Gabi, A Girl in Pieces

Quintero, I. (2014). Gabi, A Girl in Pieces.  El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press.

Gabi is a Hispanic teen about to start her senior year of high school.  In this book, she writes about her year as a senior in diary form.  Her best friend Cindy is pregnant, her friend Sebastian is gay and has finally told his parents, and  her father has a serious drug habit.  Gabi is also over-weight and very self-conscious about it.  But she is also intelligent, a very talented writer, and writes poetry.   Throughout the book, she shares her views on her father's meth addition.  She writes letters to him about the pain she feels about his habit.  Gabi also writes about her love life, her first kiss, and her first boyfriend, Eric.  She shares about her complicated life of being a Hispanic girl and the expectations her mother has for her.  Gabi wants to go to college, but her mother wants her to stay home and not leave the family.  To complicate matters, Gabi's mother is also pregnant.  She discovers that poetry is therapeutic as she goes through the problems of her life.  After she breaks up with Eric, she begins writing poetry with her classmate, Martin, who also enjoys writing poetry.   Their teacher, Ms.Abernard encourages them to go to a poetry reading at a coffee house and read their poetry.  After they do, Gabi kisses him and they begin dating.  Then Gabi's dad dies of an overdose and she is broken and depressed.  Her teacher Ms. Abernard encourages her to write about her feelings.  As her senior year progresses, she is accepted to Berkeley and has sex  for the first time with her boyfriend Martin.  Though her mother is not happy at first that Gabi is going away for college, she accepts it and gives her permission to go.

This book discusses many issues that teens face such as body issues, sex, and teen pregnancy.  So many teenage girls can relate to Gabi and her body issues.  Gabi discusses her weight issues throughout the story and is self-conscious about clothes and bathing suits.  So many teenage girls feel exactly the same way.  This book also deals with having sex for the first time and teen pregnancy. Gabi also has the added pressure of trying to please her mother and trying to be a good Hispanic girl, yet wanting to go to college and become something more than a wife and mother.  Many girls from all different cultures and backgrounds can relate with trying to please their families, yet wanting a better life for  themselves.  This book is written for all girls, not just Hispanic girls, that are trying to cope with all the pressures of growing up and getting ready for college.  Young adults will relate to so many of Gabi's trials and heartaches throughout this book.

Annie on My Mind

Garden, N. (1982). Annie on My Mind. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux.

This is story about two young women who fell in love, Lisa Winthrop and Annie Kenyon.  Lisa is a student at a private school, Foster Academy,  and serves as  the student council president. She also loves architecture and wants to become an architect.  Annie attends public school in a rougher part of town, who loves music and singing.  The young women meet one day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and become friends instantly.  As they spend more time with one another, they become more than just friends.  They begin to fall in love with one another.  At Christmas time, they give each other rings and declare their love for one another.  They keep their love a secret from their family and friends, and even are hesitant to be intimate with one another out of shyness.  Then during spring break, Lisa agrees to watch her teacher's cats, Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson, who both work at Foster Academy and live together.   The house gives Lisa and Annie a place to be alone together.  The two girls begin to spend the days there together during spring break and have their first intimate encounter with one another.  While they are in the house, they discover that Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson are more than just roommates, they are a gay couple. Towards the end of the break, Lisa forgets to go to a student council meeting.  They are caught together by a classmate and the school secretary, Ms. Baxter in an awkward situation.  At the same time, Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson arrive home.  The girls have been caught and must face consequences.  Lisa is confronted in an expulsion trial with her parents because of the situation.  She is found not guilty and can continue attending Foster Academy.  However, the two teachers, Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson are fired because they are considered bad influences on students.  The girls then go off to separate colleges, but at the last chapter, Lisa calls Annie and declares her love for her again and they plan to see each other at Christmas break. 

Who is to say what love is and is not?  Many people assume because a couple is gay, they may not have the same feelings as a heterosexual couple does.  This book shares the deep love the girls have for one another, and that many gay couples have for each other.   This book may give teens who are in a similar situation a connection and reassurance that their feelings are true and that it's ok to love another person of the same sex.  When the author wrote this book in the early eighties, there were not many books written about gay teens in love.  This was a controversial book when it came out and was censored and even burned in Kansas. 

This book also explores not just a love story, but the way some people view gay couples.  In this book, we see the hatred others have for gay couples.   In this story, the gay teachers are viewed as immoral and even lose their jobs as teachers.  Lisa also faces a school trial due to her involvement with Annie.   In this day and age, that would be considered discrimination and a violation of rights.   The rights of gay people have come a long way since the eighties, and now same sex marriages are even legal and they have the same rights as heterosexual couples.  A teachable idea could be how laws have changed for gay couples. 

Still Life with Tornado

King, A.S. (2016). Still Life with Tornado. New York, NY: Dutton Books.

Sarah is having an existential crisis at the age of sixteen.  She is an artist, but can no longer create or draw art.  Something happened at school that has made her  incapable of creating art.   She decides to quit school and begins seeing other versions of herself at 10 years old, 23 years  old, and 40 years old around the city she lives in, Philadelphia.  Sarah also begins to follow around a homeless man named Earl.  Earl creates art with chalk and other supplies art students leave for him on the street.  While walking around the streets of Philadelphia, she begins to talk to 10 year old Sarah.  Ten year old Sarah brings back memories of a trip to Mexico six years ago that brings to light a family secret.  Throughout the book, little flashbacks of Sarah's past vacation are intertwined with the present. As the past unfolds, Sarah contacts her brother Bruce, who moved out at age 19, and Sarah has not seen since the Mexico vacation.   Interlaced with the past and present, Sarah's mother, Helen tells her story of a loveless, abusive  marriage she wishes she would have escaped years ago.  As the story progresses with flashbacks of the Mexico trip and present, we learn of the physical and emotional abuse Helen and Bruce endured by Sarah's father Chet, before Sarah was born.  Sarah finally remembers the night from Mexico where Chet punches Bruce and knocks his tooth out.  Bruce comes to see Sarah, and Sarah now knows the family secret of abuse.  When Bruce comes to see his mother, the father begins to tear the house apart, screaming and yelling. Helen has finally asked Chet for a divorce after all the years of abuse.  Sarah is also able to tell Bruce about what happened to her at school and how other students, and possibly her art teacher, destroyed her art piece for the art show.  At the end, Sarah knows her life will go on, and a new, clean slate in life gives her hope.  All of the versions of Sarah help her see that she can go on with her life.   All of the lies and family secrets that were finally revealed to her helps her deal with the loneliness and pain in her life.  Her and her mother have a fresh start in life.

This book addresses the contemporary issue of abusive family relationships. Other YA books that address abusive family relationships are Baygirl by Heather Smith, What She Left Behind by Tracy Bilen, and Dirty Liar by Brian James.  Dirty Liar also has a male protagonist.  All of these books deal with abusive adults and the effect it has on the young adult protagonist's life.  

Connections for young adults: The topics in this book are dysfunctional family relationships and abuse.  We as readers see the impact this has on Sarah's character.  Even though she doesn't know the entire story of her family's past, she emotionally feels the impact and this effects her life.  Young adult readers can learn empathy for others in this story, along with discussing the moral lesson of family violence and emotional abuse.  Teens going through this same type of situation could see themselves in this book.  Seeing Sarah's hope for the future and her fresh start, could give others hope for a better future as well.  

Textbook Reading: Adolescent Development ( Ch. 5)

Librarians need to know their readers in order to help them make choices about books to read.  Helping students choose books can help them work out difficult issues they maybe facing or to live vicariously through the protagonist.  Knowing how adolescences develop is important to librarians and teachers in helping with book choice.

1. Physical Development: 

As adolescence go through puberty, their bodies are making rapid physical changes that effect how they feel about their appearance.

These young people worry about how they look, are they normal, and are often self-critical about their appearance.  Many are not happy about their looks and feel self-conscience about themselves.

2. Intellectual Development:

Adolescence are usually transitioning from Piaget's concrete stage to the abstract stage around this time.  This change can happen from ages 10-14.  They are beginning to think critically about events and things around them. 

Librarians can think about the questions we are asking these students and how we can help scaffold our questions to help them critically think about books and characters.

Librarians should also think about the student's intellectual development when helping a student choose a book.

Developmental Stages ( Havinghurst)

*Librarians and teachers need to remember that kids develop at different rates.

Students are learning:

1. How to get along with peers and form friendships.  In adolescences, kids begin to look for others like themselves with the same interests and likes.  Friendships from elementary may fade due to changes in interests.

2. Relationships with the opposite sex.  Kids are learning how to interact and form friendships with the opposite sex, sometimes for the first time.

3. Working for pay.  Kids may begin their first paying job such as babysitting, mowing lawns, doing extra chores for money.  This creates independence for the child.

4. Changing relationships with parents.  Kids begin to pull-away from their parents and begin thinking differently from their parents.  They may challenge and question ideas, morals, and values taught by their parents.

5. Morals and values.  Kids begin to form their own opinions and thoughts about what they believe and hold true.

6. Vocation.  Kids begin to develop an interest in what they may want to do when they grow up based on their talents and interests. 

7. Adapting to changing bodies.  Kids deal with and learn to adapt to their physical changes such as bigger hands and feet, etc.

8. Sex roles.  Kids learn most sex roles based on society.  They learn the expectations for the way we act.  Some kids may challenge these roles and may act differently. 

Morals and Values-Kohlberg's Theory

1. Pre-conventional:  most common stage of children which is based on rewards and punishment. Children are focused on the consequences they may receive based on right or wrong choices.  Adults will sometimes fall into this category as well. 

2. Conventional: this stage is typical of adolescences and adults.  Individuals in this stage follow societies rules of what is right or wrong.

3. Post-conventional: these individuals recognize the rules, but know that human beings can rise above society's views. These individuals feel that liberty and justice are above the laws ( civil disobedience). These individuals fight for what they believe is the right thing ( EX: Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Ghandi)

*These developmental stages can help librarians find books that speak to kids in their particular stage of development.

Maslow: Needs Hierarchy

According to Maslow, each stage's needs must be met in order to proceed to the next level.
1. Physiological:  kids must have their basic needs of food, water, shelter, clothing met first and foremost.
2. Safety: kids must feel safe both physically and emotionally. Librarians and teachers play an important role in setting up the classroom/library in order that kids feel safe emotionally and physically, as well as free from any type of bullying.
3. Love/belonging: kids must feel they are loved and liked by others and have a sense of belonging to a group.
4. Esteem: kids need to feel that their thoughts, ideas, and opinions are valued and respected by others.  Teachers and librarians can create an atmosphere of respect in the classroom/library where other's thoughts, ideas, and opinions are respected.
5. Self-actualization: kids feel like they can be anything they want and they have no limits when the previous four stages are met.

Developing as Readers

1. Developing Empathy: reading can create empathy for others when reading about a variety of situations.
2. Unconscious Delight: this is when one gets "lost in a book".  Readers may read series books, a particular genre, or reading books by the same author.
3. Reading Autobiographically: reading books about characters like you and experiences/situations like your own. (mirror reading)
4. Reading Vicariously: reading about other people's lives or situations ( looking through the window). Students can experience situations without actually going through with the actual event/process.  Readers can experience different times, places, and experiences in a book. 
5. Philosophical Speculation:  readers are developing morals and values through their reading life.  They may ask hard questions, may question society, or events in a book that form their own values.
6. Aesthetic Experiences:  this is where readers enjoy the beauty of the story, care and connect to characters, experiences the beauty of the language, and become emotionally connected to the book.

Our jobs as librarians is to develop collections in which kids can find books where they can see themselves in the book, relate to the book and make connections, read for pleasure, and learn about life in a book.  It's our jobs to make them fall in love with reading and grow as readers.

Textbook Reading: Chapters 1-4

Textbook Reading: Why do we share literature with children? (Ch. 1)

1. For the pure joy and fun of reading.  Young children love to be read to.  They love books that are repetitive, have patterns, and enjoyable pictures.  School age children also enjoy a variety of books and begin to find what they enjoy reading.  Finally, adolescence enjoy reading, finding themselves in a book, and reading for enjoyment.

2.   Adds in language and vocabulary development. Children's vocabulary and language development has the largest growth from birth to five years old.  However, children still develop vocabulary and language  throughout their school time through books. 

3. To develop empathy.  Children empathize with characters and situations through literature. 

4. Share literature with children while they are young supports and develops life-long readers.

5. To share experiences we are going through as well, or autobiographical reading.  Kids can see themselves in the book.

6. To experiences things vicariously. Kids may read about places or characters different from their own experiences, which helps them grow and develop.  They can live vicariously through a book.

7.  Develops imagination.   Children that read fiction and fantasy have better imaginations.

8. To develop cultural awareness.  Diverse books should be shared throughout the year to develop cultural sensitivity to people, cultures, and groups different from our own. 

9. Aesthetic experiences.  To develop the beauty of the written word and books. 

Textbook Reading: Division of Young People's Literature (Ch. 2)

1. Children's Literature ( birth-8 years old) : this is where children learn about books, story line, basic plot, and characters through read-aloud.  This is also the stage where children are learning to read and beginning to read books on their own.

Examples:

• wordless picture books
• picture books
• beginning readers ( Henry and Mudge, Frog and Toad, Mr. Putter and Tabby)
• illustrated/ beginning chapter books ( Geronimo Stilton, Flat Stanley, Magic Treehouse, Ivy and Bean)

2. Middle/Tween ( 8-12 years old)-children already know how to read.  Here is where they develop a preference for what they like to read.

Examples:

• graphic novels ( for this age range)
• chapter books for this age range ( Because of Winn Dixie, Charlotte's Web, Bluebonnet books , etc.)
• non-fiction

3. Middle School Books ( 6th, 7th, 8th grade)

*not to be confused with Middle/Tween

* be careful not to give these books to middle/tween readers, since the topics and  situations may be too advanced for the 8-12 year old readers.

These books deal with:

• middle school age characters
• middle school settings
• romance
• beginning puberty
• tougher, deeper issues facing this group of readers

4.  Young  Adult ( 13-18 years old)

• tough topics, situations, and problems teens face
• may deal with young romance and even first sexual encounters
• adult language
• may contain violence
• protagonists are young adults themselves ( teens)
• high school settings/experiences

5. New Adult (18-30 year old; older teens and early 20's primarily)

Written for readers who are slightly older than YA readers and appeals to an adult audience.

• protagonists are slightly older than YA protagonists
• appeals to an adult audience
• first college experiences
• living away from home for the first time
• first romance
• first sexual relationship

Textbook Reading: Genres and Formats (Ch. 3)

2 True Genres:  Fiction and Non-Fiction

Fiction has sub-genres: realism and fantasy

Realism

• realistic fiction
• historical fiction

Fantasy

• traditional fantasy: folktales, tall tales, fables, legends, myths, fairy tales, ballads
• modern fantasy: hard science fiction, soft science fiction, high fantasy, and low fantasy

Nonfiction includes:

• informational books
• biography
• autobiography
• narrative non-fiction
• expository non-fiction
• memoirs

Formats ( these are not genres):

• poetry
• drama
• novels
• chapter books
• short stories
• picture books
• graphic novels

Textbook Reading:  YA Literature (Ch. 4)

Young adult literature is written for teens ages 13-18 years old.  Though many young adults can identify with YA and enjoy reading it as well.  Authors draw upon their knowledge of adolescent development in order to make the characters more relatable to the reader.   The protagonist is usually in this age range (13-18 years old).  The story is written in the point of view of the adolescent protagonist. The events and story line is told by the protagonist over a brief time period of events of the protagonist's life. The protagonist is usually independent.  Throughout the story, the reader witnesses gradual changes in the protagonist as he/she works out difficult issues.  The result is usually a significant life change to the protagonist.  The stories are usually written with contemporary issues that teens face such as young love/romance, first sexual experiences, drug use, school or family problems, relationships, etc.   Adolescences can relate to the protagonist and can either identify with the protagonist or live vicariously through the character. 

Stand Off

Smith, A. ( 2015). Stand Off. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Ryan Dean is a senior at Pine Mountain Academy, but he is only fifteen-years old.  He is returning to school after the summer and after the year where his best friend Joey died.  He is rooming with a twelve-year old freshman, Sam,  who is a cooking genius.   Their room is tiny, and Sam is claustrophobic and has to sleep with the window open.  Rooming with Sam reminds Ryan of his rough time and feelings of being a young freshman.  He complains of having to room with a freshman and feels it's unfair.   During the year, Ryan is haunted by his best friend's death and has night terrors.   He stops eating regularly and feels like he's having a breakdown.  He feels lots of pressure from being named the rugby captain, as well as taking the position of his dead best-friend, Joey.  His girl friend Annie is worried about his panic attacks and suggests he visits the school psychologist, which he does.   Ryan also tries to become friends with Nico, Joey's little brother.  Eventually, they do become friends, and while staying with Nico one weekend, this helps him get over his friend's death.  He also has his first sexual experience with his girlfriend. In the spring, Ryan matures and grows to appreciate his growing friendship with Sam, and realizes what a great friend Sam has been to him.  He realizes how important friendship is when going through a difficult time in your life.

This book would be good to use to teach character development.  In the beginning of the book, Ryan is constantly complaining about his roommate, Sam.  Sam is young and needs a friend, just like Ryan did when he was a freshman.  At the beginning of the book, it is clear that Ryan is selfish and immature about the situation he is in.  As the reader, it feels like Ryan is spoiled and self-absorbed. But Ryan grows and matures during his senior year.   He learns to deal with his feelings and eventually becomes a good friend to Sam and Nico.  

Connections for young adults: Stand Off is written from a young man's point of view.  This book discusses first sexual encounters, first loves, losing a friend, dealing with strong feelings, and adjusting to new situations.   Since the setting is at a prep-school, it also deals with independence and making decisions on your own.

Speak

Anderson, L.H. (1999). Speak. New York, NY: Square Fish.

Melinda is beginning high-school as an outcast.  At a party in the summer, Heather was raped by an older boy and she called the cops. The party was busted by the cops, and now it seems every student at Merryweather High hates her.  Even her best friends Rachel will no longer speak to her.  She hasn't told anyone about what has happened to her including her parents..  On the first day of school in the assembly, the new girl, Heather from Ohio, decides to sit with her and tries to begin a friendship.  But Heather is on a mission to join clubs and find a niche in the school.  Throughout the book Melinda describes her school, teachers, and life in a sarcastic and cynical tone, just the way a teenager would tell it.   She is doing poorly in school, has decided to hide out in the supply closet for part of the day, and Heather dumps her for a new set of popular friends. The one class and teacher she actually likes is her art class.  Heather begins to talk and interact with others less and less as the year wears on.  It is as if she has crawled into a cocoon.   To make matters worse, the rapist, Andy Evans, goes to her school and taunts her.  She becomes more and more depressed and is alone.  But when spring begins, as the weather warms, something breaks Melinda slowly out of her cocoon. She begins to work in her yard, raking leaves and planting seeds, she stands up to Heather, and she writes on the bathroom wall as a warning to other girls to stay away from Andy. Finally, one day when she is hiding out in the supply closet, Andy comes in and attacks her.  She screams , fights him off, and  other students hear her and comes to help.  She has finally found her voice and confidence, and speaks up for herself. 

Laurie Halse Anderson has written many YA novels that deal with the difficulties of being a teenager in today's world.  Speak was her first YA novel, which addresses  rape and depression.  Catalyst addresses the pressures that young people today have to succeed.  Twisted is written from a teenage boys perspective of growing-up and becoming a man.  Wintergirls is about a teenage girl dealing with anorexia.  Anderson also writes historical fiction for young adults, as well as fiction and non-fiction for younger readers.

Connections for young adults: rape, depression, losing friends, fitting into high school, and overcoming difficult situations. 

Deadline

Crutcher, C. (2007). Deadline. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.

Ben is beginning his senior year of high school with a huge secret he keeps from his family and friends.  Ben has cancer and decides he is going to do and learn as much as possible his last year of life, including going out for football and asking out his crush, Dallas Suzuki.  He also decides to forgo treatment because he doesn't want to be sick his last days on Earth. But Ben also has another problem. His mother has manic depression and often locks herself in her room for days.  As time passes, Ben seems to be handling his secret illness and becomes the star of the football team.  He also begins talking to Jesus to figure out the problems in his life and those around him.   Ben also befriends the town drunk, Rudy, who discusses Malcolm X with him, and also reveals his own secret, that he's a child molester.  There are so many conflicting feelings Ben has throughout the book.  He feels guilty for not telling his brother and best friend Cody about his illness.   Dallas Suzuki and him begin dating, and he begins to have deep feelings for her.  He finally tells Dallas about his illness, and she is hurt and betrayed he did not tell her earlier.  Then Rudy commits suicide, and Ben continues to struggle with his feelings of guilt and confusion.  As his illness progresses, he finally tells his brother and parents about his illness.   After he tells his parents, he feels free from the secret he's been hiding for the last few months.  At the end of the book, Ben dies, but his brother Cody reads a letter at graduation Ben has written to them.  Throughout this experiment and year long journey, Ben learns that life is a gift to live to the fullest, to love and be truthful, and most of all, to live life like it's your last day on Earth.

This book deals with the subject of cancer and death in teens.  Another book that is along that subject is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  Both of the main characters deal with many of the same problems: cancer, young love, and losing people around you that you love.   

Connections for young adults: This book is written from a young man's point of view.  It discusses cancer, dying, first sexual encounters, and friendship.  It also can be used to discuss the moral issue of keeping secrets from loved ones, and is it o.k. to keep secrets from parents. 

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Ness, P. (2008). The Knife of Never Letting Go. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

In this first book of the Chaos Walking trilogy, Todd lives in a strange, future world where everyone can hear each other's thoughts, including animals.  Another strange thing about his town, Prentisstown is there are no women, only men.  Todd lives with two men, Ben and Cillian who have raised and looked out for him when his mother died.  Todd is also the youngest person in the town and will soon be considered a man when he turns thirteen.  There are strange things that are happening in the swamp near town,  and soon Todd must escape the town with his dog Manchee, a book from his mother, and a knife.   Soon Todd discovers a girl hiding in the swamp from a spaceship wreck.  But an evil man named Aaron has also discover the secret of the girl in the swamp, and a chase begins.  Todd protects the girl, Viola, from Aaron.  Todd, Viola, and Manchee escape to the closest town, where there are women.  They soon discover the secret of Prestisstown,  that the women were killed. Soon the men of Prestisstown discover where Viola, Todd, and Manchee are hiding out and destroy the town.  The three of them continue on and are trying to reach a city named Haven, where Viola may be able to contact a spacecraft.  The chase continues as the three travel on.  Throughout the story Todd struggles with being able to kill a man.   One day, he does kill a Spackle, the natives that have inhabited the planet.  Throughout the book he is taunted by Aaron, who kills his dog Manchee.  Aaron tells Todd that if he kills him, he will become a man.  But, Viola kills Aaron before Todd has a chance.  Todd struggles with his conflicting feelings of death, killing, and becoming a man.  He feels responsible for protecting Viola from harm, but in the end, they are caught by the men of Prestisstown. 

This futuristic tale includes so many twists and turns as Todd discovers the truth behind the horrible lie of his hometown.  Todd tries to figure out how to deal with coming of age, encountering women for the first time, and losing the only family that he has ever known.  This book could be used to study character development as Todd struggles with so many conflicting thoughts and  feelings throughout the book.  Along the way he also encounters problem after problem which he must try to solve to survive.

Connections for young adults:  This is a book where students could read for vicarious situations.  It is set in another place and time, as well as situations such as murder, hearing other's thoughts, and space travel.  

Persepolis

Sartrapi, M. (2004). Persepolis. New York, NY: Pantheon.

Set in Iran during the 70's and 80's during political turmoil and revolution, Marjane tells the memoir of her country, people, and family through black and white comics.  She is a girl that grew-up with open-minded, modern parents that believed in educating their daughter.  Marjane grew-up learning about the history of her country and family.  She is surrounded by riots, demonstrations, and massacres.  Marjane's school changes from a French non-religious school to having to wear a veil and being separated from boys.  She has to follow the Islamic religious culture in school and out in public.  But at home, her modern parents allow freedom of thought and oppose the Islamic Revolution.  As Marjane grows older, she rebels like all teenagers, and wants to attend parties, hang out with friends, and wear the latest fashions from the US.  Marjane is independent and opinionated and punches the principal one day, which gets her expelled.  Her parents find her a new school, but she continues to be opinionated and speaks against the Islamic regime to her religion teacher.  Along with this, a bombing happens in her neighborhood. Her parents decide the best thing is to send her to Europe, where she has a future.  At the end, she is sent to Vienna, where she will go to a French school by herself.  Her parents say they will meet her there later, but in her heart, she knows that it is not true.

Marjane realizes that an out-spoken, rebellious girl has true dangers in the new Islamic country, where rebels are executed for speaking their minds.  She realizes that freedom and freedom of speech has a price.

This book has several teaching opportunities.  First, it could be used in an advanced social studies class on how religion has impacted Middle Eastern countries throughout the ages and it's history.  It could be used to teach the treatment of women in the Islamic religion.  It can also teach how government's suppress their citizens compared to the United States.  It can also be used to teach memoirs and voice in language arts.  Marjane Satrapi has written a sequel to the book called Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return. 

Connections for young adults:  The protagonist encounters political turmoil, growing up in times of war, and having to leave her parents in order to be physically safe.  

Lily and Dunkin

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

Lily and Dunkin is about two tweens that just want to be accepted for who they truly are.

Lily was born as a boy, Timothy, but her true self is a girl, which she has named Lily.  Lily is starting eighth grade, and wants more than anything else to begin hormone blockers to stop further development as a male.  Lily wants to grow her hair long, wear dresses, and show the world her true self, as a girl.  Her father is resistant, through her mother and sister are accepting.

Dunkin's real name is Norbert.  He just moved to Florida with his mother to live with his grandma, Bubbie.  He is tall, unsure of himself, and takes antipsychotic medicine.  He is afraid to tell others about his bipolar condition and just wants to fit in with the other boys.

Lily and Dunkin meet and form a friendship at the end of summer, but never tell each other their deepest secrets.  Once school begins, Dunkin becomes friends with the boys on the basketball team.  They want him to play basketball because he is tall.  Dunkin doesn't play basketball, but goes along with them to be accepted as part of the popular crowd.  He  completely disregards Lily and doesn't stick up for her when the basketball boys tease and make fun of her.  As the year progresses, Lily's father finally accepts the fact that Lily is a girl inside and allows her to get the hormone blockers.  She gains the strength to go to the school dance dressed as a girl and show the kids at her school her true self.

Dunkin stops taking his medicine, has a breakdown, and has to be hospitalized.  In the hospital, he confronts the real reason they have moved to Florida, the death of his father that he's been blocking out of his memory for the last few months.  Dunkin finally tells Lily the true about himself and his sickness at the school dance.

Connections:

Both Lily and Dunkin confront their fears of being ridiculed by others and take the leap to show the world their inner-selves.  This story is about being true to yourself, even if other people will criticize or not understand.  This book can teach young people to stand up for themselves, but also to be tolerant of people who don't exactly fit the "normal" mold.  What is "normal"?  Each person is made special and unique.  No two people are exactly alike, but unfortunately during adolescent, kids want nothing more than to fit in and be accepted by their peers.  This book can show kids that it's ok to be different and accept those that are different from you as well.  Middle school students are changing in many ways both physically and intellectually, and have a hard time with these changes.  This is evident in this book, as Dunkin feels awkward since he is large for his age.  

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Alexie, S. (2007). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York, NY: Little Brown.

Junior is a fourteen year-old  Indian that lives on an Indian Reservation in Spokane, Washington.  Junior has health problems, a large head, wears glasses, and is picked on by other kids often on the Reservation.   His parents are poor, most Indians on the reservation are alcoholics, and there are little opportunities on the reservation as well.  But Junior is smart, is a budding cartoonist, and wants to have a better life for himself, so he decides to go to a different high school than the reservation high school.  Junior wants to go to the all-white high school, Reardan, with a computer lab and current textbooks.  He knows he will never escape a life of poverty if he doesn't leave the reservation.  Junior's parents are supportive, but Junior's best friends Rowdy is angry with him and won't talk to him anymore.  Everyone on the reservation thinks of him as a traitor.  The story continues with his life at Reardan, the changes he goes through as he makes friends with white kids, and playing basketball against his old school and winning.  He knows that the white kids have advantages the Indians will never have, from food and nutrition, health care, and basic resources.   Throughout the year, his grandmother dies, his sister, and his Dad's best friend, who Junior looks up to.  All of these life changing events shape him into knowing he made the right decision to leave the reservation school to make something out of his life.  At the end, Rowdy and Junior reconcile and come to terms that they will always be friends, no matter where Junior's life takes him.   

Sherman Alexie is an American writer that grew up on a Spokane Indian Reservation.  His books focus on what life is like for modern day Indians, their problems, and struggles.   But his books also touch and speak to all people, regardless of race or religion.  The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian could help to teach the discrepancies between schools on reservations and schools in more affluent communities.   It could also teach what life is like on reservations, what opportunities exist for their children and community members,  compared to other places in the country.  

Connections for young adults:  This book has a protagonist that experiences many life changing events such as changing schools, losing a best friend, trying to fit into a new school, losing a loved one, and poverty.  It also deals with identity and body image from a young man's point of view. 

Monster

Myers, W. D. ( 1999). Monster. New York, NY: Harper.

Steve Harmon is a sixteen year old African-American teenager accused of murder.  He tells his story like a movie script, with character speaking parts and stage directions.  Steve tells of his time spent in jail, awaiting his trial, along with the trial.   He feels scared, lost, and confused. The story begins with the beginning of the trial and Steve's interactions between him and his defense attorney, Kathy O'Brien, who happens to be a white woman.  In their interactions with one another throughout the story, it is clear that she doesn't truly believe his innocence.  The prosecutor, Sandra Petrocelli, tells of the murder of a drugstore owner,  the robbery, and how Steve is involved as the lookout.  She doesn't believe in innocent until proven guilty.  She assumes that Steve is guilty by association and a monster.  As the case proceeds, Steve tells of his own thoughts and feelings throughout the book.  As the story unfolds, it is not clear if Steve is innocent or guilty of the crime he is accused of.  Steve tells of his journey in the judicial system. Steve is frightened of spending the rest of his life behind bars and losing his childhood, along with most of his young adult life.   Towards the end of the story, Steve finally goes on the stand to tell of his side of the story.  It is finally revealed that Steve is innocent.  At the end, the jury finds Steve not guilty.  Steve goes to hug his defense attorney, but she ignores him, gathers her papers, and moves away.  The story ends with the film stage directions of Steve with his arms outstretched for a hug.  Steve has lost his innocence, wonders who he is, and has lost his identity along the way.  He wonders if he is truly a monster, like Petrocelli sees him. 

Walter Dean Myers is a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, which includes Monster.  His writing depicts the African American experience and point of view.  He writing includes both fiction and non-fiction.  He has written may books about Harlem or set in Harlem, where he grew-up.  Monster could be used to teach about the American Judicial System.  In the book, it shows of the flaws in the system, which is not always fair to those on trail.  It could also be used to teach of discrimination in the judicial system against young African American males. 

Connection:  This book addresses racial discrimination as well as racial profiling.  The protagonist deals with the process of being arrested and placed on trial for a crime he did not commit.