King of the Mild Frontier

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

Chris Crutcher shares his life and memories from his childhood, with his brother, at school, and later as an adult. One of the most hilarious anecdotes in the book was when he was playing with his best friend, Ron Boyd, and some other kids from the neighborhood. He had to pee; Chris’ brother had a bright idea! He suggested Chris pee into the furnace. For some crazy reason, he listens! A yellow steam exits the furnace; a disgusting scent penetrated the entire house! His brother’s famous words before doing something crazy were, “Wanna do something neat?” His brother not only constantly got Chris in trouble but shot him in the head with a BB gun! And, he also made up a story about Jesus having an older son. He made up that story just to get out of trouble for breaking Chris’ “Jesus Saves” prize he got at church. Chris’ brother ends up being an accountant in Seattle.

Chris touches polemical topics such as religion, masturbation, and even dealing with pimples (nobody talks about pimples)! He talks about what lead him to not be a Christian. He is more like a scientist who believes in the Big Bang. But, he does include religious themes in this writing.  

Right of the bat, Crutcher shares what an angry child he was.  He was such an explosive child, that he would break toys and make holes in the walls. This temper, as odd as it sounds, became a tool that helped in his life. It helped him in the football team and prevented others from wanting to beat him up because he was “savage.” This temper also led him to become a writer and connect with his clients as a therapist.

This is an enjoyable book in which students can learn a lot about the author. Students can be grouped and can choose roles: summarizer, questioner, connector (makes text-to-text connections, text-to self, text-to-world), illustrator, researcher (can contact the librarian and together they can research the life of the author), and one who focuses on finding the meaning of words that the group may not know. They can create a presentation using Google Docs, and each student can add information using an iPad or a computer.

Other books written by Chris Crutcher are: Athletic Shorts: Six Short Stories, Chinese Handcuffs, The Crazy Horse Electric Game, Ironman, Running Loose, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, and Stotan!

Speak

Anderson, L.H. (1999). Speak. NY: Penguin

Speak begins with a description of Melinda’s lonely and disconsolate stage. She lacks friends and feels like an outcast, for she is rejected by those who she considered her friends simply because she called the cops at Kyle Rodger’s party. To cope with the fact that she is being treated like a leper, Melinda refers to nail and lip biting. She not only is having a terrible time being rejected by her ex-friends, but she is also mistreated by most of her teachers who forgot that their job was to inspire their students. She even finds a hiding place: an abandoned janitor’s closet. Her art teacher, Mr. Freeman, is the only one who treats her with respect and sees how valuable and talented she is. His art class is one of the few places where she feels safe. Melinda does hang out with a new student, Heather. Heather is extremely interested in belonging to a group and developing friendships. Her plan to be popular or accepted fails because the Marthas, the popular cool group), boss her around and treat her like a maid.

Melinda feels disgusted when she is trying to help Heather put up posters to promote a canned food drive, and IT (Andy Evans), whispers to her reminding Melinda of what he did to her.  Yes, how he took advantage of her and forced her to have sex.  She simply runs away to avoid facing her enemy. Now, because she called the police asking for help and ruined everyone’s time at the party, she is hated by every single student in Merryweather High School.

 The Marthas, the girls in charge of the canned drive, are not satisfied with Heather’s work on the canned drive. They feel she is doing a terrible job and her posters stink!  

One day, during lunch time, Heather breaks up her “friendship” with Melinda stating they are very different people with different interests. We know that they were not the best of friends, but she was all Melinda had. To make things worse, it was around the time of love and friendship, Valentine’s Day. Melinda desperately wanted to be liked by someone. Her depression and loneliness cause her to have low grades and her skipping doesn’t help her case either. She is placed in a behavior plan to prevent her from being tardy or skipping class all together.  

Melinda is interested in David Petrakis, her lab partner. He invited her to her house, but the scared Melinda turned down the offer. David also offered her legal advice after Mr. Neck, her teacher, gave her a D for not reading her assignment to the entire class. He might have also flirted with her a little, but since Melinda is so affected with what happened with IT, she wasn’t very sure.  

Melinda enjoys a moment of glory when she almost beats one of the most talented athletes in tennis, Nicole (also ex-friend). She savored it so much that she decided to ask her dad to practice with her. Finally, something good happened to her!

Heather, suddenly reappears in Melinda’s life. She visits her to complain about how mean the Marthas are. She also comes to ask for a favor; Heather wants Melinda to help decorate Route 11 Holiday Inn for prom. Melinda wants to tell her that she is insane, cold-hearted, and self-centered. But she didn't. Instead, she tells her she will be busy. Heather leaves without saying goodbye. Standing up to Heather empowered her! She decides to talk to Rachel, her ex-best friend who is now dating IT! Melinda sees her in the library and confesses to her that she didn’t call the cops to ruin the party. She tells her she was raped. Rachel is immediately affected by her friend’s suffering. But the empathy halts when Melinda tells her it was her boyfriend, Andy Evans, who raped her. Rachel accuses her of being jealous of her popularity and storms off. But, rumors are going around that they had a big argument during prom night because Andy was touching her all over. This enraged Andy! He traps her in her janitor closet and tries to take advantage of her AGAIN! But this time, it is different. She fights back and says, “NOOOOO!”  Melinda returns to school the next day and trusts her art teacher by telling him what happened to her.

Laurie Halse Anderson, the author, kept the reader entertained throughout the entire book. But, she says it herself, “Yes, I know I didn’t wrap up everything at the end of Speak” (Anderson, 1999, p.199). There are unanswered questions that she lists that students can answer. Students can add that she made friends, that Rachele apologized, or that she became a motivational speaker and helped girls who had gone through the same thing. They can use their creativity and present different endings.

Speak touches different topics that are controversial. One of Melinda’s teachers, Mr. Neck, starts an immigration debate. He states that American borders should have been closed in 1900. David disagrees with his approach. Teachers can divide students into two groups: those who are in favor of immigration and those who are against it. Students can visit the library, use available databases, and read books to support their argument. After gathering their resources, they can debate the topic.

Anderson has written numerous books. These titles include: Chains, Turkey Pox, No Time for Mother's Day, The Big Cheese on Third Street, and several others. In 2009, she was given the Margaret A. Edwards Award for her “significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.”  

Laurie Halse Anderson. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2018, from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/authors/laurie-halse-anderson/

Gabi, A Girl in Pieces

Quintero, I. (2014). Gabi: A girl in pieces. TX: Cinco Puntos.

Gabi is a Mexican American girl who lives in California. She is a hilarious young lady that shares her life through her journal entries. Gabi shares her most intimate thoughts, body image issues, and her father’s addiction. She also discusses what is going on with her friends: Cindy and Sebastian (which have drama of their own).

Gabi reveals to Cindy that she is pregnant. She is devastated at the fact that she didn’t even tell her she was having sex! Unfortunately, this pregnancy was not planned nor was the baby conceived out of love. Gabi detests the baby’s father, German, when she finds out, he took advantage of Cindy forcing her to have sex.

Sebastian struggles with his sexuality and finally decides to share with her his sexual preference. Of course, as a good friend, she already he was gay but never said anything. Unfortunately, Sebastian’s parents are not supportive of this and kick him out.

Gabi, through her talent as a writer, continues to take the reader through her adventures, struggles, and questions she has about life (sex, marriage, and religion). She talks about her food addiction, her interest in several boys, and the shocking news of her mom’s pregnancy!

We enjoyed reading about Gabi's view of life, cried when she lost her father to drugs and bit our nails when her nemesis, Georgina, got pregnant but decided to get an abortion. We smiled with the birth of her baby brother and almost died when she fought German, the boy who raped her bestie! It was amazing to read how she slapped him! He deserved it! Unfortunately, Gabi suffered consequences for her actions and couldn’t walk in her graduation ceremony. Senior year ended.  Gabi was accepted, along with her boyfriend, to Berkeley. A new stage of her life is about to begin in which she can practice her independence and achieve her dreams.

Gabi is such an interesting character! Students can enjoy doing a character analysis. It can help them see her traits, actions, thoughts, feelings, challenges, and accomplishments. They can also analyze the changes she experienced throughout the story focusing on what events caused them. Students can use this knowledge to create a video on Adobe Spark promoting the book. The librarian can upload this video on the library’s Facebook page or she can share the best ones with her classes during book talks to encourage students to check the book out!

Author, Isabel Quintero, did a wonderful job in Gabi, A Girl in Pieces. Her voice and writing style is phenomenal and entertaining. It is a book that makes you laugh (maybe a little more if you are Mexican and have background knowledge on all the things she touches on that remind you of your family)! She also wrote Ugly Cat and Pablo, Ugly Cat and Pablo and the Missing Brother, and she is working on My Papi Has a Motorcycle.

It's Perfectly Normal

Harris, R. (2009). It’s perfectly normal. Boston, MA: Candlewick Press.

Robie H. Harris discusses topics parents have difficulty talking about with their children or teens. As parents, we sometimes aren’t quite sure where to begin to talk about sex which is perfectly normal. We may not have the resources or wonder how our children can actually see what we are talking about without sharing with them inaccurate information that can lead to confusion. This book provides the reader with illustrations that can also help children and teens have a better understanding of their bodies. It covers how babies are made, how our bodies change, intercourse, masturbation, and many other sexual related topics.

 Because it’s a comic-book style with colorful illustrations, it makes easier for parents to sit down and touch the subject. Health professionals, educators, and parents can benefit from Harris’ work. They can decide to educate children on these topics or risk them accessing inaccurate information that will stay with them until adulthood.

Harris has written several other books that are similar to  It’s perfectly normal. She has written It’s so Amazing, It’s Not the Stork. Who Has What, Who’s In My Family, and What’s In There.

Lucky Broken Girl

Behar, R. (2017). Lucky broken girl. New York, NY: Puffin      Books.

Ruthie has migrated from her beloved Cuba into the United States in search of freedom. Most migrant children are sent back a grade or are placed in a remedial class in order for them to “catch up.” Ruthie feels she has been placed in the class with the “bobos.” But, after spelling words correctly, her and her friend, Ramu, are given the opportunity to switch to the regular fifth grade class. Things are looking brighter for Ruthie’s family. Her dad got her the go-go boots she dreamed of owning; he also got himself his dream car: a blue Oldsmobile. They decide to visit old Cuban friends that just had a baby. On their way back home, darkness and tragedy obscure Ruthie’ dreams of wearing her new go-go boots and to be moved to the “smart” class. A tragic accident changes the family’s life; Ruthie is the one who suffers the most injuries. She is rushed to the hospital! She is  placed in a body cast to avoid her healthy leg growing more than her broken leg; her family is told she may be in this cast for six months. Unfortunately, the doctor cannot guarantee Ruthie will be able to walk again.  When she is at her lowest point and lays immobile on that lonely hospital bed, she prays to God and asks for mercy. Ruthie is released from the hospital, but is forced to depend on others. But, she still feels lucky because she didn’t end up paralyzed for the rest of her life like other victims in the car crash. She calls herself, “a lucky broken girl.”

Ruthie undergoes a spiritual transformation and begins to pray more when she didn’t before. Her friend Ramu pays her a quick visit and gifts her a chain with a Shiva pendant, and Indian god who dances to bring goodness to the world. Remi promises her that soon she, too, will soon have the ability to leave that cast and dance! Even though Ruthie is of a different faith, she prays to Shiva and asks him for help. She also prays to Frida Kahlo as Ruthie identifies with the Mexican artist who was paralyzed as well. Through her prayers, she experiences compassion, for she is able to forgive the young boys who caused the accident.

Her doctor, Dr. Friendlich, decides to remove her body cast, but puts a cast on her right leg. Ruthie is still not able to regain her “normal” life, for she has to relearn to walk. She must incorporate herself back into her old life.

One of her friends gifted her the black go-go boots Ruthie fell in love with the moment she saw them. The accident took so much from Ruthie. It took her hope, peace, the white go-go boots, and her dreams. But, even though Ruthie experienced a season on pain, loss, and discomfort, she saw the light in the middle of darkness through the support and love of her friends, tutor, and family. She slowly began to recover what the accident had taken away from her: her spot in the “smart” class, beautiful go-go boots, her gorgeous hair, and the ability to dance! Yes! Just like her friend, Ramu, had prophesied, Ruthie danced a tango.   

To give students some background knowledge prior to reading the book, teachers can do a mini lesson on Frida Kahlo. With the help of the librarian, students can research her life and accomplishments. After gathering their information, students can create a presentation using Prezi. Students can also research Cuba and the revolution to try to understand why Ruthie’s family felt the need to flee. After completing their investigation, students can compare and contrast life in Cuba and in the United States.

To help students make text to text connections, they can also read Good-bye, Havana!, Hola, New York! By Edié Colón. This book is about a little girl, Gabriella, who lives in Havanna but fleeing Castro and the Cuban revolution, moves with her parents to New York. She misses Cuba, but must do her best to make New York her new home.

Monster

Myers, W. D. (1999). Monster. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Steve, a young man who is passionate about making movies, chooses to express himself and share his current situation by telling his story in a peculiar way through a screenplay and journal entries. He finds himself in a horrific situation surrounded by sadness and worry. He has been accused of being an accomplice in a robbery and murder of a drug store owner, Algunaldo Nesbitt, and is facing the death penalty or life in prison. The trial begins and Sandra Petrocelli, the prosecutor, mentions that most people in the community are law abiding, hard working citizens. But, there are also monsters. These monsters are “people in our community who are willing to steal, kill, and disregard the rights of others.” This marks an important point in the plot, for Steve struggles to believe he is a monster. And, he refuses to allow his attorney, Kathey O’Brien, to believe he is guilty.

Through his journal entries, the reader can’t help feel compassion for him as we get a glimpse of life inside prison. His fear of spending the rest of his life in prison and to be seen as a monster transcends, exits the book, and holds the reader tightly.

As the trial continues, this nail biting story captures your interest by forcing you to take sides and decide whether he is guilty or not  after Bobo, who is also on trial, testifies that Steve was the one who was supposed to give him and his accomplice, King, a signal informing them that all was clear and they could go on a rob the store. Steve takes the stand and claims he was not in the store that day; he was “looking around taking mental notes about places he wanted to film for a school film project. And after a witness, Mr. Sawicki (a teacher), testifies in favor of Steve, the reader can finally exhale and see a ray of hope. His lawyer, Obrien, shares her closing statement and helps the jury see that Steve’s “job” was to signal that the store was empty, but Bobo said he didn’t signal anything. She also mentioned Steve did not receive payment for doing his part. Can he be guilty? After an intense waiting period, the jury finds Steve not guilty. He returns home with his family and focuses on filmmaking.

Author Walter Dean Myers is now gone, but he has left a legacy of talent and passion. He was an award winning writer and mainly wrote for young people. He wrote over one hundred books that earned him numerous awards. He wrote many books for young adults. In 2007, he wrote Harlem Summer and What They Found: Love on 145th Street. The following year, he wrote Game and Sunrise Over Fallujah. He continued to write and added a more books to his repertoire: Riot, Lockdown, Kick, Carmen, Tags, The Getover, and many more.

It is impossible not to connect with the main character. In my opinion, the opportunity to role play would be an excellent way to bring the book to life. Students can choose sides, form groups (for and against), and go home and prepare to defend Steven or send him to jail for the rest of his life. This can then lead them to making their own movie and acting Steve’s film. They may chose their character: judge, defend lawyer, prosecutor, guards, prisoners, defendants, etc! It can be recorded and uploaded to YouTube!

The Hate U Give

Thomas, A. (2017). The hate u give. New York: Harper Collins.

This intense and extraordinary story begins with a shooting; it sets the mood for the reader, and he  immediately finds out this book will be filled with action from beginning to end.

Starr, the main character,  is a young African American girl that lives in an area filled with crime and uncertainty. She doesn’t attend the school she is zoned to because her parents feel it does not offer opportunities for success, so she assists a school in which the majority of the population is White.

Starr, unfortunately, loses two of her best friends to gang violence and racism. One of these friends, is killed by a White officer and the entire story revolves around the battle of seeking justice for Khalil. This brings Star internal conflicts as she fights her own battles, for she is being pulled by her roots and her desire to be somebody in life. After testifying and sharing what really happened the day Khalil was murdered to the cops, media, D.A., and a jury, the officer is found not guilty. This angered the Black community and brought protests and riots. Starr is irate too, and decides to be part of the protests and is televised speaking up and throwing tear gas back to the officers.  During this time, her father’s grocery store is set on fire by a leader of a gang who had been terrorizing the community for years. Fortunately, the other business owners gather and courageously accuse him with law enforcement.

At the end of the story, unity, hope,  and solidarity prevails and gives everyone hope and a new beginning. The Hate U Give is inspired by Tupac and his definition of THUG LIFE. Starr makes a decision to stop giving hate and making a difference. Starr and her family move out of Garden Heights but promise to never abandon the people and speak up against police brutality. Starr’s father also has an opportunity to start fresh and rebuild his store.

The Hate U Give reminds me of Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian because both Starr and Arnold are faced with the challenge of having to move to Anglo dominant campuses in search for better opportunities. They both were forced to lose loved ones to unnatural causes.

The Hate U Give helps readers understand that not all cops are bad, but there have been some that have taken lives of many young Black men unjustly. Another book that touches this topic, is Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles. This book is about a young Black boy who is killed by the police at a party. His twin brother, Marvin, must go on living his life struggling to understand the meaning of freedom and justice.  

There are several important topics mentioned in the book: Black Lives Matter, police brutality, life in a gang, poverty, and drugs. There are other movements such as Blue Lives Matter that talk about how police officers are also victims. It would be wonderful for students in a reading class to be exposed to another point of view. Students are able to read books that discuss this topic such as Blue Lives Matter in the Line of Duty, by Steve Cooley and can expose them to another perspective which can help them see that all lives matter. Students can create a podcast that can discuss both topics and invite community members to participate.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Alexie, S. (2007). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little, Brown & Company.

 Arnold is a teenager that lives in Spokane Indian Reservation. He is born with cerebral spinal fluid inside his skull which causes him to have seizures. Because of his physical appearance (skinny, has way more teeth than the average human, wears glasses, and stutters), he constantly gets beaten up. To escape his miserable life and to feel important, he draws cartoons. His parents are extremely poor, therefore, they were not able to achieve their dreams even though they had potential. He has only one true friend, Rowdy, which suffers from domestic violence. His home environment causes him to be violent himself. But, he does not mistreat Arnold but protects him from bullies. After an incident with his geometry teacher and seeing that there is no hope in his current school, Mr. P., Arnold decided to change his future by transferring to Reardan High School, a school filled with middle class White students. He had to overcome various obstacles: he struggled to get a ride to get to school and his new classmates treated him as an outsider while his Indian tribe treated him as a traitor. Arnold experiences internal conflicts since he is torn between his dreams of success and his people. As the story progresses, he is able to make friends at Reardan but loses Rowdy. He also suffered emotional loss after experiencing the death of a good friend, his sister, and his grandmother.  As a matter of fact, all deaths were caused by alcohol which the author uses to ensure that the reader is cognizant about how Spokane Indians are predestined to fail in every aspect of their lives. Arnold’s life changes when he becomes a basketball star. He did have an opportunity to play against his old school, Wellpinit. Rowdy was so hurt that he elbows Arnold. The injury required stitches. Arnold did have an opportunity to savor revenge and played against Rowdy again. The outcome of the game was quite different, for Reardan beats Wellpinit High School by forty points. After winning, Arnold realizes that he misses his friend. Towards the end of the book, the archenemies become friends once again. Arnold invites Rowdy to join him in Reardan, but he refuses. He does give him credit for being like the “old time Indians” that used to be nomadic. The book ends with a reconciliation and a game of basketball.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is similar to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Both main characters are cartoonists, are portrayed as weak, and are unpopular in their schools. Both books are extremely entertaining, but the Diary of a Wimpy Kid is geared more towards middle grade and tweens.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian can give the teacher an opportunity to expose the students to the Spokane culture. With the help of the librarian, students can research the Spokane culture and can report their findings via podcasts.