Black, White, Other... / Joan Steinau Lester

 

TITLE: Black, White, Other: In Search of Nina Armstrong
AUTHOR:  Joan Steinau Lester
OWNED by CCLS? Yes.

Nina's mother is white, her father is black, and her younger brother Jimi is a spitting image of their father. Where does that leave her? Is she black, white or other?

When Nina enters ninth grade, things start to change. Race riots take place nearby and racial tensions arise at her school and among her friends. It all prompts Nina to think about where she fits in. Does it really matter what color her skin is and if it does matter, why is she just noticing it now?

Learning about an ancestor on her father's side who was a slave helps Nina find perspective. But will Nina be able to determine who she is, keep the peace with her family, and keep her BFF? In order for Nina to find peace, she must take a journey (both figuratively and literally) to figure out who she truly is, black, white, other...

M's Verdict: Good read! The story was a relevant coming of age tale that not many books address so well. Perhaps the story may have been more authentic coming from someone who was biracial and was able to give the story a more personal touch, however I did enjoy it. Nina is a believable chigh school student with a typical HS friend whose your BFF one day and then the friend of your enemy. I liked how Nina's father's book about their slave ancestry gave the reader a historical look into the past and compared situations in Nina's realistic and present world to the world of a slave. This book would be a great transition into historical fiction and would provide any teen with a great story on figuring out who you are and how your family stories help to shape who you become.

Currently Reading...

• Matt de la Pena's I Will Save You 

Mr. Death's Blue-Eyed Girls / Mary Downing Hahn

TITLE: Mr. Death's Blue-Eyed Girls
AUTHOR: Mary Downing Hahn
OWNED by CCLS? Not yet.

Two teen girls are shot and killed while on the way to school... it was the last day of school before summer break. Everyone in town is sure that the killer is the ex-boyfriend of one of the dead girls, but the police don't have enough evidence to hold him.

What if everyone thought you were guilty of such a horrible crime when you were innocent? And all the time the real killer was still out there...

M's Verdict:Eh. Mary Downing Hahn ghost stories tend to be really popular with local middle school students, so I thought I would see what all the fuss was about. I am going to assume that this book is a little different from her regular tales, because from reading just this one novel, I do not see what all the fuss is about. I'm thinking that since the author based this novel on a real-life murder that took place during her younger years and affected her personally, she got so caught up in the emotions surrounding the horrible tragedy that she was unable to separate and create an enjoyable fictional tale of murder, intrigue, and mystery. The result? An "eh" fiction novel that would have been better presented in a nonfiction format. Also, being based on a murder that happened in the 1950s, I feel that some of the details in regards to brand names, activities, and style/fashion would likely be lost on the intended teen reader. Overall, I'd say skip it and try one of her ghost stories like Deep and Dark and Dangerous, All the Lovely Bad Ones, Wait Til Helen Comes, or The Old Willis Place.

M's Extra Note... So I read this book and wrote this blog post awhile back. Now after having read a few books since, I must admit that MDBEG does have something special that not many books have. As a historical fiction novel, I would recommend it. As a true-life mystery or as realistic fiction, I can't say it would be my first choice. But this novel might be a great transition for readers who like Hahn's other works; ghost story to historical fiction.

Guantanamo Boy

TITLE: Guantanamo Boy
AUTHOR: Anna Perera
OWNED by CCLS? On order.

Guantanamo Boy is a fictional tale of a 15 year old boy named Khalid who is kidnapped while on vacation with his family in Pakistan and sent to Guantanamo Bay. For two years Khalid is held without being charged (considered to be an enemy combatant) and forced to endure torture, interrogations, and less than humane conditions, despite the fact that he is a juvenile, has not been charged with a crime, and is innocent of any terrorist thoughts or acts.

M's Verdict: Whoa! I recommend this book to someone looking for a great tale of overcoming extreme obstacles despite having all of the odds stacked against you. Similar to Markus Zusak's Book Thief, this book took me a while to read due to the intense topic. Although the topic was rather intense and moving, a fictional tale of such a serious and relevant topic is a great way for teen audiences to get involved in current events and become aware of the human rights violations. It would be a great choice if you're looking for something new that has a male teen as the main character and is relevant historical fiction. It will appeal to both guys & girls and is sure to provide a great bridge to other nonfiction titles relating to Guantamo Bay, the Geneva Convention, human rights, the Iraq War, Iraq, Afghanistan, England, and the muslim culture. I have a feeling this book will be used in schools as a teaching tool before too long. Long story short--check it out @ FRE--I recommend it.

Some additional comments on Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera:

"An important work that deserves a wide audience."--Guardian UK Shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award (UK)

"This powerful book shows that hatred is never an answer."--Sunday Times (UK), Children's Book of the Week

Check out the book's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/GuantanamoBoy#!/GuantanamoBoy

As well as the author's page: (not exactly what one would expect from someone who wrote Guantanamo Boy)
http://annaperera.com/books.php

What Mrs N's Been Reading - The Spectacular Now, Marcelo in the Real World, and Newes from the Dead

I have hit an all-time low. This is the first time that I've finished 3 books before I got around to posting my review on them. I've got a litany of excuses, but never mind. Let's just get to 'em.
The first was Tim Tharp's The Spectacular Now. The narrator is Sutter Keely, a high school senior and king of the party animals. He lives with his mom and step dad. His sister is the trophy wife of an older, incredibly snooty executive. His girlfriend, Cassidy, breaks up with him early in the book because she sees him as a lot of fun, but never serious, never considering anyone else's feelings (especially hers), and has no future. But this doesn't really slow down Sutter's partying. He goes from one good time to the next, always carrying his whiskey flask. One night he wakes up in the middle of a lawn with a girl looking down at him. Aimee is a socially awkward but really sweet girl. Sutter helps her with her predawn paper deliveries then devises a plan to go out with her a few times, as a good deed, to improve her social life. Of course, things don't go quite as planned. Sutter's voice is egotistical, but honest. You see him throwing his life away, but you also see his good intentions. There's no nice, neat sitcom ending here, but it's realistic. Not for middle schoolers due to heavy drinking and other adult situations.
Francisco Stark's Marcelo in the Real World, is the story of Marcelo Sandoval, a 17-year-old boy with a high functioning form of Asperger's Syndrome. He has been going to a school for special needs students all of his life. He is looking forward to the job he has lined up for the summer working with the horses at his school, but his lawyer father has other plans for him. He wants Marcelo to work in the mail room of his law firm, and to attend a regular high school for his senior year. He thinks that Marcelo is better able to function in "the real world" than he thinks, and that experience in dealing with "the real world" will do him good. You see inside Marcelo's head as he struggles to cope with the noisy city streets, and the nuances of dealing with other people, that he finds incredibly difficult. Going from an entirely sheltered existence to dealing with the cast of characters in a cut-throat law firm is quite the culture shock, but he manages to handle most things. Then he is faced with a moral dilemma that could effect his entire family and his own future, as well as people he has never even met. Wonderfully written! Nothing really objectionable for older middle schoolers, but I think high school students will get more out of it.

Mary Hooper's Newes from the Dead starts with Anne Green waking up in absolute darkness, unable to move. As she tries to figure out if she is dead or alive, in heaven or hell or purgatory, she remembers that she had been hanged. In alternating chapters you see the story unfold from two points of view, Mary's as she describes the events leading up to her hanging, and that of Robert Matthews, an Oxford scholar who is witnessing the dissection of Mary's body along with several other doctors and medical students. This is based on actual events that occurred in England in 1650. Very compelling reading! Mary's story will keep you engrossed, and you will also get a look at the politics of the 1600's, as well as the medical procedures and theories of the time. At one point I was wondering how the things they were putting on Mary's body (turpentine, sheep dung, etc.) didn't take out half the other people in the room! Probably not for younger middle school students. Considering the subject matter, there's very little gore. But Mary was hanged for infanticide, believed to have killed her newborn baby, whose father is the grandson of the master of the house where Mary had worked as servant. That subject is handled as discreetly as possible, but it's still not for younger readers.
Enjoy!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - London Calling

Just finished Edward Bloor's London Calling. Not sure what made me pick this one up, because the cover is kind of bland, but I sure am glad I did. I really liked this one! Kind of hard to describe without giving too much away, but I'll give it a shot. Martin Conway is just finishing 7th grade at a private school, when the story begins. He really hates the school, because the students are mostly rich kids. He's there because his mother is the school secretary, so his tuition is free. On the last day of school he ends up in the middle of a disturbance instigated by the son of a prominent family. When Martin's best friend, a kid on scholarship because his dad is a mason working on a project at the school, defends him and winds up getting expelled, Martin goes into a bit of a depression and holes up in his basement bedroom. After Martin's Nana, who seems to have been slipping into dementia, and who he always felt close to, dies, he inherits an old cathedral style 1940's radio from her. When he falls asleep with the radio tuned between stations acting as white noise and a night light to help him sleep, Martin has a very detailed and nagging dream in which he is sent back to 1940 London during the blitz, and meets a boy named Jimmy. But was it a dream? Martin writes down details and starts to research them to see if the events he witnessed and the people he met were in fact real. This sets him off on a long adventure that ends with him traveling to England to try to right a wrong. He ultimately changes some of what had been accepted as historic facts, and changes the course of several families' futures including his own, some for the better, some worse. The end is very moving. I was sniveling. Excellent book! Nothing objectionable for middle schoolers, and you may learn a little history along the way as well. Enjoy!