Red's Journey Through Bookland

Acevedo, E. (2018).  The poet X a novel . New York: HarperTeen. Poet X  by Elizabeth Acevedo was chosen as 2019's Printz Award winner . This is not the only award and recognition this book has won since published in 2018. It also won the 2018 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, Horn Book Award for Best Fiction in 2018, and the 2018 Pura Belpre Award. This book has received a lot of recognition since it's publication- as it showed up on a multitude of award lists for me to choose from in this assignment. So it made perfect sense that this book was a "Must Read.' After reading it, I can only agree with all of the critics and sing its praises.  Poet X  tells the story of Xiomara as talented poet, hardened girl, and loving sister and daughter. Xiomara sturggles expressing herself aloud with words, as she often goes into bouts of silence, not speaking to anyone. She struggles with the persona and expectations that are put upon her by her family, ...

Bagieu, P., & Kane, M. (2018).  Brazen: Rebel ladies who rocked the world . New York: First Second, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press. Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World  was selected as one of the titles on the YALSA list of 2019 Great Graphic Novels for Teens . This book is listed as one of only 14 nonfiction graphic novels chosen for this years' list. This is a list created yearly by Yalsa of recommended graphic novels and illustrated nonfiction for ages 12-18.  This book covers 30 different stories of world renowned women who took the world and their own lives by storm. Each chapter follows the subject's significant events in their lives that led to their achievements. This book would probably be most appropriate young adults that can handle mature content, because this is not a book that smooths over scandal but instead celebrates it. It covers a wide variety of topics and achievements from astronauts, to lighthouse keepers, to gyneco...

Alexander, K. (2013).  He said, she said . New York, NY: Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins. I have been a big fan of Kwame Alexander since I read Crossover in my Children's literature class in 2016. I have quite a few of his works, and He Said, She Said  was a book that I have had since I met him at an ALAN workshop. I have not had the time to read it, and since I was tasked with picking out one of his books, I wanted to do some research before making a decision. It turns out that He Said, She Said  was the first YA novel that Kwame had written, as most of his previous works were picture books, poetry anthologies, and professional development books for teachers. Kwame has become very well known for his poetic style works like The Crossover, Rebound, and Booked . I was surprised when I started reading this book to find that it was written in a more traditional narrative style, as all I have ever known him for was the poetry.  I was really excited to read this b...

Satrapi, M. (2013).  The complete Persepolis . St. Albert, AB: SAPL. Persepolis is a graphic novel memoir of the authors's life during the times of war and strife in Iran as she grew up. Throughout the story, the reader learns about Marjane's journey in Iran and all of the people she lost and how lost she felt in her own identity as an Iranian woman. This is a coming of age story that reveals how a young girl can be changed throughout war and grief and come out the other side. This graphic novel intertwines her experiences, the stories of others who were prisoners, soldiers, and fanatics, and her loving parents. Marjane was rebellious kid and teenager, who ends up living on her own in Austria for school from the age of about 14-18 before she came back to Iran. It reveals the struggle of immigrant students who do not want to disappoint their parents. She lived on the streets for months before coming home to Iran, because she did not want to have to tell her family that she w...

King, A. S. (2016).  I crawl through it: A novel . New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company. On this blog I will be talking about a book that I have been "crawling through" for a while now. One of the authors that I could choose a book from was A. S. King. I have never read any of her books, but I have only heard great things (plus she is best friends with Andrew Smith one of my favorites). I chose I Crawl Through It  because of a review/ blog post I read on one of my previous professors YA blog, YA Wednesday. The post was published during the beginning of preparing for testing season, and I thought it would be an interesting read. I got the audio book from Audible around February, but I am just finishing it now. I also bought the paperback copy after I began listening to it I quickly realized that the way the book was organized would be easier to read with a physical copy in front of me as well. The audiobook was quite monotone when switching characters that it made i...

Crutcher, C. (2011).  Angry management . New York: Greenwillow. For this assignment I had the privilege of choosing a book to read from the author Chis Crutcher. I absolutely fell in love with Chris Crutcher's brash personality and sense of humor when I met him at the LSU YA conference in the summer of 2014. Chris Crutcher has written 14 books so far, and nearly all of them are on the top of my TBR list, and are often recommended by me to students. The first work that I read by him was Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes  because when I was teaching GT 7th grade, this book was a choice for literature circles. I have always loved his complex characters and story lines and how relatable he is. I think that he and Laurie Halse Anderson are like writing soul mates as their books nearly always tackle tough topics like depression, abuse both sexual and emotional. I love suggesting his books to any of my students because I know that they will get more out of them than just a book a...

Smith, A. (2015).  The Alex crow . NY, NY: Dutton Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) LLC. For this assignment, I had to choose a book from Andrew Smith's vast works. I was really excited, as Andrew Smith is truly one of my all time favorite authors. I wasn't sure if I wanted to reread one of my favorites: Winger ,   Stand Off , and Grasshopper Jungle . So I opted to read a book that I have had on my TBR list (to be read) since NCTE 2014 ALAN Breakfast when Andrew Smith spoke to us about this book. He was finishing up his tour on Grasshopper Jungle which was being regarded as one of the most innovative books of the time. I quickly read Grasshopper Jungle  as soon as I could get my hands on a copy. When The Alex Crow came out, it was one that I suggested to people based on the merit of being by Andrew Smith, but I had never seemed to make the time to read it. I had gotten a copy of the audio book and tried and failed many times to get into Ariel's world becau...