YA Book Reviews Part 1 of 3

Part of my coursework for YA Lit (LSSL5385 @SHSU) has a requirement to read 25 books and review them. The books come from a required titles list, required authors list, and then free choice of books from select YA awards lists. Here are the first 8 of the assignment. 

I have an annotated bibliography that can be viewed online or print out to share here.

Enjoy!

Annotated Bibliography Assignment: Books 1-8

Alexie, Sherman, and Ellen Forney. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Little, Brown, 2007.

Arnold Spirit Jr is encouraged to make a bold move to leave the reservation school, the reservation in which he lives in is high in poverty but low in hope for those living there, and go to a neighboring non-reservation school by one of his teachers.  He leaves Rowdy, his best friend of 14 years, his sister who spends most of her time in the basement and her alcoholic parents behind. Arnold, or Junior, as he is known in the reservation was born with hydrocephalus can has caused him to look differently than the rest of his family and friends.  His looks are a reason for which he gets beaten up at the reservation a lot.  On his daily commute to the school, which is an adventure of its own, he transforms from being a Native American who is too smart for the other Native Americans in his own reservation to a boy that fits in with the “white” kids of his new rural school.  Arnold learns that though he left his tribe at the reservation he belongs to other tribes at his new school. This story has Arnold dealing with racism, unfairness, friendship, poverty, and pushing through the hard time to better oneself.

Reviewed by Kirkus Reviews (July 2007) “The reservation’s poverty and desolate alcoholism offer early mortality and broken dreams, but Junior’s knowledge that he must leave is rooted in love and respect for his family and the Spokane tribe.”

Other books by Author: Alexie, S., & Morales, Y. (2016). Thunder Boy Jr. New York: Little, Brown and.  The bond of a father and child are highlighted in this picture book.  Thunder Boy Jr, wants a name of his own, not one that he has to share with his dad. Will he ever find one he likes?

Book is part of Young Adult Novels Required List for LSSL 5385 Dr. Lesesne.

Behar, R. (2018). Lucky broken girl. New York, N.Y.: Puffin Books.

Ruthie and her family have recently immigrated from Cuba to New York City.  Ruthie has become a better English speaker and is about to be placed with the “normal” kids when her family is in a car accident that left her confined to a bed and extremely lonely for almost a year.  Ruthie knows she’s “lucky” to be alive and with her family in America, she also has to deal with being “broken” after the accident. With the help of a “hippie” tutor, she is able to maintain her studies for when she is able to go back to school.  Even after she is given the ok, to stand and start moving, she is hesitant and scared, she overcame being broken, but can she overcome being NOT broken. Ruthie learns lessons in patience, compassion, and overcoming obstacles during that time.

Kirkus Reviews, February 2017, “The language is lyrical and rich, the intersectionality—ethnicity, religion, class, gender—insightful, and the story remarkably engaging, even though it takes place primarily in the island of Ruthie’s bedroom.  A poignant and relevant retelling of a child immigrant’s struggle to recover from an accident and feel at home in America.”

Pura Belpré Medal winner 2018 (Narrative)

Read Alikes: Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA). Woodson uses poems to tell about growing up as an African American during the 1960’s and 1970’s using poetry.  She shares a bit of herself as a child and how she came to find her place in the world.  

This book is part of Young Adult Novels Required List for LSSL 5385 Dr. Lesesne.

Garden, N. (2007). Annie on my mind. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux.

Liza is walking to an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art when she hears a girl singing. The girl turns out to be Annie, a girl with a great imagination, and the two girls spend the rest of their time at the museum pretending to be living during the times that each exhibits displays.  The two girls quickly become inseparable after school and weekends though they attend different schools, live in different parts of New York, and have families that come from different backgrounds. The friendship soon develops into more as Liza and Annie both realize what they feel is love for one another, not friendship or family love, but a romantic love. They are both confused, have to find ways to understand these new feelings and emotions, and deal with the pressure from society, their families and Liza’s school. Do the girls get the opportunity to live a future where they are accepted and can be together in a newly found comfort of each other that they didn’t know could exist before?

Publishers Weekly review, Aug 1992, “Garden's exceptionally well-rendered tale concerns two teenage girls who fall in love with each other.”

Review on YALSA Blog, October 2009, “A story of love and its power, Annie on My Mind shows that homosexuality is not evil or perverted or wrong.”

This book is part of Young Adult Novels Required List for LSSL 5385 Dr. Lesesne.

Gephart, D. (2016). Lily and Dunkin. First edition. New York: Delacorte Press.

It’s 6 days before school starts, summer is ending but Lily is ready. She was born Timothy McGrother and is ready for others to see that she is a girl.  She is also wanting to start taking hormone blockers before puberty, before her body goes through irreversible changes, her dad isn’t ready to accept this.  Lily is outside helping unload groceries when she waves at someone new to the neighborhood. Norbert Dorfman, who Timothy later nicknames Dunkin, suffers from bipolar disorder and has just moved into his grandmother’s house with his mom, he doesn’t know where his dad is.  These 2 boys cross paths at a critical time for both of them as they both deal with difficult issues. When school starts Tim is looking forward to being friends with Dunkin, until Dunkin befriends the basketball team  “Neanderthals” who constantly pick on, shame, and bully Timothy. Dunkin is shocked that these Neanderthals are wanting to be his friend and while initially looking forward to being friends with Tim, he is pressured to follow suit with the basketball team.  Both boys have to push past the issue of acceptance from others and have to accept their future.

Review on Publishers Weekly-March 2016 “Gephart sympathetically contrasts the physical awkwardness, uncertainty, and longings of these two outsiders during a few tightly-plotted months, building to a crescendo of revelation.”

Counselor Connection-A teacher or counselor could use this book to help students who may be dealing with mental health issues lie Dunkin or be transgender like Lily.  It could also be helpful for a reader that has friends dealing with either issue.

This book is part of Young Adult Novels Required List for LSSL 5385 Dr. Lesesne.

Hale, S., & Pham, L. (2017). Real friends. New York: First Second.

This memoir by Shannon Hale is done in a graphic novel format.  Shannon has known the comfort and love that home brings to her life, she’s about to start school, where things are new and different.  Things get better once she meets Adrienne and they quickly became best friends. As the time passes, and the Shannon becomes friends with other girls. Those friendships change as the girls’ interests change, families move, and even control issues in friendships.  Shannon has to learn to figure out ways to ignore and deal with Jenny, a girl who has been a constant bully in school. Pham uses her illustration skills well to complete the graphics of this book She is able to take the Shannon’s story and create illustrations that help the reader understand the story and Shannon’s feelings perfectly.  She uses the panels and the gutters well to not make the pages too cluttered. On the images that show happy times in shannon’s day/life, the colors used are bright, while on the sad/bad times the shadows seem long and colors are dull.   

Counselor Corner- Counselor could use this as a mentor text when working with students that are struggling with forming/keeping friendships. This book also allows readers to see how bullying can have different forms, shows its effects, and different ways to overcome it.  

Book trailer video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9e__cBliAw 

Publishers Weekly Review Feb 2017, “It’s a wonderfully observed portrait of finding one’s place in your world.”

Kirkus Review March 2017, “This episodic story sometimes sticks too close to the truth for comfort, but readers will appreciate Shannon’s fantastic imagination that lightens her tough journey toward courage and self-acceptance.”

Book is part of the 7 free choice YA books for LSSL 5385 Dr. Lesesne, this title came from 2018 Great Graphic Novels for Teens put together by YALSA.

Larson, H. (2018) All Summer Long. New York : Farrar, Straus, & Giroux for Young Readers, an imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group.

It’s the summer between 7th & 8th grade. Bina is really dreading this summer, as her best friend and neighbor will be gone for the majority of the time to soccer camp.  She did notice he was starting to act a bit weird before he left. Bina is left “friend-less”, which allows her to explore other activities that she may not have done with Austin, befriend other people, and even discovers a new music band.  It may have only been a month that Austin was gone, but Bina learn a lot about herself, making friends, rekindling and balancing friendships, even gaining the title of “Aunt” this summer. When summer is over, she is more than ready to start 8th grade.  

This graphic novel is done with panels of varying sizes. The dialogue is done in a variety of formats such as text messages, phone conversations, and traditional text/thought bubbles and is believable/relatable for students Bina’s age.  The images drawn are those of realistic people, not fantasy style, with great close up of faces that show great emotion. Most of the book is done in a soft yellow/peach color with black outlines and white highlights.  

Reviewed by Kirkus Reviews, May 2018- “A coming-of-age story as tender and sweet as a summer evening breeze.”

Other graphic novels by Hope Larson-Compass South: A Graphic Novel (Four Points, Book 1), Gray Horses, Chiggers, Who is AC?

Book is part of the 7 free choice YA books for LSSL 5385 Dr. Lesesne, this title came from 2019 Great Graphic Novels for Teens put together by YALSA.

McAnulty, S. (2018). The miscalculations of Lightning Girl. New York: Random House.

Lucy survived being struck by lightning at age 8, but not without any side effects.  The survival left her with a genius ability. Now at age 12, she has been homeschooled by her grandmother all the way to high school level courses, even though she has the ability to start college; but her grandmother has decided to enroll her in junior high so that she has social interactions with other students her age.  Lucy may be smart enough to be able to hide or downplay her academic ability, but the OCD routines are a bit harder. Lucy has to learn how to make friends and maintain her genius hidden, and navigate the nuances of junior high. She finds a small group of classmates that really care and understand her. While working on a group project for class, she meets and falls in love with a dying dog.  Lucy learns much about herself and the things that she is capable of, now she must decide if she will remain in junior high, or move onto college courses.  

Reviewed by KIRKUS Reviews, May 2018, “...Lucy quickly realizes no formula can calculate the perils and pitfalls of public school. The multidimensional, highly likable Lucy’s first-person narration is direct and unrestrained.”

Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List 2019-2020 

Colby Sharp Book Talk video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NQckATiFbI 

Educators guide shared by publisher- https://images.randomhouse.com/promo_image/9781524767570_5289.pdf 

Book is part of the 7 free choice YA books for LSSL 5385 Dr. Lesesne, this title came from 2019 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers put together by YALSA.

Reynolds, J. (2016). As brave as you. New York: A Caitlyn Dlouhy Book/Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Brooklyn born and raised, Genie and Ernie, his brother, have to spend a couple of weeks of their summer in rural Virginia with their grandparents while their parents go on a trip and work on their marriage.  Genie is full of questions, and keeps a small notebook full of them, his routine would be to use Google to answer them, but that’s almost impossible, almost, out in the country. Genie is the most surprised learning that his gun toting grandfather is blind & he enlists his help to practice going outdoors.  He learns the ulterior motive behind their late night escapades outside have to do with a rite of passage for boys who grow up in the country. The boys learn a lot about playing alone in the woods, waking early to do chores and help grandma, and trying to learn about and understand his gruff and blind, yet loving grandpa.

KIRKUS starred review (April 2016)  “Reynolds gives his readers uncommonly well-developed, complex characters, especially the completely believable Genie and Grandpop, whose stubborn self-sufficiency belies his vulnerability and whose flawed love both Genie and readers will cherish.”

Awards: Kirkus Award Finalist 2016, Schneider Family Book Award Winner 2017,  Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book 2017, ALSC Notable Children’s Books 2017, Older Readers, E. B. White Read-Aloud Award 2017 Finalist, Middle Reader.

Few titles also by the author: Long Way Down (2017), Ghost (2016), & Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2018).

This book is part of Young Adult Authors Required List for LSSL 5385 Dr. Lesesne.