Tag: ya lit

Categories
books and reading

On the Come Up

Title: On the Come Up

Author: Angie Thomas

Genre: YA Black and African-American fiction

When this book came out, I wasn’t really interested in it because I assumed it was just about a girl trying to make it in the music business. Knowing how powerful The Hate U Give is, I really shouldn’t have made this assumption. Nothing Thomas has written is “fluffy.” Everything has depth and meaning. And although I didn’t LOVE this one like I did THUG and Concrete Rose, it’s still an excellent book with a powerful message and heart.

From Goodreads: Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.

On the Come Up is Angie Thomas’s homage to hip-hop, the art that sparked her passion for storytelling and continues to inspire her to this day. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; of the struggle to become who you are and not who everyone expects you to be; and of the desperate realities of poor and working-class black families.

Bri is a character who jumps right off the page. She’s so dynamic and powerful, without being cheesy or inauthentic, as many teens girls are written. I was rooting for her the entire book. Her home life isn’t always stable, but she has love and support from her mom, brother, and friends. But when Bri’s very explicit song becomes viral, who she is deep down is quickly misinterpreted and put on display.

This book was so much better than I was expecting. The assumption was entirely my fault. Thomas is three for three in my book. I will read her next book, no doubt about it. I am so thankful for her writing and her voice for today’s teens. She’s exactly who they need.

Categories
books and reading

Grown

Title: Grown

Author: Tiffany D. Jackson

Genre: YA music fiction

PopSugar Reading Challenge Prompt: book about art or an artist

As much as I enjoyed Monday’s Not Coming last year, it was an extraordinarily difficult read, dealing with a terrible subject. The book blew me away, though. Even though it was hard to stomach, the subject of children in difficult situations (being vague to avoid spoilers) is extra difficult to read, knowing full well that these things are happening in our world. Putting them to paper must be so hard for Jackson, but I am so thankful that she does. She’s giving a voice to those who have had theirs taken away. Grown doesn’t shy away from trouble, either.

From Goodreads: Korey Fields is dead.

When Enchanted Jones wakes with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night, no one—the police and Korey’s fans included—has more questions than she does. All she really knows is that this isn’t how things are supposed to be. Korey was Enchanted’s ticket to stardom.

Before there was a dead body, Enchanted was an aspiring singer, struggling with her tight knit family’s recent move to the suburbs while trying to find her place as the lone Black girl in high school. But then legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots her at an audition. And suddenly her dream of being a professional singer takes flight.

Enchanted is dazzled by Korey’s luxurious life but soon her dream turns into a nightmare. Behind Korey’s charm and star power hides a dark side, one that wants to control her every move, with rage and consequences. Except now he’s dead and the police are at the door. Who killed Korey Fields? All signs point to Enchanted.

The story isn’t as much of a mystery as this summary leads you to believe. Enchanted’s story of how she met, fell for, and was groomed by Korey Fields. Jackson, in the afterword, makes a point to say that this story is not based on R. Kelly, but it is definitely reminiscent of what he has done to young girls. You know from the first introduction that Korey is a monster, and watching Enchanted fall for him and his lies is difficult. I just wanted to reach into the book and tell her that he cannot be trusted.

I didn’t connect with this book as much as I did with Monday’s Not Coming, but I don’t have a reason why. This book is great, and it’s definitely a must read. I have Allegedly on my kindle and will be making a point to get to Jackson’s other book ASAP.

Categories
books and reading

Concrete Rose

Title: Concrete Rose

Author: Angie Thomas

Genre: YA fiction

PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt: A book set somewhere you’d like to visit in 2021 (California)

Reading The Hate U Give was one of the highlights of the year I read it. Written for teens, which I am resoundingly not, I was still moved by the story. When I heard Thomas was writing a prequel, I was in. Maverick was such a great father in THUG that I was excited to see how he got to that place.

From Goodreads: If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison.

Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control. Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father. Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he’s expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he’s different.

When King Lord blood runs through your veins, though, you can’t just walk away. Loyalty, revenge, and responsibility threaten to tear Mav apart, especially after the brutal murder of a loved one. He’ll have to figure out for himself what it really means to be a man.

Spoilers for The Hate U Give below…fair warning.

So, you know from reading THUG that Seven is Maverick’s kid. You know he and Lisa end up together. And you know that Maverick ends up doing the right thing because he’s a good, stable father. However, the hardest parts are meeting some characters knowing their fate. We see baby Khalil, which just broke my heart. We see baby Seven (and yes, his name is explained) but know his life isn’t going to be easy. We meet King and see just how long he’s been a force in the community. The seeds are planted in Concrete Rose (ha…see what I did there!!) and they blossom in THUG.

Like THUG, the name is taken from another Tupac work. This time a poem and the book of the same name. Here is the poem:

Did you hear about the rose that grew
from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature’s law is wrong it
learned to walk with out having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams,
it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
when no one else ever cared.

It’s a perfect title for this book. The concrete rose is EXACTLY what Maverick is. He doesn’t want to be in a gang anymore, doesn’t want to be selling drugs, feels the pressure to do so because his father did. He wants to be a good dad and eventually a business owner. But that concrete is hard to break out of. Watching Maverick do so is a joy. Concrete Rose is an excellent book, and I cannot recommend it enough.

Categories
books and reading

This Is Where It Ends

Title: This Is Where It Ends

Author: Marieke Nijkamp

Genre: YA thriller

PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt: book with something broken on the cover

This book was on my kindle because I had bought it at some point, but I couldn’t remember why or even what it was about. But when I was scrolling through the books on my TBR and saw the broken chalk on this cover, it was an easy pick for the prompt. Turns out, it’s about a school shooting.

Columbine changed this country. I was actually in my first year of teaching when it happened. The ramifications were immediate. Dress codes changed, security changed, lockdown drills were created. Then Sandy Hook happened. I was at home with my new baby watching that unfold on the news. I remember wondering if I would ever be comfortable sending him to school. And I mostly am okay with it due to our school’s security, but having him at home virtual learning because of the pandemic definitely makes me worry less. Then Parkland happened. And…. nothing changed. No laws changed. No action taken. Apparently, this country needs guns more than it needs children.

From Goodreads: Everyone has a reason to fear the boy with the gun…

10:00 a.m.: The principal of Opportunity, Alabama’s high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.
10:02 a.m.: The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.
10:03: The auditorium doors won’t open.
10:05: Someone starts shooting.

In 54 minutes, four students must confront their greatest hopes, and darkest fears, as they come face-to-face with the boy with the gun.

Given the terrible topic, this book was good. It’s odd to me that books like this are published, when Stephen King wrote about a school shooting in one of his earliest books, Rage, but he has let it go out of print due to the horrific subject. Are we desensitized to school shootings at this point? Seems like it. No one is shocked anymore when they happen. And nothing changes. I wonder when people will take a stand and do something about it.

Categories
books and reading

The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives

Title: The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives

Author: Dashka Slater

Genre: True Crime, LGBTQ+ issues

PopSugar Prompt: a book in a different format than you usually read (ebook, audiobook, graphic novel, etc).

As much as I love podcasts, I’m not a big audiobook person. I like that I can listen to podcasts in small chunks, doing dishes, laundry, running errands, but to listen to a book in small chunks is really hard. I just forget what happened last time. Yesterday, I had massive chores ahead of me. I knew I was in for the long haul of several hours. Through the amazing https://www.audiobooksync.com/ site, every summer I download free audiobooks. They give you two choices, you pick one. Knowing I wanted to listen to the whole book yesterday, I selected the shortest one and put it on 1.5 speed. Voila! Entire book in one day.

From Goodreads:

One teenager in a skirt.
One teenager with a lighter.
One moment that changes both of their lives forever.

If it weren’t for the 57 bus, Sasha and Richard never would have met. Both were high school students from Oakland, California, one of the most diverse cities in the country, but they inhabited different worlds. Sasha, a white teen, lived in the middle-class foothills and attended a small private school. Richard, a black teen, lived in the crime-plagued flatlands and attended a large public one. Each day, their paths overlapped for a mere eight minutes. But one afternoon on the bus ride home from school, a single reckless act left Sasha severely burned, and Richard charged with two hate crimes and facing life imprisonment. The case garnered international attention, thrusting both teenagers into the spotlight.

I’ve been told how amazing this book is. I knew it was non-fiction but that was all I knew. So when we first meet Sasha and learn that they are an agender person, I realized the magnitude of what this book was about. It wasn’t just about two teens involved in a crime, but it was potentially a hate crime against an LGBTQ+ individual. We learn Sasha’s backstory and how they came to be known as Sasha. Born a male, Sasha never really felt truly male nor truly female, hence the agender decision. They (pronoun of Sasha’s choice) renamed themself Sasha because it’s a gender neutral name and started wearing skirts because that was the clothing they felt was most comfortable.

One day riding the 57 bus in Oakland, Sasha’s life collided with Richard’s. He was a good kid, but he had made some dumb mistakes, fighting, skipping school, bad grades, but he was really trying to turn things around. He and a friend saw Sasha, wondered why a boy was wearing a skirt, and decided to play a prank, or so they thought. Richard took a lighter to Sasha’s skirt, fully expecting a little flame that Sasha would quickly pat out and would go on about their day. However, as Sasha was sleeping, the fire quickly erupted into a fireball, burning their legs from thigh to calf.

The entire book lets you into both Sasha’s and Richard’s lives before and after the first. You really get to know these kids. Richard made a poor decision, but had Sasha not been wearing a skirt, the fire never would have happened. Make no mistake: Richard’s decision was horrendous. He was also 16 and severely underestimated what would happen. That’s no excuse. He deserved any and all punishment he received. I’ve taught 16-year-old, and boy can they be poor decision makers. I absolutely do not justify his actions, but I see how Sasha and their family came to the realization that forgiving Richard (who took full responsibility) was the right thing to do.

This book was fantastic. Pieced together through social media posts, news articles, public records, and interviews, the author does an amazing job of telling the full story. The book, while telling a terrible story, is one of optimism. Sasha, despite the fire, has moved on to college, living a great life. Richard, since he took full responsibility and has the support of his family, could really turn his life around. This book is critical for students to learn empathy for people who might look different, act different, or feel differently than them. I’d love to see every high school student read this one!

Categories
books and reading

Hurricane Summer

Title: Hurricane Summer

Author: Asha Bromfield

Genre: YA lit/ own voices

Thank you Netgalley for this book.

The own voices world in YA lit is exploding, and I love it. Teens don’t need to be forced to read the “classics.” What a way to create disengagement. There are TONS of amazing books to use as resources for high school teachers. This book should absolutely be one of them, as well.

Tilla and her little sister, Mia, are leaving their mother behind in Canada to visit their dad in Jamaica for the summer. Dad spends part of his time in both countries, but Jamaica is home. They go to the country where there’s no hot water, plenty of kids to run around with, and adventure to be discovered. Through the book, Tilla is on a self-discovery, although that wasn’t her intention when she left home. At 18, she just wanted to spend time with her dad.

This book tackles some really important issues facing kids these days… classism, colorism, young love, loss, destruction, betrayal, and above all, finding yourself. The book is full of gorgeous Patois, which is usually hard for me to read, but the lyrical speaking was easy to follow in this one. My trick: don’t focus on the individual words, but get the gist of what’s being said. You will quickly get used to the dialect.

This book is so well-written with the hurricane being both literal and metaphorical. Tilla deals with some really hard stuff while in Jamaica, but the actual hurricane is the least of the troubles. I think teens will love this book. It will speak to their hearts and souls in so many ways.