Young Adult Literature - It Gets Better

Savage, D., & Miller, T. eds. (2011). It gets better: Coming out, overcoming bullying, and creating a
     
       life worth living. New York: Dutton.

It Gets Better includes a wide range of people telling the stories of how they overcame bullying and survived high school.  On the surface, the book is aimed at gay and lesbian teenagers to let them know that life does get better and they shouldn't take the road to suicide because they are different.  However, the book has a great message for anyone who has ever experienced bullying in high school.  Basically, it is important to let kids know that just because life is hard right now, that doesn't mean that you can't overcome it and have a great life in the future.  The book includes stories from many famous gay and lesbians, as well as from ordinary people who succeeded in life, to straight politicians, including the president.  Each person who contributed to the book tries to show support to teenagers who are bullied for their differences.
I think the book is very relevant to today.  Bullying is something that, unfortunately, goes on constantly in our schools, often with tragic results.  Bullies often push their victims to drastic measures.  The only downfall to the book was that it seemed almost like overkill.  I think that the book almost had too many contributions.  I think a smaller number of well-written contributions would have been better.

Young Adult Literature - Cool Salsa

Cool Salsa Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States.. (2008). Chicago: Paw Prints.

 

 

Cool Salsa is an interesting book of poetry.  I did not enjoy this book as much as What Have You Lost?  Most of the poems in this book are in English on one page and Spanish on the next page.  Since I am not fluent in Spanish, I went through the book quickly since I focused on the English translations.  I can see how this would be an interesting book to use in a Spanish class, or for hispanic students.  I thought that many of the poems were interesting, but I didn't connect with them as well as I did with the poems in the other poetry book I read. 

Young Adult Literature - What Have You Lost?

What Have You Lost? is a unique book of poetry.  Naomi Shihab Nye, an excellent poet herself, has selected various poems from a diverse array of poets covering different forms of loss.  The book contains poems that cover losing everything from a loved one to a sweater, and everything in between.  I enjoyed many of the poems in this book, eventhough poetry is not my favorite type of leisurely reading.  I think that some teens would enjoy reading this book especially to help them cope with the various types of loss in their own lives.

Young Adult Literature - Code Talker

Bruchac, J. (2005).  Code talkers: a novel about the Navajo marines of World War Two. New  
          York: Speak.


Code Talkers is an interesting book covering a fascinating topic.  However, for some reason, I had a hard time getting into this novel.  I think that the main downfall is the way the author moves from one episode to another so quickly.  Sometimes it seems as if he is giving way too much military detail, and other times he moves quickly onto another battle or training session with little detail.  I think this inconsistency kept me from really connecting with the main character.  I do understand that it would be almost impossible to write a book of a manageable length that fully covers his entire experience leading up to and during World War II; however, I felt that the book would probably be more interesting if the author had focused more on a shorter period of time within the main character's life.  I also would have liked to have seen more interaction with his friends throughout the war.  It all just seemed  a little episodic to me.  I think the story of the code talkers is interesting, and I think it would appeal to boys who are more interested in battles and history. 

Young Adult Literature - Speak

Anderson, L.H. (1999).  Speak. New York: Penguin.

Speak follows Melinda Sordino through her freshman year of high school.  The summer before, Melinda and her friend Rachel went to a party where a senior, Andy, rapes her.  Melinda calls 911, but is unable to tell them what is wrong.  When the police break of the party, the students blame Melinda and she becomes an outcast at school.  She even loses her friend, Rachel.  As the school year progresses, Melinda keeps her secret and slips further into depression.  She begins skipping classes and hiding in an abandoned janitor's closet which she fixes up as her own hideout.  When her former friend, Rachel, begins dating Andy she feels she must warn her about him.  She writes Rachel a note, but Rachel is angry and doesn't believe her.  She eventually realizes that Melinda is telling the truth and breaks up with Andy.  At the end of the school year, Melinda goes to the janitor's closet to collect her things, and Andy corners her.  He attacks her, but Melinda breaks a mirror and holds a shard of glass up to him.  Fortunately, some other students hear her screaming and come to her rescue.  Melinda begins to come to terms with what happened to her and she becomes a hero at school.

I really enjoyed this book.  I liked the way the book was divided up by the grading periods.  Melinda has an authentic voice in the book and the reader can't help but like her and feel sorry for her.  She doesn't know how to cope with her life, but she eventually learns how to express herself and come back from her depression.  I loved the ending, though I felt that, unfortunately, I think it was not totally realistic.  I think that in many schools, many students would take Andy's word over Melinda's and say that she made it up, or that it was consentual. 

Young Adult Literature - A Great and Terrible Beauty

Bray, L. (2003). A great and terrible beauty.  New York: Delacorte Press.

A Great and Terrible Beauty  introduces the reader to Gemma Doyle, a sixteen year old girls who has been sent to the Spence Academy after her mother was mysteriously killed in India.  Gemma is not like other girls.  She learns that she has the ability to open a door to another realm, and she and her new friends at the academy begin spending more and more time there.  Gemma also learns that her mother was part of a mysterious group called the Order, who could also move between realms.  Furthermore, a mysterious young man named Kartik, follows Gemma from India to warn her to close her mind against strange visions she has of the future.

I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't one that captured me and compelled me to keep reading.  I was curious about the outcome and the supernatural aspects were interesting, but I felt that it could have been better.  I know that there are more books in this series, but I don't know that I will continue reading.  I enjoyed Bray's Going Bovine much more than this book.

Young Adult Literature - American Born Chinese

Luen Yang, G. (2006). American Born Chinese. New York: Square Fish.

Graphic novels are not the type of books I normally choose to read.  However, I did find this graphic novel to be interesting, even if it was somewhat confusing in spots.  The story follows Jin Wang, who has trouble fitting into school since he is the only Chinese American student.  Later, when Wei-Chen moves from Taiwan, Jin Wang doesn't want to be friends with him at first.  Jin wants, more than anything, to be as American as possible.  The story also follows the tale of the Monkey King, who tried to fit in with the gods, but was rejected because he was a monkey.  Another important character is an American student named Danny.  Danny is embarrassed each year when his Chinese cousin, Chin Kee comes to visit his school.  All three main characters learn about fitting in and being themselves.  I enjoyed the book, but I became somewhat confused towards the end, when Danny became Jin Wang, and Chin Kee revealed himself as the Monkey King.