Dancing at the Pity Party

Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom Graphic Memoir by Tyler Feder. Grades 6+ with crossover for adults. 208 pages. Dial Books, 2020. Review copy provided by publisher. 

I can't do better than this publisher blurb, so here's what this book is about: 

"From before her mother's first oncology appointment through the stages of her cancer to the funeral, sitting shiva, and afterward, when she must try to make sense of her life as a motherless daughter, Tyler Feder tells her story in this graphic novel that is full of piercing--but also often funny--details. She shares the important post-death firsts, such as celebrating holidays without her mom, the utter despair of cleaning out her mom's closet, ending old traditions and starting new ones, and the sting of having the "I've got to tell Mom about this" instinct and not being able to act on it. This memoir, bracingly candid and sweetly humorous, is for anyone struggling with loss who just wants someone to get it."

I picked up the galley at PLA and I didn't read it right away, but when I saw how many holds were gathering on this title at my library, I picked it up to see what the buzz was about. I was surprised at how much I loved this book. Like... LOVED. It's not an easy read and I'm not a member of the Dead Mom Club, so it's not a story that I especially identify with, but it still struck a deep chord in me. I think it's got wide appeal for kids in middle school and high school, but also for adults, especially adults who experienced a major loss while they were in their teens or young adulthood. Readers who have experienced the loss of a parent or another close loss will find recognition and acceptance here, but even readers who have not experienced this loss should tune in for just a well-crafted and emotionally vulnerable story. Have tissues nearby, of course. 

Free Lunch

Hey, I'm an Amazon affiliate, which means that if you purchase items after clicking the links on my site I get a small commission. 

Free Lunch by Rex Ogle. Grades 6+. Norton Young Readers, 2019. 208 pages. Review copy provided by my local library.

Rex knows he's missing something. He's all ready for sixth grade to start - he's got his schedule, he knows where his bus stop is... but there's something he's forgetting... Oh, yeah! His lunch money!

But when Rex asks his mom about it, she tells him that she's signed him up for the Free Lunch program at school this year. Free lunch. Rex knows what that means - the government's paying for his lunch because his mom and stepfather can't afford it. What he will discover when he gets to the school cafeteria is how humiliating it feels to have to tell the cafeteria cashier that he gets free lunch. And how lonely it feels keeping this secret from his friends. And how frustrating it feels to be singled out by a teacher who thinks you're trash because your family is poor.

This is not an easy book to read. Beyond Rex's struggles with hunger and need, his mother and stepfather are both physically abusive to him and to each other. Being out of work and struggling to keep a roof over their heads creates so much stress in their household that it comes out in fists and fights. Ogle is very clear and even handed about that. While he hates the abuse and lives in fear that the fists will be turned towards his little brother one day, he also recognizes that his mom does love him. Reading this book was a very emotional experience. My heart went out to young Rex and I just wanted to see him come out the other side.

This is an important book to read and an essential book to have on your library and classroom shelves. There are kids who need this book, who need to know that they're not alone in what they're experiencing, to see that you can survive it and you can make a better life, that things can turn around. The hopeful ending will give kids hope. And there are kids and adults who need this book to understand what others may be going through. It's a raw and honest portrayal and doesn't hold back.

Readalikes:

Although Free Lunch is memoir, the novel Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt also explores the emotional life of a boy who is dealing with abuse and heavy stuff at home. His actions also cause others to judge his character before they really know the real him and what's going on that makes him act out.

 

And while Hey Kiddo by Jarrett Krosoczka is a graphic novel and Free Lunch is not, these books are both powerful memoirs about boys growing up with tough home lives as parents face poverty in Free Lunch and addiction in Hey Kiddo.

The Sun Does Shine

So, a few years ago I read Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson's book about his work with the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice serving the poor and wrongly condemned. One client that he writes a lot about in that book is Anthony Ray Hinton, a man condemned to Alabama's Death Row for a crime he didn't commit. In 2015, after living on Death Row for 30 years, the charges against Hinton were dropped and he went free. The Sun Does Shine is his story in his own words.

You don't need me to tell you about this book - it's Oprah's latest Book Club pick and hopefully it's everywhere you look. What you might need me to tell you is that it is a compelling, readable story that's definitely worth picking up. This is one of those books that should be required reading for all Americans.

Hinton's the first one to tell you that he's not been perfect his whole life. He went behind the back of his girlfriend, dating her sister on the side, he even stole a car and served time for it (after he brought the car back and confessed). But when Hinton was accused of robbery and murder even though he had a solid alibi, he was astonished to be convicted and sentenced to death.

Hinton's book really puts the reader in his place as he writes about life on Death Row. He writes about trying to comfort his fellow inmates when they were upset, even though he couldn't physically go to them. He writes about the book club he started so that Death Row inmates might have something to occupy their minds besides their own impending deaths. He writes about banging on the bars of his cell whenever an inmate was taken to the electric chair (and later lethal injection) so that inmate would know he was not alone.

It's riveting, terrifying stuff and this book made me cry and it made me shake with anger. It is well worth the read for anyone, but especially anyone who read Bryan Stevenson's book will not want to miss this book.

Readalikes:

For more about the Equal Justice Initiative and Bryan Stevenson's work with Hinton and other inmates, don't miss Just Mercy (2014, Spiegel & Grau). It's written with less immediacy than Hinton's memoir, but it's a fascinating look at the failures of our justice system.

Readers also may be interested in The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (2010, The New Press).

For another devastating true story of an innocent person convicted of a crime, pick up A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America by T. Christian Miller & Ken Armstrong (2018, Crown). This nonfiction book tells the story of a young woman who was raped and reported it but the police did not believe her story and accused her of false reporting. In fact, she had been raped and the rapist went on to attack more women.

Path to the Stars

I was never a Girl Scout, but reading Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist by Sylvia Acevedo has made me want to be one. This memoir written by the CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA is an engrossing book for those who like to learn about life in a previous decade. This book comes out September 4, so put it on your purchase list now - you will want this for your library!

Sylvia grew up poor in a small town in New Mexico. Her world was small - she mostly interacted with her family and a close circle of friends in their close-knit neighborhood. When her family bought a house in a more affluent - and white - part of town, Sylvia found herself on her own, not knowing how to bridge the gap between her experiences and the experiences of the white kids at her school. Her teachers assumed she was behind in school because of the lower income school district she had transferred from and put her in remedial classes.

All this changed when Sylvia was invited to a Brownies meeting with a classmate after school one day. There, Sylvia began to learn skills that she wouldn't have otherwise had access to. Her parents were not planners, they were not savers. In Girl Scouts, Sylvia learned how to plan for events and be prepared. She learned how to budget by selling cookies to fund the events her troop wanted to do. Eventually Sylvia's mother and younger sister got involved, as well. Her mother gained skills in money management by volunteering to help with the cookie sales. Sylvia's involvement with the Girl Scouts not only enriched her life by teaching her new skills, but it enriched the life of her entire family.

Sylvia Acevedo speaks so well and so passionately about the skills she learned in Girl Scouts and how they helped her gain confidence and build a future for herself that I found myself wishing I could go back in time and join myself. I kept flagging page after page where she writes about the various ways that the Girl Scouts helped her develop as a person.

This is an inspiring book about one girl building a future for herself and not giving up on her dreams, even though she was repeatedly told that girls couldn't fix cars/be scientists/etc. Repeatedly, Sylvia was shown ways that men and boys had more value than women. Her brother was given a library card without even asking for one, but when Sylvia asked for one, she was told she had to save up $5 to cover the late fees in case she wasn't responsible with her books. Through the Girl Scouts, Sylvia began to learn about her own value and that she could develop the skills to have any future she wanted for herself.

Of course you'll want to hand this memoir to passionate Girl Scouts, former Girl Scouts, and troop leaders. Also give it to kids who enjoy reading about others' real experiences or are curious about what childhood was like in the 1960s.

Readalikes:

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tonya Lee Stone (Candlewick, 2009) is another gripping story about women who are told they can't, but they go on trying anyway. Readers who are interested in more books about women in the sciences despite odds being stacked against them may enjoy this one.

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai (Little, Brown, 2014) is another memoir of a girl facing odds stacked against her and coming out in support of the education of women. Readers interested in personal stories about women standing up for their rights to have an education and careers may enjoy this one.

First Girl Scout: The Life of Juliette Gordon Lowe by Ginger Wadsworth (Clarion Books, 2012) is a great choice for readers who are Girl Scouts or who are interested in the history of the Girl Scouts.

Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret (Albert Whitman, 1996) is another great memoir to suggest to kids who are curious about what life was like for children growing up in the 1950s and 1960s.

Book info: 

Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist by Sylvia Acevedo. Grades 5+ Clarion Books, September 2018. 320 pages. Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher.

A One-Sitting Read

One of the categories for Book Riot's 2018 Read Harder Challenge is "a one-sitting book". That's really hard for me. I tend to be a distracted reader. I need to take breaks. I need to put it down for awhile and do something else. I very rarely finish a book all in one go unless I'm doing a weekend reading challenge. Even when I was serving on the Newbery Committee, I was much more likely to read half of a book and put it down and start another and then finish up the first book the next day.

So, when I tell you that this book was nearly a one-sitting read for me, I want you to know what that means. My husband and I are currently working our way through Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix (which I have never seen and am hugely enjoying) and I even turned down watching episodes to read this book.

Educated by Tara Westover is a memoir from a woman with an unusual upbringing. Brought up by off-the-grid end-of-days-preppers on a remote mountain in Idaho, Tara was never vaccinated, never saw a doctor or dentist, and didn't even have a birth certificate until she was 9 years old. And she never went to school. Her mother attempted homeschool from time to time, but there was always too much work to be done at her father's scrap metal business for a real education to take place.

When abuse from family members escalated, Tara knew that she needed a way out. Some of her older siblings had found ways out: marriage, jobs... and her older brother Tyler had gone to college. Tara began to dream of going to college, too. But that dream seemed impossible. She had never taken an exam in her life, but now would have to ace the ACT to be considered by colleges. She had never studied or written an essay. She had never heard of the Holocaust or the Civil Rights Movement.

It's not really a spoiler to tell you that she makes it out. In fact, Tara Westover went on to not only complete her Bachelor's degree but to study overseas and eventually earn a PhD. It only makes her unusual upbringing that much more fascinating to know how she ultimately went on to live a very different life.

I mean, what Tara and her family members endured... I couldn't look away from this book, even as it completely disturbed me. I completely take for granted that if a horrifying accident happened to me or someone around me, we'd go to the hospital. That wasn't an option for the Westovers. And they just kept surviving medical trauma that I thought for sure would kill them.

Like, I knew Tara would eventually be at least relatively okay because I knew she had gone on to write this book. But I had to read it to believe it and to see how she would possibly escape.

Readalikes:

Hand this book to folks who enjoyed memoirs about others with unusual or traumatic childhoods like The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls or A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer. Although this book is published for adults, I think there's a great deal of crossover appeal for teens, particularly teens who enjoyed either of these readalike memoirs.

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover. Random House, February 2018. 352 pages. Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher.

Enchanted Air

Enchanted Air: A Memoir by Margarita Engle. Grades 4-7. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, August 2015. 193 pages. Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher.

Booktalk: 

Margarita is a girl from two worlds. Her mother is Cuban, her father is American, and from the first time that Margarita set foot on the island of Cuba, she knew that Cuba was a place where she could really be her true, authentic self. Cuba is a beautiful island, full of lush, vibrant flowers and interesting animals. Margarita sees is as a fairy tale kingdom and she loves her family there and the stories they share.

Back in America, Margarita feels like she doesn't fit in. She's smart and skips a grade, making her younger than her classmates. She identifies more with books and stories than with people. She constantly longs for summer to arrive so her family can travel back to Cuba, back to where Margarita really feels like she belongs.

But when revolution breaks out in Cuba, Margarita's worlds collide in a terrible way. The United States and Cuba are at war and Margarita fears for her family and for the island that she loves. Will she ever be able to visit her fairy tale island again?

My thoughts:

What a beautiful book!

This memoir in verse shows a child's-eye view of the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis with author Margarita Engle caught in the middle of it. In spare prose poems, Engle is able to convey strong emotions and she clearly illustrates the connection that she has with Cuba and her family living there.

Engle paints a picture of growing up with two cultures, two languages, two ways of seeing the world. She first learns that teachers can be wrong when she draws a picture of Cuban trees blowing in the wind and her teacher says "REAL TREES DON'T LOOK LIKE THAT." And Margarita realizes that she has a unique worldview, that not everyone can see the things she sees.

The child's experience of the conflicts between America and Cuba are authentic. Engle really writes from her child self's point of view. Young Margarita doesn't always know what is going on. She knows that her family is watching the news more than ever before. She knows her family is in danger and that she may not ever be able to go back to Cuba, but she doesn't really understand why. It shows the senselessness of war, which continues to this day.

This is a luscious book and a valuable perspective to share with children. I learned this year that some of our middle school students are required to read memoirs as one of the genres they explore and I'll be excited to bring this one to their attention this school year.

Readalikes: 

As I was reading, I kept thinking of the excellent memoir in verse Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. I think there are many similarities: carefully crafted sensory writing, the experiences of young girls growing up in a tumultuous time and caught between two cultures, obvious love for the places of their youths.

Two fictional books about children growing up in Cuba and then experiencing life in America via Operation Pedro Pan (which brought children to the US to escape the violence in Cuba during the revolution) are The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez and 90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis.

And, of course, readers may also enjoy reading Margarita Engle's historical novels in verse, particularly knowing more about the author's heritage and relatives.