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Ten for ’10: Best Books for Youth on Social Justice and
Intercultural Understanding
By lynmiller-lachmann on 2010-12-12 21:33:19
Many “top ten” book lists have appeared in the past month, and there will be more after the first of the year. Some of my
favorite reads of the year have turned up on these lists, but many excellent books for young readers seem to have been
passed over, particularly those published by small presses. In genres dominated by paranormal romance, and with
economically beleaguered publishers going with what’s established and safe, stories about young people from diverse
backgrounds or stories that raise uncomfortable issues don’t usually get the attention they deserve. So for all the librarians,
teachers, parents, and young readers themselves, here are some great books that you might have missed. A * denotes a book
published by a smaller or alternative press with a focus on diversity and/or peace.
From North fo Souli,
_ * Colato-Lainez, René. From North to South/Del norte al sur. Mlus. by Joe
Cepeda. Bilingual (English- Spanish). Children’s Book Press. Ages 4 and up. José lives with his single father in California
because his mother has been deported to Mexico for not having papers. The author is a kindergarten teacher in Los Angeles
and an award winning author whose journey on foot with his father from war-torn El Salvador in the 1980s is the inspiration
of another outstanding 2010 book, My Shoes and I (Boyds Mills). In From North to South, José and his father travel to
Tijuana, where his mother is living in a shelter until her legal documentation comes through and she can rejoin the family. In
an age appropriate and ultimately hopeful way, the author depicts the pain and struggles of immigrant families broken up
due to U.S. immigration policy. * Elliott, Zetta. A Wish After Midnight. Amazon Encore. Ages 12 and up. Elliott , the author
of the picture book Bird (Lee & Low, 2008) originally self-published her debut young adult novel, but its great reviews led
Amazon Encore to republish it as part of a new imprint of notable self-published titles and winners of the Amazon
Breakthrough contest. Growing up in a dysfunctional family in a poor Brooklyn neighborhood, African-American honor
student Genna wishes she could be anywhere else—until she gets her wish and is transported to Brooklyn as a suspected
the Last Days of a Southside Shorty
oy G. Meri + cused or Randy DUBLrKE
fugitive slave during the 1863 Draft Riots. * Neri, G. Yummy: The Last Days
of a Southside Shorty. lus. by Randy DuBurke. Lee & Low. Ages 9 and up. Neri’s graphic novel explores the life and
death of 11-year-old Robert “Yummy” Sandifer through the eyes of a fictional neighbor and classmate in inner city Chicago.
In 1994 Yummy killed a 14-year-old girl in order to impress members of a gang he wanted to join, but the senselessness of
the murder and its surrounding publicity led his death at the hands of other gang members. The narrator, Roger, talks about
how he knew Yummy, Yummy’s troubled life, and his own older brother’s membership in the gang. Readers may draw
parallels between the lives of young gang members in the United States and the lives of child soldiers in places like
Burma/Myanmar and Liberia. Perkins, Mitali. Bamboo People. Charlesbridge. Ages 11 and up. Forced into the Burmese
army, 15-year-old Chiko steps on a landmine and is brought to a Karenni refugee camp on the border with Thailand by a
fellow child soldier, Tu Reh. These mortal enemies come to discover what they have in common, including their opposition
to one of the world’s most notorious dictatorships today. Read a full review of Bamboo People and an interview with Mitali
Perkins. Resau, Laura. Star in the Forest. Delacorte. Ages 8 and up. Like the award-winning 2009 title Return to Sender by
Julia Alvarez (Dial), this novel depicts a child of undocumented immigrants whose parent—in this case, her father—has
been deported and, while trying to return, has been kidnapped for ransom. Sixth grader Zitlally takes comfort in her father’s
stories from his indigenous Nahuatl heritage, in her friendship with her Anglo classmate Crystal, who lives next door in their
trailer park, and in the dog she finds and names Star, whose fate seems to parallel that of her father’s. Rhodes, Jewell Parker.
NINTH WARD
well Parker Rho
Ninth Ward. Little, Brown. Ages 9 and up. Lanesha, who has
just turned 12, lives in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans with the midwife and seer Mama Ya-Ya, who has taken care
of her ever since Lanesha’s mother died in childbirth. In the week before Hurricane Katrina, Lanesha—who has always been
seen as an outcast because of her connection to the spirit world—makes a new friend and hears Mama Ya-Ya’s prophecy of a
great darkness following the storm. Rhodes, an award-winning author of books for adult readers, brilliantly captures the
setting and the experiences of children trapped in the aftermath of the hurricane. Rhuday-Perkovich, Olugbemisola. 8th
Grade Superzero. Scholastic. Age 10 and up. One of the books I highlighted in a previous post on young activists, this debut
novel portrays eighth grader Reggie “Pukey” McKnight, who gets another chance to show his talents when he volunteers at
a homeless shelter in his Brooklyn neighborhood. Rhuday-Perkovich explores Reggie’s questions about faith and his larger
purpose in life as he sees his Jamaican-American father grow bitter after weeks of unemployment and his best friend—the
illustrator of his superhero comic book—develop new interests and drift away. * Shea, Pegi Deitz. Abe in Arms. PM
Press/Reach and Teach. Ages 14 and up. The first young adult novel by this progressive small press portrays high school
senior Abe Elders, rescued at age 13 from a Liberian refugee camp after two years as a child soldier. Despite having
undergone counseling, Abe’s flashbacks grow increasingly vivid and violent as he struggles to understand the unspeakable
acts he committed under duress and under the influence of drugs while serving his brutal commander. Read my longer
review of Abe in Arms as well as my suggestion of this and Bamboo People for reading along with the popular Hunger
Games trilogy. Stratton, Allan. Borderline. HarperCollins. Ages 12 and up. Sami Sabiri, an Iranian-American teen living in
suburban Rochester, resents his strict father for sending him to a private school and separating him from his fun-loving
friends, as well as for never being there for him because of work and conferences. When Sami’s father backs out of a
weekend in Toronto, Sami thinks his dad is harboring a secret. When the FBI breaks into their home and arrests his father,
Sami embarks on a perilous journey with his wild friends to discover the truth and to clear his father’s name. A longer
Rita Williams-Garcta
review of Borderline will appear next weekend. illiams-Garcia, Rita. One Crazy Summer.
HarperCollins. Ages 9 and up. A finalist for the National Book Award, One Crazy Summer is the story of three African-
American sisters from Brooklyn who travel to Oakland, California in the summer of 1968 to visit their estranged mother, a
poet involved with the Black Panthers. While the author offers a nuanced portrait of the Panthers, the novel’s focus is on the
relationships among the sisters, ages 11, 9, and 7—whose dialogue reads like call-and-response poetry—and between them
and a mother whose own troubled childhood has made it impossible for her to care for her children.
