YA Reading Post #3





Chmakova, Svetlana. 2017. brave. New York:Yen Press. ISBN 978-0-316-36317-4

Jensen Graham wants to save the world. He has dreams of becoming a astronaut and saving the world as well as his friends. But the reality is that Jensen is having a difficult time finding and keeping friends. He just can't seem to fit with anyone at his school. He gets bullied and taken advantage of even when he gets included into social clubs at school.  For example, the newspaper club crew Jenny and Alikah want to include Jensen in their social-experiment on the topic of bullying. This situation doesn't make Jensen feel any better. He hears about the Art Club but as much as he wants to attend the meeting, he is forced to attend Math tutorial if not he is going to fail the class. Then you have the two bullies at school, who just can't seem to leave Jensen alone.  He just doesn't have the courage to stand up to the bullies and therefore they continue to bully him. Until one day Jensen tries to stand up to his bullies and the bullies take his glasses away and break them. As that scene is happening, the newspaper club is video taping the whole incident .  It is then that the school decides to implement a school wide bully awareness and prevention program to help students realize that everyone must respect and have empathy towards others. This situations make Jensen feel much better about himself and he even tries to befriend his bully.

I sympathize with Jensen as I read the book. It made me feel sad to see kids treat others with such cruelty. Jensen like many other students constantly get teased at school almost everyday.  It is a very tough situation for those students who get teased constantly.  I like the fact that Jensen had the  courage to stand up to his bullies. He didn't let rejections and bullying get the best of him. Somehow he found a way to overcome those difficult obstacle in his teenage life.

Other Books by Chmakova, Sveltana:










______________________________________________________________________________
Reynolds, Jason. 2016. GHOST. New York: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books. ISBN 1481450158


Castle Grenshaw also know as Ghost is a fast runner.  But the reason why Ghost is a great runner, is simply for the reason that he has been running away from his abusive father who has threaten to shoot him and his mother. Ghost and his mom live a very poor part of the a neighborhood. Since she can't afford to buy him clothing and shoes, the students at his middle school make fun of Ghost. Ghost fights back and usually ends up getting in trouble. Then one day he notices some track runners practicing in the track field. Although he believes he is not much of a runner but more of a basketball player, he decides to challenge the elite runner on the track team.  The track coach notices that Ghost has a special talent in running. He decides to give Ghost an opportunity to try out for the track team after Ghost refuses to leave the scene. Ghost joins the track team but feels out of place since everyone in the track team has nice clothing and shoes to wear and he doesn't. He decides to cut one of his shoes to make it look better but he ended up making things worse. The students made fun of Ghost shoes and he ends up leaving the school grounds to a shoe store. He goes inside the shoe store only to shoplifts a pair of running shoes. Ghost now feels like he can fit in with the rest of the track team. On their first meet, Coach is passing out the uniforms but he doesn't give Ghost one. What he does give him is a picture of himself as the shoe's store shoplifter. Ghost is shocked and is afraid his mother is going to find out. Ghost begs coach not to tell his mother. Coach makes Ghost promise never steal again and to go apologize to the store owner for stealing the shoes.

Everyone needs to be given an opportunity in life and that is what Coach did for Ghost. He gave Ghost the an opportunity to try out for team but also made him understand that life is not easy sometime but stealing something that doesn't belong to you is not the way to go.

Reynolds, Jason. Miles Morales: Spider Man. New York. Marble Press. 978-1-368-00137-0


Just like your typical teenager, Miles Morales enjoys hanging out with his friends, play video games. One day while tying to impress a girl named Alicia he makes a bad judgement which leads to a suspension for a few days.  He hopes not to cause any more trouble because he is afraid his boarding school scholarship might be taken away. But lately, Miles has been having nightmares about his history teacher Mr. Chamberlain. Miles history teacher has been declaiming racist views about slaves being happy being slaves and that black men don't belong in school but in prison. Miles Morales  senses  that his teacher has something against him. He must come face to face with his antagonist and settle this issue once and for all.
 Reading Jason's Reynolds books are rewarding. Some of the themes that are written in this novel are defining your identify, the power of responsibility, racism, and incarceration.

Other books by Jason Reynolds

______________________________________________________________________

Albertalli, Becky. 2015. Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda. New York: Harper Collins Publishing. ISBN: 978-0-06-234868-5


Sixteen year old Simon is being placed in a difficult situation. After using the computer, he forgets to log out of his gmail account and Martin happens to see what the email said. He finds out that Simon is gay but he really doesn't care except that he wants Simon to encourage Abby his friend to talk to him. Simone feels like he is being blackmailed but he must do whatever it takes to get Abby to talk to Martin or else his sexuality and emails to Blue will be exposed. He is not ready to let his friends nor his parents know that he is gay. His email correspondence with Blue is getting more serious and intimate and is afraid he might be jeopardizing his relationship with a guy he has become very close to. Soon, Simon's parents find out about him coming out. His father apologizes for always making jokes about gay people. Simon's parents accept him for who he is and will always support him no matter what. Simon's parents are proud of him, he also finds out the identity of Blue and is very happy to experience love for the very first time.

It takes a lot of courage to let everyone known that you are gay. Simon is brave and lucky he had parents and friends who were very understanding and supportive about his sexuality. It is a very difficult choice for gay people to make their sexuality public especially if others are not willing to accept them for who they are.

Other books by Becky Albertalli

_________________________________________________________________________

Senn, Matthew. 2017. Quiet. New York: Friesen Press. ISNB: 1525510614

Claire Glade is an very introverted girl. She doesn't speak much and keeps every thought to herself. The only person she really talks to is her older sister. Claire doesn't mind being at home enjoying her art work and just enjoying herself. Her sister Madison encourages Claire to enroll in college. Although she has no friends, no social skills, Claire must learn how to deal with college life. College life for Claire  was scary and difficult  especially when she was very shy and an introvert.
This book can help make an impact in a person's life especially those who like Matthew was very quiet and an introvert and who experienced many lonely times, did not have many friends, and got teased for being different.




Gratz, Alan. 2017. Refugee. New York: Scholastic. ISBN:

Three different characters experience conflicts in their home countries in three different eras. Josef from Germany must flee his beloved country in the 1930's after Adolf Hitler and the Nazi's want the Jews to vanish from their country. After his father is arrested and taken to a concentration camp, they must make the most difficult decision; to leave their beloved country and hope to meet with their father so they can flee Germany.  Isabela from Havana, Cuba and her family are distressed when Fidel Castro and his regime take control of the government and the Cuban people. After leading many protest, Isabel's father is in danger of being arrested. Isabela and her family make the decision to leave Cuba after Fidel Castro announces that if anyone wants to leave Cuba, they can do so without repercussions.  The young boy Mahmoud from Alepo Syria and his family make the ultimate decision to leave their country when they revolution and conflict takes a tow on the family. When Bashar al-Assad became the leader of Syria, the country turns into a revolution and the people living in Syria go to the streets to protest the tragic events in their country. Some people were killed, others were taken to prison for going against the government. This is when Mahmoud and his family decided to flee to Cuba after experiencing a life and death situation at home. All three children and their families go on dangerous journeys, separation from family members and experience death and suffering while fleeing their countries.

This historical fictional book is so intense and heartbreaking. The book shows readers the dangerous journey's many refugee's families must make to keep their families safe from conflict/wars. Their journey's are very difficult but they must do whatever it takes to keep their families together even if it means risking their lives to find a place where their families will be safe.

Other Books by Alan Gratz













_____________________________________________________________________________


Leiris, Antoine. 2017. You Will Not Have My Hate. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN: 0735222150


Antonie Leiris biography tells the story of a terrorist attack that takes place in Paris France at concert where his wife was attending. His life forever will be changed leaving him alone with his new born son. His grief and loss of his wife would forever be with him. In this book Antonie makes sure that the death of his wife will not take the best of him and his son. On a Facebook post, he lets the world know that the only way to insult those who terrorized and murdered his wife and others is by making sure that his son will live a life of full of happiness and freedom.
Antoine's memoir book was touching and heartwarming, Although he could have lived a life of sadness and grief, he chose to live a life full of happiness for his son and himself. As I listened to his video post of Antoine, I couldn't stop shedding a few tears. It took so much courage for Antonie to turn something so horrific into something so hopeful and optimistic.

_________________________________________________________________________

Jamieson, Victoria. 2015. Roller Girl. New York: Random House LLC Scholastic. ISBN:978-0-545-93407-8


Roller Girl, Astrid did everything with her best friend Nicole ever since they were young. Astrid's mother takes the girls to a surprise event to go see a Roller Derby Tournament. Nicole was amazed to see some of the most unbelievable Roller Derby Skaters. Encouraged by her mother to sign up for the Roller Derby Camp, Nicole assumes her friend would want to attend the camp to. When Astrid mentions it to her best friend to join her at the camp she was surprised Nicole did not want nothing to do with it. Nicole was stunned and hurt that her best friend did not want to join her.  They both went their separate ways.  Astrid  to the Roller Derby Camp and Nicole joins the Ballet Camp with her new friend Rachel whom Astrid dislikes. Astrid lies to her mom that Nicole was going to join her at the Roller Derby.  Soon, Astrid has to learn how to do things on her own with or without her best friend. She learns how to stay strong, tough and does what she enjoys even if it is doing things on her own.

I enjoyed reading this graphic novel. It is definitely a book for young girls, whom like Astrid and Nicole, go through similar friendships disagreements in middle school.  Many young teens, like the two characters, have probably experienced the loss of a friend, meeting others, and doing things on their own even if it's without their best friend.

Other books by Victoria Jamieson:














____________________________________________________________________________

Prince, Liz. 2015. Tomboy. New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978152510601

This memoir describes the life of Liz, a young girl growing up looking like a tomboy. She liked wearing boys clothes, short hair and just being herself. But as she was growing up, she was bullied because of they way she looked. Liz struggled with her identity and she didn't feel like she fit in or what society expected of her. Life for Liz, was very difficult and hurtful because of the name calling and not being accepted for who she is. In this memoir, she wants to make people aware that we need to think about how we address others. Using hurtful words, can have a negative effect in a persons life.  Liz had a difficult time making friends for the simple reason that she was not like other girls. Instead of wearing girl clothing and make up, Liz preferred wearing boys clothing.  This became an issue for many, especially young kids her age, who made fun of her and made her feel unworthy.  Liz explains that the negative words can be hurtful and damaging to their self esteem.
This graphic memoir can become a teachable moment for many young readers, who like Liz, face many challenges about finding their identify, being bullied because they are different and expected to behave and do things a certain way.  Talking about her experiences can help others to deal with similar issues that she herself experienced. This book also can teach students that speaking negative words toward others can have a lasting effect in someone's life.

Other books from Liz Prince,