YA Blog Post 2

Moxie

 Mathieu, J. (2017). Moxie.  New York: Roaring Brook Press.

Moxie, tells the story of a high school student named Vivian.  Vivian is known for being a rule follower, to her Mother and grandparents.  Which is quite the opposite of what her own mother was like at her age.  Vivian's mother is known as a social justice minded person, who is not afraid to take a stand against injustice.  The students at Vivian's school are facing gender inequality with the boys on the football team being treated with bias.  It is because of this Vivian decides that she must begin to take her stand and possibly along the way break some rules to help to give the girls a voice at her school.

Vivian secretly creates zines that spotlight some of the bias that is shown toward the boys.  The effects of the zine prove to be much powerful and influential than she could have imagined.  More and more girls also choose to take a stand against the gender inequality and harassment that is dealt out by the boys in the football circle.   Soon the girls find themselves facing down the administration at their school for the movement that has been created.

Mathieu is able to capture the time in adolescence where Vivian moves from being her childhood self who follows all the rules, to one that sees injustice around her and decides that it is more important to break some rules.  The reader is able to see the struggle that Vivian faces as she is working on finding her voice and being brave enough to help the other girls around her.

Learn more about Jennifer Mathieu here http://jennifermathieu.com/index.html

Solo 

Alexander, K. (2017). Solo. Grand Rapids, MI: Blink

Solo, tells the story of Blade Morrison and his rock star life, created by his father's former career in the music industry.  Blade who is named after a comic book character gets to live with a glamorous life with his family.  He also lives with the truth that it's not all glamour.

Losing his mother, as a child, and watching his father struggle with multiple addictions, Blade becomes disenchanted with his life of luxury and excess.  He faces family disappointments and relationship disappointments.  All this strife is what leads him to discovering an unexpected secret.  This secret leads him to Africa, searching for the answers to who he really is. 

Kwame Alexander is able to capture the struggle that can happen  during adolescents between the adolescent and their parent.  He shows this through the turmoil of Blade and his father, as they both work to have a relationship with each other.  As to be expected, Kwame writes a powerful story in his lyrical way.  Fans of The Crossover, will not be disappointed with this rock and roll family's story.

Enjoyed this book, see more books by Kwame Alexander here https://kwamealexander.com/

One of Us is Lying

McManus, K.M., (2017). One of us is lying. New York: Delacorte.

One of Us Is Lying, is a teenage murder mystery,  involving a group of high school students at Bayview High School.  Five students who all end up serving detention together, find themselves in the middle of a crime scene, when one of the students collapses from an allergic reaction.

While at first what seems to be a tragic accident, soon turns to a murder investigation of the four remaining students.  The four mismatched by their social groups, soon begin to work together to try to solve this murder mystery, especially when they learn that they are all likely suspects.

Karen McManus shows multiple examples of parent and child relationships through her characters.  She also shows many different examples of adolescent relationships with their peers.  The characters in the book seem real and the challenges that they face are relevant to young adult readers. Fans of mysteries are going to want to consider this book.  I do appreciate how McManus does offer her readers enough clues that they can work through and solve, making this book all the more enjoyable because it keeps the reader engaged.

Learn more about Karen M. McManus, https://www.karenmcmanus.com/

King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography

Crutcher, C., (2003). King of the mild frontier: an ill-advised autobiography. New York: A Greenwillow Book.

Chris Crutcher shares stories from his childhood and his life.  He also shares how these stories found their way into many of his books.  Some of his shared experiences are sure to have its readers laughing, while other shared experiences will show the struggles that Chris had to learn to work through.  All of the combined stories will give the readers a window into this full of personality author.

Chris shares his heart and the back story that led him to become a writer.  One of my favorites of these stories is when he discovers that he has forgotten about a book report, and if he isn't able to think fast on his feet, will have to answer to his dad for his failure to complete his assignment.  Not missing a beat, Chris quickly makes up a story to use for his book report, and uses the telephone book to find a name to give his book an author.  Chris is shocked when his teacher shares that she enjoyed his book report.  

Chris demonstrates his knowledge of how adolescences develop and their perspective through the truths that he shares with his readers.  I would recommend reading this book first before reading his others.  King of the Mild Frontier, gives its readers insight into the author and his story idea inspirations.  

If you enjoy autobiographies, you may want to consider this book.  Check out Chris Crutcher here, http://www.chriscrutcher.com/

Drama

Telgemeier, R. (2012). Drama. New York: Graphix.

Callie is a middle school student who has a passion for the theater, more importantly, theater sets and props.  With the newest play to be performed in the works, Callie is asked to be in charge of set designs, limiting her to a small budget.  She hopes to make the play more interactive with her props and set designs.  

As the students prepare for the play, Callie meets two new brothers that share her love of the theater.  While she hopes to find romance, she is met with unexpected surprises.  Callie makes new friends and strengthens her friendships while preparing for the play.  Even though things don't go exactly the way she had hoped, she does discover a secret admirer.  

Telgemeier, is able to share insight into the experiences of some middle school aged children through her characters.  Adolescents can seem like a roller coaster, with many twists and turns, from moment to moment.  This experience is captured in the drama that Callie experiences while preparing for and later performing in the play.  I did not enjoy this story as much as its intended audience might like.  Middle school students who enjoy the graphic novel format and are interested in young romance, might consider reading this book. 

Learn more about Raina Telgemeier and her many books, https://goraina.com/

 

 Paper Girls

Vaughan, B. K., (2016). Paper Girls 1. Berkeley, CA: Image Comics, Inc.

Paper Girls, tells about a group of four paper delivery girls and what they experience one Halloween night.  It does not take long for the girls to discover that they are caught up in the middle of some other worldly extreme adventure.  The girls must learn who they can trust and who the actual bad guys are, that are behind the strange events that are happening all around them.

When one of the four is injured, they find themselves putting their trust in an unlikely pair of strangers.  Their adventure exposes them to out of this world technology and weapons.  Will they be able to save their friend's life?

This graphic novel is an enjoyable read, that will have its reader wanting to know what happens next to these four paper girls.  The story takes place in the 1980s, and is filled  with flashbacks to that decade.  According to Havighurst's theory, adolescence is a time of beginning to work for pay.  Vaughan shows an example of this by having all four girls working at delivering newspapers.  I found this first book in the series interesting and would like to read more about these girls' adventures.

Check out more books from Brian K. Vaughan here, http://bkvcomics.com/

Landscape with Invisible Hand

Anderson, M.T., (2017). Landscape with invisible hand. Somerville, MA: Candlewich Press.

Landscape with Invisible Hand, describes what life on Earth is like after an alien invasion.  This alien invasion is welcomed at first, when the vuvv generously offer to share their technology with the Earth's inhabitants.  But there are somethings that are just too good to be true.

With the vuvv sharing their technology with society many people begin to lose their jobs and can't afford their basic necessities to live.  Adam and his family struggle to find ways to make money.  Knowing that the vuvv love 1950s culture, Adam and his girlfriend, Chloe, begin recording their dates for the vuvv to watch while they pretend that they are from the 1950s.  Things don't go as well as the two planned, when the two start to grow apart.  They find themselves scrambling to find a solution when they realize that, quoting the 1950s song, "breaking up is hard to do", with the vuvv planning to sue them for breach of contract.

Anderson shows the messy side of relationships that are based on teen infatuation.  I appreciate that he shared this insight with his readers.  He shows knowledge of developing adolescents in showing the relationship between Adam's estranged father, and his relationship with his mother.  Adam becomes the provider for his family and must also find a solution that will be best for his family when he and Chloe break up. This was an interesting story, readers who enjoy tales of alien invasion, might want to consider reading this book.

Check out M. T. Anderson's website at http://mt-anderson.com/

Sparrow

 

 Moon, S. (2017). Sparrow. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books.

Sparrow is a middle school student, who much prefers to spend time alone, or with her mom.  She finds being around people to be extremely uncomfortable.  Sparrow copes with this stress by imagining that she is a bird that can fly high above all her worries.

It was during one of these visualization exercises that she was discovered by others, who found her on the school roof, forcing Sparrow to have to try to explain the truth about how she copes with her problems.  The effects of this, cause others to think that she has something wrong with her.  When Sparrow begins seeing a therapist she and her mother begin to bridge the gap that has occurred in their relationship after she is found on the school roof.

This was a well written, interesting book.  Though it does not address this in the book, it seems that Sparrow may actually be a brilliant child who has come up with her own way to cope with her social anxiety.  Moon is able to capture the struggle that many people can feel when they have different values and thoughts than those of the people around them.  She offers her main character the opportunity to rise above her circumstances, and gives her real outlets for working through her anxiety.  Moon shows that getting professional help can really make a difference for individuals who are facing pressures that may not be apparent to those around them.

Follow Sarah Moon on twitter at https://twitter.com/sarahmoonbooks