Current Reads & Reviews: Informational Books

Ebrahim, Zak, and Jeff Giles. A Terrorist's Son: A Story of Choice. Riverside, NJ: Simon & Schuster, 2014. Print. ISBN: 1476784809 

Summary:  A true account of what it is like being the son of a terrorist… how he dealt with it, how he was treated and perceived by others, and how he overcame the hate he was instilled to feel from birth.

Analysis: This is a quick informational read that will grab you from the very beginning. Reeling the reader into the life of a seven year-old, a son of a terrorist. Into the night it all changed for Zak, into the hate that was instilled since birth, into the life of Zak Ebrahim.

An honest accurate account that is engaging from the first page to the last. Ebrahim gives an excellent visual presentation as his true life story reads like a fictional novel. A couple of illustrations are included of Zak with his terrorist father. After going down this road with Zak, the reader is left feeling empathy for the ones that terrorists leave behind or string along during their heinous acts.

Zak’s voice brings the reader inside his culture, one he didn’t choose but was born into. This is a true account on how Zak Ebrahim, son of a terrorist, overcame the hatred he was constantly surrounded by whether he was at home or he was at school. “Everyone has a choice. Even if you are trained to hate, you can choose tolerance. You can choose peace” (Ebrahim).

Activity: After reading the book, students will conduct an interview with a fellow classmate that has experienced some kind of change… moved from a different state, from a different culture, from a different school, etc. The students will devise six different questions to ask based on what they learned from Zak Ebrahim’s experience. The student will then write about what they have learned from the other student’s experience.

Related Resources: Below are two nonfiction books based on the themes: the results of terrorism and a look into what makes a terrorist.

Shuchart, John. Kids' Letters to Terrorists. Chicago, IL: Independent Pub Group, 2002. Print.

Kids' Letters to Terrorists is a compilation of letters that children of the victims wrote to the terrorists. Here the reader will find excerpts from those letters expressing feelings, or asking unanswered questions all in the process of healing and learning empathy.

Bergen, Peter L. United States of Jihad: Americans Fighting for Militant Islam, from 9/11 to ISIS. New York: Crown Publishing Group, 2016. Print.

“Lucid and rigorously researched, United States of Jihad is an essential new analysis of the Americans who have embraced militant Islam both here and abroad.” -- Washington Post, Notable Non-Fiction Books in 2016

Scholarly Reviews: None found as of 7/21/2017.

Current Reads & Reviews: YA Fantastic Fiction

Rosoff, Meg. How I Live Now. Westminster, MD: Wendy Lamb, 2004. Print. ISBN: 0553376055

Summary: Meet Daisy, a fifteen year-old, who has been relocated by her stepmother and father from Manhattan to her aunt’s in London where she meets her four cousins. Aunt Penn embarks on the fight for peace, leaving them all on their own at home. Daisy and her cousins have tons of fun doing whatever they want to do without the watchful eyes of an adult until the reality of war comes their way.

Analysis: Meg Rosoff reels you in to the voice and thoughts of Daisy, a young girl struggling with her own life. Daisy has lost her mother and hates her stepmother. She is relocated to a different country, one that is currently at war. This story will grab young readers as it shows what it would be like today if war came to your front door.

            The reader journeys with Daisy as she builds close bonds with her new found relatives. This is a story of one coming to terms with their own losses, struggling to stay positive while once again those close to Daisy are taken away. Daisy is left to take care of her youngest cousin, Piper. Through her journey, Daisy learns a lot about herself, her strength within. She never loses hope to once again be reunited with her cousin and her first love, Edmond.

            Heartrendingly sad at times, this is a story of love and survival. Survival within one’s own self and survival in a time of peril due to the war and destruction that surrounds you. A quick easy read, one that will bring you to tears but leave you with the wisdom the journey teaches Daisy. A story of growth.

Activity: Students will create a prediction chart. During their reading of the novel they will be required to form 3 predictions total. One in the beginning of the novel (After first 5 Chapters); Second prediction in the middle of the story (Chapters 16 -24); and then the third around the big bold black dot. Each prediction must state the evidence from the novel that led the student to each prediction. Students will share their predictions as they are made with other students. This will form discussions over the novel and the author’s direction.

Related Resources:  Two novels that are related to the theme love, war, and survival:

Between Shades of Gray is a historical fiction novel that would be a great companion novel to How I Live Now as they both are about love, loss, and survival during a time of war. Both told from a young female perspective.

Sepetys, Ruta. Between Shades of Gray. New York: Philomel, 2011. Print.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is a fantasy novel where children with peculiarities come together during a time of war. Love, friendship, loss and survival are all themes you will find here.

Riggs, Ransom. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Philadelphia, PA: Quirk, 2011. Print.

Scholarly Reviews:

School Library Journal 09/01/2004; Booklist 09/01/2004; Kirkus Reviews 07/14/2004; Publishers Weekly 07/05/2004

Rosoff, Meg. How I Live Now. Wendy Lamb Books, 2004. EBSCOhost, ezp.twu.edu/login?url=http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2060/login.aspx?direct=true&db=kdh&AN=BK0004434324&site=ehost-live

Current Reads & Reviews: YA Realistic Fiction

Ng, Celeste. Everything I Never Told You. New York: The Penguin Press, 2014. Print. ISBN: 159420571X

Summary: This is a heart wrenching story of a sixteen-year-old girl named Lydia and how she came to be found at the bottom of her neighborhood lake. Her family is left wondering what happened, what went wrong… A tragic story where those left behind struggle to come to terms with the part they may have played in Lydia’s death. A modern day Ordinary People yet still set in 1977. 

Analysis: Everything I Never Told You is a heart wrenching story as you follow each of the family’s thoughts as they work through the process of losing a family member. Set in 1977 Ohio in a small town called Middlewood, the story opens up to a Chinese American family noticing that their sixteen year old daughter is missing. This brings some mystery to the story as the reader is left trying to figure out what actually happened to Lydia Lee, what went wrong.

            Ng takes a different approach here. Typically the reader will learn about the victim, hearing from her and her close friends, yet Ng focuses more on the past of each of the parents. This is great as it shows young adults a different perspective giving them an understanding that parents had or have lives too… Dreams that they themselves want or wanted to fulfill, and how that makes them want to see their children reach the same dreams as well as the toll that takes on the child. The reader also hears from the siblings and sees how they are dealing with the loss through their eyes as well. Hearing from each family member one sees how they all try to figure out when it was their world began to tilt in the wrong direction.

            Ng weaves a story together beautifully. The reader feels the angst and frustration of growing up Chinese American and the prejudices that comes with that back in 1977. While this very well could be an adult novel, older young adults will get lost in the mystery of what happened to Lydia.

Activity: The students could do a comparison study review of the modern day novel Everything I Never Told You to the classic novel Ordinary People. After reading both, students will complete plot maps for both stories, then choose one character from both novels and comparing the character development of the two.

Related Resources:  Two novels that are related to the theme of coming to terms with loss in Everything I Never Told You are:

Asher, Jay. 13 Reasons Why. London: Penguin, 2017. Print. 

Thirteen Reasons Why is a modern day story about a girl that commits suicide and the thirteen reasons why she ends her life. It is a story of how the people who knew her struggle to understand and cope with this tragedy.

Guest, Judith. Ordinary People. NY, NY: Penguin, 2015. Print

Ordinary People living ordinary lives enduring life's ordinary issues and tragedies but struggling along the while learning to heal. A father who cares too much, a mother that doesn't care enough, and son just trying to figure out how to exist between the two.

Scholarly Reviews:

Kirkus Reviews 06/01/2014; Booklist 05/15/2014; Library Journal 05/01/2014; Publishers Weekly 04/14/2014

Ng, Celeste. Everything I Never Told You. Penguin Group USA, 2014. EBSCOhost, ezp.twu.edu/login?url=http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2060/login.aspx?direct=true&db=kdh&AN=BK0013949093&site=ehost-live.

Current Reads & Reviews: A Culturally Diverse Novel

Alexie, Sherman, and Ellen Forney. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Boston, MA: Little Brown, 2007. Print. ISBN: 0316013684 

Summary: Meet Junior, a Native American living on the Spokane Reservation with the rest of his alcoholic family, who wants more out of life. Leaving the “rez” to attend an all-white high school, Junior is torn between two places… his heritage and his future. This is a story about hard choices, acceptance, grief, and perseverance.

Analysis: A multicultural diverse novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian shows the reader a glimpse of what it is like to be an American Indian today, and the effects historical oppression has had on their lives. The inequalities and injustices between white people and American Indians is astounding.

Author Sherman Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington State, which is the setting in the novel giving the reader an honest look inside life there. “On the rez, you know every kid’s father, mother, grandparents, dog, cat, and shoe size. I mean, yeah, Indians are screwed up, but we’re really close to each other. We KNOW each other. Everybody know everybody” (Alexie 153). The main character, Junior, is a young lad with high hopes. He attends his school on the reservation and is so disappointed in the quality of education provided he decides to seek an education elsewhere. Now Junior has never truly fit in at home.

Being ill at a very young age, Junior is bullied by his own people quite a lot all while also dealing with his father’s alcoholism. He is viewed by his people as rejecting his own culture to live in a white people world. He loses his best friend along the way and has to deal with his own guilt at leaving his behind. This is a story of a struggle to fit in to two very different worlds. Junior tries hard to be a part of both while still seeking a better life for himself. “… some Indians think you have to act white to make your life better. Some Indians think you become white if you try to make your life better, if you become successful” (Alexie 131).

Ellen Forney’s quirky illustrations shown as Junior’s own personal cartoons, help tell the story while also making it funny along the way. “I draw because words are too unpredictable. I draw because words are too limited. If you speak and write in English, or Spanish, or Chinese, or any other language, then only a certain percentage of human beings will get your meaning. But when you draw a picture, everybody can understand it” (Alexie 5).

            “The quality of a man’s life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field of endeavor” (Alexie 148). This story will appeal to middle school age students on up to adults. There is some sexual innuendos and language but it is done in quite a humorous way… all natural thoughts for a high school age young man. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian should be on the main display at school libraries promoting cultural diversity awareness. It is an excellent look into the lives of Native Americans and their continuous struggle in an unfair world.

Activity: Before reading, students will conduct research on the Spokane tribe, leading them to the author, Spokane native Sherman Alexie. Students will learn about the tribe’s culture, their location, history, and present life. After completing their research, the students will work in groups to come up with three predictions regarding the novel based off the summary and what they have learned thus far.

Related Resources: To expand on multicultural themes and characters who are outsiders that love to play basketball and are looking for their place in life, below are two novels that come highly acclaimed:

Peña, Matt De la. Mexican Whiteboy. New York: Delacorte Press, 2008. Print.

In Mexican Whiteboy by Matt De La Pena, Danny, being half Hispanic, is completely out of his element no matter if he is at home with his fellow Hispanic family or when he is away at private school surrounded by white people.

Walker, Brian F. Black Boy White School. New York: HarperTeen, 2012. Print.

In Black Boy White School by Anthony Jones, a young man growing up in poverty just like his family before him, receives a scholarship to an elite prep school. He leaves in search of something better but will he be accepted there and will he be welcome back home if he succeeds?

Scholarly Review:

School Library Journal 09/01/2007; Publishers Weekly 08/20/2007; Booklist 08/01/2007; Kirkus Reviews, 07/15/2007

Alexie, Sherman and Ellen Forney. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Little, Brown,   2007. EBSCOhost, ezp.twu.edu/login?url=http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2060/login.aspx?         direct=true&db=kdh&AN=BK0007245533&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Current Reads & Reviews: A 2015 Challenged Book

Levithan, David. Two Boys Kissing. New York: Ember, 2013. Print. ISBN: 0307931900 

Summary: Meet Harry and Craig, Ryan and Avery, Neil and Peter, Tariq, and Cooper, all young men dealing with homosexuality in their very own ways. Follow each of their stories, their sorrows and triumphs as we see them struggle with society’s views.

Analysis: Two Boys Kissing is a great novel for the young lad trying to come to terms with his sexuality. Meant for grades 7^th through 9^th, Levithan does a great job at showing the parallels of society back in the 1990s versus today. The story is told in short snippets where the reader is introduced to several different lives of young men all dealing with their homosexuality. We meet eight gentlemen, each with their very own story, their own inner struggles, as they confront their homosexuality in today’s society. Some deal with the acceptance from their parents – some are completely accepting while others shun their own children. “Some of our parents were always on our side. Some of our parents chose to banish us rather than see us for who we were. And some of our parents, when they found out we were sick, stopped being dragons and became dragonslayers instead. Sometimes that’s what it takes – the final battle. But it should take much, much less than that.” (Levithan 84). While others are dealing with accepting themselves, or finding acceptance from their peers.

            The reader also hears from the generation of homosexuals that come before them. A generation of solitude, a generation that had to hide their true selves, a generation of death – whether by suicide or HIV. Told in first person plural where the “we” and “us” of the 1990s is conveyed. “Two boys kissing. You know what this means. For us, it was a secret gesture. Secret because we were afraid. Secret because we were ashamed. Secret because it was a story no one was telling.” (Levithan 61). Levithan is brilliant in showing these parallels. How society has grown since then and also how far we still have to go for complete acceptance from parents, peers, even one’s own self. How, no matter the year, their wants and needs are still the same.

            A story of acceptance. A story of survival. A story we should all read, no matter your age, so we can begin to understand homosexuals and their inner struggles. Told from each of the character’s perspective, Levithan reels you into the lives of his characters, leaving the reader with a complete picture of their struggles and their rightful place in society. This is a book that all libraries should display as a must read!

Activity: Before reading, students could research and explore Guinness World Records for a record they would be passionate about beating. Then the students will write a detailed outline of their plan to break that record. Then the students will share their plans in a gallery walk. Some students just might go and try to break some records.

Related Resources:  Below are two books that deal with being a homosexual in today’s society.

Levithan, David. Boy Meets Boy. Westminster, MD: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. Print.

Boy Meets Boy is a story about relationships, the good times along with the bad times, and somethings losing the one you love.

Trumble, J. H. Just Between Us. E Rutherford, NJ: Kensington Pub Corp, 2013. Print.

Just between us is story of a young man dealing with being diagnosed HIV positive, and how he will confront this being in a newfound relationship. Secluding himself from that love and close relationships, this is a story of coming to terms with the hand you’ve been dealt and the people who will stick by you.

Scholarly Reviews:

School Library Journal 09/01/2013; Booklist 08/01/2013; Publisher’s Weekly 06/03/2013

Levithan, David. Two Boys Kissing. Random House Children’s Books, 2013. EBSCOhost,

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