Tag / fiction

by booksoverlookedblog

Black History Month: February Book Recs

Welcome to my February book list! Each month, I’ll be bringing you a fresh list of books all based on a different theme. 

February is Black History Month in the United States, and that’s a vast subject area. Black history in the U.S. didn’t begin in 1776, and it didn’t end with Obama’s election. For this reason, I wanted to include some Black history that isn’t discussed frequently, and maybe a couple things you’ve never heard of. 

I also wanted to highlight Black authors and illustrators. I can’t possibly list every author or illustrator worthy of reading, but if you’re interested in reading more multicultural literature from Black authors and artists, might I recommend…

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Kwame Alexander, Ashley Bryan, Bryan Collier, R. Gregory Christie, Christopher Paul Curtis, Leo & Diane Dillon, Edwidge Danticat, Sharon Draper, Roxane Gay, Nikki Giovanni, Nikki Grimes, Virginia Hamilton, Victor LaVelle, Julius Lester, E.B. Lewis, Kekla Magoon, Patricia McKissack, Christopher Myers, Walter Dean Myers, Kadir Nelson, Nnedi Okorafor, Jerry Pinkney, Jason Reynolds, Christian Robinson, Javaka Steptoe, John Steptoe, Nic Stone, Mildred Taylor, Rita Williams-Garcia, Colson Whitehead, and Jacqueline Woodson. 

Now, the usual disclaimer. I am a youth librarian, which means I’m most familiar with books written for young people. This means you’ll see a lot of YA and juvenile books on these lists. If you’re an adult looking for something good to read, don’t feel bad or embarrassed about reading youth books. Juvenile and YA books deal with themes and ideas that are applicable to all ages, even if the text isn’t as challenging as books written for adults. And there’s no age limit on good stories. 

I also want to remind everyone that not every book will appeal to everyone. You may hate a book that I love, and that’s okay. Not liking a book doesn’t mean that the book is bad, it just means that you don’t like it. I’ll try to appeal to a wide range of interests, but I don’t expect for you to love or even be interested in everything on this list. There’s a reader for every book, and every book has a reader. I’d love to help readers and books find each other! 

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

While the USA has come a long way in terms of liberty and justice for all, there are still miles and miles to go. The New Jim Crow discusses mass incarceration of Black Americans, typically due to policies from Reagan’s “War on Drugs” and other anti-drug crusades that target people of color, especially young Black men. Being labeled as a felon allows for legal discrimination in housing, education, careers, and even the basic right to vote. Michelle Alexander posits that this has led to the creation of an “undercaste” of Black Americans, legally disenfranchised by the justice system. Originally published in 2010, The New Jim Crow has inspired activists to work to change the American justice system, including the creation of The Marshall Project and the Art for Justice Fund. One thing that I really appreciated about this book was that Alexander acknowledges that the information is hard to read and accept, and that the book’s not for everyone. These are hard but important truths to learn, but nothing can be changed until it’s acknowledged and challenged. 

One Last Word: Wisdom of the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes, various illustrators. 

The Harlem Renaissance produced some of the United States’ most iconic musicians, artists, actors, and writers. One Last Word is a poetry collection that celebrates the work of writers from the Harlem Renaissance, like Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Georgia Douglas Johnson, and many more. Alongside the original poem, Grimes remixes the work using the golden shovel method. She creates new poems from the originals, filled with truth and hope for modern readers. Vivid illustrations from accomplished artists accentuate each page. If you’re a poetry lover of any kind, this is a must read. 

The Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James

The Haitian Revolution with the most successful slave rebellion in history. It was the only one that led to the creation of a country free of enslavement, and ruled by formerly enslaved people. The widespread political, economic, and cultural effects of the Haitian Revolution still echo today. Written in 1938, The Black Jacobins by Trinidad historian C.L.R. James set outs to correct the White, Euro-centric histories that marginalized or dismissed the Revolution. The Black Jacobins gives a thorough account of the Haitian Revolution. Its central figure is Toussaint Louverture. Born into slavery, Louverture became a central figure in the Revolution, as a general, politician, and unifying symbol for Haitians. This book is essential when learning about Haitian and Caribbean history. 

The Highwaymen: Florida’s African-American Landscape Painters by Gary Monroe

The Highwaymen were a group of 26 Black landscape painters in Florida in the 1950s and 60s. They painted idealized images of Florida’s landscape: palm trees swaying in the breeze, white sand beaches, sunrise by the ocean. Segregation was deeply ingrained in Florida, and galleries refused to sell Black artists’ paintings. Instead, the Highwaymen (and one Highwaywoman) sold their paintings from door-to-door and out of the trunks of their cars. This enabled the artists to make independent livings with their paintings, away from the back-breaking work in the citrus groves. Monroe’s book tells the story of the Highwaymen, alongside full-color reproductions of their paintings. Published in 2001, the book doesn’t tell the Highwaymen’s more recent history. In 2004, they were recognized in the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, and in 2020, they won the Florida Folk Heritage Award. Today, 18 original paintings hang in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson.

This children’s book is written in the style of a grandparent telling their grandchild the history of the United States. It starts with the fact that Black folks have been in the United States just as long as White colonists, but are rarely depicted in national history. It tells the story of the struggles and triumphs Black Americans faced, covering the Revolutionary War up to the Civil Rights Movement. An epilogue depicts the storyteller voting for Barack Obama. The text is informative and accessible, even when dealing with heavy topics. The illustrations are powerful, gorgeous full-page paintings. George Washington on a horse while an enslaved man stands beside him is one of the most poignant images that you’ll remember long after you close the book. 

Fiction

Mare’s War by Tanita S. Davis

Feisty, chain-smoking Mare is anything but a conventional grandmother. Octavia and Tali, her teenage granddaughters, are mortified to be seen with her. Going on a cross-country trip with Mare at the wheel is the last thing they want to do during their summer. Mare makes a deal with them for the trip: she won’t smoke, and they won’t use their “earphones.” As the miles pass, Mare tells the girls her story: growing up in segregated Alabama, running away from home at age 17 to pursue a better life, and lying about her age to join the Women’s Army Corps during World War II. Mare shares her experiences of life in 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion – the only battalion of Black women who served overseas in World War II. In alternating chapters of “Then” and “Now,” Octavia and Tali come to understand the experiences that shaped their grandmother, the family bond they share, and the same strengths and insecurities they share with Mare…and that it’s not so bad to be like their grandma. 

The Davenports by Krystal Marquis

In 1910, the Davenports are one of Chicago’s few wealthy Black families. As such, siblings Olivia, John, and Helen, are constantly under scrutiny. They must uphold the legacy that their formerly enslaved father built. Olivia thinks her successful courtship with Jacob, England’s most eligible Black bachelor will do the trick. That is, until she meets a civil rights activist who makes her question her privileged upbringing and shows her the horrors of Jim Crow. John and Helen are more focused on fixing horseless carriages, while Helen chafes at the limited roles women have in society. Alongside the siblings, Olivia’s best friend hatches a plan to marry John, and the siblings’ childhood friend and maid dreams of starting her own business. The book examines racism, gender norms, and classism in the often overlooked Reconstruction Era. The characters are passionate, take-charge women, and there’s plenty of romantic moments (and a couple love triangles) to swoon over.

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor

AO (Anwuli Okwudili, but she prefers “Artificial Organism”) has extensive bionic augmentations as a result of severe physical disabilities. These augmentations include artificial legs, mechanical hands, and even a brain implant.  AO accepts these augmentations as a necessary part of her life and who she is. However, the world does not see it this way. There are many who see her as a devil, more machine than woman. When an altercation at the market leaves two men dead, AO must flee. She meets a Fulani herdsman, DNA, who has been falsely labeled as a terrorist. Together, they travel across the desert to the Red Eye: a perpetual sandstorm where the wind can strip your bones clean, and the only place they might find safety. Nigerian-American Nnedi Okorafor is the master of Africanfuturism, with books like Akata Witch and the Binti trilogy. If you’re interested in sci-fi, she needs to be on your radar. 

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

Rashad is Black, Quinn is White, and though they got to the same school, neither boy knows the other’s name. A quick stop to a corner store on the way to the party pushes their lives together in ways they never expected or wanted. Quinn witnesses a police officer brutally beating Rashad, with little or no provocation. The narration follows both boys after the event. Rashad, recovering in the hospital, wants to be left alone to focus on his art. He doesn’t want the painful attention that comes with being the latest Black victim of police brutality. Quinn is troubled as well: the police officer is a surrogate father to him, and Quinn would have never imagined that he was capable of such violence. The large-scale issues of racism, power, and injustice are integrated seamlessly into the narrative. All American Boys was one of the most frequently challenged or banned books in 2020, for reasons including being “too much of a sensitive matter right now.” Speaking for myself, any book that makes the Top 10 most challenged books is a book I want to read.

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

It’s 1968, and Delphine and her younger sisters are spending a month in California with their estranged mother, Cecile. They expect a warm welcome and a visit to Disneyland, but their trip to Oakland is nothing like they imagined. Cecile, a poet and member of the Black Panthers, resents the intrusion into her life. Instead of the mothering the girls are hoping for, she sends them to a nearby summer camp run by the Black Panthers. During the summer, Delphine participates in a Black Panther rally and becomes a young activist, all the while yearning for a true connection with the mother who left her. I love this middle-grade book for its memorable characters (particularly Delphine’s strong voice), a broader and more honest depiction of Black Panthers than typically seen in media, and the unique backdrop of 1960s Oakland. 

by booksoverlookedblog

New Year, New Me! January Book Recommendations

Welcome to my first monthly book list! Each month, I’ll be bringing you a fresh list of books all based on a different theme. If you have an idea for a themed list, please let me know!

Before we get in, there’s a few things you should know. First, I am a youth librarian, which means I’m most familiar with books written for young people. This means you’ll see a lot of YA and juvenile books on these lists. If you’re an adult looking for something good to read, don’t feel bad or embarrassed about reading youth books. Juvenile and YA books deal with themes and ideas that are applicable to all ages, even if the text isn’t as challenging as books written for adults. And there’s no age limit on good stories.

I’ll also be listing non-fiction and fiction, because there’s a lot of great non-fiction out there that needs some love, too.

I also want to remind everyone that not every book will appeal to every reader. You may hate a book that I love, and that’s okay. Not liking a book doesn’t mean that the book is bad, it just means that you don’t like it. I’ll try to appeal to a wide range of interests, but I don’t expect for you to love or even be interested in everything on this list. There’s a reader for every book, and every book has a reader. I’d love to help readers and books find each other!

New Year, New Me

Nonfiction

ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life by Judith Kolberg and Dr. Kathleen Nadeau

Thanks to the way my brain is wired, I live in a kind of an entropic mess mixed in the occasional bursts of cleaning and organizing, then promising myself “I’ll never let it get that bad again.” It always turns out to be a lie, but I try.

So when I recommend a book on organizing that actually works for me, I mean it actually works. ADD Friendly Ways… teaches you how to work with your ADD, rather than against it, to get organized. This book is written in short, helpful chapters and formatted specifically to help people with ADHD be able to sit and read it. It gives practical tips on organizing your life which are easy to follow, and offers suggestions for how to find more support if needed and to take control of your life. It’s the best organization self-help book I’ve ever used, and the only one I’ve seen that specifically addresses the role that ADHD plays in the struggle of keeping your life together.

The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield

Making stuff is hard. Whether it’s writing, drawing, dancing, or sculpting, no creative endeavor comes easily. Pressfield calls the universal force that acts against our creativity “resistance,” and it can come in many forms. It could be fear, pressure to perform, irritations in your daily life, or the fact that the new Pokemon game just dropped and how can you be expected to write when you can’t get Sprigatito out of your head? Pressfield brilliantly describes resistance, how to overcome it, and the sacred act of creating. Each short chapter is a micro pep talk for anyone experiencing resistance. It’s a small, thin book and shouldn’t take you long to read. I read it cover to cover years about five years ago and still take it off my shelf when I’m feeling stuck.

The Confidence Code/The Confidence Code for Girls and Living the Confidence Code by Clair Shipman and Katty Kay

Self-doubt. Imposter syndrome. Lack of confidence. We’ve all experienced it, especially girls and women who have internalized messages that they will never be enough. The Confidence Code is a best-selling guide to empower women to become self-assured and confident in their lives, using scientific research and proven methods of behavioral research. Following the success of The Confidence Code, the young reader’s edition, The Confidence Code for Girls aims to reach teen and tween girls struggling with inner doubt.

Living the Confidence Code is true stories of girls, ranging from grade school to teenagers, who are changing the world. These inspiring stories show how everyday girls can have a major impact on their homes, the lives of others, and the world. The word “inspiring” gets tossed around a lot, but I really mean it. After reading this book I was ready to start writing letters to the editor and began researching ways to help with period poverty in my area. If these kids can change their hometowns, I can too!

Draw Stronger: Self Care for Cartoonists and Other Visual Artists by Kriota Willberg

Whether you draw, paint, or write, creating art takes a physical toll on your body. Draw Stronger is a comic book that shows how chronic pain and injuries can occur, and provides tips to prevent and treat injuries. Fun and informative, this is a must-read for anyone who spends good chunks of time sitting at a desk drawing, writing, or typing. While this is geared mainly at visual artists, I’ve found it helpful for dealing with a repetitive strain injury caused by a lockdown’s worth of handwriting.

Fiction:

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

Alex is one of the many who was left behind after the Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of women transformed into dragons, wrecked a path of fiery destruction, and took to the skies. She is left with questions: did they choose to become dragons? Why did her beloved Aunt Marla change, but not her mother? Propriety forbids Alex from ever asking. Instead, she must deal with her overprotective mother, her distant father, and a younger sister obsessed with dragons. Most troubling of all, there’s the insistence that her aunt never actually existed. In a world where women are forced into small, confined roles, what happens when they (literally) rise up? Kelly Barnhill is already known for some excellent fantasy for youth, but this novel for adults does not disappoint.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Two hundred years ago on the moon of Panga, all robots gained consciousness. They left human society peacefully, and were given half the moon to do with as they pleased — which was to leave it untouched and observe the natural world around them. Two centuries later, Sibling Dex is a tea monk who travels the roads of Panga, offering tea, a listening ear, and small comforts to anyone who needs it. Feeling restless in their life, Dex seeks a new journey in a remote corner of the human world. Incredibly, they meet Mosscap on their way. Mosscap and Dex share the first human-robot contact in two hundred years. Mosscap comes in peace, but also bearing a question for Dex: what do humans need? Elegantly written, imaginative, and relaxing, this is one of my favorite books I’ve read recently. I want to live in this world. Thankfully, there’s a sequel as well, so you can return to Panga again.

Whistle: A New Gotham City Hero by E. Forester and Manuel Preitano

Willow Zimmerman is busy. She’s a teen activist who spends her weekends protesting at city hall to help her rundown Gotham neighborhood. Her nights are spent working at the local animal shelter to help pay her mother’s medical bills. When E. Nigma, an old friend of her mother’s, shows up in Willow’s life, he makes her a job offer she can’t refuse. Soon Willow is organizing his high-rolling (and not entirely legal) poker games for E. Nigma and his ludicrously wealthy friends. After an encounter with one of Gotham’s many notorious villains, Willow discovers she has superpowers, including telepathy with dogs. She also learns who her employer really is. The high life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and Willow must decide where her values truly lie, and the cost of following her convictions. The story is more about Willow growing as a person, rather than her as a superhero, but she’s such a great character you’ll be wanting to read more of her adventures.

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

Juliet Palante is a self-described “closeted Puerto-Rican baby-dyke from the Bronx.” Even though her coming out didn’t go as planned, she’s still got a lot to look forward to. Juliet

has just landed her dream internship working for Harlowe Brisbane in Portland, Oregon. Harlowe is a feminist lesbian author, and the strong, empowered woman that Juliet wants to be. But life on the West Coast isn’t what Juliet had expected. She’s not sure about the New Age culture that surrounds her, or even if Harlowe’s (who is White) brand of feminism is right for her. This is a coming-of-age story that examines gaps in the mainstream feminist movement and intersectionality, all while Juliet realistically explores her own identity, and maybe even falls in love. In short: a novel to provoke thought and discussions that will ultimately leave you breathless.

Sherwood by Megan Spooner

Robin of Loxley is dead, killed in the Crusades far from the shores of England and his beloved Lady Marian. Robin was not only Marian’s betrothed, but also her best friend and closest confidant. With Robin gone and Guy of Gisbourn aiming to take his place, the poor of Nottingham have no one to speak for them. Despite the deep grief Marian carries with her, she cannot ignore the suffering of the people of Nottingham. When her friends are threatened by the dogged Gisbourn and the Sheriff of Nottingham, she will take up Robin’s mantle and become her own hero. Well-written, this is an action-packed and enjoyable re-imagining of the Robin Hood legend.

by booksoverlookedblog

Mrs. Crispino: A Tribute

Just a heads up: this one gets pretty heavy.

I’m sure most people had an teacher they loved while they were in school. Maybe it was an English teacher, someone who taught them to love reading, or got them interested in writing. Maybe they were just good teachers whose classes you enjoyed.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about my English teacher during my sophomore year of high school, Mrs. Crispino. She was always something of an odd duck, and more than once described me as a “deer caught in headlights”, a description that isn’t entirely false. Mrs. Crispino was cheerful and friendly, and her assignments were a lot more fun to work on than most. We had to write short romance stories, our reply to the shepherd in “A Passionate Shepherd to His Love”, and research and write an opinion piece on whether or not we thought William Shakespeare was a real person, or a pseudonym.

She and her husband were killed a few summers ago in a motorcycle accident. It was a shock to me. Not only was she my teacher, her son and I were in the same year and we were frenemies. When I heard the news, one of my first thoughts was about her son, his grief, and how scared and adrift he must have felt. I haven’t talked to him since I graduated high school almost ten years ago, but I do catch myself wondering about him and how he’s doing now.

The reason, I think, she’s been on my mind is because of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. I read the book last summer for the first time, and when I posted about it on Facebook, at least three people asked the same question: “How did you get out of reading that in school?”

And the answer is Mrs. Crispino.

Near the end of my sophomore year of high school, a student at another school in the area killed himself. I didn’t know him personally, but I had friends who did. Suicide has always  disturbed me, and did even moreso when I was a teenager. I was devastated when I heard about his death, especially when I found out that he was a year younger than me. But because I didn’t know him, I didn’t think it would be right for me to talk about him, or how I felt. I thought trying to talk this through with someone would be disrespectful to his memory.

I wasn’t the only one hurting. Most of the underclassmen were. Our guidance counselors and religion teachers offered us support, with group discussions and prayers, but I didn’t take part. I probably should have.

This was around the time we were finishing All Quiet on the Western Front in English class, and were supposed to move on to Of Mice and Men.

If you haven’t read Of Mice and Men (which I highly recommend you do), what you need to know is that it’s a very sad book. There’s no happy ending.

In English class, we’d read so many tragedies already that year, and now were going through one in real life. We were 200 students in desperate need of a happy ending. After we closed All Quiet on the Western Front for the final time, Mrs. Crispino changed the curriculum. Instead of Of Mice and Men, the last thing we would be reading as a group was Arsenic and Old Lace.

If you’ve never read it, Arsenic and Old Lace is the story of two old women who poison visitors with elderberry wine. Their bodies are buried in the basement by another man who believes that he is Theodore Roosevelt and he’s digging locks for the Panama Canal. It sounds like a grisly story, but it’s a comedy.

And it’s a really good comedy. At times, all my classmates were laughing as we read it, and more than once did I hear it discussed in the halls or at free period. Everyone seemed to be really enjoying it.

Fiction is important. Whether you read for entertainment, to learn, a way to pass the time, you get something out of it. Sometimes it changes you. Sometimes a story stays with you forever.

I can’t say that Arsenic and Old Lace was a life-changing story. What stayed with me wasn’t the old murderesses or the buried bodies. It was the kindness Mrs. Crispino gave our class. She saw how we were hurting, and helped us smile again.

I’ll remember her for many things: her fun class assignments; they way she giggled whenever she read the word “gay”, much like her students; how she helped me be a better writer. But most of all, I’ll remember her for bringing light during a dark time.

 

 

by booksoverlookedblog

Trope Discussion: The Chosen One

Every so often, I’d like to take a break from revisiting old books and think about fiction itself. Specifically, tropes in fiction. That is, common reoccurring themes you’ll see in fiction. And right now, there’s one in particular that I’d like to discuss.

There was always something about this trope that rubbed me the wrong way. I used to think it was because I would see it so often. The movies above are just a tiny, tiny portion of the stories that use this “Chosen One” as part of their plot.

I used to think that it annoyed me because it’s a cliche prophecies and stories about the “Chosen One” date as far back as ancient Greece. It’s present in religion, and no doubt you’ve read a book or two wherein the main character was somehow prophesied to save everyone. Even some of my favorite series, Harry Potter and His Dark Materials fall into this.

There’s a few different reasons I don’t like this trope. First is the foregone conclusion. If Suzy’s destined to defeat the evil overlord, then it’s going to happen, period. Sure, she’ll go on an adventure getting to the bad guy, but is there any suspense left when she finally faces him? We already know that she’s going to defeat him.

Real heroism is hard, and it’s not accomplished by a single person. Look at any real-life hero. Chances are, there’s a whole mess of people behind him that helped make him a hero.  Since I work in the aviation industry, Sully Sullenberger immediately comes to mind. He was the pilot of “Miracle on the Hudson” fame, and quite rightfully hailed as a hero. But that day could have ended very differently without the plane’s whole crew, the volunteer rescuers, even the commercial ferries that came to help.

The other thing that never sat well with me is the idea of fate. When a character has a pre-determined fate, they’re not given the chance to say no to it. Sure, they can try to run from their destiny, but it always has a way of catching up to them. The prophesied character doesn’t get a chance to refuse to undertake this task.

To quote Dumbledore, “Dark times lie ahead of us and there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.” Taking the”easy” path — whether it be joining the villain, or just going home and waiting for someone else to clean up this mess — should be incredibly tempting to follow. Following the “right” path will be challenging and dangerous, and there will be hardships along the way. When there’s no destiny attached to you, you could back out at any time. A true hero keeps going, no matter the struggle, and that makes us feel their triumphs and tragedies more deeply.

To me, heroes aren’t chosen. They’re the ones that make the choices.