Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Bibliography: Sáenz, B. A., & Foglia, C. (2012). Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe. New York: Simon & Schuster BFYR.

ISBN: 978-1442408937

Genre: LGBTQ, Latino

Reading Level/Interest Age: 12+/14+

Plot Summary:  Ari and Dante both see themselves as different, as weird, as loners. But when they meet at the local swimming pool, they find similarities that bond them in friendship. Both have happily married parents who adore them. Both are unsure about their roles in the world of boys and men. But they have differences, too. Ari hides his feelings. Dante isn’t afraid to cry. Ari spends most of his time pondering his life. Dante loves to draw. The dynamics of their friendship change one rainy day when Ari pushes Dante out of the way of a car speeding down the road. Dante is grateful and guilty, full of attempts to apologize and make amends. Ari doesn’t agree with his new hero status--he truly believes that his actions were purely instinctual, with no forethought or reasoning behind them. It’s almost a relief to him when Dante’s family moves away since he needs a break from Dante’s constant hovering. But before he leaves, Dante confesses his true feelings for Ari. Ari doesn’t feel the same, but isn’t completely put off by the idea of his best friend having sexual feelings for him. They keep in touch (more Dante than Ari) and when Dante moves back, their friendship picks up as if they’d never been apart. Dante has become more self-actualized, but Ari still struggles with his identity. It takes a moment of instinct and a moment of truth for him to realize exactly what he’s been feeling all along.

Critical Evaluation: Aristotle and Dante is written in first person from the perspective of Aristotle. The first person perspective allows the reader to deeply bond with Ari, to feel his anger and confusion. Since Ari spends a great deal of time considering his life, his family dynamics and how he fits into the world, the reader garners a full understanding of exactly what is going through his mind. Just like his the philosopher for whom he is named, Ari philosophizes about the world around him and these philosophies open doors for the reader to admit and comprehend their own confusion with their place in the world. The writing throughout the book is spare and solid. It relies very little on literary devices to pull the reader into Ari’s world, but instead use raw emotion. To quote Ari, “To be careful with people and with words was a rare and beautiful thing” (324). The one literary device that author Sáenz uses significantly is symbolism. Dante is fascinated with birds and their ability to fly into freedom. At one point, he attempts to rescue a bird with an injured wing. Given that he is coming to terms with his homosexuality, this seems to be a fitting symbol for his own flight into emotional freedom. Dante, throughout the book, struggles to determine his identity. He feels he has no significant qualities, no determined opinions, no legs to stand on. When he gets his by a car after pushing Dante to safely, he breaks both of his legs, thereby robbing him of their literal use. As he heals and subsequently discovers a love of running, the reader understands that he is discovering the person he truly is. Another incredibly moving part of Dante and Aristotle is that both teens have parents who love them unconditionally, yet they each struggle with the dichotomy of loving and hating their parents simultaneously. Ari iterates his confusion about his parents over and over--he loves them, he sees them as people not just parents, he hates them, he needs them. Not all teens struggle with their sexuality, but they all struggle with their relationship with their parents; they all struggle to determine who they are both in and out of their families.

Reader’s Annotation: Dante and Ari are two 15 year-old, Mexican-American guys trying to figure what life is all about. It takes a car accident, a jump, two relocations, and some dark family revelations to show them who they're meant to be.

Author Information: Benjamin Alire Sáenz was born in 1954. He graduated from high school in 1972, and went on to college and became something of a world traveler. He studied philosophy and theology in Europe for four years and spent a summer in Tanzania. He eventually became a writer and professor and moved back to the border--the only place where he feels he truly belongs. He is an associate professor in the MFA creative writing program at the University of Texas at El Paso. 

Sáenz is also a visual artist and has been involved as a political and cultural activist throughout his life. Benjamin Sáenz­ is a novelist, poet, essayist and writer of children's books. His young adult novel Sammy & Juliana in Hollywood was selected as one of the Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults in 2005, and his prize-winning bilingual picture books for children--A Gift from Papá Diego and Grandma Fina and Her Wonderful Umbrellas--have been best-selling titles. A Perfect Season for Dreaming is Ben's newest bilingual children's book which has received two starred reviews, one from Publishers Weekly and one from Kirkus Reviews. He has received the Wallace Stegner Fellowship, the Lannan Fellowship and an American Book Award. His first book of poems, Calendar of Dust, won an American Book Award in 1992. That same year, he published his first collection of short stories, Flowers for the Broken. In 1995, he published his first novel, Carry Me Like Water (Hyperion), and that same year, he published his second book of poems, Dark and Perfect Angels. Both books were awarded a Southwest Book Award by the Border Area Librarians Association. In 1997, HarperCollins published his second novel, The House of Forgetting. Ben is a prolific writer whose more recent titles include In Perfect Light (Rayo/Harper Collins), Names on a Map (Rayo/Harper Collins), He Forgot to Say Goodbye (Simon and Schuster), and two books of poetry Elegies in Blue (Cinco Puntos Press), and Dreaming the End of War (Copper Canyon Press).

Curriculum ties: social diversity, race relations

Booktalks: Have you ever saved someone from getting hurt? What’s the most honest conversation you’ve ever had with your parents?

Challenge issues: homosexuality, underage drinking, drug use

Challenge Issue Resources (for usage in a challenge situation):

• Library Selection Policy
• Rationale explaining why the item was chosen for the collection
• Active listening skills
• Awards
• Reconsideration form (as a last resort)
• Illinois Library Association (Banned Books Listings)
• National Council of Teachers of English “Right to Read”
• Positive and negative reviews: expert, parent, student
• ALA Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials
• ALA Bill of Rights on Intellectual Freedom

• Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
• Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
  
  

Reasoning: So many LGBTQ stories focus on protagonists whose parents are either absent or horrified by their child’s sexuality, so the fact that Aristotle and Dante both have parents who love and support them unconditionally gives this title a level of diversity generally unheard of in the LGBTQ sub-genre. It illustrates young adult confusion not only regarding sexuality, but also regarding platonic friendships, parents and exactly how each person fits into the world. Dante and Aristotle promotes the common library mission statement tenets of diversity, education, inspiration and entertainment.

References:

Sáenz, B. A. (n.d.). Benjamin Alire Saenz. Retrieved November 30, 2015, from http://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Alire-Saenz/e/B000AP7OVS/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

Seventeen Magazine

Bibliographic Information: December 2015 issue, released November 24, 2015

Editor-in-Chief: Michelle Tan

Publisher: Hearst Magazines

ASIN: B001THPA30

Genre: teen, fashion, beauty

Reading Level/Interest Age: 13+

Plot Summary: Seventeen Magazine is geared toward older teen girls and young adult women. It brings together various aspects of their lives, including fashion, careers, families, friendships and relationships. Seventeen aims to connect readers through the issues and events that affect the majority of their readers, from holidays to prom to breakups. They recognize that their readers are smart, fashion-conscious, forward-thinking and, most important of all, diverse. The publisher and editors don’t shy away from featuring women of all nationalities, religions and sexual orientation.

Critical Evaluation: Seventeen Magazine has a festive, exciting layout that uses color and texture to pull the reader in. White space is ample, though, and serves to highlight the photos, graphics and text on the page. It also prevents a cluttered feeling--something that is all too common in magazines today. The ads, while still featuring the stereotypical “perfect” version of a woman, are selling not just beauty products and perfume, but also books. This is an important step in expanding readership to young women who are more enamored with reading than they are with fashion trends. Articles throughout the magazine are written with a conversational tone, using abbreviations like “inspo” (meaning “inspired”) (103) and iCAL (meaning “digital calendar”)(17). The December 2015 issues features LGBTQ individuals and a 22 year-old Muslim woman wearing a hijab as part of her trendy outfit, as well as women of several different races. Incorporating minorities into articles, photos and ads helps the readership see these differences with the respect they deserve and I applaud Seventeen for this. The collection of articles spans a wide variety of topics that their target demographic is currently interested in: health, beauty, fashion, careers, etc. The overall focus of the magazine is to inspire and encourage young women to reach for their dreams through good health, education, relationships and diversity.

Reader’s Annotation: This is not your mother’s Seventeen magazine. Get ready to see adventures in fashion, trends in beauty, hear advice on relationships and best of all, discover the best ways to build confidence in yourself and your future!

Curriculum ties: n/a

Booktalks: fashion; if an article were to be written about you, what would it say?

Challenge issues: sexuality; lack of body type diversity in ads 

Challenge Issue Resources (for usage in a challenge situation):

• Library Selection Policy
• Rationale explaining why the item was chosen for the collection
• Active listening skills
• Awards
• Reconsideration form (as a last resort)
• Illinois Library Association (Banned Books Listings)
• National Council of Teachers of English “Right to Read”
• Positive and negative reviews: expert, parent, student
• ALA Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials
• ALA Bill of Rights on Intellectual Freedom

• Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
• Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

Reasoning: Seventeen Magazine has been a staple for young adult women for generations. Mothers and grandmothers remember just how much they depended on it for advice and information and thus are very likely to pick it up and pass it on to their young women in their families. Seventeen has developed awareness of our culture’s diversity and promotes the significance of all young women, regardless of race, religion or sexual identity. This magazine is an important periodical to include in all library serial collections.

References: Seventeen. (2015, November 24). Retrieved November 30, 2015, from http://www.amazon.com/Seventeen/dp/B001THPA30

A Little Something Different

Bibliography: Hall, S. (2014). A little something different. New York, NY: Swoon Reads.

ISBN: 978-1250061454

Genre: romance, fantasy

Reading Level/Interest Age: 12+/15-19

Plot Summary: Lea and Gabe are in college, live in the same dorm, frequent the same restaurants, attend the same creative writing class. The chemistry between them is practically visual to all who see them, from the barista at Starbucks and their professor to the bus driver and the Chinese delivery kid. Even the squirrel Lea sometimes feeds has on opinion. But all the opinions in the neighborhood can’t bring them together until they’re ready. Lea is shy and reserved. She’s interested in Gabe and even makes some token efforts to get to know him a little better. Gabe likes her, too, but is well aware that he comes across as awkward and bumbling. He has to figure out how to explain his behavior before anything can really develop between them. Explaining things, though, is incredibly difficult when you’re not ready to admit what’s really going on. Lea might move on in the time it takes Gabe to reach a point where he’s ready to find a solution to his challenges. All the people that create their community are ready to help them open the doors to a possible relationship, but even more than that, support them in what is sure to become a very strong friendship.

Critical Evaluation: The title A Little Something Different refers as much to the format of the book than the story itself. The story is told by multiple characters, all in first person, all in present tense. While the present tense provides immediacy to the plot line, the use of multiple characters to tell the story is amusing and original in this textual format. It’s much like a mockumentary on tv, with characters talking to the camera, engaging the viewers as if they were right there on set with them. This parallels the fact that all the characters are specifically watching the possible romance develop between the two protagonists. Each character’s individual narratives serve to develop the characterization of both Lea and Gabe, emphasizing their qualities and personalities in an unobtrusive manner. We know they both love coffee (thanks to the Starbucks barista), Chinese food is a staple (thanks to the Chinese food delivery guy) and that both are creative (thanks to their creative writing professor). Humor is infused when a park bench weighs in on the quality of rear ends (8) and when a squirrel wishes he “knew human and could answer” when the protagonist talk to him (12). Most love stories don’t consider the perspectives of inanimate objects or non-human creatures. The tone of each character is conversational. Sentences are short and their structure is basic, almost always following the simple subject-verb format. Overall, the brevity of style and the expansion of characters makes A Little Something Different into a quirky, delightful, fun book to read.

Reader’s Annotation: Everyone has an opinion on whether Lea and Gabe should get together, including the professor, the roommate, the ground squirrel and the wooden bench. But can Lea and Gabe figure out how they feel and then actually do something about it?

Author Information: Sandy Hall is a teen librarian from New Jersey where she was born and raised. She has a BA in Communication and a Master of Library and Information Science from Rutgers University. When she isn't writing, or teen librarian-ing, she enjoys reading, marathoning TV shows, and long scrolls through Tumblr. A LITTLE SOMETHING DIFFERENT is her first novel. (Additional author information is unavailable.)

Curriculum ties: Writing (different perspectives)

Booktalks: What inanimate object could share stories about your school?

Challenge issues: n/a

Reasoning: A Little Something Different is a light-hearted romance, a quick read and a fun story. It is a perfect read for young adults who are reluctant readers or for those who prefer a lighter storyline than the dark themes of the majority YA books.

References:

A little something different. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015, from http://www.amazon.com/Little-Something-Different-Sandy-Hall/dp/1250061458/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448998000&sr=8-1&keywords=a+little+something+different

Hall, S. (n.d.). Sandy Hall. Retrieved December 1, 2015, from http://www.teenreads.com/authors/sandy-hall

Brown Girl Dreaming

Bibliography: Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books.

ISBN: 0399252517

Genre: poetry, memoir

Reading Level/Interest Age: grade 5+; 10+

Plot Summary: As a little girl, Jackie doesn’t understand exactly what the Jim Crow laws are. But she does understand that living with her grandparents in South Carolina is different than living with her father in Ohio. She loves the feeling of dirt on her toes and ribbons in her hair. She knows she’s loved. Affection, though, only comes after the day’s hard work is done. Treats come only after the bills are paid. Friends are hard to come by, so Jackie and her siblings stick together, play together, cry together when their mama decides to move them to New York City. Though she misses all the people and sights and smells of South Carolina, Jackie gets to know the kids in her new neighborhood. Not all are friendly. Some mock her for sounding Southern, just as some kids back in South Carolina mocked her for sounding Northern. Is she Southern or is she Northern? Can’t she be both? And why do kids in both places tease her about being a Jehovah’s Witness? As she adjusts to life in New York, Jackie wants to read and to write, to share her thoughts with the world. But reading is hard for her, harder than it was for her siblings. She struggles through, though, never giving up because she knows that the key to her existence, the key to understanding herself, lies within letters and words and pencils and black and white composition notebooks.

Critical Evaluation: Brown Girl Dreaming is written entirely in free verse. There is, therefore, no specific meter to the poetry, so it reads more like a story than a poem. Punctuation and line breaks create rhythm, italics and words pushed together lend depth of voice. Woodson creates intriguing pictures through poignant imagery, pulling out beauty in the simplest parts of life: “After the sweet tea is poured into mason jars twisted tight…” (36). She shows us volatile distinctions in a world riddled with dichotomy and the honest imaginings of a girl trying to makes sense of that world. The poem “beginning”, for example, is placed 62 pages into the book--it’s not the beginning of Woodson’s physical life, but the beginning of her own story as she learns to curve lines into letters. The juxtaposition of her worlds, of black and white, city and county, are brought into careful focus as she explains with innocent clarity “that New York City is gray rock and quick-moving cars” (183) and that “the earth stops in a ceiling of stars” (131). Each carefully chosen word throughout this memoir has meaning; there’s no room for extraneous description, no place for redundancy or verbosity. Woodson is a master at selecting exactly the right image to convey the challenges of her homes and the depths of her emotions.

Reader’s Annotation: Jacqueline is caught between worlds: her mom and her dad, South Carolina and New York, black and white, Jehovah’s Witness and Baptist. How can she figure out who she is when everything in her world is always so different?

Author Information: Jacqueline Woodson is the author of numerous award-winning books for young adults, including Last Summer With Maizon, I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This, From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun, and Miracle's Boys. She started writing when she was young, but her fiction for kids didn't really click until she got older. That's when she realized that she could actually help the younger generation simply through her words.

That's why Woodson chooses subjects that she thinks kids should be able to read about — even if they're topics that are hard to explain or uncomfortable to talk about. For example, If You Come Softly is about an interracial romance; Hush tells the story of a family placed under the witness protection program; and Sweet, Sweet Memory depicts the way a young girl copes with her grandfather's death. Visiting Day is a picture book about a little girl's trips to see her father in prison. It's not every day you see a children's book about this topic, but Woodson believes that it is an important subject because lots of people have family members in prison, and she wants them to know that it's nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, Woodson says that Visiting Day is about the same thing that all her other books are about: caring about one another. “In Visiting Day, the people really love each other, miss each other when they're apart, and care a great deal about each other. This is what's most important to me — to show love in all its many forms.”

Woodson currently lives in Brooklyn, where she writes full-time and can be found in the mornings hanging out in Prospect Park with her dog, Maus.¹

Curriculum ties: writing; segregation

Booktalks: Moving away; family bonds

Challenge issues: segregation

Challenge Issue Resources:

• Library Selection Policy
• Rationale explaining why the item was chosen for the collection
• Active listening skills
• Awards
• Reconsideration form (as a last resort)
• Illinois Library Association (Banned Books Listings)
• National Council of Teachers of English “Right to Read”
• Positive and negative reviews: expert, parent, student
• ALA Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials
• ALA Bill of Rights on Intellectual Freedom

• Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
• Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

Reasoning: Although Brown Girl Dreaming is classified as a children’s book, I believe it is entirely age appropriate for young adults. The protagonist, Jackie, undergoes a similar path through maturity as young adults do, expanding from childhood delights through familial discourse and social isolation and finally into understanding. Even though the entire book is in free  verse, it presents itself as a problem novel, a coming-of-age story. It mirrors the challenges that young adults often face, all while validating their opinions, concerns and decisions. I also believe that it is difficult for children to focus on the story within author Woodson’s free verse, that the experiences and emotions are much better suited to the level of comprehension that adolescents can achieve versus that of children. It has also received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Young Adult Fiction. Brown Girl Dreaming is an excellent example of diversity in addition to providing opportunity for education, empathy and inspiration.

References:

¹"Jacqueline Woodson." Scholastic. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2015. <http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/jacqueline-woodson>.

Ralph, Kaylen. "Brown Girl Dreaming." Wit & Delight. N.p., 19 Jan. 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.

The Age of Miracles

Bibliography: Walker, K. T. (2013). The age of miracles: A novel. New York: Random Ho

ISBN: 978-0062059949

Genre: science fiction

Reading Level/Interest Age: 12+

Plot Summary: Julia is barely a teenager when time starts to slow. Every day, the sun slows, daylight is lengthened, night comes at odd times. No one has an explanation, but they see all the ways that the world is shifting: gravity changes, birds die, tides change, people panic. In effort to help her watch and understand the changing celestial patterns, Julia’s dad gives her a telescope. She uses it to watch much more than the sky, though; she watches the neighbors who are targeted because of their adherence to real time. She sees a family move away. She has a perfect view of her father cheating on her mother with the lady across the street. Not only is the world at large changing, but Julia is struggling to come to terms with the changes in her own world--her best friend is no longer interested in her, her mother is oddly ill, her grandfather disappears and her father wants to maintain normalcy. How can anything be normal when everything is changing? Can Julia figure out how to be her own person in a world where nothing is stable?

Critical Evaluation: The Age of Miracles is a book of parallelism. The major changes in the physical world Julia lives in mirrors the major changes an adolescent endures during puberty. Time has changed, seconds become minutes, minutes become hours. Without the precise and predictable movement of time, life becomes untrustworthy. The world becomes a stranger, just as the people in it become strange. An adolescent’s world changes just in the same way. Nothing is predictable; families and friends metamorphize into strangers; loneliness is inevitable. Author Karen Thompson provides a beautiful peak in a teenager’s paradoxical world. She uses vivid language to create unique imagery, showing the reader, instead of just telling them, about how “light would be unhooked from day, darkness unchained from night” (112). Thompson’s lyrical sentence structure underscores how profoundly words on a page can shift the perspective of the character into the reader’s own self. “This was the first lie I ever heard my father tell--or the first time I knew that he was lying” (42). Who among readers cannot remember the first time a lie had true and deep significance to them? From the very first page of the story, Thompson pulls the reader in with brilliant pacing, posing questions and dilemmas that demand the reader’s full attention. The ending of the story, however, was surprising. Because the book is written in past tense from the protagonist’s perspective, we know Julia survives the universe’s shift in time. But the story had no real ending. There was no explanation, no closure, merely a few pages of convenient summation of Julia’s life over the following decade. After such a powerful, expressive story, the ending of The Age of Miracles was an emotional letdown.

Reader’s Annotation: Everything in Julia’s life started changing on the day that the world noticed time was slowing down. How can she figure out who she is when nothing in her world, not even time, is stable?

Author Information:  Karen Thompson Walker was born and raised in San Diego, California, where The Age of Miracles is set. She studied English and creative writing at UCLA, where she wrote for the UCLA Daily Bruin. After college, she worked as a newspaper reporter in the San Diego area before moving to New York City to attend the Columbia University MFA program.

A former book editor at Simon & Schuster, she wrote The Age of Miracles in the mornings before work—sometimes while riding the subway.

She is the recipient of the 2011 Sirenland Fellowship as well as a Bomb Magazine fiction prize. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband.¹

Curriculum ties: science

Booktalks: What would you do if you suddenly had more time in your day?

Challenge issues/resources: n/a

Reasoning: The Age of Reasoning broadens the reader’s horizons, helping them to understand the infinite changes the world would endure if there was even a slight shift in time. It provides awareness of possible scientific consequences in an entertaining and thought-provoking manner.

References:

¹ Thompson, K. (n.d.). About the author. Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.theageofmiraclesbook.com/author/