one person, that special person.

But sometimes life throws us a curveball, something we never see coming.

​What if one day they didn’t show up, didn’t pick up the phone, disappeared into thin air, and suddenly weren’t around; they were gone. That’s Claudia’s fear when she can't get ahold of her best friend: Monday Charles.

Welcome to the first Weekend Picks of May! We kick off ​the month with a contribution from one of Oakland University's current teacher candidates, and my (Amanda) recent student. It's a joy and a privilege to help amplify the emerging voices in ELA education. 

Sean Myers points us toward the amazing work of Alice Oseman, specifically the Heartstopper series that began as a digital “Webtoon” comic. Thank you, Sean, for your May Weekend Pick!

​Sean Myers is an English for Language Arts Education Graduate student at Oakland University. He is currently preparing to go into his final student placement and his student teaching, with hopes to be teaching high school English soon!

​Heartstopper (Volumes 1-5), written and illustrated by Alice Oseman follows the adventures of “out” gay student Charlie Spring, who meets his crush, Nick Nelson, in school. What Charlie doesn’t expect, is Nick’s own “bi-awakening” as the two’s friendship develops into something more. We get to follow their queer-love experience, as well as their friends! Oseman doesn’t just highlight queer male romance, but queer female romance, and transgender identities. We get to see how their own queer soul-searching plays out, and the ripples it has in friends, peers, family, and support systems.

The series began as a digital “Webtoon” comic, releasing short parts every few days, beginning back in August of 2019. As larger sections of the comic were completed, Oseman had volumes 

​As sweet and lighthearted as the series begins, we make our way through the different volumes and get to see more serious themes take center stage: depression, eating disorders, internalized homophobia, sexual harassment, and having to deal with less-accepting people in your families. While these are much more serious topics for a queer graphic novel, it’s important to bring awareness to these discussions, because the uncomfortableness of the topics doesn’t erase their prevalence in teenagers today. We get to learn alongside our characters that not every problem can be fixed with an “I Love You” or an “I’m Sorry”, and it’s so refreshing to see in modern literature.

As someone who identifies as a queer man, who struggles with things like poor mental health and depression, it is so comforting to me to see that someone is telling a story that sounds like me. ​