Every teen should read this book. A superb anthology of stories and poems by diverse authors that touches upon issues like terrorism, OCD, depression, loss, cultural appropriation and simply trying to survive being a teen in the modern world. "Marionette Girl" dives deep into the suffocating bubble that teens with severe OCD experience on a daily basis. It looks at how people without OCD can often brush it aside as "acting up" or "taking things too far" when in reality it's an all encompassing nightmare. "We, Who?" is a brilliant peek at having someone you consider a good friend suddenly post racist garbage on their Facebook page. It's startling, blunt and very real. How do you cope when you realise you don't really know someone at all? "Hackney Moon" examines teens finding out who they really are, the pressures to conform and how it feels to experience real love for the first time. There are many more stories, each like a jolt of electricity to the spine. We need more books like this, more of these stories for teens to connect with. I'm going to champion this book for a long time in the library.
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Ever wonder what your toys get up to when you go to sleep? Take that premise and blur the lines between reality and hazy dream world and you'll get the Land of Neverendings. When Emily's sister Holly dies, Emily is struck by the little things that she misses, particularly Holly's toy bear, Bluey. Emily would spend countless hours making up stories about Bluey and his adventures in the magical world of Smockeroom to make Holly happy. Now, it's all gone, as is the magic that Holly seemed to bring with her. Emily's only companion is her neighbour Ruth, who lost her son when he was a teenager. Together they share the grief that only those who have lost a close family member can understand. Then, one night, Emily experiences a vivid dream in which toys visit her in the night and tell her that not only is Smockeroom real, that Bluey is there and happy. Initially, Emily shakes it off as a simple but weird dream. But when Ruth confesses to her that she's been having the same kind of dreams, things start to get really weird. Emily & Ruth are soon thrust into a world of magic and make-believe, adventure and danger. The Land of Neverendings reads like something you catch out of the corner of your eye when you're young and sick in bed with a high fever. I mean that as a compliment, it's dreamy, odd and sad yet Emily is a feisty character that any young teen will look up to. Highly recommend this great novel! The future sound of London is an air raid siren. Lex lives on The Strip. No not the area of Las Vegas which according to everyone who goes there "has been ruined since the mob left". The Strip is what's left of London after a series of brutal wars between the government and an organisation known as The Corps. To the government, The Corps are terrorists, plain and simple. To those in The Corps, the government's 24-hour drone surveillance, lies and disorder has left them no choice but to fight back. Lex's father is a member of The Corps, and therefore a target. Their family does their best to survive in an anxious, bombed-out reality. Lex wants to do something meaningful with his life, but he doesn't know what that means yet. Alan is climbing the government ladder, he controls a surveillance drone and watches Lex's father for any suspicious activity. Alan lives with his mother, who disapproves of his career choice. Alan's plan is to make enough money to move out and never see his mother again. Although Lex and Alan never meet in person, their lives are tied together through government policy and fear and the horrible nightmare that is everyday life in The Strip. We See Everything is a tight thriller that is all-too real given the current climate in the United States and around the world. It's a book about choosing which side you're on when you don't really want to choose a side at all. It's about trying to survive the ignorance of those who hold power in our world and it's about protecting those that are important to you. I really enjoyed this novel, check it out! It's the early 1900's in the UK and women still can't vote. That's the reality that I hope teens take away from this novel right away. It's something I constantly stress in the library when I teach responsible researching skills to students using WWI as a backdrop. Speaking of research, Nicholls has done hers and in the process created a thrilling and engaging tale about a topic I've never before come across in a YA novel: the plight of the Suffragettes and women's rights in general during World War One in the UK. Seventeen year old Evelyn comes from a wealthy family but is filled with frustration at the fact that she can't go to university. Women were expected to stay at home and raise families, and although she could apply to go to Oxford, her father forbids it. Evelyn decides to join the Suffragettes and is immediately plunged into a dangerous and exciting world filled with police brutality, hunger strikes, protests and serious jail time. Fifteen year old May comes from a Quaker background, already part of the Suffragette cause, she rallies against violent protests that some parts of the movement get involved in. When May meets Nell, a girl who has known nothing but hardship her entire life, something awakens in May that she never knew was there before. Nell has always known she was different, she dressed, looked and acted unlike any of the other girls she grew up with. Her life is taking care of her siblings in their tiny flat in London. Starvation and extreme poverty is always on the horizon. With May, Nell finds a temporary release from the misery. Set against real-life events that changed the lives of women everywhere, Things a Bright Girl Can Do will anger you, bring you to tears and enlighten you to the extreme hardship brought to the UK because of the foolhardy decision to engage in a ridiculous war that nobody won. Nicholls also brings to life the effects of PTSD on soldiers that returned home and the pain, confusion and frustration felt by those left at home to pick up the pieces. I can't wait to talk about this book to teens at the library, it's an important topic that has been handled with grace, wit and a razor sharp insight into history. |
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