A Book Review Starring "We Were Here" by Matt de la Pena

The short version:
Stockton, CA native Miguel Castaneda is sentenced to live at a boys home in San Jose for an undisclosed offense. There he meets violent loner Mong who convinces him and his roommate Rondell to break out and make their way to Mexico with the promise that they will find jobs at a beach resort. Per the judge's orders Miguel keeps a journal of his experiences, which he continues of his own volition long after feeling obligated to do so.

The long version:
Turns out Miguel (and de la Pena) are really quite excellent at this journal writing thing.

The conceit of the journal as the basis for describing the unfolding events gives the story a real sense of urgency(due in no small part to de la Pena's incredibly storytelling skills). Everything rings true, including the plot developments but also how Miguel interprets and responds to other people and circumstances along the way.

de la Pena has really written a triumphant, engrossing story of what it means to be a teenage boy (with all the masculinity issues that go along with it), what it means to be a first generation Mexican-American, what it means to be mixed race. He covers all those bases with subtle, entertaining language that speaks in a voice of this particular kid. Miguel is funny, smart (but within the context of the character, as opposed to the author's voice) and yet still maintains his innocence and vulnerability and the brazenness and impulsiveness that comes with being a fifteen year old boy.

He not only has created a main character who makes you turn pages, he also creates secondary characters of equal pathos and individuality who you feel for from the start. Mong and Rondell are so wonderfully and painfully realized with such great depth of character. Your heart will break for all of them.

At the same time, de la Pena has realized a plot that could have easily gone awry but never does. A road trip in which three newly homeless, troubled kids try to make from San Jose to the border could have easily devolved into episodic plot points without necessarily evolving in intensity. Even some of the trickier plot points, of which there are a couple, are handled with authenticity and ring true instead of devices.

The book has its necessary violence and explicit language, all well in keeping with the story de la Pena tells. And the story he tells is pretty special.

A Book Review Starring "Everything Changes" by Samantha Hale

The short version:
Raven can't really figure out why she's not attracted to the guys at her school. But when she meets her best friend's older sister's college friend, Morgan, and learns she's an out lesbian she quickly discovers her attraction and embarks on her first real relationship.

The long version:
Sweet, compact, easy to read coming-out story. Well written with a straightforward plot and plain (in a good way) language that moves with ease and swiftness and clear, easy to relate to characters.

The characters might not be the most depthful, complex in the world, but Raven is written as someone who both gay and straight kids alike can relate to. Her obstacles in coming out, both internal and external, are familiar yet ring true. For example, her attraction to a college girl makes perfect sense in that a slightly older girl would have already gone through her own coming out process and feel more comfortable in a college setting in which she gets to define herself. By the end, the pathos earned through Raven's coming out to different friends and her parents is well earned based on the strength of the writing and genuinely heartfelt.

At under 200 pages and with such a straightforward and (did I say easy?) plot, this title would be a great choice to pull out for reluctant and avid readers alike, particularly girls looking for a coming-out experience to both reference and identify with.

Please, Dear Authors

Dear Authors,

I like you, and I want you to succeed, but I hate to be the one to tell you that if your novel contains any variation on the phrase:

"You don't get it, do you?"

or

"You just don't get it"

or

"You just don't get it, (insert character name here)"

that only bad things will come of it.

That phrase and all its variations are a crutch for when you don't know how to get to where you want to be. I say this because I've seen this phrase employed time and again when an author wants a character to see something and hasn't found another way to make them see it. For me, that phrase is the equivalent of flashing red sirens and is almost always indicative of other shortcomings as well.

Sincerely,
Your humble reader

Celebrating Gay Pride With Teens: Rainbow Mobiles

Everyone loves a rainbow. And everyone loves a mobile. Mobiles are a cheap, easy craft that can be accomplished within an hour and taken in a variety of directions.

The best thing about using the rainbow mobile to celebrate Gay Pride is you can go both general:

Or incorporate the full meaning of the Rainbow Flag into your mobile craft:

A Book Review Starring "I Was Here" by Gayle Forman

The short version:
When Cody's estranged best friend kills herself, Cody agrees to collect her things from college and comes to discover her best friend in ways she wasn't aware through her roommates, her computer and the life she'd created for herself.

The long version:
Engrossing from the start. Cody, as conceived by Forman, is a complex main character for young adult (in my opinion) in that she's not likeable or relatable from the start. And it doesn't help that the start is a dark place in which Cody is embodying a range of complex and unpleasant emotions in response to her friend's suicide. Resentment, detachment, confusion, these are the qualities that Cody first expresses when we meet her as she's processing her emotions.

One of Forman's strengths is her ability to write involving, subtle, relatively complex two-person drama in which the relationship is messy, filled with competing interests and emotions and the characters and their journeys are very human and, I'll say it again, messy. It's what I loved best about her two books "Just One Day" and "Just One Year", both of which I thought represented a leap in maturity and growth from her big (now) blockbuster "If I Stay" and follow-up "Where I Went".

You may not love Cody from the start, but you understand and identify with her as the book progresses, your heart aches for her as she processes not only her friend's reality but her own reality too. And in her male counterpart Ben McCallister, you get an equally complicated character who isn't all he appears to be and is refreshing when he's not the YA-Fantasy-Boyfriend material that I find in a fair amount of young adult fiction.

The book also continues a great trend in young adult literature focusing on 18+ characters and the post-high school experience. For years I've been excited to see the evolution of "Young Adult Literature" expand to include not only an audience that's over eighteen but characters and stories about those post-high school years told in thoughtful, contemplative ways that serve as that gray area between traditional YA and Adult Literature where books are getting longer and incorporating more complexity and/or mature themes.

That segment of literature that focuses on the 18-22 year old experience has been automatically shelved in Adult Fiction until recently. When we have started to see books with 18-25 year old protagonists appear on Young Adult shelves, many of those that have made an appearance are perceived or labeled as "New Adult", which in my mind are more romance-laden melodramas that may or may not contain more explicit sexual content. "New Adult" is tricky, not universally accepted genre in my opinion, and certainly not a division found on our library shelves. In my mind, "New Adult" is a genre and not an audience classification the way we segment our audiences between Children-Young Adult-Adult.

In seeing the audience for Young Adult expand beyond the long-assumed 12-18 year old audience, it seems natural that the content of YA has now begun to fill that gap with stories that both redefine Young Adult Literature and tell those stories in fresh, new ways. I Was Here is the epitome of that transformation within YA and I devoured it.

Celebrating Gay Pride With Teens: Rainbow Loom Gay Pride Rainbow Bracelets

If you've given it some thoughts and floss Friendship Bracelets are just too much for you, consider the Rainbow Loom Gay Pride Rainbow Bracelet. Rainbow Loom is still popular, the double fishtail-style bracelet is super easy to make and teach and the program is attractive to kids and teens alike.

Still super cheap.

A pack of 600 rubber bands with 24 C-clips are $2.99/each at Michael's, you'd need to purchase six bags to complete the colors of a rainbow. 

And the best part is you can make rainbow looms and hooks for free using basic library components:

-book donations that won't fit into your collection and are sure not to sell in the book sale

-pushpins

-a hammer

-paper clips

Hammer two pushpins into the edge of an unloved book one inch apart:

Then you'll break a paper clip to use as your hook (like I needed to show you):

Easiest bracelet ever! YouTube double fishtail rainbow loom instructions. The whole program can be done in under an hour.

Celebrating Gay Pride with Teens: Pride Rainbow Friendship Bracelets

Creating and executing craft programming for teens can be hard for some of us librarians.

You have to find a project you not only think you can do but also be able to teach to teens and pre-teens from ages 12ish-18ish. Add to that (the mistaken, in my opinion) belief that you have to complete this craft project in an hour. 

My feeling on the subject is that if you provide participants with detailed instructions for how to complete a craft project and it's clear and relatively attainable, you not only don't have to abide by the strict one hour rule but you're giving them the information to recreate and perfect upon that project again after the program is long over. Otherwise, it's just one-off entertainment that, more often than not, winds up in the trash shortly thereafter. I have a seven year old who attends library programs, so I feel I can say that with some authority.

Hence, the Pride Rainbow Friendship Bracelet!

Believe me, I know, friendship bracelets are hard. I've printed out and given up on countless friendship bracelet patterns for just that reason. Which is why I ALWAYS return to the chevron bracelet. There must be a reason why it's the only one I can competently do and so can you!

The best thing about Rainbow Bracelets is that they're universally loved and open to interpretation. Gay Pride. Pretty bauble. They're for everyone! And they're cheap! All you need are packets of floss which can be found at Michael's for $3.99/pack.

In the spirit of information sharing, here is a jpeg of my directions for making Pride Rainbow Friendship Bracelets.

AND if that's still too much. Consider variations on the Pride Rainbow Friendship Bracelets using the Rainbow Loom. You can make a loom for the double fishtail bracelets seen here with a few pushpins in cardboard, nails into discarded wood, or even plastic forks with the middle tongs bent in.