BONE GAP

Ruby, L. (2015). Bone Gap. New York: Balzer Bray.


Laura Ruby spins a story full of magic-realism that can be both mysterious and confusing but in the end leaves the reader satisfied.

The book’s protagonist, "Moonface" Finn O'Sullivan, finds himself lost and isolated amongst a field of familiar strangers. Bone Gap, Illinois has always been his home, but everyone has always kept him at a distance because they feel that he is different than they are. Although no one can pinpoint what separates him from the rest of the populace, they feel that his is something dissimilar to them. This probably stems from his reluctance to look anyone in the eye and how he seems to inhabit his own personal world that doesn’t include them.

The second main character is Sean O'Sullivan; he is Finn’s older brother and guardian. He assumes this role and ignores the possibility of a bright future when their mother abandons them.

Their lives change when they find a beat up Roza in their shed. The Polish girl had traveled to Chicago to study botany but instead ended up getting abused. She is on the run from her abuser and finds it difficult to trust the O’Sullivan brother but eventually she does. And it is just when she starts to blossom like the flowers she loves, she is ripped from their lives.

The people of Bone Gap believe that she left the boys like their mother did, but Finn knows better. He witnessed her abduction but is unable to describe the perpetrator.

The enigmatic Roza is a mystery to the boys. They find her in their shed and it looks like she was beaten up. She doesn't say much to them but from what they can gather is that she is on the run from a man, but who is he? Roza doesn't trust easily, she has learned that men will only use her for her beauty. Slowly she learns that Sean and Finn are trustworthy and she ends up opening up to them. The relationship is something that all can see, "Charlie had no idea who needed whom more- Roza, those boys, those boys, Roza. It all felt fated somehow. "

But just as their friendship blossoms, Roza is torn from their lives. People think she up and left just as suddenly as she appeared, but Finn knows the truth. He saw someone take her from the cornfields, but when he can't describe him, everyone thinks he just made it up.

At its core this story is about the power of love and acceptance.

PERSEPOLIS

Satrapi, M. (2004). Persepolis. NY: Pantheon.

This non-fiction graphic novel chronicles the author’s childhood in Iran. It’s striking black and white ink drawings are sure to lure reluctant readers. The novel begins in 1980, a year after the Iran’s “Islamic Revolution.”

The protagonist of the novel is Marjane and her close-knit family- mother, father and grandmother. Marjane is ten-years old at the start of the story and she and her classmates are not taking kindly to having to wear the veil in school. As with most graphic novels, the pictures themselves tell a story with tiny nuances that help explain the story the author is telling.

This is holds true on the first page where on the bottom pane Satrapi has drawn rambunctious girls waving and rough-housing with their veils as opposed to meekly wearing them.

Meek, is not a word that describes Marjane. She is a girl full of conviction, whose family are activists against the new Iranian regime and extreme adherence to Koranic law. Marjane’s family, she learns, are deposed royalty.

Satrapi does not sugar coat her story for readers. She not only mentions the horrific burning of 400 Iranians at the Rex Cinema, she depicts it in a two-page spread. Her unembellished tale, is often intercut with Marjane’s conversations with God, and his eventual silence, when after her uncle’s execution, she banishes him from her life.

Satrapi also chronicles her pre-teen rebellion against her parents. They wish to protect her from the hostile world outside their apartment, but she fights against their attempts to protect her by skipping class, smoking a cigarette and daring to venture the streets wearing a jean jacket and buying contraband music. Eventually her parents decide to send her to the relative safety of France, and the book ends on a cliffhanger when Marjane’s mother collapses in the airport.


This would be a perfect fit for cross-curricular high school teaching. History and English teachers alike would be able to use this book in their classrooms.

GHOST MEDICINE

        Smith, A. (2008). Ghost medicine. New York: Feiwel & Friends.

 16-year old Troy Stotts is the protagonist in this modern Western story.  He and his father have a nearly non-existent relationship due mostly in part to the death of Troy’s mother; the family had already suffered the loss of his brother so it is only the two of them.  Fortunately for the teen he has his horse and his best friends Tom and Gabe. These two are polar opposites yet they balance each other out and help Troy through his grief.  The third person to help Troy through his misery is his crush Luz- who just happens to be Gabe’s sister.

Smith’s story meanders through the summer after Mrs. Stotts’ death.  He takes the time to flesh out his characters and build up the ranch-land environment they exist it.  When not working on Gabe’s father’s ranch the boys spend time camping out and leisurely enjoying each other’s company.  They are far from slothful however.  Aside from the ranch work on Gabe’s ranch they find the time to help out the elderly Rose a.k.a. Goat Woman.  Rose promises each of the boys one of her wild horses, if they can catch one.  Aside from helping her they also take the time to talk with her while they indulge in the not so legal habit of chewing tobacco and the occasional adult beverage.

The story is not without external conflict. The boys are antagonized by the sheriff’s scoundrel of a son Chase, and his friend Jack. Chase’s attempted rape of Luz leads to an escalating bitterness which leads to the death of the book’s antagonist.

Teachers will appreciate the detail Smith puts into his characters and will be able to use it as a springboard with their students to discuss characterization. Due to its heavy themes, the primary audience for this book would be high school students.

LIAR & SPY

Stead, R. (2013). Liar & spy. New York: Yearling.

This Brooklyn set story is middle grade book’s whose protagonist is only child Georges.  After the eighth-grader’s father is father is fired the family downgrades from a house to an apartment.  His mother tries to see the silver lining in this move by saying that at least now his father can pursue his dream of owning his business; Georges is not truly sold on this reasoning especially since he sees his mom working double-shifts at the hospital and most days the only way he is able to communicate with her is through a running Scrabble tile conversation.

Georges’ transition into his new life is helped when he meets his neighbor Safer.  Safer and his sister Candy are home-schooled and their schooling is a direct contrast to Georges’ more traditional one. Safer convinces Georges to join his spy club after the latter’s dad inadvertently sets up their initial meeting.  

The spies focus on the mysterious Mr. X, who lives above Georges family’s apartment.  Mr. X, dresses exclusively in black and is always carrying suitcases in and out of his apartment.  Spying on his “furtive” neighbor serves to help Georges not focus on the bullying he faces at school. The spying, however, soon becomes an obsession for Safer and Georges gradually feels uncomfortable with him and what they are doing.  He must also learn to deal with Safer’s increasingly controlling and manipulative ways.  

The book makes many twists and takes a few unexpected turns but it does not take itself too seriously.  Stead tempers some of the heavier themes with humor.  Her opening lines are a perfect example of this juxtaposition:

"It's Friday afternoon, last period. Gym. Ms. Warner and I have done our Friday high five. We do it every week, because I hate school and she hates work, and we both live for Friday.”

Teachers will find this a valuable book to use in a novel study because it deals with complexities of friendship and the value of loyalty and bravery.  Students will find value in the book because Stead does not hit her readers over the head with these themes.  Instead, her tightly written story (it’s only 180 pages long!) will capture their attention.

RED QUEEN

Aveyard, V. (2015). Red Queen. New York: HarperTeen.

The protagonist of this fantasy novel is seventeen Mare Barrow. In Mare’s world there is a distinct divide amongst the citizenry. People are either red-blooded (Reds) or silver-blooded (Silvers.) The latter group is the ruling class because they have special powers and abilities. The elitist Silvers thus subjugate the Reds to a harsh life and war service.

Mare and her family are Reds and are on the brink of utter poverty. Her father was heavily wounded in war and her older brothers are all on the frontlines. The family gets by on what her sister Gisa makes as a seamstress. Mare contributes what she can via pickpocketing, but she is wary of getting jailed again and she is also worried about the fast approaching date of her military conscription.

She and her best friend Farley meet the leader of the clandestine Scarlet Guard. He agrees to help them escape military service for the price of two thousand Crowns. She plans to obtain this by robbing from the royals during their summer vacation. Unfortunately, the only thing she is able to obtain is a crushed hand when she is caught attempting to pickpocket. When she shares her story with the wealthy Cal, he arranges a job for with the Royals. (Turns our Cal is actually PRINCE Cal and heir to the throne.)

During the Queenstrial- a marriage competition to see who is worthy of the princes, Mare falls and it is discovered that she had latent lightning powers. No one can explain how a Red can have Silver powers so an elaborate story is fabricated, Mare is pledged to Cal’s brother Maven and her brother’s safe return from the frontlines is bartered. She, however, cannot get over her hate for the Silvers and joins the Scarlet Guard. Surprisingly, her betrothed joins her stating but he soon betrays her. He used her to destroy the Guard so that he could become king. The cliffhanger ending finds Mare avowing to kill him.

This book is reminiscent of the Graceling trilogy and would be a good match for high school students with a penchant for swashbuckling adventure and strong female leads.

SIX OF CROWS

Bardugo, L. (2015). Six of crows. New York: Henry Holt and Co.

This novel is a spinoff series from Bardugo’s popular Grisha Trilogy. The six in title refers to the six main characters in this story. Each of the six teenagers has a specialty that will help them pull ogf an incredible heist. There is Kaz, the master thief; Nina, the heartrender aka internal organ decimator; Matthias the ex-holy warrior and convict; Inej the spy; Wylan, the demolitions expert and Jesper, sharpshooter.

The novel supplies a plethora of unexpected plot twists. Bardugo’s story is filled with adventure, romance and treason and flashbacks that allow a reader to really get to know the characters. This is not a light-hearted caper although there is humor in the book. The characters live in a dark world and as a result, they are complex.

The teams first task is to break Matthias out of the well-fortified and guarded Hellgate prison. His assistance is needed in order to break into the infamous Ice Court to abscond with an obscene amount of money. To do so they knock down a tree so that they can switch places with prisoners who are being taken to Ice Court. After being separated they are reunited after several near misses they are able to escape- seemingly without Wylan, who is actually glamoured to look like someone else. Van Eck, the books ultimate antagonist, and Wylan’s father, realizes that it is a ruse and has his henchman grab Inej and the money the group had worked hard to obtain.

The books ends on a bittersweet note. Kaz and the group- sans Inej- visit Pekka Rollins. (Rollins is the book’s other antagonist and owes Kaz a favor for letting him escape at the prison.) Rollins agrees to help and after the group leaves he realizes that they have pickpocketed everything of value of his person.

This book with its darker themes is best suited for high school students with a taste for adventure dense stories.

BROWN GIRL DREAMING

Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. New York: Nancy Paulsen books. 

Woodson’s award winning book, is comprised of free verse poems that chronicle her childhood up to the fifth grade.  Although a memoir, the book is classified as fiction because of her sporadic use of dialogue such as in the poem “graffiti”’:

Your tag is you name written with spray paint/ However yo want it wherever you want it to be.//…I press the button down, hear the hiss of pain, watch/J-A-C  begin.//Only know the sound of my uncle’s voice//…asking over and over again//What’s wrong with you? Have you lost your mind?// They’re just words, I whisper/They’re not trying to hurt anybody.

The book opens on her birth day.  She is finally given her name after a heated discussion between her parents. “Name a girl Jack, my father said,/ and she can’t help/ but be strong.” His words do come to fruition because by the end of the novel Jacqueline has become a strong girl with a sense of clarity of who she is:

When there are many worlds/you can choose the one/you walk into each day.//And all the worlds you are-/gather into one word//called You//where You decide//what each world//and each story//and each ending// will finally be.

This clarity, however, is something that does not come easily.  Most of the story takes place in South Carolina, and Jaqueline is witness to the turbulent Civil Rights movement. She is raised almost exclusively by her grandparents after her parents separate and her mother moves to New York to work.  She does not truly feel the loss of her parents because she is so young and because her maternal grandparents, especially her grandfather Gunnar dote on her.  Another obstacle that she must face is dyslexia, which in this era was not recognized as a legitimate learning disability.

Although the book deals with the rampant racism of the 1960’s South, it is her dyslexia that is the true antagonist in this story. This is first seen when instead of writing her full name on the board when asked to do so by her first grade teacher, she chooses to write down her nickname, Jackie instead.  Her learning disability, ironically, is able to fuel her love for the written word.  In the poem, “stevie and me,” Woodson recalls her visits to the local library.  It became a haven because there, no one told her to read faster or harder books; it is here where she discovers picture books “filled with brown people.”  She writes:

If someone had taken/that book out of my hand/said, You’re too old for this/maybe/I’d never have believed/that someone who looked like me/had a story.

This beautifully execute book is intended for 6^th- 8^th grade readers, however I would venture to say that it would be best understood and appreciated by those students in high school.  There are nuances that less mature students will not fully grasp without the guidance of a teacher.