Our mid-July Weekend Pick comes to us again from Professor Audra Slocum - our many thanks to Dr. Slocum for her ongoing support of our YAL community!
 Audra Slocum | 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. |
Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray
Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray is a young adult novel featuring three intertwining narratives that explore themes of love and resistance against extreme systematic oppression. The book adopts a historical perspective, emphasizing that acts of resistance against oppressive regimes are not isolated; rather, they are connected across generations and throughout time and space. The story is interwoven with German folktales as allegories for resistance.
 | The first narrative is set in 1930s Germany as Hitler rises to power. In a small, fictional northern German village, we follow the lives of two best friends, Sophie and Hannah. In their transition from childhood to adulthood, they confront the tension of leaving behind their love for German folk tales and woodland fantasies. While Sophie clings to these old stories, Hannah is drawn to the mainstream teenage experience. With Hitler's ascent, the cultural landscape shifts, and both girls face increasing social pressure to join the Hitler Youth and conform to rigid gender roles. Sophie's family, booksellers and intellectuals, are committed to their values amidst this pressure, while more families around them align with the Nazi regime. The Bridegroom’s Oak, an old and massive tree just outside the village, is used for delivering messages between lovers, and eventually messages in the resistance. A small group of young people participate in the resistance, requiring them to take serious risks and live in fear of discovery as local Nazi surveillance intensifies and the potential for betrayal increases. |
The second narrative takes place in West Berlin during the 1980s, against the backdrop of the Cold War and in the shadow of the Berlin Wall. This story centers on Jenny, a white teenage girl from Texas whose wealthy family moves to Germany for her father's job. Raised to be obedient and compliant, Jenny struggles under the weight of her dismissive father and a mother who constantly critiques her. Just before leaving Texas, Jenny betrays one of her only friends. This guilt accompanies her to Germany, where she encounters a mysterious older woman in her apartment building, referred to by another German teenager as a "witch." The woman, a psychologist, uses German folk tales to help people recover from the trauma of war, including acts of betrayal by neighbors and family members.
In Germany, Jenny draws on her love of photography as she wanders the city and meets Lena, a punk woman who introduces her to the gritty resistance movement against the East German government. Lena, who lives with her punk girl band in a dilapidated building, challenges Jenny to reject her manicured life and live in the moment. Jenny finds herself navigating increasingly daring risks as she falls for Lena.
| The third narrative unfolds in the Broduring the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and follows a teenage bi-racial white and Filipino boy, Miles, who is home alone. One of his mothers is a nurse living with other nurses to minimize exposure, while his other mother, a photographer, is stranded in Europe due to lockdowns. This narrative includes Zoom transcripts from his social studies class, Instagram direct messages, and FaceTime conversations. His narrative focuses on rekindling a friendship with Chloe which had been broken by something he did in the fall.. His reconnection with Chloe is spurred by Chloe's German grandmother, who gave her cassette tapes, photographs, and a tiny acorn. |  Libba Bray |
Chloe and Miles decide to unravel the mystery of Chloe’s grandmother's experiences during World War II. In addition to their research, Miles grapples with his reluctance to participate in activism regarding the anti-Asian rhetoric circulating his Bronx neighborhood, as well as the murder of George Floyd.
Across these three narratives, each friend group faces social betrayal on both personal and structural levels. The stories illustrate how these intersecting oppressions shape the lives of young people, who constantly question their roles within their families, social circles, and the larger political landscape. Themes of betrayal, redemption, and love—both self-love and love for others—are woven throughout the narratives, revealing their interconnectedness.
Although the book addresses challenging historical themes, each narrative has its own climax and concludes with a tidy resolution. The novel's structure and the layers of mystery that, while somewhat predictable, remain engaging. Definitely worth a read, this book encourages readers to reflect on their connections to past movements and fostering curiosity about resistance efforts worldwide.
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