Episode 5 of The Best Book Ever Written: Labyrinth Lost

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7 ESSENTIAL BOOKS FOR TEENS WITH BLACK BOY LEADS

Diversity has become the watchword in YA recently, but that doesn't mean that publishing has answered the call just yet. Building a library with characters that reflect the appearance and lives of kids of color is difficult, but NEVER FEAR. I can help. Here are 7 fun books for teens with Black Boy leads.

All American Boys
Jason Reynolds and Brendon Keily
Atheneum, 2015
978-1481463331Contemporary Fiction
#OwnVoices

Told from Dual points of view, All American Boys, explores an incident of police brutality at a northeastern high school. The two boys, one the boy brutalized and the other a white classmate and witness, have to come to grips with what happened, how it affects not only themselves, but their community and the nation as a whole. It's heartfelt and scarily relevant.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party
MT Anderson
Candlewick, 2008
978-0763636791

Historical Fiction

Octavian is a young slave owned by a group of scientists paid to study the ability of the negro to learn. The problem is that Octavian doesn't know that. Raised in comfort and given the best tutoring that anyone could hope for in pre-Revolutionary War New England he believes he is a student. It isn't until the death of his mother and the stirrings of war begin to rumble through the city does he begin to understand who he is and what he must do. An engaging and emotional read, adventure lovers and history lovers will be more than satisfied.

Fake ID
Lamar Giles
Amistad, 2014
978-0062121844
Mystery

#OwnVoices

Nick Pearson is on the run. With a new name and a new identity every few years he's tired and just wants to settle in. When the only friend he's had a chance to make at his new school ends up dead he's forced to dive headfirst into a mystery that could blow his cover at the very least and at worst end his own life. Super fun and full of twists and turns, mystery lovers will love this novel.

When I Was the Greatest
Jason Reynolds
Atheneum, 2015
9781442459489
Contemporary Fiction

#OwnVoices

Hood tales abound on the reluctant reader circuit, but you have to search for a truly good story. Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, When I Was the Greatest tells the tale of Ali, a fierce friend and his friends Noodles and his brother Needles. Needles has Tourette's syndrome and knitting seems to calm his flailing and curses, but that doesn't mean that everyone is so understanding of his needs. When Needles is severely beaten at a party Noodles and Ali must navigate their own emotions in addition to the fallout in their Brooklyn neighborhood. Told with heart and attention to detail, this story will delight anyone looking for a real life story that's as beautiful and tragic as life can be.

The Marvelous Effect
Troy Cle
Simon and Schuster, 2008
978-1416942153
Adventure
#OwnVoices

Louis Proof is special, more special than he ever imagined. When Louis receives a mysterious invitation to an amusement park his world his turned upside down. Soon he's battling strange beings from another dimension. This hip-hop adventure features beats, rhymes, fast cars and interplanetary intrigue. An easy-read it will appeal to middle grade readers and teen readers alike.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Junot Diaz
Riverhead Books, 2008
978-1594483295
Literary Fiction/Contemporary
#OwnVoices

Oscar is a geek. A fantasy loving, Klingon speaking, light saber wielding geek from the Bronx by way of the Dominican Republic. Without the least bit of swagger he has a hard time navigating the world, a world that pretends he doesn't exist. In his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Diaz takes us through the lives of  Oscar, his sister and his mother, while detailing nearly 50 years of island life, internal and external racism and the quest for love and acceptance. I recommend the audiobook in order to really immerse yourself in the music of the language. 

Sag Harbor
Colson Whitehead
Anchor, 2010
978-0307455161
Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction
#OwnVoices

In Whitehead's novel we follow Benji, a black prep school student who's spending the summer of 1985 in Sag Harbor among a small community of elite black folk. Like all summer novels he'll have his usual mishaps with the townsfolk and making new friends, but Benji's sheltered and performing his blackness isn't something he's used to. Watch Benji smile. Watch Benji code switch. Benji is happy. Benji feels like a moron.

Colson has gotten a lot of great press lately for his newest novel, The Underground Railroad, so Sag Harbor may be a good introduction into the author's aesthetic.

Special thanks to everyone who responded to my inquiry during the #askalibrarian twitter chat on Thursdays at Noon.

Flash Fiction Friday: The Price of Memory

Welcome to a new installation here on my blog where I share little samples of my writing and resources to help get your own juices flowing. Every Thursday my high school Writing Club meets and we begin with a prompt and free write for twenty minutes. Sometimes the prompts are organic and sometimes they spring from great sites like Figment.com. Today's prompt was included in their weekly newsletter, which I highly recommend.

"Sometimes memories are the worst form of torture."

The point of the exercise is to just write the first thing that comes to mind and I couldn't help but think about Adam Silvera's More Happy Than Not. Pick it up if the idea of a memory wiping
procedure/drug intrigues you.



The Price of Memory

It smells like fresh pee in the alley, that and rotting food. I can ehar something scratching in the dumpster, but I'm afraid to even turn around and look. The guy snatches the money from my palm and counts it quickly in the dim light. Once he's done he shoves it in his pocket and I can't help but be a little pissed off that three months of my hard earned cash is now crumpled at the bottom of this vulture's pocket.

He slips me a tiny plastic snack bag filled with glowing blue pills.

"Sometimes memories are the worst form of torture," he says.

"No instructions?" I ask.

He laughs.

"I thought you college types did your research before finding a guy like me."

I puff up at the compliment. I wish I were already in college. At least then I'd be able to fill my days with interesting people and other things in instead of obsessing over that...

"Humor me!"

"Okay. Okay. Get yourself some hot tea or roll over to that Starbucks you girls love so much and start thinking about whatever you want to forget. Better yet, write a letter to the jerk you wish would die."

This guy is really making some assumptions here. He's not wrong, but still.

"Just when you think you might burst into tears or burn his house to the ground, take the pills."

"All of them?"

"All of them," he replies. "Just don't take it with alcohol. That would be...bad."

"How bad?"

"City morgue bad."

"Whoa! That's a bit much," I protest.

"You want peace of mind or what? Forget that. No refunds! Do what you want."

He turns and begins walking down the alley and into the street. I open my mouth to stop him and then...I don't.

For the Love of Money: A review of My Underground American Dream

My Underground American Dream: My True Story as an Undocumented Immigrant Who Became a Wall Street Executive
By: Julissa Arce
Published by: Center Street (September, 2016)
ISBN:  978-1455540242

My Underground American Dream follows Julissa Arce from her carefree time as a well-cared for little girl in Taxco, Mexico to her struggles as an undocumented teen in San Antonio who eventually works her way up to the hallowed halls of Wall Street.

I won't retell the story for you, but the events that transpire to get Julissa into the United States and then keep her there are at times wacky (there's an instance with a Playboy magazine) and tragic (a terrible accident that nearly kills her mother). We ride the rollercoaster of successes with her as she learns English, gets scholarship after scholarship, while one-by-one her family returns to Mexico and she's left behind for a "better life". This isn't a cautionary tale or a hard-luck story. Julissa wins, but she doesn't come out on the other end of her trials with the immigrantion office, her family, her romances unscarred and while we're supposed to be happy that she finds a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow she's quick to let us know that there a lot of things that matter that money can't buy.

I loved this book. It was a page-turner for me and hit all of my sweet spots. I identified with her commitment to her family, God and the need to find her purpose in a world where money seems to be the answer to everything. Once I got into the groove of it I felt energized by her tenacity and perseverance. I kept turning pages to soak up the next kernel of information that might help me achieve success in my own endeavors. Readers also get an up close and personal look at the very real toll that immigration policies have on real people. How do you survive without a bank account, a driver's licence, or access to credit cards? How do you become a citizen if you really want to? What kinds of hoops are there? How expensive is it to get a chance to jump through them? She answers all of these questions and more.

This book is great for:

• Anyone who is a sucker for inspirational stories
• Those wanting to know more about the real people affected by immigration policy
• High-school Juniors and Seniors wondering about how this whole college thing might work out

Discussion Questions:

1. Julissa was under a tremendous amount of stress. Discuss the stressors that were self-imposed and those that weren't?
2. Why do you think Julissa was drawn to Robert? What do you think it was about that relationship that appealed to her at the time?
3. Do you think Julissa really wanted to get married?
4. Discuss the ways that each person exhibited a great commitment to family. Julissa, Her Father, Her Mother and Uncle Mike.
5. In what ways did Julissa's upbringing prepare her for the fast-paced life of a Wall-Street Executive?
6. Discuss what changes you would make in immigration policy after reading her story.

If you like this try:

She alludes to the teachings in this book over and over and I've read it before, but it may be time to read it again.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Soundtrack:

This is a hard one, but I think I'm going to go old school for this one.

For the Love of Money by The O'Jays

Hip Hop is for Everyone: A review of Rani Patel In Full Effect

Rani Patel in Full Effect
by Sonia Patel
Cinco Punto Press (October 2016)
ISBN:  978-1941026496

Rani is a teenage Gujarati girl living in Hawaii with her hardworking mother and her hardly working father. When her father leaves the family for a younger woman, Rani shaves her head in defiance and seeks solace in her rhymes. As her life gets more and more complicated, hip hop is always there. Rani Patel In Full Effect is about beats, rhymes and the will to overcome every kind of external threat and the internal ones too.

There are a lot of layers to this book and they are all salty-sweet. There is triumph and sadness and the all-too-lovely "What the hell is she doing?" Set in the early 90's there is terminology that I can't be sure is accurate or not and as someone who was not too young during the time I can't remember if everything feels authentic. Because the subculture and setting is so specific this can read like historical fiction. You have to forget the here and now and allow yourself to be transported. Patel gives us smells and tastes that let you know you're on the island, but also that you're in the home of a Gujarati woman and child.

From the first pages we see Rani in crisis. She's just shaved her head and hair is so integral to female identity that we know that this is nothing light. This is more than acting out and whatever has happened it is catastrophic and it proves to be so. In small glimpses we see that the family unit that Rani is so desperate to protect is gnarled and broken in ways that she has yet to grasp. This toxic thing is something she wants and until it's snatched from her without a hope of returning she can't see it for what it is. We go on this journey of realization with her and we have moments of jubilation, usually punctuated with dope rhymes from Rani herself.

It can't be overstated that hip-hop is a big part of Rani's life and the book itself and the fact that it is such a positive force warms my heart to no end. Often anything loved and manufactured by black boys is vilified, but Rani exalts the art form. It is a salve and a holy healing drink. That's dope!


This book is for:

• Music fans
• Anyone who likes a good cry
• Anyone looking for a beach read with enough meat to put a steakhouse out of business

Discussion Questions:

1. Rani shaves her head in the first chapter. What do you think she accomplished with this? Was it the same when she cut herself with her nails?
2. Rani's father held her on a pedestal and kept her friends away. How was this abuse?
3. Rani says hip hop saved her life. How?
4. What does Mark see in Rani? What does Rani see in Mark?
5. How is Rani like her mother, how is she not?
6. Do you think Rani's mother knew what was going on?
7. What manifestations of depression did Rani's mother exhibit? How about Rani?
8. Do you think Rani has any responsibility to tell the other woman about the abuse now that she is pregnant?
9. Mark gets a beating because of what he did to Rani, but was that enough?

If you like this try:
This book so so singularly unique in that it's about a girl who loves hip hop, an Indian girl rocking the mic, a girl dealing with incest and coming out whole on the other end. There aren't any books I can think of that align with the same themes, but there is a book that left me feeling renewed in the same way you feel after a good cry and that is Gabi: Girl in Pieces. It's Gabi's last year in high school and she's got a lot to deal with, a friend's pregnancy, her Dad's meth addiction and dreams that seem out of reach.
Gabi: Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero

Soundtrack:
Mama Said Knock You Out by LL Cool J

All American Boys: A Black Lives Matter Review

All American Boys
By: Jason Reynolds and Brenden Kiely
Atheneum, 2015
ISBN: 978-4814-6333-1

All American Boys follows Rashad and Quinn, both boys, one white and one black who attend the same high school in a racially mixed Northeastern City. When Rashad, an average JROTC kid, is severely beaten by a policeman for shoplifting a bag of chips (he did not steal a bag of chips) a video of his wrongful arrest goes viral. Quinn sees it all, the vicious punches, blood and the face of the arresting officer, a guy he could easily count as his brother. Both boys considered themselves pretty normal before all of this began, but neither will be normal again. Questions of race, privilege and complicity all boil to the surface and out into the community.

Written from dual perspectives this book is the perfect story to illustrate the ridiculousness of respectability politics. If you don't know that is the notion that if you're law abiding and polite and dress well and wear your hair a certain way then you'll be safe from the remnants of white supremacy, brutality, discrimination. If you follow a model of perfect assimilation you can save yourself and be successful. It's a nice thought, but it just isn't true. The opening pages illustrate this beautifully in Rashad's beating. A simple misunderstanding ballooned into something that could have been fatal for him at no fault of his own.

If the book had just been from Rashad's perspective it would lose some of its appeal and effectiveness. Racism and privilege aren't one-sided. They include all people, and that includes those who believe themselves to be innocent bystanders like Quinn. It includes the woman who slipped in the store and said nothing as Rashad was being arrested. It includes the store owner who was so upset about being robbed multiple times that he focused his anger and mistrust at the very customers who make his business possible.

Written in clear language, the book is accessible to everyone and I would deem it required reading for at least the next few years. Every middle and high school library should have it on their shelves and it would be even better to start small reading groups. It is that good.


This book is perfect for:

• Anyone trying to make sense of the recent police shootings of unarmed black men and boys across the country
• Those who like contemporary stories with realistic themes and characters
• Everyone else

Discussion Questions:

1. Was there anything Rashad could have done to prevent his beating?
2. What effect did the painting of "Rashad is absent again today" have on the school? What do you think was the intended effect?
3. Rashad's father is very concerned with how he presents himself. Discuss what you think his fears may be.
4. Quinn is a witness. Should he have come forward?
5. Is Quinn complicit in the violence inflicted on his behalf?
6. Discuss the ways in which Quinn is safe from the threats of violence and harassment that Rashad and his friends have to deal with.
7. Speculate as to what happened after the protest at the police station.

If you like this then read:
This should definitely be read in companion to Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me. Written as a letter to his son this long form essay gives insight to what it is to be a black boy in America and grow to be a man.

Soundtrack:
To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar. With beautiful language that is contemporary and very Black (with a capital "B") this album is the perfect foil for this novel. It is dense though, so listen in small bites and digest thoroughly.

Ink and Bone: The Great Library by Rachel Caine (a review)

Ink and Bone: The Great Library (Book 1)
Rachel Caine
NAL (July, 2015)
978-0451472397

What if Gutenberg never invented the printing press? Well, now suppose that magician/alchemists had created a way to share knowledge but only the knowledge they deem appropriate. Now also suppose that these alchemists create a worldwide network of libraries that rule over the masses with a steampowered iron fist that can transform itself into a metal beast that could crush your bones and douse your body in Greek fire should you hoard an original book. If you can suppose all that then you're more than half-way there. The Great Library follows Jess, son of a book smuggler who supposes that his bookish son would be better off as an insider in the all-powerful Library than as a street thug in the family business. We follow Jess and his fellow "postulants" as they learn the inner workings of the library and vie for coveted jobs/placements in a grueling training.

I loved this book. It took me a chapter or two to become integrated into the rules of the world, but part of the fun is discovering all of the tiny elements that make a place unique. We're introduced to automatons, which are like animated steel robots programmed to be lethal guard dogs, in the first chapter. They are the muscle of the Great Library and their ruthlessness is what you're supposed to take note of. As a reader we know from jump street that the library is evil, but we get to feel the horror of the reveal through the eyes of the postulants vying for a position in the organization. There is a LOT of action that mostly hinges on the horrors of war itself, and not so much on the mechanical elements of the steampunkish setting, which I like because there is a focus on human relationships and the pain we inflict on each other. If the machines are the focus, or the magic is the focus we might be able to blame those external elements for the suffering we see on the page. Although, I thought some of the love relationships developed a little too quickly, specifically between Jess and Morgan, but we'll see how that turns out in Book 2.

The diversity quotient is pretty good. Our main characters are caucasian, but the supporting characters are all fleshed out well with representatives from all over the world. There are definitely no dusky savages or tokens, which is often a problem with fantasy.

This book is great for:

• Steampunk newbies
• Anyone looking for great action and adventure
• Anyone who needs an escape

Discussion Questions:

1. Brendan is Jess' twin, but they couldn't be more different. How?

2. Jess' Dad is a hard man and he's raised his boys to be tough. Do you think he loves them? Why or why not?

3. Khalila and Dario have a bit of a budding romance going. Do you think it's going to work?

4. The library has been suppressing the idea of a printing press for centuries. What are they afraid of?

5. Compare the idea of blanks to your average ereader. How are they similar? What would happen if all books in our current world were replaced with ereaders?

6. Should Morgan forgive Jess for betraying her? Write an apology from Jess to Morgan and share with the group.

7. It's 2025 in the book, though it feels like the late 19th century by the description of the clothes and the language. Why do you think that is? 

8. Postulate what kinds of advances in human history would have been hindered by the suppression of some texts.

9. What kinds of books do you think the library might suppress?

10. Give evidence in the real world or Jess' world in support of the library's censorship ideals.

If you like this, try:

After you finish the sequel to Ink and Bone you'll be on the lookout for more fantasy bent on toppling evil regimes. You'll find it in The Young Elites by Marie Lu.

Soundtrack:

Rachel Caine gives you a fantastic soundtrack in the back of the book so check it out while you're reading.