FAKE MUSTACHE

Angleberger, T., & Wang, J. (2012). Fake mustache: Or, how Jodie O'Rodeo and her wonder horse (and some nerdy guy) saved the U.S. Presidential election from a mad genius criminal mastermind. New York: Amulet Books.

The protagonist of this book is seventh grader, Lenny Flem Jr. He lives a mundane life until he accompanies his best friend, Casper Bengue, to Sven’s Fair Price Store. This wondrous emporium sells everything from fake tattoos to fake gum. It is the fake mustaches, the Heidelberg Handlebar Number Seven in particular, that changes Lenny’s life. With the Heidelberg perched upon his upper lip Casper has an evil plan to overtake the entire nation and it is up to Lenny to stop him from completing his nefarious plan.

The madcap adventure really takes off when Casper takes over Sven’s, then the city council. Under the pseudonym Fako Mustacho, the tiny tyrant wannabe is able to become a bank robber and hire various people (librarian’s and fast food workers to name a few) to protect him. Lenny is the only one who is able to see Casper for who he really is. With the help of tv-star Jodie O’Rodeo, he believes that he can foil his former best friend’s plan for national domination.

Lenny and Jodie are successful in their endeavor. Lenny uses his Heidelberg super sticky hand, to thwart an assassination attempt on Casper and to yank his mustache off.

Angleberger’s story is fast-paced romp that upper-elementary students will love. The zany characters and outlandish plot is the stuff of belly chuckles. More mature readers can enjoy the book as long as they are able to suspend their sense of reality for the afternoon it would take to read this book.

SPEAK

Anderson, L. H. (1999). Speak. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.

The narrator of this book is freshman, Melinda Sordino and she is perhaps the most unpopular student at her high school. During the summer she and other incoming freshman were invited to an upperclassman’s party. She ended up calling the police and this call for help has made her a social reject.

Melinda is doomed to solitude but she is befriended by a transfer student named Heather who aspires to popularity. This is the last thing that Melinda wants, but she craves some sort of social interaction and continues this “friendship.” As the year progresses, Melinda becomes more and more reserved and self-withdrawn. She manages to steal tardy slips and uses those to hideout in an abandoned janitor’s closet. This closet and her art class are the only places that she finds solace.

It is obvious that something terrible has happened to her but she stonewalls her parents and as a result, they think she is acting out in some form of teenage rebellion. We learn that that is not true. She has become withdrawn and a former shadow of herself because popular senior, Andy Evans raped her at that summer party and that is why she had called the police. She, however, was so traumatized that she couldn’t speak and that is what drew the police to the party.

After months of silence and lip biting, Melinda is finally able to confront what happened to her. Her recovery is slow but gets a boost when she realizes that her former middle school friend, Rachel, is in danger. Although her former friend doesn’t believe her, she continues on her road to becoming stronger and eventually becomes the whistleblower that allows other girls to come forward about Andy’s attacks on them.

Due to its heavy themes, this book is most appropriate for high school students.

ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY

Alexie, S., & Forney, E. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown.

In this autobiographical-esque book, Alexie provides his readers with a funny yet bleak description of reservation life and the struggle that Native Americans face growing up. The protagonist of this coming of age novel is freshman, Arnold “Junior” Spirit.

Aside from the obstacles stacked against him because of his cultural heritage Arnold was also born with too much water in his brain has caused him grief all his life. It is a condition that could lead to death or severe disabilities. He however escaped with just a lisp and a stutter.

Arnold is a funny and self-deprecating narrator. He is stoic about getting beaten up on a regular basis. He writes about going over half-a-day without eating in a plain matter, because he is used to it, and it is not if others on the reservation are not suffering the same fate. He, in fact, considers himself lucky because he has a family who loves him. His father may be a drunk who will regularly take all their money to go on a bender, but he never beats him.

He is suspended from school, after throwing a geometry book at his white teacherHe doesn’t mean to hit the teacher, but as his luck would have it he does. His teacher, who is not resentful, visits him a few days into the suspension and encourages him to leave the reservation.

After deliberating, Arnold follows his teacher’s advice and begins to attend a “white” school, over twenty miles away. This educational move marks him as a traitor in his community. He finds himself caught between his home world and his school world and he believes that he does not fit in, in either place. As a result, he is must construct a new identity for himself.

In the end he realizes that he can belong to his Spokane Indian tribe as well as the “tribe of American immigrants…basketball players…bookworms…teenage boys (and) beloved sons…”


Due to its graphic language, heavy themes and teen sexuality, this book would best be read and studied by high school students.

EL DEAFO

Bell, C., & Lasky, D. (2014). El Deafo. New York: Abrams.

This charming graphic novel is best suited for upper elementary and middle grade readers.  It is an autographical account of how the author dealt with growing up hearing impared.

Cece was not born with her impediment.  It was only after she caught meningitis at the age of four that her hearing began to deteriorate.  When she starts school her parents enroll her in a school specifically for children with hearing disabilities.  She loves it and learns much, but soon her family moves and was no longer able to attend that school.

Cece is not a perfect and in fact her pride was perhaps her biggest enemy.  It keeps her from explaining that she cannot understand what people are saying if she can’t read their lips and that sometimes, even if she can see their mouths she might not fully grasp what they are saying.  This of course leads Cece into some sticky situations and a plethora of insecurities.  She deals with this by creating an alter ego: “El Deafo.” El Deafo is a steely nerved superhero that says and does whatever Cece is feeling and wishes she could say to those around her.

GABI: A GIRL IN PIECES

Quintero, I. (2014). Gabi, a girl in pieces. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press.

  

In this coming of age story, we meet Gabriela- Gabi- Hernandez. She is a Mexican-American girl who lives with her brother and mother and occasionally her meth-head father. Quintero presents Gabi's stories in a series of journal entries. These entries chronicle her senior year and her family dysfunctional family dynamic.

At the start of the book Gabi's best friend, Cindy informs her that she is pregnant and Sebastian, her other best friend, informs his family that he is gay and they respond by kicking him out his house.

Gabi and her friends handle these obstacles and the others they face in a realistic and authentic way. There is no deus ex machina for these teens. Instead, the characters-especially Gabi, who battles obesity- must learn from their mistakes and whatever wrench is thrown their way.

One way Gabi, deals is via her poetry. She expresses herself and her frustrations via this media. In fact, she is recognized for her outstanding work and it becomes a vehicle for her to overcome the overwhelming odds that she faces as a young Latina and young woman.

This book is best suited for upper high school students because of the heavy themes and some vulgar language.

ANNIE ON MY MIND

Garden, N. (1982). Annie on my mind. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux.

Although this novel was published 35 years ago its subject matter and themes are still as relevant today as they were three decades ago.

The protagonist of the book is senior Eliza Winthrop. She is the student body president at the exclusive, if somewhat rundown private school, Foster Academy. One Saturday, she meets Annie Kenyon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The girls immediately strike up a friendship, although they come from different backgrounds and are fundamentally different- Liza is more straight-laced and Annie is more of a free spirit.

The girl’s friendship quickly morphs into something more. They are both aware of their feelings, but they are aware of the disdain their early 1980’s society has towards gay people. The girls awkwardly fumble through their relationship and when their relationship is discovered, it is more than just their lives that are effected.

And even when Liza’s father tries to come to accept his daughter’s love and relationship he reflects society’s views: “…I want you to be happy in other ways too, as your mother is-to have a husband and children.”

This book is intended for high school readers and would be a great starting point for students to discuss the way American society has evolved in their views towards homosexual couples and the ways that those views have stayed the same.

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

Green, J. (2012). The fault in our stars. New York: Penguin Books.


Green’s novel is an unexpected treat for readers. Sure, the movie was good, but as the maxim goes, the book is always better. The sixteen-year-old protagonist Hazel Grace Lancaster has been battling terminal thyroid cancer nearly all her life. A miracle drug gives her an extension on life but is not until she meets Augustus Waters at a cancer survivor group that she truly starts to live and appreciate her lease on life to the fullest.

One of the major themes in this novel is that of courage. This book is not dystopian fodder. The characters do not face tyrannical overlords. They do not have to fight against fantastical and magical creatures. Instead they face a monster that one too many teens and their families are acquainted with- Cancer. They must endure endless hospital and doctor’s visits all while having the ever real and present threat of death hanging over them. Yet, besides this all too real threat they have the courage to smile, to love.

Besides being a love story, at its core this novel is a bildungsroman. Through her relationship with Augustus Hazel moves forward from the stagnant life she was existing in. She blossoms into a young woman who has ventures into new friendships and adventures- that might seem bland to others, but for someone with her health issues is revolutionary.