Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir by Maggie Thrash(2017, Candlewick; 272 pages) This is an extraordinary book about what it feels like to be a teenage girl, with a heartachy, non-happy ending. It is also a book filled with extraordinarily beautiful art vignettes. It is an honest, funny, "can’t stop reading" type of book. It is also an exceptional memoir, both romantic and devastating, and a story of self-discovery and love. Finally, Honor Girl is the incredible debut of Maggie Thrash, staff writer for Rookie, a popular online magazine for teenage girls. The story is about a girl named Maggie, who, at fifteen, has never kissed a guy and has spent basically every summer of her life at the one-hundred-year-old Camp Bellflower for Girls, set deep in the heart of Appalachia. She lives in Atlanta and is into the Backstreet Boys. She considers her life is the typical life of a typical teenager with no confounding moments. But then, that confounding moment happens. It is just a second, and it involves an innocent physical contact during a lice inspection. But in that second, Maggie feels something truly different, and falls into gut-twisting love with Erin, an older, wiser, and, most surprising of all (at least to Maggie), female counselor. Recommended to those readers looking for books that you can’t put down and that stay with you after you get to the end. This one goes right to the heart. Find this title in our catalog: Honor Girl Recommended by: Maite
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California Dreamin': Cass Elliot Before The Mamas & The Papas by Penelope Bagieu (2017, First Second; 272 pages) Bestselling graphic novelist Pénélope Bagieu, as The Washington Post wrote, "can turn paper into flesh. And ink becomes lifeblood." She has certainly done so in this fantastic illustrated biography of Ellen Cohen, the teen girl from Baltimore with an incredible voice, confidence, and dreams that would become the legendary Mama Cass of the folk group The Mamas & The Papas. The book pencils the life story of a girl that dreamed of being not just a singer but a star, and not just a star, but a superstar. The reader follows her on her adventure that takes her, at the age of nineteen at the dawn of the sixties, far away from her hometown. The author explores with care and a distinct graphic style how at her size, Ellen was never going to be the kind of girl that record producers wanted on album covers. But Cass Elliot would find an unlikely group of co-conspirators, and in their short time together this bizarre and dysfunctional band recorded some of the most memorable songs of their era. Describing the whirlwind of drugs, war, love, and music that the singer went through, Bagieu brings us a memorable biography of a woman who struggled to keep sight of her dreams, of who she loved, and, most importantly, who she was. This reading is a fantastic introduction not only to a charismatic American singer, but also to one of the most kaleidoscopic times in the American music scene. Recommended to older teens. Find this title in our catalog: California Dreamin' Recommended by: Maite Twelve Days In May: Freedom Ride 1961 by Larry Dane Brimner (2017, Calkins Creek; 107 pages) This book tells the extraordinary story of thirteen activists - black and white, young and old, male and female - who, on May 4, 1961, decided to board two buses in Washington, D.C., for New Orleans, Louisiana. James Farmer, James Peck, Genevieve Hughes, Joseph ¨Joe¨ P. Perkins Jr., Walter Bergman, Frances Bergman, Albert Smith Bigelow, Jimmy McDonald, Edward ¨Ed¨ Blankenheim, Henry ¨Hank¨ Thomas, Charles Person, Benjamin Elton Cox, and John Lewis were their names. Their Freedom Ride would last just twelve days, but their mission was clear. The laws prohibiting segregation on buses crossing state lines and at bus stations were being violated. These Freedom Riders were determined to draw attention to the laws' lack of enforcement. What started as a peaceful protest turned violent as they traveled deeper into the South. “Each Freedom Rider had a small carry-on 'bag containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, and an inspiring book or two' just in case the unexpected included jail. Twenty-one-year-old John Lewis, one of the riders, has three books in his bag: 'one by [Catholic philosopher] Thomas Merton, another about Gandhi and the Bible.' One of the best nonfiction books of the year, Twelve Days in May brings to the reader the possibility of getting on that historic bus. With astonishing photographs in black and white, and a spectacular design, everything about the book is just extraordinary. Recommended to everybody, a must-read. Find this title in our catalog: Twelve Days In May Recommended by: Maite What Girls Are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold (2017, Carolrhoda Lab TM; 208 pages) When Elana K. Arnold was a little girl there was a nursery rhyme that made her feel smug. The rhyme goes like this: “Sugar and spice and everything nice; That's what girls are made of.” The stuff of girls is meant to be consumed, a yummy sweet treat that melts in your mouth, the rhyme seems to say. But to an adult, the rhyme reads as a warning rather than an assessment, the author tells us. It's an imperative: to be a girl, one must be sweet and delicious, and one must be made entirely of everything nice. What Girls Are Made Of is a book that brings awareness to the fact that girls are not made entirely of sweetness; on the contrary, they are made also of gore, and negatives, and all the functions of a body. The book examines from a fearless point of view the courage and struggle of being a teenage girl in the modern world, and the result is stunning in honesty and depth. With beautiful prose, Elana K. Arnold takes us to all sorts of places to show us what girls are made of: a high-kill animal shelter, an abortion clinic, a bridge to nowhere that adventure seekers bungee jump from, and all the way to Italy, to the sites of classical and religious art, where the main character and narrator of the story, a sixteen year old girl named Nina, learns the sacred tradition of how stories are told via the distortion and pain of a woman’s body through the statues of saints who endured unspeakable torture because of their unquestioning devotion to the divine. The question of what is love perspires along the book. Nina will do anything for the boy she loves, just to prove she's worthy of him, but when he breaks up with her, Nina is lost and wonders what she is made of, what is love made of. After all, Nina's mother informs a fourteen-year-old, “I could stop loving you at anytime,” adding that “No one loves without conditions.” Raw and unflinching, this book is fantastic. Recommended to older teens and mature readers. Find this title in our catalog: What Girls Are Made Of Recommended by: Maite Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson (2017, Bloomsbury USA Children's; 272 pages) This is a book about Jade, a girl striving for success in a world that feels too often like it wants to break her. The novel explores issues of race, privilege, and relationships, and it does so in a thought-provoking and relevant way. The action of piecing means to assemble something from individual parts. Jade loves art and she creates complex and extraordinary collages, where she overlaps, juxtapositions, and shifts images and pictures of what she observes in her world. I found it fascinating that the author would choose this art practice to define Jade. Collage is a medium that allows the artist to shift centers and margins, where the borders are not fixed, and this message is fundamental in Jade's story. Jade believes she must get out of her poor neighborhood if she's ever going to succeed. Her mother works hard to help her do that, and she sends her to a private school far away from her friends and neighborhood, where she has plenty of opportunities, but where she also feels like an outsider. One of the opportunities she can enjoy is a mentorship program she joins on the promise of a scholarship to go to college. The program is called Woman to Woman, and although Jade is thankful for being chosen to participate in it, she also tires of being singled out as someone who needs support, or someone people want to fix. She doesn't doubt her desire to speak, to create, to express her joys and sorrows, her pain and her joy. And so she decides that maybe she can show other women about understanding her world and about finding opportunities to be real and make a difference. Each chapter has a title in Spanish and English. Jade loves learning Spanish, and she uses this second language as a way to piece thoughts together. Chapter 1 español Spanish language "I am learning to speak. To give myself a way out. A way in." The power of woman’s friendship is a continuous stream in the story of Piecing Me Together, a book that also includes an extraordinary reflection on violence and race. Beautiful reading, recommended to all, especially if you enjoyed The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. Find this title in our catalog: Piecing Me Together Recommended by: Maite March: Books One, Two, and Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (2013, Top Shelf Productions; 576 pages) This three-part series of graphic novels, told through the perspective of Congressman and Civil Rights leader John Lewis, depicts aspects of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. It focuses on numerous events, juxtaposed with the inauguration of Barack Obama, the nation’s first African American president. Find this title in our catalog: March Recommended by: Ariadne #NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women; Edited by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale (2017, Annick Press; 112 pages) Fifty contemporary artists come together in a compelling collection with a great title to break into pieces stereotypes about what it is like to be an indigenous woman or girl today. #NotYourPrincess reveals and shares stories of strength, diversity, pain from the past, and hope for the future, and shows the incredible talent of Native American girls and women across North America. "I am always trying to escape - from dangerous situations, from racist stereotypes, from environmental destruction in my territory, and from the assault on my freedom as an individual and as part of the Nishnaabeg nation. As an indigenous person, I have to escape in order to survive, but I don't just escape. I hold this beautiful, rich indigenous decolonial space inside and around me." The words of Leanne Simpson (Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg) acompanied by a gorgeous illustration called RedWoman by Aza E. Abe (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe) open an incredible book of testimonies that becomes a love letter to all young Indigenous women trying to find their way, shattering stereotypes, and, as one of the editors of the book writes, a way to "collectively move forward to a brighter future for all." The book includes photographs and art from Native American Women artists and photographers, and they add an incredible layer of complexity and raw beauty to the publication. Recommended to older teens and adults. Find this title in our catalog: #NotYourPrincess Recommended by: Maite Turtles All The Way Down by John Green (2017, Dutton Books For Young Readers; 304 pages) Green, the award-winning author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, tells the impactful story of a girl with OCD in his new YA release. From Amazon.com: Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis. Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts. Find this title in our catalog: Turtles All The Way Down Recommended by: Ariadne The Closest I've Come by Fred Aceves (2017, HarperTeen; 320 pages) Author Fred Aceves has created in The Closest I've Come one of my favorite teen characters ever. Marcos Rivas is a young adult trying to make the best of a not very easy life. He shares with other teenagers the feeling of being trapped by societal rules and expectations, but he has it a little bit more difficult than most. Marcos' neighborhood is a tough one, a place where violence and drugs are commonplace. The neighborhood is called Maesta. Growing up there, boys learn not to talk about feelings, and there is a pressure to bury them constantly. This will become one of Marcos' struggles, especially when at home he's dealing with a stepdad who verbally and physically abuses him, and with an uncaring mother who does nothing about it. And while his buddies in the Maesta are cool, Marcos feels that he can't open up to them. The result is a feeling of disconnection. He feels lost and he falls behind in school. But his world will turn around when he is offered an opportunity to join an after-school program for underperforming students. There he will meet Zach, a guy unafraid of emotions, and he meets and falls hard for Amy, a white girl with a very strong personality and a life that feels too similar to his. The story of The Closest I've Come is raw, funny, and fabulously real. When Marcos ultimately learns that strength and bravery aren´t about acting tough and being macho, but about being true to yourself, I actually cheered aloud. The writing in the book is superb, and you can hear Marcos, Zach, Amy, and the other characters' voices loud and clear. The translation of the genuine Latino accents in the book is an absolute delight. Fred Aceves first novel is a must-read. Recommended to fans of Walter Dean Myers and Matt De La Peña, and to readers who want to understand the lives of teens who can´t afford to buy a new pair of sneakers or a working cell phone, teens who yearn for love and acceptance while dealing with poverty and violence. Find this title in our catalog: The Closest I've Come Recommended by: Maite The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (2009, Simon & Schuster; 213 pages) Stephen Chbosky writes the heartbreaking account of Charlie, a high school freshman who doesn't really fit in. His story is sweet and sad, as well as a tad philosophical. Through Charlie, Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. Find this title in our catalog: The Perks of Being a Wallflower Recommended by: Ariadne |
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March 2018
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