Category Archives: Book Review
Persepolis: A Damn Good Book
Filed under Book Review
ADVICE FROM THE TOKEN BLACK CHICK
Cover via Amazon
My response to someone who asked me about books for African Americans :
Okay, I’m an African American (but, I’ll preface my comments by saying that I grew up predominantly around European Americans until I was 16). The books that I’m going to suggest aren’t necessarily “African American” books, but I think that they deal with themes that ALL teens can relate to. The graphic novels Palestine, Maus, and A.D. New Orleans, these all deal with populations that have had to deal with oppression and adversity. The other books that I would recommend are: Shine, Hate List, 13 Reasons, The Hunger Games, The Freedom Writers,Bruiser, Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes, and Looking for Alaska.
You also might want to read The Rose that Grew from Concrete, I think this book would be really good if you study any poetry.
During my teens, I was a star runner, a runaway, foster child, gang member and when I didn’t have to worry about taking care of myself, I was/am a hippie. The one thing that I can say, is that sometimes it’s nice to escape from your everyday life and see that some teen experiences are universal, like wanting to know that you’re safe and loved; if you’re a teen in the inner city, Palestine, or a rural community, there’s always someone who’s a little higher up on the food chain than you are.
Related articles
- Trayvon Ma
Maus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
rtin, and questions we should all be asking ourselves (livin4twink.com)
- The Hunger Games/Trayvon Martin Connection (thirtythreadbaremercies.wordpress.com)
- Lessons from Trayvon Martin: Some Rules for African-American Boys’ Survival (uzimacommunityblog.wordpress.com)
- I Am Who I Am – Reflections of an African-American Ambassador in Zimbabwe (asnycnowradio.wordpress.com)
Young Adult Lit
Teen and Young Adult Fiction (Photo credit: Blue Train Books)
As part of my training in my Master’s program, I frequently read and evaluate Young Adult Literature. I recently enrolled in a program, that affords me the opportunity to read books before their release to the public. Today it dawned on me, that most of the novels I’m reading are dystopian/apocalyptic in nature. I don’t recall there being such a great quantity of books of that nature when I was a teen; I had so many real-life things that I had to deal with as a teen, so perhaps I missed them. I am currently reading a book called Shadowed Ground by Vicki Keire, it is dystopian in nature. So far, I’ve found the book very interesting, although it jumps around and would be much better in my opinion, if there was a clear line that showed the relationship between the characters. I’m only on the fifth chapter, so perhaps things will become clear shortly.
Related articles
- What’s the right age for YA? (keystrokesandwordcounts.wordpress.com)
- Atlantic Book Awards shortlist announced (cbc.ca)
- Dystopian domination: A Hunger Games roundtable (arts.nationalpost.com)
- YA Wednesday: More Young Adult Award Winners (omnivoracious.com)
- Book Review: “The Hunger Games” (thecheapreader.wordpress.com)
Filed under Academic, Apocalyptic, Book Review, Dystopian, Fantasy, Pop Culture, Science Fiction, Young Adult Lit
Everyone Needs a Little Chocolate in Their Lives 
At times the reader will worry about Satrapi, because of her refusal to cave to the restrictions that are imposed on her, laugh at the way she describes her stint with 5 gay males as roommates. Satrapi’s work leaves…