A Time to Dance

Venkatraman, Padma. A Time to Dance. Nancy Paulsen Books, 2014.

Veda is a dance prodigy in India and shows great potential in becoming a famous dancer when she is involved in a car accident. One of her legs is amputated below the knee, and Veda's plans for dancing are shattered. She learns to walk again, but longs to dance again as well.

This story is told in verse and does a fantastic job at painting a picture of life in India. The culture is woven throughout the story, so I ended up learning a lot without feeling like I was just sitting there learning a lot. Veda is a very realistic and likable character. I was glad for the way she was able to translate her struggles into her art. I'm not a fan of novels in verse, so I would have enjoyed this one more in straight prose, but it would be an easy recommend to kids who can't get enough of Ellen Hopkins's work.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: none
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Read-Alikes: The Weight of Water, The Language Inside, The Running Dream

Stranger

Brown, Rachel. Stranger. Viking Juvenile, 2014.

The world has undergone a major change, governments have fallen, and now people are picking up the pieces and attempting to survive and thrive in a different and dangerous world. The western U.S. has turned into an Old West type of atmosphere, with each town having its own unique government and dangerous critters roaming the wild. A new boy comes to the town of Las Anclas (formerly Los Angeles); he's carrying a secret, and a powerful king from the east wants it. Is this boy worth saving, or should he be turned over to pacify the king?

This book fits into the second category of dystopian fiction. Unlike the standard Divergent or Hunger Games-style books, where the world has been taken over by a corrupt government, this book tells of a cataclysm that sort of reset the world and stole its technology. People, plants, and animals have many different kinds of mutations, and each town has its own rules. This story is told from five different viewpoints, each of which adds an interesting perspective on the larger story.

What I Liked: Lots of diverse characters. Lots of Latino culture with smatterings of Asian and Native American cultures thrown in. Gay and lesbian people mentioned without it being a big deal at all. One of the main characters thinks she might be asexual, which her dad tells her is completely normal, until later on when she is in a relationship with both a boy and another girl. The multiple perspectives on the story sounded different and were emphasized with different fonts as well, making it easier to transition between characters.

What I Didn't Like: This book wasn't that much different from Killer of Enemies or Inhuman. It would be a good read-alike, but I found myself rapidly skimming the last pages in the book, because I didn't really care what happened. The reading wasn't as compelling as I expected, although it is indeed a good story. Due to both the popularity of dystopian stories as well as the need for diversity in literature, I would add this book to my library's collection if it weren't already there.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: violence
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Inhuman, Killer of Enemies

Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave

Hall, Shyima. Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave. Simon and Schuster BFYR, 2014.

Shyima Hall was born in Egypt, a middle child in a very large, very poor family. Her parents sold her into slavery to repay her sister's debt. She worked for a rich family for several years, even moving with them to the United States when they sold their house in Egypt. She only has time to eat one meal a day, never goes to school, and sleeps about four hours a night. Eventually someone calls Child Protective Services, which leads to Shyima's rescue and the incarceration of her captors.

I wanted to give this book a full five stars because this is a topic that is too-rarely addressed, but Shyima's retelling of the five years she spent as a child slave and her recovery afterward was just too clinical and detached. The writing was very dry, and I found myself skimming much of the last third of the book, just so I could be done. This book certainly fills a niche in juvenile/young adult literature, but it would be great if it were more readable.

Recommended for: young adults, tweens
Red Flags: Shyima is slapped and called stupid; she briefly mentions childhood sexual abuse at the hands of her brother, but it isn't graphic or explicit
Overall Rating: 3/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Sold

Down to the Bone

Dole, Mayra. Down to the Bone. Bella Books, 2012.

Laura gets caught reading a note on the last day of school.  The nun who runs her class decides to read it out loud, and the entire class is scandalized to discover that Laura's note was from her girlfriend.  Laura is promptly expelled from school, and once her mother discovers that Laura is unwilling to reveal the name of her girlfriend, she is also kicked out of the house. Her mother will not let her return until she has a boyfriend and is willing to name the girl who caused her to be expelled.  Devastated, Laura seeks refuge with a friend who allows her to stay as long as she needs to.   Laura attempts to reconcile with her mother, going so far as to date a boy, but eventually she must decide whose happiness is most important to her: hers or her mother's.

I was glad for the Latino focus in this book.  The setting - Miami, a Latino neighborhood and a very Catholic family - isn't one often described in books. I would love to get this book for my library.  I was also glad for the mention of a transgender character (who, unfortunately, never shows up in the book because she committed suicide off-stage) as well as Tazer, a person who identifies himself as genderqueer and often presents male although he was assigned a female gender at birth. Laura's family's reaction to her orientation is unfortunately all-too-real, even today.  As soon as I can get my hands on it, a copy of this book will be in my library.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: lots of homophobic slurs in both English and Spanish (there's a glossary in the back in case you want to learn how to insult GLBT people in two languages); alcohol use
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

One Man Guy

Barakiva, Michael. One Man Guy. 2014

Alex didn't get high enough grades to stay on the honor track, so his parents have decided he will forego tennis camp and family vacations to go to summer school with kids who won't pass to the next grade otherwise. Alex is less than excited about this until he notices one of the guys in his class. Ethan is Alex's opposite: he doesn't care about school, spends his free time skateboarding, and breaks rules that he doesn't agree with. Ethan is exciting, and Alex finds himself drawn to him. But what will his very strict parents say when they find out he's been skipping school to go on dates with a boy.

I enjoyed this book for the picture it gave of the American-Armenian culture, which is not a culture with which I was familiar. I was also glad for the personality differences between Alex and Ethan and that neither of them was a stereotypical gay boy who spends time participating in musical theater, etc. I loved that this story is more about two kids who fall in love and have to surpass cultural barriers than it is about the fact that they're both boys. Also, Alex's family cracked me up. They would have made me crazy, had I lived with them, but they cracked me up.

Recommended for: young adults
Red Flags: none
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

The Tyrant's Daughter

Carleson, J.C. The Tyrant's Daughter. Knopf BFYR, 2014.

Laila is the daughter of a middle eastern ruler, and when he is assassinated, she and her family flee to the United States while her evil uncle takes over the country. Now Laila is straddling two worlds: at home she has to take care of her brother and her mother, all the while wondering if they'll ever return to their country. At school, she's looked at as just another international student and has to adjust to American customs.

I liked the concept of this book - a family from another place that is living here has as much of a back story as anyone else, and sometimes it's easy to forget that other people might have more things on their mind than we can imagine. I didn't find Laila to be very likable, though, and I didn't want her family to go back to her wreck of a country where her life might very well be in danger, just so her little brother can be king. Overall, a good read and worth the time invested.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: violence, alcohol use
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

The Secret Side of Empty

Andreu, Marie. The Secret Side of Empty. Running Press Kids, 2014.

M.T. doesn't stand out from her classmates.  With her pale skin and blond hair, she looks like many of her fellow seniors. However, M.T. won't be graduating from high school. She won't be traveling abroad with the National Honor Society group.  She won't be getting a driver's license.  M.T. is an undocumented immigrant, so all of the hopes and dreams of her fellow graduates are things she can only wish for.  As her family life and the secrets she hides begin to unravel, M.T. has to decide if she's willing to dare to follow her dreams.

This is an excellent glimpse into the life of a family dealing with immigration issues. I know there are students at my school who are the children of undocumented immigrants or are themselves undocumented.  As soon as I find a magic money tree, I'm getting a copy of this book for my kids.

Recommended for: teens, tweens, adults who work with immigrant populations
Red Flags: none
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

The World Outside

Wiseman, Eva. The World Outside. Tundra Books, 2014.

Chanie is a Hasidic Jew and lives in a sheltered community with others of her sect. She is in her final year of high school when she meets a boy who suggests that she might want to consider something more. She loves to sing but is not allowed to do so in her community, and David convinces her to audition for Julliard. She is accepted into Julliard, but then she has to decide if her love of singing is more important to her than the community where she has grown up.

This was an interesting story. The same storyline has been repeated in multiple young adult novels, but this was the first time I had read a book about a Hasidic community, and it was interesting to learn about their customs and practices. I didn't agree with Chanie's decision at the end of the story, nor for her reasons for making it, but I think this book would definitely have appeal in my library and would broaden the horizons of my readers, most of whom have not met any Hasidic Jews.

Recommended for: tweens, young adults
Red Flags: none
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley for the purposes of review.

Moon at Nine

Ellis, Deborah. Moon at Nine. Pajama Press, 2014.

Imagine that Annie on My Mind took place in Iran during the 1980s, and that instead of living unhappily ever after, the main characters face much worse fates due to the laws of the land. This is what awaits the reader of Moon at Nine. Farrin goes to a school for gifted girls, and when Sadira begins attending her school, Farrin realizes that she loves her. Amid all of the political upheaval in her country, she is caught kissing Sadira and the two are punished: they are to be kept separate and advanced quickly through their programs while their parents try to find husbands for them. Farrin thinks she can't survive without seeing Sadira, but can she survive if they stay together?

Wow. This book is set in a different culture than my own and a different time period. The girls are living through historical events that I can barely begin to imagine. And to think that if my wife and I had lived in that place, we could have suffered the same fate as Sadira and Farrin - it's unimaginable. This is an excellent book to give a picture of live in a different country under a different government where people are not granted the same freedoms we are given in the United States. Although the subject matter is difficult, this book is amazingly free of graphic red flags that could naturally occur in such a story.

Recommended for: teens and adults
Red Flags: some alcohol use (by adults), Farrin witnesses executions when she is in jail, minor language
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Read-alikes for: Annie on My Mind, If You Could Be Mine

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley for the purposes of review.

Killer of Enemies

Bruchac, Joseph. Killer of Enemies. Tu Books, 2013.

Lozen and her family have been taken in by the Ones, four superhumans who have created a sort of fort after the Silver Cloud came and wiped out all electronics. Many people died when electronics died, especially those rich enough to have cyber implants, but Lozen and her family have been accepted by the Ones because Lozen is a great hunter and the Ones keep her family hostage as she kills their enemies. Lozen ventures out where none else dare and kills all kinds of monsters, until one day when she decides she must rescue her family and escape the clutches of the Ones.

I enjoyed this story. There is great dystopian world building, including the four very different characters of the Ones who rule the fort. Lozen embraces her Native American heritage throughout the book, and it's nice to see a nonwhite protagonist in a book that's not being preachy. Also, the Bigfoot character was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the fact that he called her Little Food when they spoke.

Recommended for: young adults, fans of Hunger Games
Red Flags: lots of violence
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

American Born Chinese

Yang, Gene Luen. American Born Chinese. First Second, 2006.

I read this book because I really enjoyed Boxers and Saints, but I didn't find this one as enjoyable at all. There were multiple storylines which were difficult to separate, the one kid's cousin who visits from China I found simply appalling - he was so stereotyped it wasn't even funny anymore. I can't speak to the experience of growing up in a different culture, but this book was simply not my favorite. That being said, the art is very nicely done, the colors are appealing, and it is a Printz award winner.

Recommended for: fans of multicultural lit and graphic novels
Red Flags: none
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

War Brothers

McKay, Sharon. War Brothers: The Graphic Novel. Annick Press, 2013.

This book tells the story of child soldiers in Uganda who were forced to join the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The problem of child soldiers and their recovery is an issue in many African countries, and this book tells the story in a sensitive and appropriate manner.

I can see why this book won an award this year. The art is appropriate for the story, and the book depicts the horrors of child soldiers without being overly graphic. When I find that money-tree, I'm going to purchase a copy of this book for my library.

Recommended for: teens and adults
Red Flags: lots of violence, mentions of rape
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Read-Alike: Chanda's Wars by Allan Stratton

The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong

Holland, L. Tam. The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong. Simon & Schuster BFYR, 2013.

Vee Crawford Wong would describe himself as half Texan, half Chinese. He is in high school and he fakes a family tree for Spanish class and fakes a family history for his history class. He's frustrated because he doesn't really know his extended family at all. He ends up conning his family into a trip to China, where he meets his grandfather and finds out that sometimes things don't work out the way we expect them to.

What I liked: The multicultural aspect of this book was good. The details during the Wong family trip to China were good. Vee was a very real, very flawed character.

What I didn't like: First, Vee is uber-entitled. His family flies to China (all four of them, plus a guest) because of a letter Vee faked and which his father knew was a fake all along. That's a really expensive lesson for Vee to learn. Second, Vee refers to the girls' volleyball team as half princess and half lesbos. He stereotypes all the supposedly-lesbian volleyball players and uses the term lesbos frequently throughout his narration. That kind of homophobic language is not acceptable, and it did nothing to enhance the story at all.

Recommended for: young adults
Red Flags: homophobic slurs - "lesbo" and "fa----" neither of which is corrected, ever. Also, Vee is a teen boy, and the book is told from inside his brain. Therefore, lots of thoughts about sex.
Overall Rating: 2/5 stars

American Born Chinese

Yang, Gene Luen. American Born Chinese. First Second, 2006.

I read this book because I really enjoyed Boxers and Saints, but I didn't find this one as enjoyable at all. There were multiple storylines which were difficult to separate, the one kid's cousin who visits from China I found simply appalling - he was so stereotyped it wasn't even funny anymore. I can't speak to the experience of growing up in a different culture, but this book was simply not my favorite. That being said, the art is very nicely done, the colors are appealing, and it is a Printz award winner.

Recommended for: fans of multicultural lit and graphic novels
Red Flags: none
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

War Brothers

McKay, Sharon. War Brothers: The Graphic Novel. Annick Press, 2013.

This book tells the story of child soldiers in Uganda who were forced to join the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The problem of child soldiers and their recovery is an issue in many African countries, and this book tells the story in a sensitive and appropriate manner.

I can see why this book won an award this year. The art is appropriate for the story, and the book depicts the horrors of child soldiers without being overly graphic. When I find that money-tree, I'm going to purchase a copy of this book for my library.

Recommended for: teens and adults
Red Flags: lots of violence, mentions of rape
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Read-Alike: Chanda's Wars by Allan Stratton

Hereville

Deutsch, Barry. Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword. Amulet, 2010.

Mirka lives in an Orthodox Jewish community, but she doesn't want to learn how to be a good wife; she wants to fight dragons. Blending elements of multiculturalism with fantasy, this story follows Mirka as she speaks with a witch, who sends her to a troll to get a sword, which will then allow Mirka to slay the dragons she's always wanted to fight. The fairy-tale elements are enjoyable as is the look into the life of an Orthodox Jewish community.

Recommended for: teens and tweens
Red Flags: I believe the best term is "cartoon violence" - nothing serious, but Mirka is trying to get a sword in order to kill dragons
Overall Rating: 5/5

Read-alike for Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles.

The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong

Holland, L. Tam. The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong. Simon & Schuster BFYR, 2013.

Vee Crawford Wong would describe himself as half Texan, half Chinese. He is in high school and he fakes a family tree for Spanish class and fakes a family history for his history class. He's frustrated because he doesn't really know his extended family at all. He ends up conning his family into a trip to China, where he meets his grandfather and finds out that sometimes things don't work out the way we expect them to.

What I liked: The multicultural aspect of this book was good. The details during the Wong family trip to China were good. Vee was a very real, very flawed character.

What I didn't like: First, Vee is uber-entitled. His family flies to China (all four of them, plus a guest) because of a letter Vee faked and which his father knew was a fake all along. That's a really expensive lesson for Vee to learn. Second, Vee refers to the girls' volleyball team as half princess and half lesbos. He stereotypes all the supposedly-lesbian volleyball players and uses the term lesbos frequently throughout his narration. That kind of homophobic language is not acceptable, and it did nothing to enhance the story at all.

Recommended for: young adults
Red Flags: homophobic slurs - "lesbo" and "fa----" neither of which is corrected, ever. Also, Vee is a teen boy, and the book is told from inside his brain. Therefore, lots of thoughts about sex.
Overall Rating: 2/5 stars

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

Medina, Meg. Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass. Candlewick, 2013.

Piddy isn't Latina enough for Yaqui Delgado.  Also, she's in honors classes, and she's new, so she's highly suspect.  Thus follows a year of school where Yaqui torments Piddy for no reason other than that she doesn't like her.  Piddy is trying to balance her classes, her job, and avoiding Yaqui and her thugs.  When the bullying escalates to a group assault outside Piddy's house, an assault which was recorded and posted online, Piddy finally realizes something has to give.

This was an okay book.  It's a very real story, and the resolution - Piddy going to a new school, and Yaqui and her gang being sort-of punished because the principal isn't sure how to deal with all of them - is quite realistic.  I am glad for the emphasis on Latino/a culture in this book, and I'm sure it would be popular at my library, but I just didn't enjoy the story.  I strongly dislike the fact that Piddy had to leave her school in order to solve this problem, although I can see that this was the easiest solution.  The only part I liked was that Piddy tried to clean graffiti off of another kid's locker, and that kid, in turn, was the one who reported the bullying situation.  Other than that, there's not much good in here to provide kids with hope against bullying.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: lots of bullying, language
Overall Rating: 2/5 stars

Golden Boy

Sullivan, Tara. Golden Boy. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2013.

Habo is an albino, and Habo lives in Tanzania, a very dangerous place for a person whose limbs and hair are thought to bring good luck.  When Habo's family loses their land and has to travel north to live with relatives, Habo soon realizes that he is a danger to all those around him, and sets off, Frodo-style, to solve his problems on his own.  He evades a kidnapper/murderer, befriends a blind sculptor, and eventually must decide whether he should contact his family.  Do they even want him around anymore?

This is a great book that explores an little-known aspect of superstitions: the idea that an albino's body parts are lucky is indeed a dangerous one, especially for albino children born in Africa.  I appreciated the author's choice to bring this topic to light and to do so in the form of a coming-of-age story with interesting and relatable characters that my patrons can easily identify with. I will definitely be getting a copy of this book to add to my library's collection.

Recommended for: teens, tweens
Red Flags: none
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Out of Nowhere

Padian, Maria. Out of Nowhere. Knopf BFYR, 2013.

Tom is a soccer star at his school, but soon he is overshadowed by a group of boys from Somalia. They are part of a "secondary immigration," a group of people who immigrated to the United States and then moved again when they wanted to live near better schools and neighborhoods. Tom's community is divided; some want to help the new neighbors, and some would rather they went somewhere else. Tom soon realizes that it's hard to hate someone once you know their story, and he fights for his friends' rights to play on the soccer team.

I have far too few sports books in my library, especially sports-themed books that also tell a second story, so I was glad to see this one in my collection. I am also glad for the immigrant story told here, and for the way readers can watch Tom and his family react to the immigrant situation. In spite of not generally enjoying sports books, I found it difficult to put this particular book down.

Recommended for: teens, tweens, fans of sports
Red Flags: none
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars