Bat 6-- Virginia Euwer Wolff

This great little book was the young adult selection for a reading campaign to celebrate Oregon's 150th anniversary of statehood. Wolff is a celebrated Oregon author, and I actually liked her book much more than the culturally stereotyping adult selection.

The story is told from the perspectives of 21 different girls who make up the rival softball teams of two little towns in Oregon. It's 1949. The adults are still talking about the hardships of war. One of the players, Aki, has just returned with her family from an internment camp. Another player, Shazam, is also recovering from postwar trauma, but it takes the whole course of the book to unravel that. When the game ends in tragedy, everyone wonders why, or what they could have done to stop it.

The girls' distinct narrative voices and the piecemeal storytelling make for good reading. I loved the dynamics between them-- their polite disbelief in encounters with Shazam, their regard for one another, their shock and tendency to blame themselves for what transpires. I also appreciated that the book didn't offer any easy answers, and that the community at large also had to acknowledge their role in what happened.

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian-- Sherman Alexie

I have yet to encounter a novel with a teenage male protagonist that brimmed with affection like this book. Arnold Spirit ("Junior") is adamant in his love for his flawed but adoring parents, revered grandmother, tough sister, and always-angry best friend Rowdy. Later, Junior proclaims love for his classmates-turned-friends, his teammates and his coach. Junior's outlet is cartooning, but his tender pencil sketches reflect caring observation.

Junior is suspended after his first day at Wellpinit High School, when he throws a 30 year-old textbook at his math teacher. Recognizing Junior's rage, his teacher tells him to leave the reservation. Junior, a freakish and picked-on kid, does the unthinkable in enrolling at Reardon High School-- 22 miles away, off the rez. Junior suffers ridicule from community members and classmates alike, but eventually discover supporters and a sense of self-worth.

The illustrations-- sketches and cartoons-- are sometimes sweet, sometimes caricatures, and sometimes dark. The writing is accessible and the themes are plain: rez life is rough, family and friends are important, determination is key. Alexie also does some editorializing about reservations and alcoholism. Things become sad to the point of absurdity-- it feels wrong to say that, but I don't know how one could portray a sequence of senseless deaths more artfully. That said, the more dramatic moments tend to fall flat; I think the best material is in Junior's relationships with his father and Rowdy.

In reviews, teachers fretted about how to use this book in the classroom with the stereotypes of drunk Indians and frank sex talk, but censoring Alexie would be pointless. If anything, I felt that this semi-autobiographical work lacked the poignancy of his more autobiographical work for adults. Diary is good for late reluctant readers, but I would recommend Alexie's truly incredible The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven as a better alternative for high schoolers.

The Skin I'm In-- Sharon G. Flake

Friends, it has been so great to get your recommendations! I have a whole new stack of books from the library and I am very excited to dig in. The wonderful L passed on this recommendation to me from some kids she works with (thanks L... and kids!).

There are certain books that every teen seems to have read, like the Twilight and Hunger Games series. After I read a book, I look it up on online to add the cover design to the blog and check out reader ratings. I am ashamed to say I had never heard of Sharon Flake, but there was unequivocal praise for The Skin I'm In, and almost all of it from young readers themselves. Why is there not a reading campaign for this book?!

The Skin I'm In speaks deeply to those adolescent fears of standing out, not being accepted. Maleeka, the protagonist, is so easy to identify with. I am sad to say that I think this book hasn't gone mainstream on account of race issues-- Maleeka is harassed by her classmates on account of the deep blackness of her skin, a point of self-consciousness that might not resonate with some readers. The book's themes, however, are universal. Maleeka sees herself as ugly, ill-dressed in her homemade clothes, pushed around by her "friends" and put down by her classmates. In Maleeka's journey towards self-acceptance, the book shines a light on what teasing is really about: envy and control. Meanwhile, Maleeka grows to recognize her own potential, stand up for herself, and see who her true friends are.

The themes in this book were so powerful, it only occurred to be later that this would be great for reluctant readers. A strong recommendation for all the middle-reading girls in your life-- at that age, everyone can use a little push.

Da Word-- Lee Tonouchi

“Who can tell the class what is wrong with Barry’s writing?”

“Oh Barry, he da kine. He stay abundantly writing in one freestyle kine manner using, I mean utilizing, large quantities of neologisms, ah?” Mits attempted trying fo’ incorporate as many of da new coconut-kine vocabulary words as he could remembah into dat one response.

“The problem is that both Barry AND Mits use too many colloquialisms,” Laurie volunteered, dis time without raising her hand.

“Try like, dat not wot I sed?” Mits whispered into my ear.

I want to call Lee Tonouchi an author, but he’s more than that. Tonouchi is also a language advocate, a promoter of the literary power of Hawai’ian Pidgin (aka Hybolics). When I prepared to read his collection of short stories, Da Word, I was a little concerned that the writing would feel gimmicky. Tonouchi’s common usage of Pidgin in mainstream and academic outlets—graduate school papers (including his Masters thesis); book reviews, letters to the editor, features, and columns; his resume (and interview) for the Ford “Emerging Pacific American Leaders in the Arts Convening”— is not without cultural statement. He calls himself “Da Pidgin Guerrilla,” not shrinking from his role as a linguistic and cultural activist. That said, I needn’t have feared Da Word— Tonouchi is a master of narrative voice.

There are many deep, conceptual things at work in Da Word, both linguistic and literary, and one could easily go there in a classroom setting. On the other hand, the stories are just plain entertaining and, for the most part, humorous.* I could see it being very relatable for young male readers. Beyond the language itself, Da Word is full of observations about Hawai’ian culture and the islands' relationship with Mainland. Overall, very insightful and broadening, but also a lot of fun.

*There is one story in particular (“Black Leather Hot”) with mature content—not graphic, but troubling. For this reason, I recommend Da Word for 8th grade and up.