Graphic
novelist Gene Luen Yang, National Ambassador for Young Adult Literature, is
challenging readers of all ages to expand our horizons by “Reading Without
Walls” during April and beyond. Read a
book about a character who doesn’t look like you or live like you; a book on a
topic you don’t know much about; or a book in a format you don’t normally
choose to read for fun. Here are some suggestions from PWPL’s “New Teen” book
shelves to help you begin Reading Without Walls.
Angie
Thomas’ debut novel The Hate U Give
has made a big splash in the literary world as the first Black Lives Matter book,
a powerful story told in the voice of teenager Starr Carter. Starr is a smart,
athletic girl straddling two worlds: the poor, mostly black neighborhood in
which she lives and the high school she attends in a wealthy, mostly white
neighborhood. Starr balances her worlds admirably until the night she watches
in horror as a police officer brutally murders her childhood friend during a
traffic stop. Don’t miss The Hate U Give
and its raw, unflinching look at what it means to live as a black person in the
United States. Starr’s narrative voice is authentic and entertaining, her story
compelling.
Why
not check out Adam Rapp’s and Mike Cavallaro’s romantic dystopia, Decelerate Blue, and give graphic novels
a look? In Decelerate’s
futuristic world, speed and efficiency are everything, and people rush along
under a nonstop barrage of sensory stimulation. Angela thinks she might be the
only person alive who sees anything wrong with this picture, but in fact she's
not alone. She finds herself recruited into a resistance movement where the key
to rebellion is slowing things down. In their secret underground hideout, they
create a life unplugged from the breakneck pace of the consumer culture outside.
Can they free the rest of the world before the powers that be shut down their
utopian experiment?
For another new
format, discover the beauty of a novel written in verse! Ronit & Jamil, by Pamela L. Laskin, offers a captivating
retelling of Romeo & Juliet, set amid the modern day conflict between
Israel and Palestine. Ronit, an Israeli girl,
lives on one side of the fence. Jamil, a Palestinian boy, lives on the other
side. The miles between them are nothing compared to the generations of strife
that separate their families. Sparks fly when Ronit and Jamil are brought
together through a mistrustful business arrangement between their fathers, igniting
a teenage romance that is both timeless and timely.
You
don’t have to know anything about computer coding to enjoy Andrea Gonzales’ and
Sophie Houser’s account of their success in the world of computer gaming, Girl Code: Gaming, Going Viral, and Getting
It Done. As teenagers, Andrea and Sophie decided to fight the taboo
surrounding women’s periods by creating a video game called Tampon Run. The game went viral
overnight, thrusting the girls into the spotlight and giving them exclusive access
to the tech industry. Now Andrea and Sophie have decided to share their
empowering, and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, experiences as successful
female coders in a male-dominated industry.
In her debut
novel, American Street, Ibi Zoboi
draws on her own experience as a young Haitian immigrant, infusing this exploration
of America with magical realism and voodou culture. Fabiola Toussaint thought she
would finally find a good life on
the corner of American Street and Joy Road. But after they leave
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola’s mother is detained by U.S. immigration,
leaving Fabiola on her own to navigate her new school and new life on the
gritty west side of Detroit. Fabiola’s poignant story offers a window to the
dreams and dangers of the modern day immigrant experience.
--Mary Schneeberger, Teen Services Coordinator
No comments:
Post a Comment