The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling by Wai Chim

Thanks to @kidlitexchange and @scholasticinc for sharing an ARC of The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling by @onewpc. This book is out November 10, 2020; add it to your list now so you don’t forget to grab a copy!

Anna is used to being in charge of everything; as the oldest sister, she naturally takes care of her younger brother and sister. Her dad works long hours at his restaurant, often spending the night in his office, so Anna also cooks dinner and makes sure her siblings do their homework. She even picks her little brother up from school. Anna does all this because her mother can’t - or won’t - Anna’s not entirely sure which. She just knows her mom stays in bed most of the time, and if she’s not in bed, she’s yelling at Anna for being a horrible daughter. Anna knows there’s some sort of mental illness making her mom unable to perform everyday tasks, but she doesn’t know what it is, or how to get help. She tries to lose herself in working in her father’s restaurant, where she loves to help cook… and watch Rory, the cute new delivery boy. As she gets to know Rory, Anna realizes that everyone has some sort of problem, and maybe she should ask for help with her mother. But that task seems impossible, until something happens that forces the family to take action.

This is a powerful book about mental illness and how it might be addressed and handled. I liked how Anna’s mother’s condition was discussed, but wished there was more about Rory - his illness fell a little flat for me, and I wish it had been explored more. I think it would help teens a lot more to see Anna not only dealing with her mother, but with a friend’s situation as well. Besides that, it was an interesting read, touching on typical YA tropes in a unique way and deftly balancing mental illness.

The Bridge by Bill Konigsberg

Thanks to @kidlitexchange and @scholasticinc for sharing an ARC of @bkonigsberg's The Bridge, which is out TODAY, so go ahead and grab your copy!

Aaron and Tillie "meet" when they lock eyes on the George Washington Bridge. Both teens are straddling the guardrail, ready to jump. The story is told in four different ways: Tillie jumps and Aaron doesn't, Aaron jumps and Tillie doesn't, they both jump, and neither jump. Each option is realistically fleshed out, showing how everyone even remotely involved with the teen reacted to the news.

This book is so heavy, so real, and so necessary. I hope it gets into as many hands as possible. I think showing the finality of suicide, and the reality of how it impacts others is so important. Teens (and honestly probably any age) need to see this, and it's even more powerful coming from someone who has been there. (Konigsberg has a moving explanation at the beginning of the book.) This is a hard read, depending on your mental state - aka hard for me during the pandemic, but this is probably a very crucial time for it to be read! I can't recommend this enough, and hope you recommend it to anyone you know who might be struggling, or who might need it to help those around them.

Dear Universe by Florence Gonsalves

Thanks to KidLitExchange and Little Brown Young Readers for sharing Dear Universe by Florence Gonsalves. This book publishes on 5/12/2020, and I love that it’s going to come out right around graduation season, since finishing high school is such a poignant plot in this book.

Chamomile is counting down the days to prom - and the window for her boyfriend to ask her is dwindling. She tries not to think about it too much, and it’s not hard, because all her friends are looking forward to the senior volunteer trip to Nicaragua. The trip isn’t really on Cham’s radar, because she hasn’t finished her college admissions essay, which is a requirement to go. Cham isn’t even sure she’ll go to college in the fall - she’s too worried about her dad, whose disease is progressing quicker than anyone thought it would.

Cham is determined to keep her home life separate from her school world. She’s constantly pleading with the universe to help her pull it off, but she knows she can’t keep it up forever.

This story makes the reader incredibly invested in Cham’s life - or lives, as she’d prefer to have it. Some of the sentences made me gasp because they capture being seventeen so perfectly - on the brink of a huge life transition, with the world ready for you, while also fearing what might come next.

Getting real for a minute: Sometimes I feel jaded when I read YA books because the romance is so hopeful and pure, it makes me roll my eyes - even though I remember that’s how it was. Or the teens have all the talent in the world if they just stand up to their parents to go after their dreams - but some real kids don’t have that, they’re just average and can’t recognize any outstanding skills in themselves. This book, on the other hand, is the most REAL YA book I’ve read in awhile, that reminds me of my (eons ago) high school self and my friends, and the teens I recently got to know at the library. There’s a bit of romance, but it’s not all happy. There’s a lot of struggle, but it’s real. There’s a lot of true uncertainty and emotion expressed honestly. And there is so much hopefulness and fear that you’ll remember being seventeen in the best way possible.

You're Welcome, Universe

You’re Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner is so unique - the main character is an Indian Deaf teen, and she has two moms. There are so many elements of diversity, but all are handled beautifully, and never seem over the top or constructed just to be contemporary or dramatic. The story itself is really compelling. Julia is a graffiti artist and gets kicked out of her exclusively Deaf school for covering graffiti that ruined her friend’s reputation, but that doesn’t stop her tagging places around town. It actually pushes her to be more and more creative with her art – especially when a rival artist starts adding to her work, and those are additions what make people talk. Julia wants her art to stand as it is, but this artist keeps one-upping her. Adding to her stress is having a new interpreter at a mainstream school and trying to fit in, keep up with the work, and make friends.

The book includes examples of “her” work, and it really rounds out the story. It’s not exactly an illustrated novel, but the graffiti is peppered into the book and fleshes out the story.

You're Welcome, Universe won the Schneider Family Book Award at the 2018 Youth Media Awards. I watched them as a webcast and had a browser window open to my library's site, putting award winners on hold as they were announced! So many great YA books out there today, and so many are winning these great awards!

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert

After a year at a boarding school across the country, Suzette is ready to reconnect with her family. Her stepbrother, Lionel, picks her up from the airport, and Suzette warily accepts that things are back to normal. But as the summer progresses, she sees Lionel is still battling his mental illness. Suzette wants to help him as much as she can, but she's caught in a love triangle with a boy she's known forever and a new coworker, so she is understandably distracted... Should she tell her parents she's worried about Lionel, or trust him to know what's best for him and his mental well-being?

This book won the 2018 Stonewall Award at the Youth Media Awards. I was watching the awards online and putting books on hold at my library as they won awards! I've read several award winners and am so excited at the wide range of young adult fiction these days.

Gemini by Sonya Mukherjee

I read this book a few weeks ago and it blew me away. I always read a lot of Young Adult books because, hello – YA! It’s young, it’s fun, it’s emotional, it’s just great. I find myself preferring to read adult suspense, memoirs, or YA. That’s pretty much it. But that means I sometimes get in a rut… Some YA books have very similar plots, or characters, or you just don’t connect with it in some way, and you burn out.

Sometimes.

But not this time.

This book was so unique and so beautiful and so breathtaking. It was excruciating to put it down to tend to my child. I wanted to burrow down into this book’s world and stay there, and I still feel that way.

Hailey and Clara are conjoined twins. They are seventeen, about to graduate high school, and dreaming about the future. Their mother wants them to live at home and go to the nearby college, but Hailey wants to go to art school. Clara doesn’t mind staying close to home, because her head is always in the stars. If she could go anywhere, it would be into space to look down at the Earth and really put everything in perspective.

When a new guy moves to the twins’ small town, everyone at the high school is intrigued. They are a close-knit community, and everyone knows everyone. Everyone is used to Hailey and Clara, so someone new to adjust to makes Clara nervous. Hailey is excited, because she loves to stand out with her pink hair and in-your-face attitude. Max, the new guy, loves astronomy, and Clara starts to crush on him. She and Hailey have never dated, never thought boys would be interested in them. But the Sadie Hawkins dance is on the horizon, and Hailey wants to go.

I loved that this book deals with “typical” teenager topics like crushes and dating, but it had a fascinating skew with the conjoined twins angle. I read an adult novel about conjoined twins years ago, and it was awful, so I love that this book is interesting and exciting and will grab readers and make them think about people who are different.

10 Things I Can See From Here

10 Things I Can See From Here

by Carrie Mac

Publication Date: February 28, 2017

Maeve deals with extreme anxiety, and it doesn't help that her mom is traveling to Haiti and sending Maeve to live with her father for six months. Her father who is a recovering alcoholic, and whose wife is seven months pregnant and planning a home birth - Maeve can't even begin to list all of the possible problems with that situation! Maeve's life seems to be spiraling out of control little by little, getting derailed by things that might not necessarily throw anyone else off track.

When Maeve meets Salix, she's nervous, but ready for her first real relationship with a girl. But then again, Salix is another person for Maeve for worry about while she struggles to balance her family's other problems.

This book was very engaging and easy to read - I finished it in two sitings because I couldn't put it down. Even now, the characters keep popping into my mind. They are all very realistic and well-rounded. No one is "good"" or "bad" - everyone is flawed, and Mac addresses this wonderfully. I especially loved that Maeve's family is supportive of her orientation, which is nice (and unfortunately rare) to see represented in young adult fiction. 

My only problem with this book is something of a backhanded compliment - it ended too soon. I would have loved to see more of the characters, but also I feel like the serious, important part of the story is yet to come. It is said over and over that Maeve is only staying with her father for six months, but she is embarking on her first serious relationship and growing closer to her family and neighbors, especially when compared with the isolated life she and her mother seemed to lead in another town. I think this novel had great character development, but they weren't necessarily thrown into the fire as I would have liked to see.

30 Days of Working for and with Teens for Social Justice

This month on YALSAblog and the Hub, we're focusing on social justice. Be sure to follow along with both blogs as they explore this topic, and how to work for and with teens.

Think about your library’s population: Is it diverse? If you answered no, why don’t you think the population is diverse? Keep in mind that diversity is not always something you can see, like skin color, a hijab, or a wheelchair.   

Read over this site, and try to accomplish the challenge posed: 

“Commit to taking 3 actions in the next month, and share these with a trusted friend, colleague, or family member in order to increase your accountability to follow through on your commitment.  Can you take at least one action in the next two weeks in the Ally or Accomplice category?”

Read the full post here.

This Is Where It Ends

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp is a book about a school shooting. It seems like I've been reading a lot of school shooting books lately... I won't say it's a trend, the way vampires were and zombies are, but I've been reading about it frequently. I like it, though, because there are so many different ways to portray it: from the victim's point of view; from a bystander's point of view; from the shooter's point of view, or all of the above. Plus more.

Nijkamp tells the story from the points of view of four different students. They share flashbacks about how they know the shooter, what their relationships were like, how they changed, and why they think this event is occurring. There is the girl who used to date the shooter, the girl who was bullied by him, the bullied girl's twin brother, and the sister of the victim. The way they relate to the shooter, both in flashbacks and during the action, is very emotional.

The action takes place in about an hour, starting with a high school assembly. This tight time frame really builds the suspense, especially with four narrators in different areas of the school.

For how well the four narrators are developed, the shooter is a flat character. I would have loved to have him as a narrator, to find out why he flipped and decided to shoot up the school. The way he was portrayed was pretty stereotypical, so that aspect of the book was a little disappointing. It's still an interesting, emotional read, if you're in the mood for such realistic fiction.

Other books about school shootings I've read recently include: Violent Ends edited by Shaun David Hutchinson, Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll, Diary of a Witness by Catherine Ryan Hyde, Damage Done by Amanda Panitch, and The Light Fantastic by Sarah Combs (reviewed for Cleaver Magazine).

What I Learned from YALSA

I started a new job as a teen services librarian one month before I graduated with my MLS. I was thrilled to get a full-time position serving my ideal population – at a dream location, to boot! My MLS program was amazing, and I learned more than I expected to. I felt confident with my library skills as I started the job. But any librarian can tell you, everything isn’t book-smarts! (No library pun intended.)

Read the whole post at YALSAblog.

Career Prep for Teens with Disabilities

Employment for teens with disabilities is notoriously low, with 16.6% of teens with disabilities ages 16-19 having jobs. On the other hand, 29.9% of teens with no disabilities are employed (“Youth Employment Rate”). Libraries can help local teens land jobs—for the summer or beyond—by hosting career preparation workshops. These workshops should be open to, and helpful for, teens with disabilities and without, but some of the advice is exclusively for teens with disabilities.

See the whole "debate" at YALSAblog.

February Favorites

I read eighteen books this month - how did I find the time? I was so busy with schoolwork, my student association duties, and writing STEM programs for a rural library (more about that later). I'm only highlighting six of them, but you can find all my reviews on Goodreads. I'm thinking of doing an annual "Duds" post of books I read and then hated myself for reading, or books I started and couldn't finish. But let's not think about that type of book - let's focus on the great ones!


Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. I’m not a big poetry fan, but I LOVE verse novels. Woodson’s story of her childhood is so beautiful, with exquisite imagery and emotion. I think this is the first book I’ve ever read by her, but now I’m eager to read more. I highly recommend this book.

George by Alex Gino. This book tackles an interesting, contemporary issue, and it does so in a way that pretty much every age level can understand, which I really appreciate. As someone who was born female and identifies as female, I wish there were prequels and sequels to this book, because I am very curious to know how and when George realized she was a girl, not a boy, and I really want to see how things progress in her life. I think this is a great subject for younger books to be written about, and look forward to more in general, and from this particular author.

Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova. Middle grade graphic novel about a girl who is nervous about attending a new school, and fails to follow the rules she made for herself to fit in. Peppi joins the art club but can’t bring herself to speak up and share her ideas, and can’t bring herself to apologize to the boy she hurt on the first day. I love middle grade fiction, and when it's also in graphic novel form, it's so fun to read! You really get sucked into the story with the illustrations.

The Opposite of Everyone by Joshilyn Jackson. Joshilyn Jackson is one of my favorite authors, and her books keep getting better and better. Paula is a divorce lawyer who has had countless identities in the past, thanks to her mom, who lived wherever she could find a boyfriend. Paula has been sending her mother money every month to “make good” on something that happened in the past - and that’s been all the contact she’s had with her mother. When she finally gets something from her mother, it’s not what she expected, and she has to deal with her past catching up to her rich (literally) present.

The Rag and Bone Shop by Robert Cormier. Robert Cormier was writing dark YA fiction before it was mainstream, and his last book doesn’t disappoint. Jason is twelve years old when he’s questioned in the murder of his seven-year-old friend. Most of the story is in the suspense between the interrogator and Jason, but the ending has an excellent twist, then another twist, then a knife to the gut. Amazing!

Violent Ends by Shaun David Hutchinson. A collection of short stories about a school shooting, told in 17 different points of view by 17 different YA authors. A few of the stories fell flat, but most were amazing and interesting and emotional. Makes me want to re-read Columbine by Dave Cullen. This book has been popping in to my mind randomly since I read it, so I think that makes it a powerful read. I could see myself re-reading this one in a year or two.

January Favorites

On a previous blog, I would post monthly recaps of my favorite reads. I've decided to start doing it on this blog. Each post will have a variety of books I really enjoyed reading, whether they are children's or young adult, fiction or nonfiction, graphic or prose.


Through the Woods by Emily Carroll. I love this beautifully creepy collection of short stories. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked it up - I’d heard a lot of buzz about it, but thought it was just a fairy tale graphic novel. I was pleasantly surprised! The stories aren’t outright scary, but they’re delightfully unsettling, and quick and easy to read.

The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Ada was born with a clubfoot, and her mother is ashamed of it. Because of that, Ada has never been out of the house, never learned anything, even though she is…or at least THINKS she is, 10 years old. Her little brother Jamie, on the other hand, is their mother’s favorite, and can play outside and attend school. As the war gets closer to London, Jamie is going to be sent to the country to stay safe. Ada sneaks out with Jamie, and they get on a train with the other children from London. People who live in the country are going to take in children until World War II is over, but what if no one wants Ada and Jamie? This was a very engrossing book, and I don’t usually enjoy historical fiction. The ending of this book is one of the most satisfying I’ve read in a long time, with a perfect last line. Highly recommended! Check out my video review: A Book a Minute.

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham. I love Lauren Graham, mostly as Lorelai Gilmore, so I was worried I was going to imagine her as the character in this book. Luckily the story is about Franny trying to make it as an actress in New York, and she’s silly and funny, so imagining Lauren Graham as the character totally fit. I love reading about people trying to make it as actors, so I loved this book. The overall resolution was a little obvious, but there were nods throughout the book that Graham knew what was going on, so it seemed a little less hokey. The ending itself was very well-written. I’d love to read more from her.

Jane, the Fox, and Me by Fanny Britt. This graphic novel is beautiful. Overall it looks very simple, with scratchy pencil drawings, but there are so many details in the images. The story is about a girl who used to have friends, until they abruptly turn on her and she is the class loner. It’s a story that’s been told over and over again (and I feel like most of the books I’ve read recently deal with this issue), but it’s well-done, and worth a read since it’s quick.

FAVORITE RE-READS Matilda by Roald Dahl. I haven’t read this book since childhood, and I was delighted that it’s still just as entertaining to read as an adult! I’m a huge Roald Dahl fan so it was fun to start reading his works again. I read this right as I saw Matilda, Tim Minchin’s musical, so it was nice to compare the book to the musical (which actually stayed fairly true to the story)!

One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis. I previously read this in February 2013 and loved it - the review from my now-defunct blog is actually in the paperback version! I loved it just as much re-reading it now. I remembered the biggest plot point, but had forgotten a lot of the little twists along the way so it was a lot of fun to read again. Still highly recommend this book if you want a fast-paced, suspenseful read.

CLOUD901 – A Digital Learning Lab Exclusively for Teens

CLOUD901 is a digital learning lab that opened September 16, 2015 in the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library in Memphis, Tennessee. At 8,300 square feet over two floors, it is one of the largest learning labs in the country—and it’s all for teens. To enter the lab, you must be a library card holder between the ages of 13-18 (or be an adult on a scheduled tour). The space is amazing—I never thought I’d willingly be in high school again… but CLOUD901 would make it worth it.

Read the full post on YALSAblog and share your thoughts!

Adapted Books for Teens with Disabilities

Adapted books are texts that have been modified to make them more accessible for people with different abilities. Making books more physically accessible could mean using fluffers, which are foam stickers or Velcro squares added to the corners of stiff pages to make them easier to grab and turn. Any book can be adapted with these fluffers, but it’s important to make sure the books that are modified can also be independently read by patrons. Turning regular texts into adapted books will not only round out your library’s collection, but it can also be a great makerspace project!

Click to read the full article on YALSAblog.

If you liked Popular...

I recently read and reviewed Popular by Maya Van Wagenen. I loved the book, bought a copy for my thirteen-year-old niece, and have recommended it to countless people. I also picked it as the topic of my final project for my summer class, Advanced Literature for Young Adults. We had to make a virtual book display using a Web 2.0 tool, and I'd love you to check out the one I made for Popular!

Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek

Plot Summary
Maya Van Wagenen isn’t a total loser—she has one best friend. But on the food chain of middle school popularity, she’s only a step above the teachers. After finding an old book called Betty Cornell’s Teen-Age Popularity Guide, Maya decides to attempt changing her social standing. Her mother encourages her to tackle a tip of two a month from the book’s table of contents, keeping a journal of the experiment as she does. Maya goes from throwing on whatever clothes she can find in her closet to wearing pressed skirts and a string of pearls. She stops being content at blending in and pushes herself to sit at every table in the lunchroom. Though the memoir is about Betty Cornell’s Teen-Age Popularity Guide, Maya adds in elements of her home life, including a sister with autism, and schoolwork, including an ailing beloved teacher, to round out the story.

Critical Analysis
Maya’s writing is so honest and open that every teen girl will fall in love with her. Maya’s worries about her appearance, weight, and personality are universal, and are written about with an eloquent yet conversational voice that will draw in readers. The title, cover, and concept are all eye-catching enough to appeal to teen girls, but boys should also be encouraged to read the book. The lessons about fitting in and being popular vs. being well-liked are universal, and Maya interacts with a lot of boys in her school in a way that is enlightening for both genders.
     It can be hard to tell if a social experiment book will have a lasting place in literature, but if any do, Popular should definitely be one of them. Maya’s writing is timeless, and the idea of updating classic advice is something that will never go out of style. Before too long, Maya’s advice might be considered “classic” itself!
Related Activities
It’s time to get fancy! Teens will make pearls and bow ties out of paper. Collect junk mail and paper scraps so everyone can get their pick of paper types and colors. White paper can also be custom-decorated, so include markers and colored pencils as well. You can use glue sticks, or water down some white school glue to be painted on to the beads. Make sure you have plenty of stretchy string so teens can wear their pearl necklaces and bow ties!
     Find how to make different paper beads here:
          “How to Make Paper Beads.” WikiHow. Mediawiki, n.d. Web. 19 Jul. 2015.
     Find how to make a paper bow tie here:
          “How to make origami ties.” Origami-Make.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 19 Jul. 2015.
     Maya Van Wagenen not only experimented with becoming classy by wearing pearls, she turned around and made her own project into a book! Teens can do something similar during this craft program. Let them film short videos explaining how to make the beads and bow ties from start to finish. Upload them on the library’s social media sites so other teens can learn how to do these crafts at home.

Resources
Read the book that inspired Maya’s experiment! It’s being republished to meet the demand of Maya’s readers, so get your hands on a copy and see how you can interpret and apply the advice to your own life!
     Cornell, Betty. Betty Cornell’s Teen-Age Popularity Guide. New York: Dutton Books for Young
          Readers, 2014. Print.
If you’re not into retro advice or changing your social status, you can spice up your life in other ways, with a variety of social experiments. This book is framed within your high school career, but most of the suggestions will fill your time after school hours.
     Stalder, Erika and Steven Jenkins. 97 Things to Do Before You Finish High School. San
          Francisco, CA: Zest Books, 2008. Print.

Professional Review
Coats, Karen. “Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek by Maya Van Wagenen (review).”
     Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books 67.10 (2014): 546. Project Muse. Web. 19 Jul. 2015.

Read it for yourself!
Van Wagenen, Maya. Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek. New York: Dutton Books,
     2014. Print.

Inclusive Summer Reading Programs - YALSAblog

I was recently accepted to write for YALSAblog, and I couldn't be more thrilled! Most of my posts will focus on providing services to teens with disabilities. The first one has tips on making your library's summer reading program inclusive.

Whether you know the teens that frequent your library or not, disabilities can be hard to see. If you’re lucky, teens and their parents may be open about disabilities and how you can help them get the most out of their library experience. And if you’re not lucky, well, sometimes you'll deal with behaviors or unsatisfying encounters that make you wonder if you helped the patron at all. Thankfully, making your summer reading activities seem inviting to teens with disabilities is easy to do. With just a few tweaks to what you already have in place, your program can be inclusive! This way, it doesn’t matter if you know what disabilities you’re dealing with, or if you’re just taking a wild guess.

Read the whole article here!