17. Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger

Wittlinger, Ellen. (2007). Parrotfish. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN- 13:978-1-4169-1622, p. 287

Genre: Fiction/GLBTQ
Interest Age: 15+
Curriculum: NA

Reader’s Annotation

Angela is making the biggest decisions of her life. She decides to live the way which seems right to her, as a boy named Grady.

Plot Summary

Angela feels she is and has always been a straight boy who was born in a girl’s body. After years of preparing herself, she finally makes the switch and begins to live her life as Grady. But getting a new haircut, new clothes, and a new name are the easy parts. Grady must now come out and explain his new identity to his family, friends, and everyone at school. Simply choices like which bathroom to use become complex. How does Grady explain his situation to the girl he’s slowing falling in love with? Grady must learn deal with those people who hate who he is and embrace those who will support him for who he is.

Parrotfish examines the definitions of sex and gender and explores the life of someone whose identity is not black and white.

Critical Review

Issues of sexuality and gender identity are skillfully handled by Ellen Wittlinger in this touching story of a transgender youth. As Grady transitions from life as a girl to that of a boy he deals with general questions of gender and identity, like the “Is it a boy or a girl?” question which is always asked of expecting mothers, to more practical questions like, “Which locker room do I use?” The awkwardness, fear, and joy experienced by Grady as he comes out to the world is all made palpable by Wittlinger’s multidimensional characters and keen insight into the trans-gender experience.

Wittlinger writes a diverse cast of characters who all represent the different points of view society has on trans-gender individuals. Although Grady’s father and little brother deal with Grady’s transition fairly easily (to her little brother the change is almost benign), her mother, still loving and caring for her child, is clearly upset at the loss of her daughter. There are the close minded, and vicious girls at school who seek to humiliate Grady simply for being different (and to cover up their own insecurities); Grady’s former best friend Eve, who disowns Grady in order to fit in with the other kids; and Sebastian, a sort of outsider in his own way, who accepts just about everyone around him for who they are.

Along with the important GLBTQ themes, Parrotfish also address several other themes which are universal to the teen experience. Grady struggles with feelings of love for a friend. Eve deals with peer pressure, loyalty to her oldest friend, and fitting in at a new school. Grady’s family has to deal with a changing family dynamic (which plays out through a hilarious reenactment of A Christmas Carol). These themes transcend gender and sexuality and make Grady’s story relateable to anyone who survived the mine field of high school and battled the pressures of fitting in vs. the desire to be one’s self.

Author Info

Ellen Wittlinger was born in 1948 in Belleville, IL. She attended Millikin University for her B.A. and University of Iowa for her M.F.A. As well as being a writer, she has also worked as a children’s librarian and a writing instructor. Wittlinger had her first YA novel Lombardo’s Law published in 1993. She won major praise for her novel Hard Love (1999), the story of 16 year old dealing with his parents divorce and feelings for a girl who is gay; the novel won the Michael R. Printz Honor Book designation, Lambda Literary Book Award, and Best Books for Young Adults selection and Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers selection.

Wittlinger generally writes about the teen experience through the eyes of outsider and loners. The author notes, “I find I'm most interested in those kids who are on the fringes….the slight oddballs and lovable misfits who aren't quite comfortable in their own skins, or if they are, their differentness makes those around them uncomfortable. I want to celebrate their differences because they are likely to be the most fascinating people the rest of us will ever know”.

"Ellen Wittlinger." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 16 May 2010.

Book Talking Ideas

1. How are gender and sex defined? What are the differences? How does Grady define herself?
2. What are the different reactions to Grady’s coming out as a boy? Why do these characters have these responses?
3. What does the juxtaposition of the Christmas play and Grady’s actual life mean? What does the play mean to different characters in the story?

Challenges

There have been no well publicized challenges to Parrotfish but the novel deals with issues of sexuality and gender which are often cited as reasons for challenges.

Why I choose this title

Providing well written GLBTQ materials serves a group of readers who are unable or reluctant to talk about such issues. Giving them materials that address issues they face every day is important.

15. Wake by Lisa McMann

McMann, Lisa. (2008). Wake. New York: Simon Press. ISBN-13:978-1-4169-5357-9. p. 209

Genre: Fiction
Interest Age: 15+
Curriculum: NA

Reader’s Annotation

Janie Hannagan has a power she cannot control; she can enter people’s dreams, their fantasies, and their nightmares.

Plot Summary

Janie Hannagan is an average high school student; she works at a nursing home; she is saving money for college; she copes with her alcoholic mother. She also must live with a secret. She has the power to enter people’s dreams. It has been happening ever since she was a little girl. She’ll be sitting in a room, someone with drift off to sleep, and Janie will be uncontrollably pulled into the dream. She sees everyone’s inner most thoughts, desires, dreams, and fears. It lets her see the horrible nightmares of Cabel, the boy with a mysterious past. She sees more than he tells her. Is he a liar? Drug dealer? Monster? She must find a way to control her power if she is to understand what she sees and possible help those around her.

Critical Review

Lisa McMann mixes elements of the supernatural, suspense and drama to create a fast paced narrative filled with creepy and surreal imagery. McMann does a fantastic job at creating the character of Janie, who has been haunted by the dreams of others since she was little. Janie also deals with an alcoholic mother who spends most of the book stone drunk/past out or completely absent altogether. Despite having a drunk as a mother and never really knowing her father, Janie is a determined individual who works hard to maintain her grades at school in order to get into college. She also works long hours in order to pay for school. Cabel, Janie’s love interest, is also a well rounded character. On the surface, McMann paints Cabel as the stereotypical bad boy or “rebel without a cause”, but as the story progresses, he becomes a fairly complex individual who challenges Janie and showed that although she may be able to see into people’s dreams, she might not know as much as she thinks she knows.

The most effective parts of the story are the dream sequences. The reader is introduced to Janie’s power immediately and the experiences can be scary and disorienting. Janie doesn’t control her power and for most of the book, is a mere spectator in these dream states. She experiences everything from the surreal sexual fantasies for her classmates, to the nursing home resident’s memories of war and death. McMann builds scenes of significant tension as Janie is unexpectedly wrenched in and out of the dream world.

Even though the drama and mystery dissipates towards the end of the novel and the conclusion is somewhat lackluster and unfulfilling, Lisa McMann builds on a fascinating premise and creates an exciting story which should entice young, reluctant readers. Wake feels like a prelude to a much larger more intricate story.

Author Info

Lisa McMann is the author of the Wake Trilogy which includes Wake (2008), Fade (2009), and Gone (2010). McMann was born in 1968 in Holland, MI. She graduated from Calvin College in 1990 and has worked as a writer, blueberry picker, bindery worker, bookseller and realtor. She won the Templeton short story award and Wake was nominated by the ALA as a Best Book for Young Adults.

McMann was inspired to write Wake after she dreamt about being in her husband’s dream. McMann currently lives in Arizona.
“Lisa McMann.” Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center. Web. 13 May 2010.

Book Talking Ideas

1. What are dreams and how do they reflect the actual lives of the characters in Wake?
2. How does being able to see into people’s dreams affect Janie’s relationships in the book?

Challenges

I have not found any current challenges to Wake but the novel does contain a significant amount of profanity which is one of the most cited reasons for a challenge or banning.

Why I choose this title

It made the YALSA Top 10 YA Books list in 2008.

14. The Absolutely True Dairy of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Alexie, Sherman. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Hachette Book Group. ISBN-10:0-316-01368-4. p. 229

Genre: Fiction/Multicultural
Interest Age: 14+
Curriculum: Literature Class, Multicultural Studies

Reader’s Annotation

Junior Spirit leads something of a double life: Half-White when he’s at his mostly white high school; Half Indian when he’s at home on the Reservation.

Plot Summary

Junior Spirit is a 14 year old Native American kid living in poverty on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Born with “water on the brain” and numerous other physical ailments (a big head, poor sight, etc…) which make him the target of constant bullying from not only kids his age but just about everyone else on the “rez”; his family is dirt poor, his father is an alcoholic, his mother suffers from depression, his sister does nothing, and Junior feels buried in a sense of hopelessness. To try and escape the cycle of depression, alcoholism, and hopelessness, Junior decides he wants to go to school off the reservation, with the white people. For this, he is branded a traitor by the entire tribe including his best friend. Junior becomes an outsider not only at his new school where he is the only other Indian his classmates know is possibly Tonto from the Lone Ranger, but also at home.

Junior deals with his daily struggles with leading a sort of double life with a self deprecating, witty, and sarcastic sense of humor and by drawing the people in his life.

Critical Review

In Junior Spirit, Sherman Alexie has created one of the most off-beat and intelligent characters in the YA Fiction genre. The laundry list of struggles that Junior must face on a day to day basis (e.g. alcoholism, racism, poverty, and prejudice from both white people and his tribe) sets the stage for what could be a soul crushingly intense story; but Alexie writes Junior with such a sarcastic, self deprecating wit that the reader can’t help but laugh at Junior’s situation. Junior’s first illustration of himself as the glasses wearing, lopsided, shaking nerd exemplifies how he chooses to deal with his struggles, the humor. The writing and especially the illustrations done by cartoonist Ellen Forney make the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian a hilarious read, as well as a enlightening and touching one.

Through humor, Alexie addresses many sensitive issues concerning modern Native American and reservation life. He skillfully addresses heartbreaking issues of poverty and alcoholism which are rampant on many reservations; he laments the self destructive nature of his people (Alexie himself is Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian); racism and prejudices of both the white people Junior goes to school with and the members of his tribe at home on the reservation are masterfully dealt with.

Humor and tragedy surround Junior Spirit’s life and Alexie blends the two so subtly that the reader may find themselves laughing on one page and choking up the next. If it can be said that comedy and drama are two faces of the same coin, Sherman Alexie has found a way to balance the coin on its edge without having one side obscure the other.

Author Info

Sherman Alexie was born in 1966 on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington (where Diary of a Part-Time Indian is set). Alexie has garnered critical acclaim for his stories about contemporary reservation life. Alexie’s early life on the reservation was characterized by poverty and alcoholism. He was an exemplary student and attended Gonzaga University on Spokane. After struggling with alcohol abuse himself, he transferred to Washington State University. Here he began writing and received a Washington State Arts Commission poetry fellowship.

In 1992, Alexie had his first collection of poetry and short fiction published. The Business of Fancy Dancing is filled with themes of “despair, poverty, and alcoholism that often pervades lives of Native Americans of reservations”. He went on to publish numerous novels Reservation Blues (1995) and Indian Killer (1996), the short story collection The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993), and several collection of poetry including First Indian on the Moon (1993) and Old Shirts & New Skins (1993), War Dances (2009) and Face (2009) His YA novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007) won a National Book Award.

"Sherman (Joseph), (Jr.) Alexie." Contemporary Literary Criticism Select. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 13 May 2010.

Book Talking Ideas

1. How does Junior describe life on the reservation?
2. What are the differences between the school on the reservation and the school at Reardan?
3. Who are the most important people in Junior’s life? Why?

Challenges

The book has been challenged several times. In 2008, the book was pulled from a Freshman English class curriculum after a father complained that the book “had a lot of references that I didn’t feel comfortable with.” The main issue was the short passage referring to masturbation.

The book also contains some profanity. Issues of alcoholism, child abuse, and racism are also discussed.

Dake, Lauren. (2008). “School yanks book from class after complaint”. The Bulletin. Retrieved May 13, 2010 from http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081211/NEWS0107/812110432/10 41&nav_category=

Why I choose this title

It is an award winning book that deals with important issues that teens face every day: fitting in, racism, romance, friendship, etc. It also explores a culture of which few teens are knowledgeable or even really aware of.

12. I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle

Doyle, Larry. (2007). I love you, Beth Cooper. New York: Harper. ISBN: 978-0-06-174485-3. p. 273

Genre: Fiction/Comedy
Interest Age: 15+
Curriculum: NA

Reader’s Annotation

With 5 little words, “I love you, Beth Cooper”, Denis Cooverman began a Graduation Day he could never have imagined.

Plot Summary

During his valedictorian speech during his high school graduation ceremony, Denis Cooverman, a shy and constantly perspiring kid, decides to profess his undying love to the head cheerleader and girl who he has sat behind (yet, barely spoken a word to) his entire high school career, Beth Cooper. He also calls out the bully who has been tormenting him since middle school, the stuck up rich girl whom everyone hates, and his best friend, who may or may not be gay.

His profession of love also enrages Beth Cooper’s coked-up, Army soldier ex-boyfriend who targets Denis for termination. Denis’s only aid is his movie-quote-spouting best friend Rich.

In the grand tradition of Animal House, Revenge of the Nerds, and American Pie, I Love you, Beth Cooper is a farcical, teenage romp through a Graduation Night filled with sex, drugs, fights, cow-tipping, and destruction of property both private and public. As Denis so concisely states, “All my memories from high school are from tonight”.

Critical Review

The characters in I Love You, Beth Cooper, in no way live in reality. Instead they live in the consequence free world of the farcical teen-comedy. The entire book reads like a teen movie (and in fact, the movie was released in 2009, directed by Chris Columbus) in the vein of Animal House or American Pie. Kids drink and drive, have sex, break numerous laws, and cause major property damage without any serious consequences. But teaching a moral or ethical lesson is not the goal of such stories. The goal is to be funny and I Love You, Beth Cooper accomplishes this with gusto.

The humor stems from both the ludicrous situations our hero, Denis Cooverman, finds himself in as well as the witty and incredibly intelligent writing of Larry Doyle. Whether describing the vulgar hit “thrash rap” song “F**K this S***T” as “captur[ing] the essence of adolescence and expressed it in easy to understand language, while simultaneously managing to aggravate adults” or commenting on a playground’s ability to entertain children “despite its safety”, Doyle’s witty word play and dry sense of humor balance out the ludicrous moments where people are falling down or driving an SUVs through someone’s living room. The balancing of high and lowbrow comedy is executed nicely.

Although most of the characters are easily defined stereotypes (the nerdy, debate team valedictorian, vapid cheerleaders, boozing, violence prone jocks, etc…) Doyle does put a slight twist on the Beth Cooper character. She is not a dimwitted, bubbly cheerleader (although her friends fit this description to a tee). Instead she is far more introspective than Denis realizes. She’s the beautiful head cheerleader who knows the minute high school is over, she’s no longer special; she’s just another, ordinary girl.

She’s also FAR from the perfect girl that Denis had placed on a pedestal for the last four years. Had she been in a different book, Beth Cooper could have worked as the embodiment of the fear of leaving “the best time one’s life” and entering the real world. But this is not that story. Here, Beth Cooper opens beer bottles with her teeth and drives cars into living rooms.

The best thing to do is sit back and enjoy the lunacy and ridiculousness of it all.

Author Info

Larry Doyle has worked as a writer and producer on many TV shows and films, including a four year run as a writer-producer on The Simpsons. He has also written for the MTV shows Bevis & Butthead and Daria. He also produced and penned the screenplays for the films Duplex (2003) and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) as well as the film adaptation for his novel I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009). He also has worked as a reporter for the United Press International.

He has won two Emmy Awards as well the Thurber Prize for American Humor, 2008, for I Love You, Beth Cooper. Doyle currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. Although reviewers criticized his lack of originality, they have highly praised his “comedic skills”.

"Larry Doyle." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 6 May 2010.

Book Talking Ideas

1. How are Denis’ perceptions of Beth Cooper different from the reality?
2. What “teen comedy” conventions does Doyle employ? Which ones does he alter or play with?

Challenges

While there are no current challenges to this novel, it is full of sex, drugs, underage drinking, profanity, violence and a general disregard for the law, personal safety, and common sense. But everything is done in the name of comedy and nothing is taken seriously. It probably should not be included in a Middle School library collection.

Why I choose this title

The premise sounded funny. Moreover, although the subject matter and comedy is fairly straight forward and lowbrow, Doyle’s writing is quiet witty and complex; it takes a seasoned reader with a strong vocabulary to fully appreciate the humor. This type of novel would be good for, older reluctant readers.

11. Down to the Bone by Mayra Lazara Dole

Dole, Mayra Lazara. (2008). Down to the bone. New York: Harper Teen. ISBN: 978-0-06-084310-6. p. 351

Genre: Fiction/GLBT
Interest Age: 13+
Curriculum: NA

Reader Annotation

After being outed in front of her classmates, expelled from school and disowned by her mother, Laura must find a new family and a new place she can call home.

Plot Summery

Lauri is an average 16 year old Cuban American girl living in Miami, FL, until her Catholic nun teacher reads a love letter from Luara's girlfriend and "outs" her in front of her entire class. She is quickly ostracized by her friends and classmates for being a tortilleria (slang for lesbian), expelled from school, disowned by her mother and finally kicked out of her home. If that wasn't enough, Laura's love is quickly shipped back to Puerto Rico and quickly becomes engaged to man. Within a matter of weeks Laura's life goes from perfect to complete chaos.

Lauri moves in with her understanding and supportive friend Soli and her mother. Here she meets an eclectic mix of new friends, struggles to understand her own sexuality and redefine her definitions of family and home. All of this takes places within the Cuban American culture of Miami.

Critical Review

Mayra Lazara Dole paints a colorful gallery of diverse characters. Not only do these characters allow the reader to explore numerous GLBT issues like "coming out", family tensions, homophobia and prejudice, but the reader is given a window into Cuban American culture. Dole's writing is filled with Spanish (so much so that a Spanish glossary is included), and references to Cuban culture. Ultimately this is what distinguishes Down to the Bone from other GLBT, "coming out" stories.

Lauri's story isn't an unusual one: She is "outed" before she really even understands her own sexuality and feelings; she is is forced to confront homophobic teachers, parents, friends and co-workers; she struggles with reconciling her new life with the desire to return home and live the life she was "supposed" to live. Although the story has been done before and Dole occasionally lets the events descend into soap opera like melodrama, the Cuban/Miami backdrop and a collection of diverse characters who don't readily fit into stereotypes keep the reader engaged and thoroughly entertained.

The dialogue is fast and fun although for those readers who do not speak Spanish, it can be challenging at times. Even if the reader is not passionate about GLBT literature, Down to the Bone works equally as well as a story about Cuban American culture in Miami. It is interesting seeing a GLBT story told through a different cultural lens.

Author Info

Born in Havana, Cuba and currently living in Miami,FL, Mayra Lazara Dole has worked as a translator, drummer, dancer, landscape designer, hairdresser, Cuban chef and library assistant. She is the author two bilingual children's books including Drum, Chavi, Drum!/¡Toca, Chavi, Toca! (2003) and Birthday in the Barrio/Cumpleanos En El Barrio (2004) and one young adult novel Down to the Bone (2008). She also contributes to the various gay and lesbian magazines as well as other periodicals including Cipher Journal: A Journal of Literary Translation, Palabra: A Magazine of Chicano & Latino Literary Art, and Velvet.

Dole admits that Down to the Bone is slightly biographical as well as being inspired by her love of her "Cuban heritage/culture and a desire for Miami Cuban homophobia to be exposed so it can be discussed openly." She feels that writing for children and teens gives her a chance to "help change the world".

"Mayra Lazara Dole." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 4 May 2010.

Book Talking Ideas

1.
How was Lauri's "outing" at school in the beginning of the novel different from her proclamation, "I'm gay!" at the end of the novel? What were the affects of those events?
2.
How does Lauri's Cuban heritage affect her "outing"? How do different people in her life react to the letter?
3.
Even though they are both Cuban, how are Lauri and Soli's families different?


Challenges

There are no current challenges but books with themes of homosexuality are common targets for challenges especially when younger readers are involved. The novel deals with several GLBT characters and contains some profanity and homophobic slurs.

Why I choose this Book

The novel was nominated for ALA Best Reads for Young Adults 2009 as well as making the ALA's 2008 GLBT Round Table/ SRRT Rainbow List. I also liked the idea of a GLBT themed novel set in a culture different than my own.

9. When Jeff Comes Home by Catherine Atkins

Atkins, Catherine. (1999). When Jeff comes home. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. ISBN: 0-399-23366- 0. p. 231

Genre: Fiction, Child Abuse
Interest Age: 15+
Curriculum: NA

Reader’s Annotation

Jeff was kidnapped when he was 14. Two and a half years later he is returned and must come to terms with his abduction as well as try to be something he no longer is: a normal teenager.

Plot Summary

When Jeff was 14, he was kidnapped from a highway rest stop. His friends and family never knew what happen to Jeff. To them, he simply disappeared without a trace. Two and a half years later, Jeff is unceremoniously released by his captor. Jeff is finally home, but home is not the same and neither is he. The police and the FBI want Jeff’s help to find “Ray”, the man who abducted Jeff. Jeff’s father wants him to get back to his old life and forget the last 2 ½ years. All anyone wants to know is if he was molested. All Jeff wants is for everyone to leave him alone.

When Jeff Comes Home is a gut wrenching story of the emotional, psychological, and physical scars left by the brutal crime of child abuse. Jeff struggles with feelings of terror, shame, embarrassment, and anger as he tries to fit back into his old life. His family and friends want Jeff to feel safe, to feel normal again but no one (most of all Jeff himself) is fully prepared to deal with what actually happened to Jeff.

Critical Review

Catherine Atkins, although writing specifically for a YA audience, pulls few punches in showing the effects child abuse has on not only its victims but the family and friends of those victims. When Jeff Comes Home is not so much a story of the abuse itself (thankfully, the reader only gets quick glimpses of Jeff’s ordeal through flashbacks) but of the aftermath and the long term effects of the abuse.

Overcome by feelings of guilt, shame, anger, and embarrassment, Jeff can barely think about the trauma he has gone through let alone discuss what happened openly. His friends and family only want to help him return to a normal life but Jeff’s entire perception of himself and the world were so violently torn apart he is left feeling alone and unable to relate anyone he used to know.

Atkins focuses on the emotional and psychological conflict which Jeff goes through as he struggles to adjust to the life he once knew. Jeff says very little, but for every word Jeff says or hears, there is a whirlwind of painful memories and feelings that are storming inside of him. With painful precision, Atkins makes the reader feel every emotion, see every detail, and relieve every memory Jeff does. Atkins shows how child abuse wholly destroys the victims’ understanding of love, family, closeness, and self worth.
When Jeff Comes Home is by no means an easy read. The healing process is neither fast nor simple and can be incredibly painful for all who are involved. However, as brutal and painful the experience can be, Atkins ultimately shows that there is hope for healing.

Author Info

Catherine Atkins was born in San Francisco, CA. She works as an alternative education teacher and writer. Her first book, When Jeff Comes Home, was based on a true incident that occurred near her home town. The novel received the International Reading Association Young Adults Choice and the ALA Best Books for Young Adults awards.

Her second book Alt Ed (2003) is the story of a group of six students who “enroll an after-school counseling program to avoid expulsion”. (“Catherine Atkins”, 2005) The novel made both the New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age List (2004) and the ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults citation.

"Catherine Atkins." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 May 2010.

Book Talking Ideas
1. How do the different characters (i.e. Jeff, his father, Vin, his brother, kids at school, etc.) react to Jeff’s return? How did his abduction affect them?
2. Why does Jeff defend Ray in the beginning, saying repeatedly “He never touched me”?

Challenges

This novel has been challenged due to its content, specifically the issues of sexual abuse, and language. In 2005 the novel was challenged in an Irving, TX middle school, although the book remained in the collection, a parent permission slip was needed to check out the book.

Unmuth, Katherine Leal. (2005). Librarians fight limits on book about sexual abuse. The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved May 3, 2010 from http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/DN-nubook_19met.ART0.State.Edition2.b8ffc8.html

Why I choose this title

The subject of sexual abuse is a very difficult one to discuss. The emotions the victims and their families must go through are complex and painful. I fell that this novel does a good job of giving some insight into mind and experiences of someone who has gone through one of the most horrible violations I can imagine.

8. Debbie Harry Sings in French by Meagan Brothers

Brothers, Meagan. (2008). Debbie Harry sings in French. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC. ISBN: 978-0-8050-8080-3. p. 232

Genre: Fiction, LGBT
Interest Age: 15+
Curriculum: NA

Reader’s Annotation

Johnny’s had a rough life: his father’s death, a distant mother, a drug overdose, rehab, and being shipped to a new school in a new town. But through the power of Blondie and Debbie Harry, Jonny begins to learn how to take control of his life and understand who he really is.

Plot Summary

Johnny McKennzie’s father died in a car accident when he was 12. His mother became distant and removed from reality. Johnny was left to figure out how to pay bills and take care of himself as well as his mother. He coped using the music of Joy Division, The Cure, New Order, Bauhaus and by drinking. One night he goes to a Goth club with some friends and inadvertently overdoses. While in rehab he first hears the music of Blondie and his obsession with lead singer Debbie Harry begins. He’s fascinated by her music, beauty, and strength. Upon completing rehab his mother ships him to live with his uncle in South Carolina.

Even though he never really fit-in in his home town of Tampa, FL, he has now officially become an outsider; he is constantly being picked on by the school jock bullies and everyone assumes he is gay. Although he is pretty sure he isn’t gay, he can’t help feeling an attraction to Debbie Harry. More than just loving who she is and her music, Johnny finds that he kind of wants to be her. This only complicates his growing relationship with Maria, a girl whose past is as troubled as his.

Critical Review

Debbie Harry Sings in French deals with issues of broken families, homophobia, love, and finding out that sexuality is not as simple as straight or gay. Meagan Brothers provides the reader with a cast of very likeable characters. Johnny is a self described “goth” kid who has had a rough family life and nearly killed himself after drinking heavily and taking what he thought was Aspirin at a club; he gets taunted at school and his mother is over protective to the point of suffocation; Johnny very easily could be a whining, angst-ridden, depressed teen. But he is not. He’s fairly positive, deals with his hardships with a sense of humor and never descends into a state of self loathing.

What is most interesting about Johnny is the way he struggles with his fascination with Debbie Harry and his desire to embody all of the positive qualities which she exemplifies. Although Johnny knows he is straight (even though he is constantly taunted and harassed for being “gay”) he doesn’t exactly understand his desire to be Debbie Harry. He wants to be sexy, beautiful, and strong like Debbie but is unsure how to do that. What do these desires make him? Gay? Bi? A freak? Brothers handles these issue masterfully through humor and wit. She never becomes overly didactic with the themes of homophobia or tolerance; the message is stated through her characters’ thoughts and experiences.

Debbie Harry Sings in French is a well constructed story which uses humor to introduce the reader to issues of sexuality, homophobia, and self discovery. Brothers’ writing is concise and to the point. Although everything about the story and themes seem to lend themselves to preachy melodrama, Brothers’ never lets the story or her characters become needlessly dramatic. The sense of fun and wit make Debbie Harry Sings in French a very accessible story.

Author Info

Meagan Brothers was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina and first had success as a spoken word poet in New York City. Her chap-book, 1978 was published by CafeMo Press in 2001. Debbie Harry Sings in French (2008) is her first novel and she is currently working on her second.

Brothers states that the inspiration for Debbie Harry came from imagining a Blondie fan and a Patti Smith fan having a discussion and teaching each other about music. The idea grew and eventually was fleshed out into a full length novel.

"Meagan Brothers." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 2 May 2010.

Book Talking Ideas

1. What is the difference between Gender and Sex? Are Johnny’s identity issues more about gender or sexuality?
2. How does Debbie Harry help Johnny deal with the adversities and addictions in his life?
3. Why is Johnny perceived to be homosexual? How does he deal with these perceptions?

Challenges

I have not found any examples of this book being challenged or banned but it is still relatively new. Issues that might lead to a challenge: profanity (including many homophobic slurs), LGBT themes, sexuality, drinking and drug use.

Why I choose this title
This novel made the ALA Rainbow Project’s 2009 GLBTQ Books for Children and Teens. It was also recommended on readingrants.com for those who enjoyed Parrotfish.

6. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Anderson, Laurie Halse. (2009). Wintergirls. New York: Viking. ISBN: 978-0-670-01110-0. p. 278

Genre: Fiction
Interest Age: 14+
Curriculum: NA

Reader's Annotation

Lia is a senior in high school and only weighs 95 lbs. When she learns he best friend died alone in a motel bathroom she plunges into a spiral of self delusion and anorexia that only she can save herself from.

Plot Summery

Lia is a senior in high school and has just learned that her recently estranged best friend has died. Lia looks at her life and sees a mother who is more focused on her career than her daughter, a father who still sees her as a little girl, a step mother who doesn't really know her at all, and a reflection that is always 5 pounds heavier than she wants. By controlling her weight, Lia hopes to control the pain caused by her broken family, the guilt over her friend's death and the sense of hopelessness which is slowly consuming her life.

As Lia becomes thinner, in her mind she becomes stronger. More in control. But in reality she is wasting away until she will eventually be nothing and feel nothing. Ultimately the choice to live or die is hers, but for Lia, the choice between asking for help and continuing to spiral into the darkness is not clear and simple.

Critical Evaluation

Wintergirls is not really a story about anorexia, eating disorders, cutting, broken homes, or depression, although all of these topics are topics are covered in sometimes gut wrenching detail. This is a story about feeling lost and forgotten. It is about how self destructive one can become in order to feel in control of their life.

Anderson has a wonderful ability to adapt her prose to fit the mental state of the narrator, Lia. At times she is lyrical. Other times she is cold a methodical. Sometimes manic. The structure and syntax of guilds the reader through Lia's deteriorating physical and mental state. Lia is a person who is in conflict with herself. She wants to see herself in a certain way. She wants to define the people around her in a certain way. There are constantly thoughts, feelings, and desires which Lia edits (and Anderson lets the reader see in the form of crossed out phrases and passages).

Lia's journey is painful and thus the reader's experience is painful. Anderson makes the reader feel everything Lia feels: Her calorie counting. Her slow, self inflicted cuts. Her obsession to always be in control of her words, thoughts, and actions. And most of all, her sense of loneliness and isolation. Unfortunately these can be all too familiar feels for teens. Those who have experienced these feelings more often than not would like to forget them. But for anyone who hasn't completely forgotten them, Lia's story can bring them rushing back.

Wintergirls is by no means an easy reading experience but it is one that is tremendously rewarding and shows that there is hope for people who are in even the darkest places.

Author Note

Laurie Halse Anderson is the author of over a dozen novels. Her most famous work, Speak follows the story of a freshman girl who after being sexually assaulted at a party, chooses to become nearly mute. The book received several prestigious literary awards and also is frequently one of the most challenged books in schools and libraries.

Anderson is passionate about writing from teens saying,
I love teenagers because they are honest. I love teenagers because they are raw and passionate. They think in black and white and are willing to go to extremes to defend their beliefs.... I love teenagers because they challenge me, and because they frustrate me. They give me hope. They give me nightmares. They are our children, and they deserve the best books we can write." (“Laurie Halse Anderson”, 2008)

She is also the author of the “Wild at Heart” series, aimed at older elementary school readers. Her other works include Fever, 1973 (2000), The Big Cheese on Third Street (2002), Prom (2005), and Twisted (2007).

"Laurie Halse Anderson." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Retrieved April 6, 2010, from "Laurie Halse Anderson." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 6 Apr. 2010.


Challenges
There have been no well publicized challenges towards Wintergirls (probably because it is relatively new & only available in hardcover) but the book does discuss in very realistic ways: anorexia, bulimia, cutting (self mutilation), and alcohol and drug abuse. There is also some profanity and violence (which is self inflicted). Several of Anderson's other works have been repeatedly challenged including Speak and Twisted. Anderson deals with real problems in a very realistic and unflinching manner.

Book Talking
1. What was Lia's relationship with her family? How does this affect her life and the decisions she makes?
2. What was Lia's relationship with Cassie? How does this relationship affect her choices?
3. Do Lia's family and friends know she is still anorexic? How do they try to help? Are they successful?

Why I choose this book

I was interested in reading Speak, but was unable to readily obtain a copy. I choose this because the subject self destructive disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and cutting is something that an alarming number of teens go through yet few people like to talk about.

4. Remembering Raquel by Vivian Vande Valde

Vande Valde, Vivian. (2007). Remembering Raquel. New York: Harcourt, Inc. ISBN: 978-0-2059796-7. p. 137
Genre: Fiction
Interest Age: 12+
Curriculum: NA

Reader’s Annotation
How would you be remembered? This is the question now faced by the friends and family of recently departed Raquel Falcone.

Plot Summary

Remembering Raquel tells the story of the aftermath of the sudden death of 14 year old Raquel Falcone. The story is told through a series of recollections by people who “knew” Raquel, including family, friends, and classmates, people who witnessed her death, and even Raquel herself.

Raquel was an intelligent but shy and overweight teen who, before her death, was more or less invisible at Quail Run High. In the wake of her death, there is an outpouring of support and emotion from not only those few people who were actually close to her but also from casual acquaintances, distant family members, and crusaders who had never met her. Through their recollections and experiences the reader begins to get an impression of not only the real Raquel, but of the Raquel people remember.

Remembering Raquel shows how death can affect peoples’ feelings and perceptions of those who died. Whether it be the girl who sat behind her in homeroom, the boy who was never able to ask her to the dance, an online admirer, her father, or even the strangers who were next to her when she died, everyone had perceptions of Raquel and everyone will remember her in a different way.

Critical Review

Author Vivian Vande Valde was inspired to write Remembering Raquel after seeing roadside memorials which her set up after someone died. The premise is a complex one which deals with numerous issues and themes such as death, the loss of a loved one, different perceptions of those who died, issues of identity and fitting in during adolescence, and how seemingly “invisible” people can have an effect on those around them even if neither were aware of it. Remembering Raquel hit on all of these themes at some point yet never fully mines these themes. As a look at death and remembering it ends up only being half a success.

Complex relationships are only hinted at and not fully explored. Case in point, Raquel’s family. The book explains that Raquel’s mom died of cancer and that she was living with her dad. The relationships with her mom and dad are looked at but only briefly. The reader does not get a complete picture of Raquel’s home/family life and therefore never really feels deeply connected to Raquel or her father. The same goes with her best friend Hayley. We get three chapters from Hayley’s point of view yet the reader is given only a brief back-story. Instead Vande Valde focuses on the feelings of “what if I had been there?”. To be sure, this is an important aspect of losing a friend, but since the reader has not become attached to the character, only a minimal amount of sympathy is created. Too often are character’s recollections filled with seemingly peripheral details and only minimal focus on Raquel. This might very well be Vande Valde’s point: For most people, Raquel existed in the background. But for purposes of building a connection with the reader, there needed to be more back story on these characters and more introspection on the part of even the peripheral characters.

There are several poignant moments throughout the novel that show how people perceive others and how death affects different people, but ultimately this feels like half a book. Vande Valde does a good job introducing us to these characters but seems to move on just as I want to know and understand them on a deeper level.

Author Info

Vivian Vande Valde is an award winning author of over 30 books for teens. She writes primarily in the horror and dark fantasy genres but her works generally include an element of humor and fun as well. Born in 1951, she currently resides in Rochester, NY. Her first book, A Hidden Magic, is a fairy tale inspired by Disney movies like Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty.

Vande Valde’s books have been honored by the American Library Association (ALA) Best Books for Young Adults, ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, and ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Her novel Never Trust a Dead Man, won the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery of 2000. Vande Valde offers author appearances and workshops for both students and teachers through her website: http://vivianvandevelde.com/index.cfm.

Book Talking Ideas
1. What are some of the different perceptions characters in the book had of Raquel? How accurate were those perceptions compared to Raquel’s perceptions of herself?
2. How do people’s perceptions and memories of people change after that person dies?

Challenges
The book deals with the death of a young girl, although not in any sort of graphic or violent way. Nothing controversial is covered, i.e. sex, drugs, etc. Although the writing style is appropriate for 12+, the themes are probably more appropriate for 13 or 14+.

Why I choose this title
This is one of Vivian Vande Valde’s view works outside of the horror/fantasy genre in which she normally writes. I was intrigued by the premise, since dealing with death at a young age can be a difficult and complex process.

1. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Sebold, Alice. (2002). The lovely bones. New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN#: 978-0-316-04440. p. 372

Genre: Fiction
Interest Age: 15+
Curriculum Ties: NA

Reader's Annotation
When Susie Salmon was murdered it was only the beginning of her journey. As she watches from her own personal Heaven, her friends and family cope with her death and search for her murder who lives right around the corner.

Plot Summary
In 1973, Susie Salmon, age 14, is brutally raped and murdered by a neighbor. Susie awakes, not in Heaven, but in the In-Between, an ethereal midway point where she creates and controls her new reality. From this vantage point she is able to observe her friends and family yet is unable to directly interact. She watches as her family and friends cope with her death and search for her killer, whose identity is known to Susie but a mystery to everyone else. She watches as her friends grow older, her family slowly unravels, and her killer goes undiscovered. Susie realizes that although she is no longer alive, she is still very much a part of the lives of her family and friends. Even though Susie is eternally 14, she continues maturing psychotically and emotionally. She also becomes more in control of her new reality, the In-Between. Later she even finds that she can influence and make contact with the real world and her still living friends and family. She might just be strong enough to guide them to her killer.

Critical Review

Sebold weaves together a fantastic story which is effective as a “who done it?” mystery, a study of how loss and grief effect a family, as well as a story about a young girl coping with life, death, and love. Although the reader knows the identity of the killer from the very beginning, since the story is told from Susie’s point of view, no one else does. Watching Susie’s father Jack Salmon, her younger sister Lindsey, and the detective in charge of the case, Fenerman, try and point the pieces together would have been captivating enough on its own. The drama surrounding the Salmon family is heartbreaking at times. Susie’s father becomes obsessed with finding her killer. Her mother struggles to move on yet is unable do to her husband’s obsession and the growing distance between them. Susie’s younger sister must deal with the being “the sister of the girl who was murdered” while her family is falling apart. This is the most effective part of the novel. The drama is rarely melodramatic and the characters, even the murdering Mr. Harvey, are never one dimensional stereotypes. The elements of the fantastic are wonderful. Sebold creates a unique vision of the afterlife where one’s reality is made up of memories, feels, and experiences from one’s life. There are no overt religious messages. Only the idea that the afterlife is what we create, what we take with us.

The Lovely Bones wonderfully shows how there can be love, joy and ultimately healing even after an event as horrible as having a friend, daughter, or sister violently taken from you. Be warned, Sebold gives us neither an easy path nor the easy ending. What she gives us is a very real and cathartic experience.

Author Info

Alice Sebold was born in Antigo, Wisconsin in 1963. To date she has written three novels: Lucky (1999), The Lovely Bones (2002), and The Almost Moon (2007). Her first book, Lucky, is personal memoir recounting her brutal rape while attending Syracuse University. She later identified and testified against her assailant in court where he was eventually convicted. Sebold then returned to school and finished her degree. Later, she fell into hard drug use while living in New York. Sebold recounts, “I did a lot of things that I’m not particularly proud of and that I can’t believe I did”. (Cue, 2001)

After kicking her drug habit she moved to California and became the caretaker of an arts colony and lived in a cabin with no electricity and wrote using propane lantern. Later she enrolled in the University of California , Irvine (UCI) MFA program where she met her future husband, writer Glen David Gold. In a 2002 interview, Sebold stated, “I have always felt extremely weird….but I am very happy with my weirdness and I want people to be very happy with theirs”.

Clarson, Jenifer. (July/August 2002). [Interview with Alice Sebold]. Book. Retrieved March 15, 2010, from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writerdetails.asp?cid=996944#bio

Cue, Ehzra. (2001). Award winning UCI author Alice Sebold discusses works. New University. Irvine, CA: University of California, Irvine. Retrieved March 15, 2010, from http://web.archive.org/web/20050411022901/http://www.newu.uci.edu/archive/2000- 2001/spring/010430/f-010430-alice.html

Book Talking

1. How does the Salmon family with Susie’s rape/murder? How do their reactions affect the family?

2. What is Susie’s “afterlife”, or In-Between, like? How is it created? What is the author’s perception of the afterlife?

Challenges

There have been challenges to this book in some middle school libraries due to its “graphic content”. The book does deal with the rape and murder of a 14 year old girl. There is a fairly graphic (although nowhere near pornographic) sexual scene. There have also been concerns about the religious content since the main character, Susie, is in a Heaven-like place yet there is no God.

· Be familiar with the parts of the book which involve violence and sexuality

· Be aware of the religious climate of your community

· Precedents: Several middle school libraries have retained this book on the shelves after challenges.

o See: http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2007/january2007/ALA_print_layout_1_333808_333808.cfm

o http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/ideasandresources/free_downloads/2008banned.pdf

Why I choose this book

Originally I picked up this book because the movie looked good and I wanted to read the book first. I could not put it down once I started reading; I finished it in one day. It has numerous themes, grief, loss, revenge, coming of age, what comes after life, etc…, and all of them are handled beautifully.