#25 Perfectly Normal

Harris, R. H., & Emberley, M. (2004). It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health. MA: Candlewick Press.

This well written and illustrated book is about bodily changes that happens to young preteens. This book ultimately tells young preteens what to expect when you hit puberty and how young teens shouldn't feel weird about their bodily changes. The illustrations are very graphic and somewhat shocking, and I can understand why this book and the other books are banned. I read an article about how this book is banned because of its straight forward content and images, but should students be denied the access to an educational book that may answer some of their questions? Regardless of the questionable content this book would benefit those young preteens who want to know things without asking an adult due to embarrassment. 

This book can be quite overwhelming with it real life content and I don't want to seem like a prude, but the illustrations are too much. I believe that this book shouldn't be banned from any library, but students need to be conscience of the information and illustration to be used in an investigating way and not for comic relief. This book reminds me of another story Gabi: a girl in pieces when the character Gabi gets a similar book from her mother, but Gabi's book never explained the painful cramps one gets from their menstruation. I think this is an education book that really could benefit those young preteens who want some answers to their bodily changes. 

#24 The Absolute Truth of a Part Time Indian

Alexie, S., & Forney, E. (2015). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. London: Andersen Press.

This delightful, enduring story is about a fourteen year old boy, Junior, who was diagnosis with hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and suffers many physical ailments because of it. Not only that but Junior is severely bullied as well. While living on the reservation, Junior sometimes has to wait to get his medical issues fixed; such as, getting his ten extra teeth pulled in one session. Now that's painful! Junior's family is dirt poor and it makes it difficult to get what they need, and to top it off Junior loses his dog, Oscar, because the family can't afford the veterinarian trip. Through all the obstacles Junior begins to achieve some success and continues to overcome his shortcomings by getting off the Rez and attending an all white school to better himself academically.  Though many on the Rez believe that Junior is a traitor those that know him and those who begin to know him understand why he must make this drastic move.

I enjoyed reading this story for all the challenges and experiences that Junior (the author) went through. This is such a heart felt story that made me cry so many times with the countless death that this boy had to go through, and losing his friend, Rowdy, for a time until the end. This story made me think of Gabi: a girl in pieces and her family's issues; like her father's drug addiction is similar to Junior's dads drinking. I believe young preteens and older would enjoy this touching book and really learn from Junior to never give up on what you're fighting for. Prepare the Kleenex for the strong emotions.  

#23 Stick

                                    Smith, A. (2015). Stick. New York, NY: Square Fish.

This gut wrenching story is about a teenage boy, Stark McClellan, who's called Stick because tall and stick thin. He gets bullied a lot because he thinks he's deformed since he was born with one ear, but his older brother brother Bosten is there to defend Stick when he gets picked on. Unfortunately, the brothers can't defend each other when it comes to their abusive parents and their punishments. Though no matter what happens with their parents both Stick and Bosten continue to live everyday to the fullest. Along with living to the fullest, Stick is starting to notice that he is interested in girls and being with a girl, but he's socially awkward when it comes to talking with girls. Thankfully his friend Emily is there to help him out with some of the awkwardness which leads Stick to loving her more and more. Of course, Stick isn't the only one who seems to be in a relationship but Bosten is in love with his best friend Paul, and when his dad learns about this relationship he beats Bosten badly. The next day, Bosten is gone and Stick must decides to journey all the way to California to find his brother.

Stick is written so well and the characters feel so real. Some might consider this book to be realistic fiction because it could have possibly have taken place. It made me really hate Stick's parents for their harsh treatment of their boys and the fact that the father could have sexually harmed Bosten really made me feel sick with rage. I can not imagine what some kids who have lived in this situation have gone through, and perhaps young teenagers may like this book due to the content. Of course, I would be prepared with tissue in case you tear up a little.   

#22 Paper Girls 2017 Great Graphic Novels for Teens

          Vaughan, B. K., & Chiang, C. (2016). Paper Girls(Vol. 1). Berkeley, CA: Image Comics, Inc.

This 1980s colorful-inventive graphic novel is about four newspaper delivery girls who uncover something strange. The story starts with one character, Erin, is having a nightmare about her sister dying and when she wakes up she realizes her sister is alive and annoyed with being woken up. While being up and about Erin notices the newspaper van is there to drop off the papers for the day (November 1st) to be delivered. Erin heads out on her route and runs into a few jerks and is helped out by the original delivery girls that started the business. Erin teams up with Mac, Tiffany, and KJ to deliver the papers and avoid the Halloween crazies, and when Tiffany gets jumped by some unusual suspects it leads them to a strange contraption that takes them into a time warp. They find out that the people around them are disappearing as well as technology.

I found this graphic novel entertaining and somewhat straightforward when it came to language use. I admit this would be good for young adult due to its language use and even depicted action. Reading this story reminded me of my students graphic novels that they read for accelerated reading, and the color really captured my interest from the very beginning. I'm thinking about reading the other volumes to see how the story ends.  

#21 New York's Best Seller: Lord of Shadows

               Clare, C. (2017). Lord of Shadows(Dark Artifices). London: Simon & Schuster.

This magical adventure is about the Blackthorn family and Emma Carstairs overcoming the obstacles that have the Los Angeles Institute on the verge of being taken over by the Centaurians who want one of their own to head the institute and remove Arthur Blackthorn as the head. Not only do they have the Centaurians to worry about but Malcolm Fade the once high warlock of L.A. has back from the dead demanding for Blackthorn blood. All the young Blackthorn and Kit Herondale must escape to the London Institute to avoid losing their life for Malcolm's demand. While Julian Blackthorn and Emma travel to another place to search through Malcolm's things to find a way to locate the resurrected Annabel and the Black Book before they Council meeting to decide the fate of the L.A. institute. Not only is their home on the line but Julian and Emma must also fight the terrible parabatai curse that could destroy not only them but the one's that they love too. Love shouldn't hurt this much and destroy everything in its path, but that's how Julian and Emma feel, but they don't have the time to dwell because the Unseelie King of the fairies wants to declare the war on the Shadowhunters. What could happen next?

Oh, my gosh!! I've read the first book in the series and the second book didn't disappoint either. Since reading City of Bones I've always loved this world and the characters because everything seems magical and believable. All the characters that Cassandra Clare created really made me fall in love with each one, and I just want to cheer for each one's accomplishments. Julian and Emma are thrilling characters and their struggles are so heart-wrenching that made me tear up at times. Of course, the last part of the story was a total plot twist and I hate being left with such a big cliffhanger, and if you do read this book be prepare to cry at the end. I can't wait for the next book. *Sigh*

#20 Blood Roses

                                Block, F. L. (2009). Blood Roses. New York, NY: HarperTeen.

This enticing book consist of nine tales with unbelievable things that could never happen in real life. Most of these tales consist of teenagers who fall into some sort of transformation that changes them seemingly through some sort of magic. One particular story is about a girl, Sasha, who would be considered popular and beautiful, but she's becoming alarmingly thin. Her friends suspect she's bulimic but what her friends don't know is that her mom is a vampire that takes her blood to feed on. Sasha doesn't hate her mother and she knows that she can't go on like this forever. She eventually leaves home and became the head of a needle exchange program that was inspired by her mother when she would draw blood from her. In another tale, there is a girl, Elodie Sweet, who is in love with a tattooed guy, Darby, and she knows that he wont want to be with her. While she pines for him she begins to find strange tattoos appearing on her body; such as, a red rose with Darby's name on one of the petals. She thinks she's going crazy and finally goes to see Darby for his help, and its not the help she expected to get but the tattoos start to disappear slowly to the point where she no longer see's Darby's name.

I must admit when I read this book I had to reread a few tales over again in order to understand what was happening to some of the characters. It seemed that each tale had a young teenager who went through some sort of transformation that either consisted of growing into a giant or find a man on the road that might have been an angel considering the scars on his back. Throughout the numerous tales you begin to notice that the character not only going through something magical, but they grow emotionally confident after their mini life lessons.  

#19 Persepolis

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

This is a creative graphic novel that depicts the life of Marjane Satrapi in the country of Iran. A young Marjane is raised with parents who are Marxists activist always fighting for the rights of the people. She has witnessed the overthrown of Shah's regime,  the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and has even witnessed the devastating effects of the Iraq war. At the beginning of the story, Marjane believed she would be a prophet because she felt that she could make a difference in the way people act and think. Later Marjane became invested in the activist lifestyle and would listen to her parents and family members about all the issues Iran is facing. Her father explained to Marjane that Iran was built on a social class system and depending on your socioeconomic class you're in good standing or not. Marjane knows that life is only getting more difficult following the new laws and rules and her parents end up sending her off to another country in order to keep her safe from the Iraq destruction or worse.

I enjoyed the historic viewpoints that Marjane Satrapi had to offer in her graphic novel. This was a creative way to show her memoir in a comic strip and to see the different reigns of power try to control the Iranians. I believe that students who are studying world history may understand what Marjane may have gone through and they might want to find out what happened to her when she traveled to Austria.