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Category Archives: Young Adult

A week of booktalks

AWeekofBooktalks

I say it frequently, whether I’m tweeting about our readers’ reading habits in the library or animatedly talking about it with teacher colleagues, if I could do nothing other than booktalking as a high school librarian I would be even happier. It could be one-on-one or a whole class, but I can’t help but get excited about all of the books at our fingertips.

This past week, my co-librarian and I spent the week working with our ENL classes for orientations and booktalks and the majority of our 10th grade students booktalking for independent reading.

My favorite utterance was “can we check out more than one?” Ummmm, YES! We’ll continue over the next few weeks filling in here and there for more booktalks but the majority took place within this past week. While I’m exhausted and the library is in general loving disarray, I’m filled with love for authors, their books, and our students.

2019-09-16 16.00.47 Here were some of my favorites to discuss:

Attack on Titan by Isayama
Proud by Muhammad
Long Way Down by Reynolds
Milk and Honey by Kaur
Lockdown: Escape from Furnace by Smith
Ms. Marvel by Wilson
Black Enough edited by Zoboi
The Selection by Cass
Chasing King’s Killer by Swanson
Between Shades of Gray by Sepetys

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on September 22, 2019 in Fiction, Graphic novels, Middle grade, Nonfiction, Poetry, Verse, Young Adult

Ballet biographies and the real thing

20 Jul

This post originally appeared on the Times Union Books Blog.

Confession: It took me three decades to see a ballet; I’ve never even seen The Nutcracker. But last night, I attended Coppelia at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center amid the humidity for their 8pm performance with my two elementary-aged boys and husband.

I was better prepared for a few reasons: my Pilates instructor, a former ballerina, gave me a Cliffnotes version of what Coppelia was about. And second, I’m a book nerd and had read Misty Copeland’s biography Life In Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina.* Like my post about a beer class connecting to reading, I read to learn as much as I find experiences to learn from and both came together last night.

The biography balances her personal and professional realms allowing amateurs to understand the world of classical ballet. Copeland had a roller coaster life moving often based on her mother’s new love interest and entered ballet later than most. She battled against prejudice while working hard to perfect her skills to access the elite schools and companies to showcase her talent.

What I liked is that she name-dropped sparingly. When reading celebrity biographies there is nothing worse than reading pages and pages of names of people I could care less about: I’m reading their biography because I want to know about them. I also liked that she focused on being a black woman in art by finding her voice and also celebrating it dancing on stage with Prince at his concerts to bring ballet to a different audience. Her audience widened again when she did an Under Armour commercial showing off her grace and athleticism that I discovered online afterward.

And that athleticism is on full display with the breathtaking cover as it is on the stage watching any ballet. I guess aside from looking at a performance like Coppelia as a wordless picture book (I am a librarian after all) that was my other takeaway. I am more astounded by the power and grace of their execution than I am about the moves themselves (or their actual French names). In the book, Copeland regularly shared how arduous the practices were alongside maintaining her body for peak performance. This was a culmination of that appreciation.

Whether I’m reading books about dead bodies or animals, it’s apparent that I love learning through books. Copeland’s biography is an entry point for those who like me haven’t ever seen a ballet. So I ask you, have there been books that you’ve read that have prepared you for an experience or activity? Share in the comments below!

*Young reader’s editions are adapted books for a teen or tween audience adjusted for both interest and reading level from the adult version. Many adult biographies have been adapted including Sonia Sotomayor, Trevor Noah, Malala Yousafzai, or Ibtihaj Muhammad.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on July 20, 2019 in Authors, Events, Middle grade, Nonfiction, Young Adult

A serie-ously informative series

30 Jun

ASerieOuslyInforamtiveSeries

One of my favorite things is to discover nonfiction series books that are dependable, informative, and eye-catching. Ones like

Wicked History and History’s Worst
Captured History
Actual Times or the newer series Big Ideas that Changed the World by Don Brown
Ordinary People Change The World
Olympians graphic novel mythology series by George O’Connor
Who Is/Who Was; What Is/What Was

just to name a few. And after reading Teri Kanefield’s newest in her The Making of America series focused on Franklin D. Roosevelt, I’ll now always have my eye out for the next one. I actually realized I missed a few of them, but have some time to catch up: when Roosevelt’s hits shelves this fall know that she’s already hard at work on number six featuring Thurgood Marshall.

DisabilityinBooks What works well for the series is the chronological organization of biographical information that is equal parts intrigue and straight facts. There’s a humanity in Kanefield’s delivery that does not dilute the truth, yet weaves a story of a person hellbent on creating an America that they had envisioned as they rose to notoriety.fame. With a mix of photographs and eye-catching covers, they’re as star-spangled as the flag.

The monumental task of telling their stories is made just a tad easier in that loads has been written about them since they’re historical figures. But it’s the angle that Kanefield uses that makes them refreshing for a middle grade and young adult audience (plus interested adults re: nerdy librarians!)

If you haven’t read the first through fourth, get them. Have the fifth, Roosevelt’s pre-ordered and then find some stuff to read in between because Marshall’s won’t be out until spring 2020. Let’s leave the woman in peace so she can research and write because I know I’m waiting patiently over here.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on June 30, 2019 in Authors, Cover Love, Middle grade, Nonfiction, Research, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

Mood done right

23 May

MoodDoneRight

While focused on reading fiction titles for 2019 sitting on the Best Fiction for Young Adults committee, I do need to take breaks and read nonfiction and also vary my format with graphic novels. I especially have a fondness for graphic novels because of their power to capture readers’ imaginations visually. I can do a six sensational list at another date (*cough* Saga). In the meantime, I’m stopping to talk specifically about Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell’s May 2019 publishing of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me and spend the majority of this post gushing about its use of mood.

With pink hues sparsely added with the black and white, certain memorable scenes created moments of pause. Literal pausing to stare more deeply at the characters’ interactions or background. As Frederica lays back on her bed pining away for her indifferent on/off again girlfriend Laura Dean, Valero-O’Connell highlights Frederica’s “sigh” in pink and with cursive. Scenes where Frederica is actively abandoning her friendship with Doodle to chase after Laura Dean hold so much emotion in the choices of posture and panel layout that readers are transported to the bedroom or the school. And a reader cannot forget the scenes in which Frederica has hopefully realized true friendship by comforting Doodle in a time of need.

And while the title character and her frustrating manipulation of Frederica, our protagonist is significant the secondary story with Frederica’s friend Doodle together stumbling through how to be a good friend makes Doodle the more memorable character. Readers feel every ounce of Doodle’s continual disappointment as Frederica runs after Laura Dean time and time again. But it’s how she deals with her own adversity toward the last third of the book that captures the mood of friendship and disappointment.

There are so many passages to reflect on as memorable quotes whether it’s the dialogue between characters or the narrative given in Post-it like windows, perhaps my favorite comes toward the end as Frederica is caring for Doodle and thinking about Laura Dean. It says

“The truth is, breakups are usually messy, the way people are messy, the way life is often messy. It’s okay for a breakup to feel like a disaster. It doesn’t feel okay, but I assure you it is okay. It’s also true that you can break up with someone you still love. Because those two things are not distinct territories: love and not loving anymore.”

If that doesn’t capture teen romance and feelings, I don’t know what does.

Ultimately when there are discussions about “the best” graphic novels, this one has clawed its way to the top as I continue to reflect on it several days after reading it. It’s a thinking book. It’s a work of art. Its positive and negative examples of relationships are masterpieces. It reduces us to our most basic needs and portrays vulnerability. I need more of these in my life done the way this one was, capturing mood so well it needs to be referenced in a dictionary next to the literary device. I advise everyone to read this.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on May 23, 2019 in Authors, Cover Love, Fiction, Graphic novels, Young Adult

The joy of author visits

09 May

JoyofAuthorVisits

I find myself writing a post yearly if not more after coming down from an author visit high. But as I walked with Dashka Slater to the car at the end of her visit with us at our high school, I said that my co-librarian and I know it’s a successful visit when we’ve teared up: over a student comment or powerful statistic or thoughtful interaction with a kid. Slater can check that box.

The New York Times writer, journalist, author of young adult narrative nonfiction and picture books just spent four days in our area visiting three local high schools and one elementary school. Programming looked different at each of our schools, but all were changed by her visit. At our school, programming was a visit to our alternative high school program, lunch with a book group, an open presentation for any interested students, then a teacher-focused after school session about a topic addressed in The 57 Bus: restorative justice. No one walked away without something to ponder. Plus her personable nature and presentation style endeared her to everyone “on stage” and off. How flexible and Swiss-Army is she that she can speak with a group of 2nd graders in a snail costume after discussing institutionalized racism or helping freshman understand the myriad of terms in the LBTQAI+ community the day before?

Do I wish more students and staff attended? Absolutely. Learning is never-ending and relationships are integral to a healthy society. When we bury ourselves in being busy/hectic educators and over-scheduled teenagers, we don’t see the opportunities that are right in front of us, myself included.

But what are the joys of an author visit? I will count the ways.

Student response– everything from “I got to meet a real live author!” to “Man, you wrote that?” Or the doodler who shares his sketch of them while they’re speaking and they ask to keep it.
Adding to school climate and culture– we want our students to love reading and we promote that every day and use author visits judiciously.
Books! The authors wrote the books then readers get to read them.
Seeing the culmination of planning and preparation– I’ve been thinking about this visit for a year. Others not so much. But as much as visits create sleepless nights and nervous energy, they bring so many groups together.
Did I mention student response? It’s all about them whether they become “Insta famous” being on an author’s Instagram story or take a selfie because again, they met a real live author!

Then all that’s left are the emotions of the day, the pictures, and the personal, lasting memories.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on May 9, 2019 in Authors, Events, Nonfiction, Young Adult

Getting involved is NOT overrated

30 Jan

gettinginvolvedisnot

On my way back from the American Library Association’s Midwinter Conference in Seattle yesterday, I was thinking about what my theme would be for the post-conference post. I wasn’t quite sure which is why it’s about 24 hours later. But on my way home from work today, I realized it had to be about getting involved. Honestly, it was kind of my theme for the conference itself.

Why was it my theme? Here’s what I did differently this time around.

I volunteered at the YALSA booth for the first time. I told myself this year I would do it. Former committee members of mine had done it before and I thought I couldn’t do it because I didn’t know enough, but they set good examples of being involved. So I got involved. And it was delightful to chat up the organization and meet others volunteering as well.
I made sure to connect with colleagues who I knew were attending from across the country because I realized at Annual last year, that if you didn’t make it a point, it wouldn’t happen serendipitously. So I reached out ahead of the conference and got involved in asking my colleagues what they were up to and when we could meet.
I was on an award committee. Yeah, I know! It was a goal and I made it and it felt awesome and I’ll definitely do it again. In the meantime, I’m on selection committees to fill my need to read and share good books with the world.
I book-talked at a publisher breakfast (and at 7:30am used taboo words but it was for the cause) to share my love for an upcoming book. Who better to hear from than colleagues (and kids when we can) about good books to read? Nevermind that yogurt squirt forth from the cup onto my dress a mere half hour before. My tip? Eat after you do your booktalk. So I got involved in sharing my love of books that publishers want us to love.
I talked and smiled more. There were several people I met at activities then saw over and over again the rest of the conference. How nice to get out of our libraries and meet others and hear their opinions and perspectives and ask questions. So I got involved simply by being more open (but I still liked curling up in the hotel bed with cheesy TV at night).

If you haven’t been to a national conference, get to one soon. While none of this is groundbreaking, it does remind us all to use our talents and strengths and then share, share, share them with others.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on January 30, 2019 in Events, Young Adult

Top 10 of 2018: Young adult and middle grade edition

19 Dec

Top10of2018

I’ve been thinking making a list and checking it twice for my picks for the best YA and MG titles published in 2018 (in addition to my shout out below of the finalists for the 2018 William C. Morris Award Committee of which I was a part). In alphabetical order- the books that I shouted from the rooftops about:

Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol: This fun romp is a reminder that we were all awkward growing up and nervous about making friends. Special appearance by the local convenience store, Stewart’s, makes this an especially lovely local story!
Chasing King’s Killer by James Swanson: I continue to be blown away by the quality of Swanson’s research and his aptitude to bring history to a younger audience. He truly makes history sexy.
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black: Ironically this published at the beginning of 2018 and I’ve already read the ARC of The Wicked King and give that five stars too. Black knows how to create an intense atmosphere in a faerie land.
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland: Sign me up for more alternative history. This mixes zombies, the Civil War, and race relations and allows a kickass heroine to shine with her sassy attitude.
Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett Krosoczka: A graphic novel memoir that began from Krosoczka’s TED talk about his childhood and allows our authors to be human and teaching empathy.
The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee: I stayed up past my bedtime to finish Lee’s book in one sitting. This companion focuses on Monty’s sister Felicity with a penchant for medicine and no outlet to practice in a man’s world.
Lu by Jason Reynolds: There is nothing sadder than the end of a beloved series. Reynold’s Track series was an instant hit and each story with their vivid covers and realistic characters shone like the North Star guiding young readers about right and wrong, healthy relationships, and the meaning of community.
The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang: The coloring of this graphic novel compliments the emotions and story of a prince who loves to wear dresses and his relationship with his dressmaker keeping the secret… until it’s not one anymore.
Seafire by Natalie Parker: Every female empowerment anthem plays when I see the cover and remember my feelings reading this book that mixes the best of Lumberjanes with seafaring and the ultimate fight against evil. These ladies have my heart.
The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown: I immediately finished this sequel and ordered both for my elementary-aged sons. This sentimental story about Roz, a robot now living on a family farm who longs for the freedom she once had on an island caring for a gosling. Heartfelt science fiction adventure at its best.

Top 10 of 2018_ Young Adult and Middle Grade Edition

In addition, January 2019 finishes my term as a member of the William C. Morris Award Committee through YALSA, which means I read a lot of debut novels besides my usual cache of books. With all of that reading, our committee came up with the five finalists announced last week and we will vote on the winner next month that will be announced at the Youth Media Awards in Seattle, Washington. Here were the finalists:

Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough
Check, Please! #Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
What The Night Sings by Vesper Stamper

2019 Morris Award Finalists Feature Slide

Cheers to the reading you did in 2018 and all of the books to be read in 2019 and beyond!

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 19, 2018 in Authors, Blogging, Cover Love, Fiction, Graphic novels, Middle grade, Miscellaneous, Nonfiction, Verse, Young Adult

What’s left of me after reading We Are All That’s Left

09 Nov

WhatsLeftofMe

How do I begin this post? Do I start by profiling and detailing my love for Carrie Arcos’ We Are All That’s Left and go from there? Or do I start by sharing a bit about the students that I work with every day and then talk about her book? Or third, start with a chapter of my husband’s story and then talk about her book? Better yet, let’s talk about all three.

Years ago I ran a “Warring Worlds” book club at our high school library that was in direct response to having read a senior’s common app essay about escaping the war in Bosnia when she was a child and I was stopped in my tracks thinking that my husband, an Army veteran who spent time in Bosnia with the 10th Mountain Division could have been close by. It dawned on me how interconnected we all are. And even though some of our students had been born in the United States, we were sill embroiled in a war in Iraq and Afghanistan at the time, so everyone experienced war, just in different ways.

Every day I get to listen to our refugee students whose experiences are so different from my own. They know what it is like to be in fear for their life, they know what hatred looks like, they know how important education is when it’s often denied to them in their native land before coming to the United States.

2018-11-09 18.41.04 So when I began reading Arcos’ book and the first flashback chapter told from Zara’s mom, Nadja’s point of view in 1992 in Visegrad I knew there was something special. It took a little bit to build as there was an uncertainty between the dysfunction of Zara and Nadja’s mother-daughter relationship, but it ballooned once readers began to connect Nadja’s war-torn young adulthood and Zara’s discovery of Nadja’s hardships as Nadja lays comatose after a bomb detonates at the farmers market they were visiting. Zara is wounded and suffering from post-traumatic stress while again, her mother is hospitalized unable to communicate. It becomes less about the present day and more about Nadja’s survival against the atrocities of war while trying to hold on while the trauma of murder and rape burns through their family, neighborhood, and country.

Arcos eloquently details these dark times that keep from being morose because we know that Nadja survived and has a family, though her daughter is now just coming to realize what her mother experienced. It’s a powerful emotional tool to foil Zara’s life and Nadja’s and set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War delights me in that this event is rarely detailed in young adult literature. While it was neither here nor there that Arcos was not born or raised in Bosnia, her extensive research demonstrates command of the events and a powerful need to share it with others by connecting the generations. It’s masterful. And reminiscent of other titles like Erika L. Sanchez’s I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter and any of Ruta Sepetys’ historical fiction that shed light on imperfect times in our past. And heartbreaking the way Ashley Hope Perez’s Out of Darkness was. It belongs on the shelf with these pillars of historical fiction because of it’s profile of the darkness (and light) of humanity when all light seems to have been lost.

So I advise young adults and adults to savor this gem of historical fiction that brings the present and past together with heart and tenacity among the darkness.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on November 9, 2018 in Authors, Fiction, Young Adult

Who said they don’t read?

19 Oct

WhoSaidTheyDontRead

I was filled with so much love this afternoon that the only thing I managed was a quick Canva post on our library’s social media and two Blow Pops or else I would explode glitter, confetti, rainbows, and hearts.

Our school library is a busy place with a minimum of sixty students per period and considerably more during lunch shifts. The design of our library includes a circulation desk that sits toward the center but doubles as an information hub where both our library assistant and one librarian sit. So I usually spend my day staring out at all of the students in our library and fielding questions and problem-solving while trying to get a bit of work done if not teaching and planning with teachers. This means while I’m on the desk, I tend to overhear things and see plenty of things but it gives us plenty of face-time with students.

I looked up when I heard a girl’s voice that was a little louder than the others. I watched a moment and realized that she was reading aloud to a friend sitting across the table. I waited a moment. I called out and asked if she was reading the book I thought she was reading. She said yes. She continued reading out loud to her friend. Then she continued to read aloud for the next 15 minutes.

Not knowing what to do with my bursting librarian heart, I posted this

2018-10-19 11.26.49

to our social media and then went to our backroom where we keep a stash of Blow Pops as thank yous to students. I walked over and shared them and showed them what I had just posted. They giggled and continued as I went back to my work before the bell rang.

There are moments in librarianship where you know exactly why you’re doing what you do. And this was one of those moments.

Who said teenagers don’t read?

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on October 19, 2018 in Fiction, Miscellaneous, Young Adult

Movie time

17 Oct

MovieTime

The last movie I saw in the theater was The Lego Batman movie with my two elementary-aged kids. Movies I watch tend to be what’s available on Netflix in 30-45 minute intervals while I work out in the morning, but they usually even play second fiddle to series and documentaries. Plus, when I start something, I need to finish the season before moving on to anything else so it took me a few months to finally watch To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.

And it was like savoring the first few bites of ice cream on a hot summer day, the last nibbles of a decadent dessert, or the buzzy feeling of leaving a friend after some serious bonding. That’s to say, it was heavenly. I think the feeling of finishing the movie will be a feeling I remember. And then when I decide to watch it again… very soon. And it seems like there are millions of people that agree.

I’ll share that the Jenny Han books were lovely, but I wasn’t over-the-moon about them in part because of the focus on the sisters’ relationships that I had no context for as the oldest with two younger brothers. I read them, appreciated them, share them with students. I certainly follow Jenny Han on Instagram with her posts in dresses from places near and far.

If you haven’t, queue it up. Don’t multi-task. Get a cold or hot beverage, snuggle up alone or with someone, indulge in your favorite treat. And savor the romantic comedy whose genius lineup, witty banter, stunning backdrop, and romantic overtones is pitch-perfect.

Now that I’m thinking about it… I think I’ll queue it up again for tomorrow morning because the memories are just too sweet. And I’ll finish by re-creating the Twitter meme sensation it’s caused with my own: