In this rather extraordinary memoir, Jamal Joseph recounts his journey from Black Panther to prison to professor at Columbia University.
Joseph gave the Arthur Curley Memorial Lecture at ALA Midwinter in Dallas last month, which was followed by this interview with American Libraries Associate Editor Pamela A. Goodes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzKLO2fdXiU
Goodes begins by asking, “So many lessons to be learned, especially for the youth today. Is that why you decided to tell your story?”
Joseph answers, “Yes, it actually is. I work with young people in New York. I travel the country speaking to high school students and college students. And every one of them has a similar question, and it’s What was it Like? What was the experience like of growing up in the movement? How did you become who you are today? So the book is written from that perspective through the curious eyes and passionate heart of a 15-year-old…”
That being said, fortunately, the book doesn’t come off as a history book, or as an adult trying to instruct young people. It is a thrilling you-are-there narration of his amazing life. Take a look at the book trailer.
JOSEPH, Jamal. Panther Baby: A Life of Rebellion & Reinvention. 272p. Algonquin. 2012. Tr $23.95. ISBN 978-1-5651-2950-4. LC 2011032139.
Adult/High School–In 1968, America was coming apart at the seams. Protests against the war in Viet Nam and demonstrations for racial justice turned violent. The assassinations of King and Kennedy bookended the spring. The Beatles sang Revolution. Jamal Joseph, 15, realized that the only way to overcome racism and the oppression of the poor was by fighting back, revolution. He attended his first Black Panther meeting that summer, willing to be a soldier for the cause of black power. But instead of guns he was handed books and began to learn that empowerment depended on education and that power belonged to all people. He was not averse to violence and was prepared to die for the cause at a time when police brutality and government retaliation against black activists was rampant. He was arrested, fled as a fugitive, and eventually served time in prison where he earned three degrees and emerged a playwright and poet. His writing talents make his memoir a series of riveting events that will have readers hooked from the first pages. That he is the godfather of Tupac Shakur will attract many teens to the book, but it is Joseph’s life dedicated to change and community that will inspire them. His experiences provide a unique insight that contributes to our understanding of a time of profound social upheaval in America. It should be a part of any reading list for students studying the ‘60s.–John Sexton, Greenburgh Public Library, NY
William Landay’s new legal thriller is one of the big buzz books of the season. Comparisons to Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent, arguably one of the best and most popular courtroom dramas ever, are ubiquitous, as are comparisons to John Grisham.
Why for teens? This one involves two 14-year-old boys. One murdered, the other accused.
Adult/High School–Fourteen-year-old Benjamin Rifkin was stabbed on his way to school and pushed down an embankment to die alone. Assistant DA Andy Barber recognizes this as a high-profile case and is ready to prosecute any suspects. Then he discovers that his eighth grade son will be charged–Jacob had a knife, motive, and left a bloody fingerprint on the body. It will take all of Barber’s skills to ensure his son survives this ordeal, guilty or not. Barber has his own damning past, leading to the identification of a possible “killing gene,” further complicating Jacob’s defense. In fact, the most successful element of the story may be Barber’s enlightening explanations of prosecutor and defense-attorney strategies. An imaginative structure keeps the narrative moving forward. Each chapter is interrupted by court transcripts, and at first it’s confusing that Barber himself is testifying–it’s unknown if he’s defending his son or his own actions. Slowly it’s revealed that there are actually two trials. Jacob’s guilt or innocence is a matter of interpretation, keeping tensions high as more information comes to light and his trial progresses to an unpredictable conclusion and shocking aftermath. Readers never hear Jacob’s point of view, but the story will still appeal to any teen even slightly interested in old-style Grisham novels or a law career. Although not graphically violent, the story takes some very dark and potentially disturbing turns. Give this one to mature teens willing to examine morally challenging situations.–Priscille Dando, Robert E. Lee High School, Fairfax County, VA
from graphic novel guest blogger Francisca Goldsmith:
Ernie Colón’s transformation of a quartet of horror tales from the essentially aural to equally essentially visual suggests some interesting questions about how our minds meet and work with elements of story. Inner Sanctum was among the radio-broadcast “theaters” through which audiences could get doses of pleasing thrills in pre-television days—about 500 tales of “mystery, horror and suspense” were brought to life by actors using voices and sound effects between 1941 and 1952. Altering the support of sounds for the support of pictures is only part of Colón’s work here: his choices of panels and perspectives come to the fore to create a new—but loyal—way of experiencing what started as actor’s voices. By maintaining the period piece affects of costuming and setting that the radio period implied, he allows readers to settle back without fear of exposure to full-color mayhem or 21st century horror.
Imagination, of course, is essential to receiving any story, whether visual or auditory. In this little enactment, we can feel that flicker of understanding about how different—and how similar—the workings of eye and ear can be, if the storyteller allows us to lose ourselves in the suspense he builds.
Bonus: You can listen yourself and compare the original radio version of “Death of a Doll” (file 60 in this Old Time Radio archives) with the visual presentation of it in this collection.
COLÓN, Ernie. Inner Sanctum: Tales of Mystery, Horror and Suspense Adapted from the Classic Radio Show. illus. by author. 108p. NBM. 2012. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-56163-614-3. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–Colón, who has a well-earned reputation for bringing both fiction (from Richie Rich episodes to Vampirella) and nonfiction narratives (including The 9/11 Report) to the sequential art reader’s eye and mind, now offers an unusual project: depicting stories that were originally crafted for the ear into versions that “work” for the eye. Inner Sanctum offered listeners, in the days before television’s explosive popularity, creepiness that came to life in plotting and character, but also sound effects. In this collection of adaptations of “The Undead,” “Death of a Doll” and two other stories from the radio show’s archives, Colón maintains the period settings and character interactions, while showing how ominous shading, gestures caught in frozen moments, staring yet lifeless eyes, and the confusion between reality and nightmarish deformity convert the tales from ear to page. As he typically does when binding images into panels, he takes unique pathways across the page and guides readers with arrows when he deems necessary for clarity. Given the attraction this collection can have to those not accustomed to having their reading contain images and a specified page flow as well as words, the extra crutch of pointers can help woo new-to-graphic-novel readers. Colón succeeds in respecting the original tales, his readers, and the joy of getting slightly creeped out.–Francisca Goldsmith, Infopeople Project, CA
Looking for some good old-fashioned story-telling? Look no further. I had a chance to hear Alex George talk about A Good American at ALA Midwinter. He is British — not what I was expecting given that this is a big traditional American novel. He was inspired by his own family and his own experiences. His ancestors moved from England to New Zealand; his mother moved back to the U.K., and he himself emigrated to the United States as an adult. So he decided to write about the experience of making a life in an unfamiliar country. Hear about his trip to Dallas from the man himself in this blog post. He has a sense of humor!
Music, from opera to jazz, is an important element of the book from the first page, which begins “Always, there was music.” George writes about his passion for music in another post, and has put together a playlist for the novel.
A Good American is getting press all over the place, as you can see from the author’s homepage. For teens looking for a saga that will sweep them up easily and immediately, this is a great choice.
GEORGE, Alex. A Good American. 381p. Amy Einhorn. 2012. Tr $25.95. ISBN 978-0-399-15759-2. LC 2011047109.
Adult/High School–When Jette Furst hears Frederick Meisenheimer singing from behind the privet hedge in the Grosse Garden, she feels as though the song were meant just for her; and indeed it was, for Frederick had already lost his heart to this large, gawky young woman. Jette’s mother, and most of Hanover society, condemns a match with a man of no property; so when Jette becomes pregnant, the young lovers flee to America. It is 1904 and, thanks to the kindness of strangers, they make a good life in Beatrice, Missouri, where Frederick gets a job tending bar at the Nick-Nack. Their son, Joseph, and daughter, Rosa, are born in quick succession, and life in their new country, and in Beatrice society, begins in earnest. But World War I devastates them with Frederick’s death. Prohibition and the Depression require Jette to turn the Nick-Nack into a restaurant. The family’s friendship with an African American musician named Lomax collides with the growing overt racism that shows them the underside of American life. Joseph takes over the restaurant and gets married, and the family grows to include his four children. Rosa returns from college to teach at the local school. The panoply that is America is played out in these characters, their music, and their town. George spins this captivating family tale in a clear, straightforward, unsentimental style. His novel has much to offer teens with its easy manner, quirky characters, and story lines that describe an immigrant experience in a country on the verge of becoming great.–Connie Williams, Petaluma High School, CA
Jane Eyre is the perfect coming-of-age novel, if you ask me. To read a 20th century retelling is a joy. And this is not just any retelling, but a beautifully written one that dovetails back and forth with the original, sometimes staying close, sometimes wandering farther afield. The Flight of Gemma Hardy is a great book in its own right, but it also offers the opportunity to ponder the author’s choices and what they say about women’s lives and independence in the 1960s compared to the mid-1800s.
There is also great pleasure to be had in the correspondence between the title and the text. As a young girl, Gemma would “fly away into the pictures” of her uncle’s birding book. She is attuned to the natural world, and birds in particular. She takes great interest in the unfamiliar species she spots in the Orkneys during her walks. Gemma herself is in flight more than once. It’s not a complicated correspondence, but it is lovely.
How many teens read Jane Eyre these days? I’m not sure. In my school, Wuthering Heights is a much more frequently assigned text. Fortunately, Gemma Hardy stands alone. And it might inspire the right young reader to pick up its inspiration.
Obviously, I am a huge fan of The Flight of Gemma Hardy. I suspect it will be among my personal favorites of the year. So why didn’t I give it a starred review? First, it sticks a little too close to the Jane Eyre storyline for the first half. And the nature of its appeal is not immediately engaging. As I mention in the review, it becomes progressively more absorbing as it moves forward. This is not the ideal trajectory for teen appeal. Also, the writing style is full of detailed description, both of place and of emotion. The reader comes away with clear mental pictures of the English country house where Gemma lives with her uncle’s family, the landscape and wildlife of the farm in the Orkneys, and the shores of Iceland. I reveled in this immersion myself, but I think it might slow down some teens readers. Gemma is young and very interesting, but she is rather adult in her self-examination, in the way she reflects on her motivations, influences, and cares. On the other hand, she is such a teenager in her yearnings for wider experience and the black & white nature of her judgments. Then she matures, gains perspective and some of that experience, and finds peace with the imperfections both of her past and of the man she loves. She grows up.
It wasn’t until I wrote all of this, including the review below, that I allowed myself a look at the New York Times review. (One of my rules, as you can imagine — no reading other reviews until I’ve figured out my own.) How touching is that first paragraph? I’m sure it’s not necessary for such personal experience to inspire a book, but it certainly explains the deep connections between Jane and Gemma… and Margot.
LIVESEY, Margot. The Flight of Gemma Hardy. 464p. Harper. 2012. Tr $26.99. ISBN 978-0-06-206422-6. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–Gemma is born in Iceland, but taken to England to live with her kind uncle after her father disappears at sea, fishing, when she is barely three. She is alternately ignored and abused by his cruel wife and children after his death, so she pursues a scholarship to attend boarding school. Unfortunately, at Claypoole scholarship students are lucky to spend any time in the classroom, more often preparing meals or cleaning bathrooms. Still, Gemma excels and, at 18, wins a post as nanny to a young girl who lives at Blackbird Hall, an isolated farm in the Orkney Islands owned by the frequently absent Mr. Sinclair. For the first time, she has a comfortable room of her own and satisfying work. But she is restless, and begins to suspect that making it to adulthood is only the start of her struggle for a better life. In this retelling of Jane Eyre set in the1960s, Gemma yearns to attend university, to be “beloved and regarded” as an equal, to know more about where she came from. Mr. Sinclair’s shame is not a wife in the attic, but a wartime lie. Birds and images of flight appear lightly and effectively throughout the text. Gemma shows an interest in birds from a young age, and her behavior mimics theirs, alighting briefly on a spot before taking off for the next, moving away from her aunt’s unhappy home, from Claypoole, from Mr. Sinclair, finally flying toward Iceland to find her past. Livesey’s affecting version of Brontë’s coming-of-age story becomes more and more absorbing the farther it moves away from the original, as Gemma finds the compromises in life that will work for her. –Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City
Arthur and Kel are both isolated and lonely, and that is about all their stories seem to have in common for much of this novel. Arthur is a morbidly obese adult; Kel is a teenager whose life is just not going very well. Kel’s story doesn’t launch until about 80 pages into the novel, which may test the patience of some readers. On the other hand, Arthur is a great narrator of his own story, and teens may find themselves drawn in by his condition.
Liz Moore is both a writer and a musician; her debut novel The Words of Every Song (Broadway Books, 2007) was based on her experiences in the music business. You can read excerpts of Heft on her blog (scroll down to find them).
San Francisco Chronicle reviewer Katie Crouch expounds on Kel’s situation and the appeal of the novel’s high school scenes:
“As emotionally appealing as Arthur is, he’s in a dead heat with Kel, the other voice of the novel. Kel is a baseball prodigy, but that’s the only thing he has going for him in life. Though his mother has petitioned him to go to school in a tony suburb where the boys stick to a uniform of chinos and expensive leather flip-flops, Kel’s house in Yonkers often has no heat and electricity because his mom can’t pay the bills.
As we are introduced to Kel’s world, we enter some terrific high school scenarios, the sort those of the John Hughes era may dearly miss in the new teen world of dystopian zombie colonies. Kel is poor, but he’s at a rich school, and his efforts to fit in will tweak even the dustiest of heartstrings.”
Adult/High School–Heft is told in alternating first-person points-of-view by Arthur Opp, a 500+ pound recluse who hasn’t been out of his New York brownstone in years, and Kel Keller, a teen jock living in Yonkers who attends a prestigious public high school in a much richer town. Arthur once taught English at a local university and his only true joy is a sporadic correspondence with Kel’s mother, Charlene, a former student. Kel is trying to hide the fact from friends and school officials that his mother is a staggering drunk who can no longer pay their bills. When she says she is coming to visit, Arthur is forced to reevaluate his solitary life and Kel discovers he doesn’t really know his mother at all. The two men search for meaning and explore their own mettle while forging new relationships: Arthur with Yolanda, a pregnant young maid who comes to clean his house, and Kel with Lindsay Harper, a vivacious girl who seems to be able to look past the surface and see who he really is. Although Arthur and Kel never meet or even speak to one another until the very end of the book, their stories intertwine and run parallel, forming the core of a complex exploration of family and connections, both those we try to make and those that are missed. Both Arthur and Kel have distinct voices, which are welcome lures to those who are willing to stretch a little.–Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI
Shannon Hale’s first adult novel, Austenland (Bloomsbury, 2007) is a fast, fun romantic comedy, well-reviewed in SLJ’s Adult Books for High School Students column. In the sequel, we’re back in Pembrook Park resort with a new heroine, hoping for romance Darcy-style.
Shannon Hale is well-known by younger readers for The Goose Girl, Princess Academy, and Book of a Thousand Days. Teen fans of both Hale and Jane Austen looking for a different kind of Austen experience will enjoy this romp. They may be aware of it already, thanks to an interview with Hale published on Twilight Lexicon over the weekend.
A movie version of Austenland is in post-production, scheduled for release this year. In fact, Hale came up with the inspiration for Midnight in Austenland while working on the screenplay. I love the idea of Midnight being, as the author describes it, less of a sequel and more of a Fantasy Island-like use of the same location.
HALE, Shannon. Midnight in Austenland. 288p. Bloomsbury. 2012. Tr $22. ISBN 978-1-60819-625-8. LC 2010053029.
Adult/High School–Confused and angry after her divorce, Charlotte Kinder decides to take a vacation to England. Her travel agent suggests the ideal adventure: Austenland. Upon arrival she is greeted with “Welcome to 1816” and from that moment on Charlotte dresses, eats, and lives like the characters in a Jane Austen novel. Austenland offers all the expected ambience as both guests and actors play the parts necessary to create a complete Austen experience: Charlotte’s handsome “brother” Edward, the genial Colonel, consumptive Miss Gardenside and her nurse; lonely Miss Charming; the owner, Mrs. Wattlesbrook, and of course, dark, brooding Mr. Mallery, Charlotte’s intended “love interest” for the duration. Guests and actors dine formally each night, take long romantic walks, play cards, flirt, and indulge in pretend murder mysteries devised by the Colonel. But one night’s mystery turns sinister when Charlotte stumbles upon a body in the dark. Is it real or is it part of the play? She investigates and discovers that not all is as it seems in Austenland. This book, following Austenland (Bloomsbury, 2007), has much to recommend itself: the alternating chapters of Charlotte’s modern life intersperse well with those of her experiences in Austenland, interesting characters, and a fabulous ending. But there are drawbacks too. The writing during the “Austenland” chapters sometimes tries too hard to be clever, and the mystery doesn’t completely ring true. But overall these aren’t enough to dissuade true Austen fans, and most teens will not be disappointed by the story.–Connie Williams, Petaluma High School, CA
Drusilla Campbell writes fiction around contemporary issues, including post partum depression (The Good Sister), surviving the loss of a child (Blood Orange) and losing a family member to a drunk driver (The Edge of the Sky).
Although teen characters appear in these novels, Campbell’s latest has full-blown appeal for teen readers, echoing stories of abduction in the news (a là Jaycee Dugard, and her memoir A Stolen Life) or popular fiction (think of Emma Donoghue’s Alex Award-winning Room).
The first 6 chapters of Little Girl Gone are available on the author’s website. By the end of chapter one, teen rebellion, losing her father, drugs, and the wrong friends have lead Madora to make some scary choices.
Five years later, Madora is living with Willis and letting life happen to her when 12-year-old Django shows up and helps her see other possibilities. I enjoyed the author’s blog post about how Django arrived in her novel fully formed.
Your teens may already be aware of Little Girl Gone, thanks to a writing contest on Figment.
CAMPBELL, Drusilla. Little Girl Gone. 307p. Grand Central. Jan. 2012. Tr $14.99. ISBN 978-0-446-53579-3. LC 2011015394.
Adult/High School–Campbell comes from the same “ripped from the headlines/domestic drama” school as the more well-known Jodi Picoult. Hints of Jaycee Dugard populate her latest, about the shrinking-violet helpmate of a man who starts out creepy before going full-on sociopath. When Madora was 17, she left her slightly troubled family situation to run off with much older Willis. After five years, which take place off the page, Willis brings home a pregnant homeless teenager and holds her captive in his rickety trailer, with the intent to sell her baby on the black market. Enter Django, a 12-year-old who moves into the neighborhood with his aunt after his rich and famous parents die in a car accident. Django befriends Madora after watching Willis mistreat their pitbull, and soon he wants to save them both. This combination of events seemingly wakes Madora from her slumber under Willis’s spell. Told from all of the characters points of view, the book moves at a lightning pace, in part due to the matter-of-fact language and a rapidly shifting plot. Campbell makes Madora at least slightly sympathetic, not an easy task to those who usually look at criminals’ spouses and wonder about their guilt. With several of the characters being teenagers or just slightly older, as well as the constant thread of danger in the plot, teens are a natural audience for this book. Even reluctant readers will be engaged quickly.–Jamie Watson, Baltimore County Public Library, MD
J.H. Trumble’s debut began as a NaNoWriMo novel. It was also written with a YA audience in mind. In an interview on Lambda Literary the author is is asked how she feels about Kensington’s decision to publish the novel as adult, and I thought her response was quite smart. Yes, teens are likely to find it anyway — especially if librarians hear about it and buy for the teen section — and if it made her more comfortable writing an honest gay love story, it undoubtedly resulted in a better book.
Music is a big part of the story, and Trumble provides a playlist on her website. (Any playlist that includes Rufus Wainwright is OK by me!)
TRUMBLE, J. H. Don’t Let Me Go. 337p. Kensington. 2011. pap. $15. ISBN 978-0-7582-6927-0. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–Nate feels his life is over: his lover, who is his rock and at least half of himself, is moving to New York after high school graduation to take an off-Broadway job. Adam, a year older than Nate, has helped him cope with his changed life (giving up football, coming out very publicly, and the horrible gay bashing incident that landed Nate in the hospital). Now they both must learn how to be a couple while being apart. The first half of the book is filled with flashbacks detailing the start of their relationship; the second shows Nate on his own, making friends and making mistakes, including helping a younger student begin to explore his sexuality. Doesn’t that sound normal? That appears to be the point behind Don’t Let Me Go: gay love is as normal, complicated, wonderful, and scary as heterosexual love. The adults in the book are more stereotypical, ranging from completely accepting to “you’re dead to me,” all of which GLBTQ students may encounter as they come out at home and at school. This is a great addition to GLBTQ collections, and a good read for those teens looking for a gay love story that explores a relationship in the same way that straight love stories do.–Laura Pearle, Venn Consultants, Carmel, NY
Prolific science fiction author John Shirley calls his latest novel “an anti-teabagger political metaphor” and “near-future thriller.”
Just yesterday, Shirley wrote a piece on his blog about a possible reaction against the politics of the novel by those he chose to satirize. Very interesting, and something I had never head of before.
SHIRLEY, John. Everything Is Broken. 288p. Prime. 2012. Tr $14.95. ISBN 978-1-60701-292-4. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–This terrifying story examines what happens when a town whose mayor does not believe in government is hit by a tsunami. Lon Ferrara, mayor of the small town of Freedom, CA, believes that privatization means efficiency; he has even dismantled “wasteful” public safety services, planning to have private contractors handle them. Ferrara chalks up repeated warnings about seismic activity to government fear mongering and does nothing to prepare or protect his citizens. Shirley describes the ravaging effects of the tsunami on buildings and human bodies in excruciating detail. Freedom suffers massive destruction, but Ferrara sees this as the opportunity to create his ideal town. After allowing a few people to leave, he seals the border. He tells the police chief of the neighboring town that he does not need help, even rejecting FEMA assistance, as he sees this opening the door to living under a dictatorship. When a group of citizens who have been trying to help the injured and restore order attempt to leave to get help, Ferrara and his crew of young thugs and gangbangers stop them. Their subsequent battle against Ferrara’s gang, amidst the wreckage, fear, and personal loss, is told in devastating detail. With the destruction caused by the tsunami in Japan still fresh in readers’ minds, and with recent political movements in this country calling for dismantling government agencies, this story is frighteningly plausible. It will appeal to fans of both thrillers and realistic fiction.–Carla Riemer, Claremont Middle School, CA
Angela Carstensen is Head Librarian and an Upper School Librarian at Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City. Angela served on the Alex Awards committee for four years, chairing the 2008 committee, and chaired the first YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adult committee in 2009. Recently, she edited Outstanding Books for the College Bound: Titles and Programs for a New Generation (ALA Editions, 2011). Contact her via Twitter @AngeReads.
