Black, H. (2015). The darkest part of the forest. New York, New York: Little Brown Books for Young Readers.
Hazel and Ben live in Fairfold, a town surrounded by forest and faerie folk. Their town is both lovely and dangerous, thanks to their faerie neighbors, but the town works this to their advantage, making a tourist trade out of local sights such as the horned faerie lad asleep in an unbreakable glass coffin.
Years ago, Hazel made a secret bargain with the faeries, promising seven years of her life as payment. She realizes it is time to start paying the debt when she wakes with muddy feet, glass shards embedded in her palms, and no memory of how this could have happened. She finds out that someone has freed the Horned Prince, and she must have had something to do with it.
From here the story takes us through a series of dangerous adventures with Hazel, our brave knight, at the lead, Ben, the talented musician, as the bard, and their friend Jack, a changeling, acting as the bridge between the two worlds. In the end they band together with the Horned Prince and take on the true monster at the heart of the forest, his father, the Alderking.
I truly enjoyed Black’s writing. This book is a brilliant meshing of the real world and its pain with the fantastic realm of the faeries, written in its darkest form. Teachers looking for a fresh take on teaching archetypes will enjoy the twist Black offers here as she switches out the traditional gender roles while keeping the same flavor as the old faerie tales.
Angleberger, T., & Rosenstock, J. (2015). The strange case of Origami Yoda ([Paperback] ed.). New York, New York: Harry N. Abrams.
Tommy and his friends attend McQuarrie Middle School. One of the boys there, Dwight, is the kid who can’t seem to get anything right, but he does have one solid talent: he can fold origami. One day Dwight shows up with an Origami Yoda he has created himself. He didn’t just download the instructions from the Internet, Dwight created this design. Tommy is struggling with whether to ask a girl, Hannah, to dance, and Dwight suggests he ask Origami Yoda for advice. Origami Yoda’s response is, “Rush in fools do.” While the boys are trying to interpret this response, a super tall seventh-grader swoops in and starts kissing Hannah. Tommy is extremely grateful that Origami Yoda saved him from embarrassment, and that is where the mysterious case begins. Tommy has his friends write down (or record, or text) their experiences with the finger puppet, and the evidence at the end of the book is pretty convincing: Origami Yoda’s advice appears to be the real thing. Not only that, but Tommy and Dwight become friends, and through Dwight and Origami Yoda’s encouragement, Tommy finally asks Sara to dance.
This is a terrifically fun read, especially for the middle grades, and instructions at the end demonstrating how to fold your own puppet are an absolute bonus. I can imagine reading this to a class and then having them move to maker stations to build their own origami creations. Not only is this book fun to read, but with a new Star Wars movie coming out soon, the topic is definitely on trend with students and an example of remaining aware of their popular culture.
Smith, A. (2014). Grasshopper jungle: A history. New York, New York: Penguin Group.
Most 16-year-old boys attending private Lutheran schools in small towns like Ealing, Iowa, probably expect their days to be filled with thoughts of school, sexuality, and their next adventure with their best friend. In that sense, Austin Szerba is a pretty normal teenage boy. His thoughts really do focus on what arouses him, and from what the reader can see, that’s about everything. Austin ends up facing his confused sexual feelings toward both his friends Robby and Shanna at the same time he is having to deal with the knowledge that the world may be coming to an end if they can’t find a way to stop the advance of six-foot-tall praying mantis type creatures who have exactly two priorities: food and sex. Exciting, crude, and full of surprises, this book keeps readers on the edge of their seats right up to the surprising end when we learn that the humans didn’t win this battle.
So much about this book was out of my ordinary reading experience, and it was a refreshing change to not have the teenaged heroes win the day and save the world. While the creatures taking over the world was a definite science fiction-styled twist, the main character dealt with real teenage issues many of our own students face. We see definite evidence of Havighurst’s developmental tasks here as Austin works to cultivate an easy relationship with the opposite sex as well as define appropriate sex roles for himself.
King, A. (2010). Please ignore Vera Dietz. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Vera Dietz is trying to avoid her DNA date with destiny, but first she has to deal with the death of her used-to-be best friend, Charlie Kahn. Vera has loved Charlie since they were children, and they kept each other’s darkest secrets as only the best of friends can do—until one of them doesn’t, and a friendship is ruined overnight. Told in a compelling combination of points of view, including Vera’s father, her dead friend, and even the inanimate Red Pagoda that watches over their town, we learn Vera and Charlie’s history as well as the circumstances leading up to his death. Vera puts up the good fight, but readers see her slipping from the straight “A” student to a girl quickly becoming a slave to alcohol. Readers may find themselves cringing as she sets herself on this path of destruction, but they will care enough to continue reading as her ghostly friend, Charlie, helps to make things right.
As Vera continued to slip into depression and medicating with alcohol, I found myself really caring about her, and hoping one of the other characters would step up and do the right thing instead of enabling her addiction. I wouldn’t readily suggest this book for middle schoolers because of the maturity level needed to understand some of the content, but high school students may see something of their own struggle reflected here. Finding that reflection is important for emotional development, and may help students deal with problems in their own lives.
Crutcher, C. (2003). Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes. New York, N.Y.: Greenwillow Book/HarperTempest/HarperCollins.
Eric describes his best friend, Sarah Byrnes, as “one of the ugliest human beings outside the circus” because of burn scars covering her face and hands from a childhood accident. The two of them have been friends since childhood, Sarah Byrnes’ scars and Eric’s obesity bonding the outcasts together. They stayed close, even after Eric joined the swim team and started losing weight. To keep Sarah Byrnes from feeling like she would lose him, Eric purposely overate, staying fat an entire year for her. Now his friend is in the hospital in a catatonic state, and he is unsure what to do. After weeks of no response, one day she starts talking, and explains the real cause of her burns, her violent father. His violence is peaking again, and she needs to get away. Sarah Byrnes sneaks out of the hospital with Eric’s help, and along with their teacher Mrs. Lemry, they devise a plan to get Sarah to safety. Sarah’s father attacks Eric, putting him in the hospital, and the entire story comes out in the open. In the epilogue, we learn the Lemry’s adopted Sarah, and Eric heals enough to start swimming for his new college where the coach promises to get him into sprinting shape.
This book was powerful. I enjoyed its biting humor and teared up when Sarah’s mother turned her back on her. These are not lessons all teens will have to learn, but the thematic concepts of friendship, love and abandonment are universal. Havighurst’s developmental tasks are present in this book as well. Sarah definitely undergoes a changing relationship with her parents, and Eric has to weigh his morals and values, deciding the right path to take.
Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books.
Jacqueline Woodson was born February 12, 1963, into the Civil Rights strife of the 1960s. Every winter her family travels by bus from Ohio to South Carolina, where her mother was raised. Her father doesn’t like to go with them because of “The way they treated us there” (p. 29). Her parents fight, and as the fights worsen, Jacqueline’s mother leaves Ohio for good, taking the children with her. They live with Jacqueline’s grandparents in South Carolina until their mother moves them up to New York to live with her and their new baby brother.
When Jacqueline’s baby brother, Roman, gets lead poisoning and must remain in the hospital, the children return to South Carolina, but now children tease the siblings because of how they dress and talk, and Jacqueline realizes how stuck she is between two worlds.
Jacqueline struggles with reading and writing, but she loves words and the stories she creates. She memorizes words from books and song lyrics and finds herself able to begin writing out the stories inside her. She shares her poetry, and her teacher declares her a writer. Woodson ends her memoir in verse with the poem “each world.” “When there are many worlds/ you can choose the one/ you walk into each day,” reminding us that all our worlds come together to create our unique self, full of possibility.
As an autobiography, I appreciated how Woodson makes the time period come alive for her readers—the Civil Rights marches don’t seem as abstract when her mother is taking part in them. This book would also make an excellent companion or cross-curricular read with informational pieces from the time period.
Sartrapi, M. (2004). Persepolis. New York, NY: Pantheon.
Persepolis begins with an explanation of life in Iran and how it was quickly changing for 10-year-old Marjane (Marji). The first two panels show a class photo, and all the girls are wearing veils. She explains in the next few panels that this began in 1980 with the Islamic Revolution. There were many changes during this time. The bilingual schools were all closed, all girls were required to wear veils, and girls and boys had to be taught separately. These changes were only a drop in the bucket for what was to come. As the unrest in her story grows, Iran becomes an increasingly dangerous place to live. Family members are killed because of their beliefs, and there are bombings taking out entire buildings in their neighborhood. After years of living in peril, Marji’s progressive parents decide it is time to send her to school in Austria so she will be safe. The book ends with her parents leaving her in the airport, promising they will meet her in Austria in six months’ time.
Persepolis is an excellent example of an autobiography made accessible to students through its presentation. Satrapi’s words tell the story, but she isn’t afraid to allow her drawings to paint an even clearer picture with deeper meaning, and whether the students intend to or not, they are learning about a culture and people often misrepresented. Teachers will also want to make sure students know there is a Persepolis 2.
Quintero, I. (2014). Gabi: A girl in pieces. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos.
Senior year of high school should be memorable, but maybe not for the reasons Gabi will remember hers: her best female friend is pregnant, her mom is pregnant, and her best male friend came out to his parents and was thrown out. Top this off with a father who is a drug addict and lives on the street most of the time, and it is apparent senior year won’t be simply smooth sailing. This story told in diary form isn’t all dark and dismal, though. Gabi has a wonderful take on life and the situations around her. She takes a poetry class and loves the artistic outlet writing gives her, and she even has a terrific boyfriend. When friends, boyfriend and family fail her, there is always her first true love—food. It is absolutely fitting that at the end of the book this is where everyone is able to gather, around food at Gabi’s favorite hot wing restaurant.
I absolutely loved this spunky main character. Gabi is full of life and has strong convictions. She also highlights the importance of knowing our students socially and culturally. Gabi’s character plays well with students interested in strong female characters, and her ties to the Hispanic community, as well as the large amount of Spanish in the book, are definitely selling points culturally.
This book also provides perfect introductions to many different poets such as: Sandra Cisneros, Pablo Neruda, Shakespeare, Robert Burns and many more. ELA teachers could easily use ideas from the book such as creating poetry greeting cards with each line of the poem illustrated inside, bringing in a spoken word poet, or showing spoken word poets on YouTube.
Ness, P. (2008). The knife of never letting go. Boston, MA: Candlewick Press.
Just shy of his 13th birthday, Todd Hewitt is sent on an errand through the swamp and hears a void in the Noise—a place of absolute silence. On Todd’s planet everything talks, including the animals, and everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts—what they refer to as the Noise. Todd hurries home and tells his foster parents, and he is told to leave home immediately and never return—there is no time to explain. Todd and his dog, Manchee, run back through the swamp where they discover the quiet is actually a terrified girl. Todd has never seen a girl. All the women on his planet died after being exposed to the same germ that caused the Noise. Todd realizes nearly everything he knows is a lie, and he must find the truth for himself. They run and inevitably make it to Haven, the place they are supposed to find answers, but instead of answers Viola is shot, and Todd is captured by the men who have been hunting him down since the beginning.
I absolutely enjoyed how this story makes something new out of the old sci-fi tales where settlers from Earth struggle to colonize new planets. Teachers will love using the dialect to reinforce the concept of diction with students.
Kohlberg’s theory of moral development needs to be considered when suggesting this book to students, though. Students at the preconventional stage might struggle understanding Todd’s reluctance to kill the turtle and then later, the crazed preacher, Aaron.
Myers, W. D. (1999). Monster. New York, NY: Harper.
Steve Harmon, a sixteen-year-old African American boy, is on trial for allegedly taking part in an armed robbery that resulted in the death of a store owner. His time in jail is frightening, and time spent in the courtroom isn’t much better. Steve comes up with the idea to write down his experiences as a movie script he titles “Monster,” after part of the prosecuting attorney’s opening statement. Steve shares his tale through a combination of flashback and present day action where he is either in jail or the courthouse. In the end he is found not guilty, and in the months after Steve begins filming himself. He tries different angles, clothes and voices as he attempts to discover who he is and what other people see.
I really enjoyed reading this book; the writing style is unique and kept me seeing things through more than one lens. It made me think about perceptions and stereotypes and how willing we are to believe things with little evidence because of prior assumptions. Monster would make for terrific classroom discussion, and because it is such a high-interest topic as well as a subject seen frequently in the news and social media, high school students may be more likely to read it without balking. The fact that it is written in a movie script format also makes the book appear less long and daunting, a plus for reluctant readers.