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Our guest contributor for this issue of Weekend Picks is Roy Edward Jackson, an assistant professor of education at Goshen College where he teaches an array of courses including literacy development and academic voice.

​What makes the essays so powerful is that early on one can unite with Abdurraqib’s love of all genres of music. And he doesn’t just love music, he LOVES music and music experiences. The essays are not reviews of artists, albums or concerts; they are deeply personal explorations of experiencing music. From an examination of the mesmerizing Prince at the 2007 Super Bowl Halftime show to his attendance in the Columbus OH punk scene, Abdurraqib doesn’t just detail his experiences, he allows readers to experience it as he did. When writing about seeing Bruce Springsteen in New Jersey he states, “I believe in the magic of seeing a musician perform in the palace they once called home. Home. That is what these essays feel like when reading them. He sees music as a healer of both the person and society. When writing about Fleetwood Mac’s tour de force album Rumors Abdurraqib equates the complicated interpersonal backstory of the band and that album to his post-college friend circle where the machinery of love and trust has many parts and therefore many flaws. ​

​The messiness of a blockbuster band of the 70s who weathered their personal demons and interpersonal conflicts to stay together to make their masterpiece album is indeed something akin to the 90s early 20s couple. A couple who stay living together post-breakup as it’s often the only fiscal option. While the adult in me gravitates to his deeply meditative essays on artists so diverse as Carly Rae Jepsen to Chance the Rapper to Fall Out Boy to Schoolboy Q, it’s too easy to say this is a collection of how music is the backdrop to the experiences of our lives. The essays are also a much-needed insight into the experiences of what his life is like in a complicated America. His essay, My First Police Stop details how the joy of first-time car ownership as a teenager where one must enter through the passenger door of an older used car in order to not trigger the faulty alarm system on the driver’s side can become something else in America for young, Black citizens. These systemic injustices permeate many of the essays in the collection.

​While the collection is not necessarily a book marketed to be shelved in the YA section of libraries, Abdurraqib's writing is lyrical, insightful, and deeply affecting, offering readers a thought-provoking exploration of the ways in which music and experiences can serve as both a source of solace and a catalyst for social change. All of these are qualities that YA readers not only relate to but crave. And while this collection was not in the YA section of my public library, I perused many high school catalogs and indeed school librarians are purchasing, shelving and sharing this poignant and important voice. I’ve used his essays in my high school creative writing, and college freshman composition, courses. I’ve yet to encounter a student, or adult, who didn’t find the writing significant.

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green​

Welcome to Week 2 of June Picks! Our contributor, ​Erinn Bentley, is a professor of English education at Columbus State University in Georgia. In addition to mentoring pre-service teachers and graduate students, she enjoys leading study abroad programs around the world. 

This is where readers meet Ambrose and Kodiak as the spacefarers warily work together to complete their mission. The novel begins with a straightforward plot – The spacefaring teens must save the human race while fending off the dangers deep space. As the novel progresses, the pair uncover layers of secrets from their past that drastically affect their present and future lives. So as not to give away any plot twists, I will simply say this novel is full of surprises, in the best possible way.
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I absolutely could not put this novel down, at first because I was intrigued with the slowly unfolding mystery surrounding both characters. What really held my attention, though, was how much I came to care about Ambrose and Kodiak. I’m not sure how to explain this novel. It’s more than a love story between two people. It is more like love letter about what it means to be human.   

Enjoy reading!

Are you looking for something to read? 
​Check out our weekly suggestions!
Are your students looking for book recommendations?
Send them to browse through the picks for this or past years.
 For the picks from 2023 click here 
For the picks from 2022 click here
For the picks from 2021 click here
For the picks from 2020 click here.
For older picks click from 2019 click here.
For the even older picks click here.

This novel focuses on Li, who was adopted by her human-sympathizing father sixteen years ago when the Abdoloreans destroyed the human race and took control of Earth. Li has been carefully raised to blend into this world of aliens and is now competing among her peers for her place as part of the Abdolorean Armed Forces. This miliary training is especially grueling for Li, as she grapples with its physical challenges and internally struggles to hide her human emotions and vulnerabilities. Adding to this fraught situation, Li becomes romantically involved with an Abdolorean cadet, putting herself and her family at risk of exposing her secret identity. ​Li’s conflicting worlds ultimately collide, pushing her to make tough decisions affecting those she loves.

Unlike other sci-fi YA novels that are filled with creepy aliens, intergalactic warfare, and non-stop action, The Last Girl on Earth is a quiet contemplation on universal themes such the boundaries of love and friendship, betrayal vs. loyalty, and conformity vs. individualism. While set in the future, this novel’s themes are relatable and relevant to today’s adolescent readers. I thoroughly enjoyed this thoughtful and thought-provoking story that challenges readers to consider what it means to be “human.”