Listen with Me

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

This is more than just a story of guilt or innocence. It raises that question of course - Has Amal done a thing worthy of imprisonment? He was in a fight, but was it criminal? The central question of the plot is bigger than a single teenager's guilt, though. It's a question about the entire system. About presumptions based on race. About the school system and the boxes it puts kids into. About cultural failures and violence. We expect kids to be tough but punish them when they fight. And then treat them as if they're dangerous forever after. We expect only a single time of behavior from them from early childhood and punish them for things they don't understand. Zaboi and Salaam suggest that the school system prepares boys for prison, even small infractions taking power from them It's noteworthy that the end of the book does not have Amal in a clear place. He doesn't have answers about his future,He's just thinking, educating himself, an looking for options to make better choices going forward. With such big societal questions being raised, this is an excellent book for discussion. 

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Non-fiction book review - Kids Fight Plastic

Kids Fight Plastic by Martin Dorey

 It's no secret that single use plastic is bad. We hear all the time how damaging it is to the environment. What isn't always clear is why. That's one of the advantages of this book. It lays out in a clear and concise way the short and long term damage done by plastic. We also get clear steps that individuals can take to help. Some of these things can be difficult to achieve, but Dorey breaks it all down into small and achievable steps.It also doesn't ask the individual to fix the plastic problem. It just asks us to weigh our decisions and help to ease the plastic burden.

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Book review - Beauty Mark

Title: Beauty Mark

Author: Carole Boston Weatherford

Genre: verse novel

Similar books: Voices by David Elliott

                      Anastasia by Magadlena Lankosz

Rating:

 

far more compelling than I expected

Summary (provided by publisher): From the day she was born into a troubled home to her reigning days as a Hollywood icon, Marilyn Monroe (née Norma Jeane Mortenson) lived a life that was often defined by others. Here, in a luminous poetic narrative, acclaimed author Carole Boston Weatherford tells Marilyn’s story in a way that restores her voice to its rightful place: center stage. Revisiting Marilyn’s often traumatic early life—foster homes, loneliness, sexual abuse, teen marriage—through a hard-won, meteoric rise to stardom that brought with it exploitation, pill dependency, and depression, the lyrical narrative continues through Marilyn’s famous performance at JFK’s birthday party, three months before her death. In a story at once riveting, moving, and unflinching, Carole Boston Weatherford tells a tale of extraordinary pain and moments of unexpected grace, gumption, and perseverance, as well as the inexorable power of pursuing one’s dreams. A beautifully designed volume.

My opinion: I've never really found Marilyn Monroe to be an especially interesting figure. At least, not before I read this book. I had no idea how fascinating I was going to find her story. Poverty, mental illness, abuse, desperation for recognition and affection, and eventually fame. That fame is actually a very small part of this narrative. The larger focus is on obstacles and people wanting her to conform to societal expectations. Expectations that matched nothing that she saw growing up, that must have felt no more realistic than the ideals of fame to young Norma. While the story is told in Marilyn's voice, it is surprisingly dispassionate, relaying events without speculating much about her deeper feelings towards them. A bit of a niche read but well worth a look.

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Book review - Millionaires for the Month

Title: Millionaires for the Month

Author: Stacy McAnulty

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Effie Starr Zook Has One More Question by Martha Freeman

                      The Dollar Kids by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

Rating:

 

 a tough one to pull off

Summary (provided by publisher): Felix Rannells and Benji Porter were never supposed to be field-trip partners. Felix is a rule follower. Benji is a rule bender. They're not friends. And they don't have anything to talk about. Until . . .
They find a wallet. A wallet that belongs to tech billionaire Laura Friendly. They're totally going to return it-but not before Benji "borrows" twenty dollars to buy hot dogs. Because twenty dollars is like a penny to a billionaire, right?
But a penny has value. A penny doubled every day for thirty days is $5,368,709.12! So that's exactly how much money Laura Friendly challenges Felix and Benji to spend. They have thirty days. They can't tell anyone. And there are LOTS of other rules. But if they succeed, they each get ten million dollars to spend however they want.
Challenge accepted! They rent cool cars, go to Disney World, buy pizza for the whole school-and that's just the beginning! But money can't buy everything or fix every problem. And spending it isn't always as easy and fun as they thought it would be. . .

My opinion: The concept here is one many kids dream of: suddenly finding yourself able to spend indiscriminately, to buy or do anything that pops into your head. By putting limits (limits that will be familiar if you've ever seen Brewster's Millions) on how they can spend the money the plot is more interesting, especially as each of the boys ring different approaches to the endeavor. Benji is looking for fulfillment and recognition. Felix is extremely driven to win and help his mother but torn by his natural inclination to follow the rules. As expected, their relationships are tested. They have initial popularity at large but earn a lot of disapproval. And their more meaningful relationships are tested by the money and secrets. The ending is a bit rough. The final confrontation is awkward, not entirely satisfying, and leaves me with reservations. Entertaining and might serve as a good prompt for a writing project for young readers.

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Listen with me

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

With the state of the world right now, this book about a young Black man in prison and the biases in the justice system seems especially timely. And I'm especially interested to hear the verse novel approach to this narrative. I don't expect that this will be an especially relaxing or comfortable listen but certainly an eye-opening one.

Non-fiction book review - CRISPR

CRISPR by Yolanda Ridge

This is one of the most comprehensive explorations of gene editing that I personally have encountered. Complex but not excessively bogged down with technical jargon. A lay person can understand the content with a minimal amount of effort. We get first an explanation of DNA and genetic engineering, then the story of CRISPR and how scientist intend to use it. That's what we expect, of course, but Ridge doesn't stop there. There's a full exploration of the complications both scientific and moral. We look at how things might go wrong, how we might create new problems, and how gene editing might be misused. And it doesn't tell us what to think so much as it gives us questions to consider. A solid entry in the world of scientific texts.

More information: CRISPR releases September 8. 

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Book review - Teen Titans: Beast Boy

Title: Teen Titans Beast Boy

Author: Kami Garcia

Genre: superhero/graphic novel

Similar books: Ms Marvel: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson

                      Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Louise Simonson

Rating:

one I've been waiting for

Summary (provided by publisher): Garfield Logan has spent his entire life being overlooked. Even in a small town like Eden, Georgia, the seventeen-year-old with green streaks in his hair can't find a way to stand out--and the clock is ticking. Senior year is almost over. If Gar doesn't find a way to impress the social elite at Bull Creek High School, he will never know what it's like to matter. Gar's best friends, Stella and Tank, can't understand why he cares what other people think, and they miss their funny, pizza-loving, video game-obsessed best friend.
Then Gar accepts a wild dare out of the blue. It impresses the popular kids, and his social status soars. But other things are changing, too. Gar grows six inches overnight. His voice drops, and suddenly, he's stronger and faster. He's finally getting everything he wanted, but his newfound popularity comes at a price. Gar has to work harder to impress his new friends. The dares keep getting bigger, and the stakes keep getting higher.
When Gar realizes the extent of his physical changes, he has to dig deep and face the truth about himself--and the people who truly matter--before his life spirals out of control.

My opinion: The Teen Titans are an example of superheroes where we aren't overwhelmed with origin stories (with the exception of Robin). This is probably because we typically only see them in the context of their team while origin stories are the realm of solo books. So I was super excited to learn that DC was introducing this Teen Titans series, with books focused on the history of individual members. It began last year with Raven. Now we come to my personal favorite: Beast Boy. Garcia is digging into Gar's motivations. We see him as a jokster, with humor trying to cover up his feelings of inadequacy. Picolo's illustrations add a great deal of complexity to an otherwise simple story. This is really only an introductory volume but I look forward to seeing how the story develops.

More information: Check out the book trailer here.

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