Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Look, I know it's going to take you a bit to get into this book, but the pay-off is worth it.  This story of the friendship of Queenie and Maddie have in the midst of the terrible tragedies of World War II is a mighty one.  Please know that once you get to the second half of the book, the part told by Maddie, you will be reading intensely trying to figure out what is going to happen.  The story of these best friends, pilot and this spy, working undauntedly on behalf of the French Resistance is terrifying, beautiful, and stunning.  You won't believe your eyes as you read.

The episodes of war are both frightening (like when the German Luftwaffe is hovering above the girls as they try to escape the shooting or the accounts of Nazi torture) and intriguing (like all the plotting, planning, and promising the Resistance efforts require).  And the narratives are written like a puzzle.  You are certain you can trust the narrators, but you realize you aren't the only audience reading the pages.  But, BUT!, the very best part of this novel is the friendship the girls share.  It crosses class divisions and personal inclinations; it is as strong as any family tie.  They offer each other places to escape and chances to show great strength.  The share fears (literally, they each list 10) and moments of true joy (bike rides and plane rides).  Their friendship is uncommon.

As I try to describe this book that I just completed, I can't believe I'm really trying to describe it.  It's indescribable.  It's a puzzle and a simple story of friendship.  It is a slog and twisty suspenseful roller-coaster.  The narrators are trust-worthy and complete liars.  The girls are a spy and a pilot, a female spy and a female pilot, no less. The book and it's contradictions punched me in the gut- in a way only the best, best, best stories can.  I cannot stop thinking about the experience I had reading this book.  Book love, people.  Book love.  Get your hands on this challenge book when you can.  Stick with it's outcome, and enjoy.

Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick

I don't know if I can talk about this book yet.  It knocked the breath right out of me, and fear, sadness, and pain filled me up.  But this book is about so much more than sadness.  This book represents resilience and the power of the human experience, connection, and survivial.

The book is about a Cambodian boy, Arn Chorn-Pond, who lives through the Khmer Rouge revolt.  He really did...the author's story is a retelling of his life. It's like the movie "Killing Fields" but in YA literature.  I don't want to say much more about it because I'll never do it justice or the experience of reading it justice. 

I just know teenagers, by their nature, are drawn to stories of justice, survival, and resilience.  As I read this book, I couldn't stop thinking about my boys and my students and how much I yearn to protect them from this kind of injustice, violence, and hatred.  The truth is, I can't.  This violent hateful story represents how this world works too often, and if we don't share these experience in safe, artistic, and genuine ways, we risk being too far removed from them.  We need to live them...especially those of us who are safe, insulated, and privileged.  So, yes, I recommend this book to my 8th graders (and to both of my boys once it's timely), and I celebrate Arn's story.  I celebrate, with Arn, the power of tears, the power of music, and the power of embracing the past in order to live, alive and awake and aware, in the present.

Here is some of the buzz around this book:

Reading Rants (my most trusted book blog)
LA Times
NY Times
NPR
YouTube

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

In all my reading life, I have never cried so hard over a book.  I cried because it's a book about war.  I cried because I'm so sad my time with the characters came to a close.  I cried because everything beautiful about this book is ultimately everything human.

Now I realize what I've said so far isn't going to inspire kids to read this book (especially boys) but oh, how I want EVERY kid to pick up this book.  Because there's something in this book for everyone...

• War
• Bullies
• Soccer
• Nazi Germany
• Stealing
• Foster care
• Friendship
• Death (after all, Death is the narrator)
• Creativity

Pick up this book today.  Take your time reading it's pages.  This book will stay with you.  It will haunt you and change you.  Pick it up and tell me what you think.

Isabel and Amari

I just re-read Copper Sun (Sharon Draper) with a few girls in my 7READ classes. And I couldn't help but think of another equally powerful but very different story of a slave girl Chains (Laurie Halse Anderson).



The stories of two slave girls told by two of the most creative young adult authors in Young Adult literature give teen readers a chance to read historical fiction with strong characters and gripping story lines.

Both stories speak to the power of the human spirit and the gifts of real friendship. Neither story shields readers from the dark and upsetting and unforgettable horrors of slavery, but both will keep readers thinking ar beyond the last page.

Historical fiction isn't given enough credit, so in my class, they "count" for two books. Go ahead and expand your reading experiences! I think you be enthralled!

Keep reading,
stenson

We Are the Ship

I love baseball. I love good writing. I love this book. Have you heard about it? It's popping up everywhere--most recently at the Young Adult Book Awards where it was honored and celebrated.

This is what Phil Taylor of Sports Illustrated said about the book:

The artist finds beauty even where there seems to be none, and in that way Kadir Nelson and the men of the Negro leagues are soul mates. Negro leagues baseball (1920-47) was an exquisite flower grown from poisonous soil -- the ugly racial attitudes of 20th-century America -- and nurtured by men who refused to allow the ignorance that barred them from the major leagues to extinguish their passion for the game. Nelson, some 60 years later, saw the dignity in that passion and has honored it with a book of oil paintings, We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, depicting Negro leagues stars and game scenes, some of which grace these pages.

So it's a Young Adult book, but it's written like a children's book because of the intense illustrations. You'll pour over the pictures and the voice of the characters. Amazing book. Enjoy.

-Stenson

My Fave Author

Laurie Halse Anderson did it again. Her book Chains grabs you and pulls you along on a serious, heart-gripping ride.

If you like history, you'll especially love it.

The main character is fiesty, smart, and ready to be free (she is a slave). Her heart is strong and big. A role model for us all.



Read it now. Here are a few other links to see what others are saying about it.

The author's website (there's even a "playlist" on this website!)

Reading Rants Blog

Fantastic Fiction

Mitalia Perkins