Malcolm X: A Graphic Biography

This graphic biography looks at the civil rights movement through the life of Malcolm X. His struggle contains many themes relevant to young people. As an adolescent, Malcolm deals with the loss of his own parents. He feels like an outsider, even in his own foster family. In the big cities of Boston and New York he finds independence, but he also falls in with a bad crowd, experiments with drugs, and eventually lands in jail, where he is redeemed through reading and writing. Even as an adult Malcolm struggles with his identity. When he decides to leave the Nation of Islam, he comes into conflict with his mentor (and father figure), which will eventually lead to his death.

The images draw you into the story, investing it with emotion. In this way, graphic novels can be good for inexperienced readers; the pictures allow them to follow the story. They can also be enticing for reluctant readers who are skeptical of books.

This story serves as a good historical guide. For many readers, it can offer an introduction to the civil rights movement, and for others more versed in the subject, it can allow them to view it with a fresh perspective. The book shows respect for teens with its honesty, for example, by not glossing over Malcolm's indiscretions as a young man. Also, in pointing out possible inconsistencies in Malcolm's autobiography, it teaches young adults to think critically about the world around them.

Doing it Right: Making Smart, Safe, and Satisfying Choices About Sex

Bronwen Pardes’ book, Doing it Right: Making Smart, Safe and Satisfying Choices About Sex, is an example of a good piece of informative writing. Pardes’ “zesty” and “up-to-date”[1] informational approach to sexual education makes her book appealing to young adults who are searching for answers to their questions about sex. Pardes’ experiences, writing style, and organization of her book exemplify the characteristics, developmental needs, informational needs, and changing world of today’s teens.
Pardes provides a captivating cover for her readers that intrigue them before they open the book. The first three words of the title, “Doing it Right,” are captivating because it is in young adult terms. The title of the book sets the stage for “a reading level, vocabulary, and a tone of writing that are at a consistent level appropriate to the intended audience.”[2] The organization of the book also captivates its readers. It begins with background knowledge of the author. She gives her credentials and motivations for writing the book. The book then goes on to discuss what sex is, sexual development, sexual protection, ways to have sex, sexual orientation, masturbation, sexually transmitted diseases, unfamiliar sexual terms, orgasms, sexual abuse, and where readers can get more information. In each chapter she provides a question and answer section. The questions are from real young adults, who she has come in contact with. By writing in terms young adults can understand and organizing her book in a way the focuses around young adult questions, Bronwen Padres provides a book that is appropriate to the needs of its readers.
[1] Selection Criteria for Young Adult Resources, Suggestions for Evaluating Informative Nonfiction, INLS 530, 2008.
[2] Selection Criteria for Young Adult Resources, Suggestions for Evaluating Informative Nonfiction, INLS 530, 2008.


Dana McCullum

Freedom Walkers by Russell Freedman

With “Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott”, Russell Freedman presents a dramatic portrayal of the times that tells a story, rather than simply reveals facts. This compelling tale is laid out like a novel, each chapter building on the prior, and is enhanced with photos and quotations that give the reader a clear and personalized account of the event. Characters are introduced and woven through the story using their own words to convey their thoughts and feelings of frustration and determination. Although Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. take prominent roles, Freedman also focuses on the hundreds of community boycott heroes. These heroes are shown to stand by their pledge of non-violence through harassment, bombings, and arrests. Even when the Supreme Court declares the bus segregation laws unconstitutional, the boycott leaders prepare for more violence by teaching the community how to respond to white harassment with courtesy and goodwill. This book contains chapter notes to support the quoted material, an annotated bibliography and an index.

Freedom Walkers provides young adult readers with connections to what they are learning in the classroom. Dramatic storytelling and an accessible reading level gives students, particularly reluctant readers, an alternative to their textbook. Freedom Walkers enables young adults to connect and contrast what they are learning about history with what is going on in their world today, particularly in light of the inauguration of our first African American president. The photos used in the story add evidence to the words and draw in the reader’s interest. Freedman’s handling of the subjects of racial bias and non-violent protest provide opportunities for informal discussion and debate both in and out of the classroom.

Freedom Walkers provides important role models to help teens develop emotionally. Throughout the book, Freedman shows the boycott participants as patient, determined and able to exhibit self-control in spite of the pressure put on them to respond to harassment and violence. These adult role models are particularly important to urban youth who may be exposed to violence in their households or community. They see that non-violence can be a successful way to respond to harassment and to create change.

Most importantly, this book provides young adults with the opportunity to develop the reflective self. Confronting bias in any form is an important step in a teen’s personal growth. Freedom Walkers makes the reader contemplate their own personal value system, sense of civic duty and prompts some important self-examination. “Am I brave enough to stand up for what is right, regardless of personal sacrifice?” Teens might find themselves examining what they consider to be their “community” and what that “community” stands for.

This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen

Sarah Dessen takes the romance genre and builds a serious and contemplative novel that teenage girls can easily relate to.  Remy, a recent high school graduate, has had countless boyfriends but always ends the relationship before it gets serious.  Her mother, on the other hand, is working on marriage #5.  Remy is happy to have her last summer before college to hang out with her friends (and maybe a summer boyfriend) but has her plans changed when she meets Dexter, a musician that begins to break down Remy's harsh exterior.

Dessen juxtaposes Remy and Dexter's relationship with Remy's mother and her new husband, Don, that shows how Remy's defensive nature is to keep herself from being hurt like her mother.  The novel directly addresses several conventions of the romance novel: readers become emotionally attached to the characters, the novels empower women, that it provides an escape from reality, and that sex happens only within happy, monogamous relationships.  This Lullaby exemplifies most of these conventions, but also challenges the reader's notion of a romance novel.

Most importantly, Dessen captures an awkward and important developmental stage in her novel and addresses issuses accompanying it without judgment.  Remy has a past of sleeping around and is often drinking with her friends.  Dessen does not demonize these acts, but compares them with how Remy acts when she is in a satisfying relationship and when she isn't drunk.  This switch from having ever-changing realtionships to a single, serious relationship is not portrayed as an abandonment of independence, but as a stage in creating a firm identity and developing emotional stability. 

Luckily, the discussion of these serious topics occurs within realistic teenage dialogue and honest emotions.  This Lullaby allows readers to see themselves or people they know in the characters and learn from the plot how to deal with these traits.  While the story does have a sappily happy ending, both Remy and her mother are better off for the chances they have taken.  Establishing independence looks different for various people and relationshops, and This Lullaby lets readers know that this is OK.

Here in Harlem

Here in Harlem, written by Walter Dean Myers, is a collection of poems intended to reflect the many voices and life experiences of Harlem’s inhabitants. The collection is an excellent resource for YA readers because it can be used as a tool to enrich many aspects of their developmental needs. The poems are particularly inspiring for African-American and urban YAs, and yet they are relatable enough so that people of all ages, cultures and backgrounds can learn from and enjoy them.

Each poem in Here in Harlem is written in the voice of a different townsperson. The titles of the poems are simply the names, ages and occupational status of the speakers. The collection is interspersed with historical photographs of actual Harlem residents which help connect the poems’ fictionalized characters to real faces. Here in Harlem is a particularly valuable resource for aiding in the development of several areas of urban teens - the social self, emotional self, reflective self, creative self and cognitive self – as defined by Hughes-Hassell and Agosto in Everyday Life Information Seeking of Urban Teenagers.

Additionally, most of the characters in the collection provide healthy role models for YAs. Interestingly, at the end of the book there is a list of real people and places intended to spark further interest and inspiration.

Although my paper goes into further detail about the above mentioned themes, I wanted to use part of this post to share my favorite poem in the collection:

Reuben Mills, 34

Artist

Vien red, bruise purple

The pallet of my soul drips slowly

Onto the canvas of this life

Flashing amber, blinding white

Garish hues screaming through the night

Orange reflections on a switchblade knife

Undertaker gray, church organ-gold

Moonlight glimmer against mahogany

A moire pattern edged in strife

Moody midnight shadings of the blues

Pink raised welt on amber back

A rich tapestry of muted hues

All to create the pointillist color of black

The Name of the Game was Murder by Joan Lowery Nixon

In this novel, Nixon has done a great job creating a character that is modeled after teenage behavior while instilling values that will help her readers with their developmental needs.
Nixon's main character Samantha exhibits many classic teen characteristics, which makes her an easy person for teens to relate to. Her impulsive nature is referenced many times in the book, as she makes hasty decisions that are not always the best ones. In one instance, she makes a decision to visit her Aunt Thea when most adults would have seen reasoning against the idea. Her parents are constantly telling her "slow down and think this out," (Nixon, 10) but her impatience always wins out and Samantha realizes the possible error of her ways after she has acted upon her ideas. As quickly as she makes decisions, she is also rather easily bored. "People-watching was interesting for only so long," (Nixon 31) she thinks after having spent a minor amount of time observing a few of the other characters in the book.
Just like other teens, Samantha cares very deeply for her peer relationships. She is constantly thinking what parts of each situation she encounters she will share with her friend Darlene. When something exciting happens, her first thought is also of how much Darlene would love it.
Nixon also forwards the developmental needs of her readers through Samantha's decisions. She provides adult role models for support but also allows Samantha to see their flaws. In the beginning, Samantha idolizes Augustus because he is a famous writer. As she gets to know more about him, she finds he a hot-tempered man who has seen failure in the beginning of his career. These flaws allow Samantha to grow in her psychosocial development - her identity as a writer and feeling she has to learn that from another writer. Aunt Thea also provides a winning personality to appreciate, but has made her own mistakes. This realization that adults and parents are not perfect is an important method of development for Samantha and other teens according to the AACAP.
Nixon does well to provide examples of the Havighurst traits through Samantha during the course of the story. Samantha is very creative and participates in activities which emphasize this daily. Writing in her journal also shows her commitment to learning. Samantha furthers her learning and creativity with Darlene by creating and solving codes - all of which help cognitive development with hypothetical, abstract, and verbal problems (Piaget). This cognitive ability is able to help Samantha solve the mystery that poses as a problem concerning her aunt. As she works her way through this code to discover a hidden manuscript and a murderer, Samantha also faces the ethical dilemma of discovering a group of people's potentially harmful secrets versus knowing them to unveil the murderer. While most of the adults reach a consensus that no one shall read the manuscript to protect everyone of its harmful content, Samantha believes in her own value to uncover the murderer because it is the socially responsible thing to do. Once she has discovered the manuscript and the murderer - she agrees that while some of the evidence in the manuscript is not socially responsible, it benefits her personal values to destroy it and save the people she cares about from harm.

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Klause

Annette Curtis Klause’s 1997 novel “Blood and Chocolate” is a tale of a teenage werewolf and her struggles to fit into suburban American society. From page one, the novel appeals to readers’ appetites for action, mystery, and romance in its depiction of the conflicted life of 17-year-old Vivian Gandillon, a high school student who is part of a secretive werewolf pack in suburban Maryland. Vivian’s world is convoluted by her burgeoning sexuality as well as the tug-of-war she experiences between the expectations of her family and those of her peers. The book’s frank discussion of Vivian’s sexual desires, as well as her experiences with grief, loss, and loyalty to family, have made it a popular if controversial title for young readers in the decade since its publication.

Though its sexual content has made it a divisive title (and its literary merit is of questionable quality), “Blood and Chocolate” is in many ways properly suited to the interests of young adult readers. The novel’s strength lies in its adherence to the issues young adult readers look for in fictional works. Teens traditionally look for books that help them better understand the world around them, and whose characters’ tribulations mirror teens’ own issues and problems. According to “Connecting Young Adults and Libraries,” issues related to four common themes appeal to teens of all backgrounds: independence, excitement, identity, and acceptance. “Blood and Chocolate” hits on all four of these themes throughout the book, though the underlying message of self-acceptance and identity seems to be the largest facet of the book.