Listen, Slowly

Listen, Slowly
By Thanhha Lai

Thanhha Lai also wrote Inside Out & Back Again, a novel in verse (poetry) which I loved. This story Listen, Slowly is not in verse but touches on similar themes of family, adjusting to a new culture, and friendship.
The main character is Mai, a twelve-year-old Vietnamese American girl from Laguna Beach, California. Instead of hanging out at the beach with her best friend and new crush, Mai is sent to Vietnam with her grandmother to spend the whole summer in a tiny village--where she can't even communicate very well with the locals. Despite her misgivings about Vietnam, Mai makes some new friends (and rethinks her old ones) and learns some important stuff about her family's past. This novel is really funny!

Far from the Tree

Far from the Tree
By Robin Benway

Oh, this book is so good!
There are three main teenage characters in this wonderful novel, and the chapters alternate between each of their stories: Grace, Maya and Joaquin are siblings who have just discovered each other because each was given up for adoption as a baby or small child. Now they are learning what it means to be reconnected, to be family. And each is stronger because of the connection.

• Grace has already had a baby of her own--at age 16--and chosen to give her baby to loving, adoptive parents. Her own adoptive parents have given her the love and support necessary to make such a hard decision.

• Maya, also adopted into a loving and supportive family, struggles to understand her mother's alcoholism. Her little sister and her supportive girlfriend provide help and support, especially when a bad accident happens at home.

• Joaquin was never adopted. He spent his whole childhood in foster homes, some better than others...But finally he lives with foster parents who want to adopt him--he just needs to figure out if he is brave enough to accept their love.  

*This novel just won the 2017 National Book Award!

The 57 Bus

The 57 Bus 

By Dashka Slater

What an incredible, incredible book. Everyone should read this true story of two teens and a horrible incident on a bus in Oakland.

Here's the summary from the publisher:

One teenager in a skirt.
One teenager with a lighter.
One moment that changes both of their lives forever.
If it weren't for the 57 bus, Sasha and Richard never would have met. Both were high school students from Oakland, California, one of the most diverse cities in the country, but they inhabited different worlds. Sasha, a white teen, lived in the middle-class foothills and attended a small private school. Richard, a black teen, lived in the crime-plagued flatlands and attended a large public one. Each day, their paths overlapped for a mere eight minutes. But one afternoon on the bus ride home from school, a single reckless act left Sasha severely burned, and Richard charged with two hate crimes and facing life imprisonment. The case garnered international attention, thrusting both teenagers into the spotlight.

Outrun the Moon

Outrun the Moon
By Stacey Lee

Fifteen-year-old Mercy Wong will win you over with her spunky attitude, strength, sense of humor, and determination. And she will need all of that and more to survive San Francisco's 1906 earthquake; not only does Mercy face the destruction of her city and beloved Chinatown neighborhood, but she faces discrimination at being a girl AND as a Chinese American.
Against all odds, Mercy talks her way into a private, elite girls school because she's convinced it is her only ticket to becoming the businesswoman she wants to be...but the Great Quake shakes up her plans and brings many unexpected connections, along with devastation and tragedy.
I could not put this book down!

grayson

grayson

By Lynne Cox

A lovely little book! Lynne Cox recalls an incredible experience she had as a 17-year-old long-distance ocean swimmer: a baby grey whale, separated from its mom and lost, followed her around as she swam in the ocean near Long Beach, CA one morning.
The author describes the amazing ocean animals she saw and the wild experiences of that day in vivid detail, sharing the magic of the Pacific ocean with those of us who usually stay on the beach!

Counting by 7s

Counting by 7s
By Holly Goldberg Sloan

I believe this is one of my favorite books, ever.
It is hard to imagine a novel that begins with a tragedy, is all about the agonizing process of grief, and somehow also makes the reader laugh out loud.
That is what Holly Goldberg Sloan has created--a beautiful, heart-wrenching and humorous story of a genius middle school girl dealing with the worst thing that has ever happened.
The quirky, eventually-lovable characters in this book are full of spirit but have real-life flaws and problems...they work together to make the impossible happen!
I love that the setting is Bakersfield, California, too.

Shooting Kabul

Shooting Kabul 

By N.H. Senzai

Taking place around the time of the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001, middle school student Fadi faces harassment and bullying for being Muslim in his new community of Fremont, California. Along with his family, Fadi recently fled his home country of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, but his 6-year-old sister was accidentally left behind. Fadi is determined to find her by any means and cooks up some wild plans to get to Pakistan, where he thinks his little sister might be.
I loved this story, and especially the surprising and clever end..!

Little Brother

Little Brother

By Cory Doctorow

Selected for San Francisco's One City One Book project this fall, I found many copies of Little Brother at my neighborhood SFPL and decided to check it out.
Glad I did!

I love that the setting is San Francisco; I love that Marcus, the 17-year-old genius hacker protagonist, lives in Portrero Hill and goes to high school in the Mission. Even eats pizza from Goat Hill pizzeria!

But mostly I love that in this dystopian story, a bunch of smart kids are able to go up against a Department-of-Homeland-Security-gone-bad and stand up for their constitutional rights to privacy and free speech.

If you love real-life stories of hacking security systems and exposing hard-to-hear truths, you will appreciate the techno-battle Marcus fights against his own government, which claims to be protecting the citizens of San Francisco from terrorism.

Recommended for ages 13 and up.

One Crazy Summer

One Crazy Summer
by Rita Williams-Garcia

This novel is one of the Middle School book nominees for the 2014 California Young Reader Medal (along with Faith, Hope, and Ivy June by Phyllis Naylor Reynolds and Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick).
Three sisters travel across the country to Oakland, CA to meet their estranged mother who abandoned them as babies. While there, the girls learn about the Black Panthers, other aspects of the Civil Rights Movement, and their mother's mysterious past.
A beautifully told, powerful story of that very important year, 1968...I especially enjoyed reading about Oakland, with a side visit to San Francisco!

Bridge of Time

Bridge of Time
By Lewis Buzbee

This is a fun time travel story, mostly because it's set right here in San Francisco!
Middle schoolers Lee Jones and Joan Lee are best friends, and both have just heard that their parents are planning to divorce...the next morning, while on a boring school field trip to Fort Point, they are suddenly transported back in time to 1864. And who do they run into? Mark Twain (who introduces himself as Sam Clemens).
They have many crazy adventures while learning some unpleasant history lessons, especially with regard to how Chinese immigrants were first treated in San Francisco. And they travel to some other time periods in the City, too, including the future.

Every Soul a Star
By Wendy Mass

Since I just saw an annular solar eclipse over the weekend in northern California, I was particularly thrilled by this novel! It also recently won the California Young Reader Medal.
Told in alternating chapters by three 13-year-old characters--Ally, Bree, and Jack--this is the story of a total solar eclipse and the people brought together by this rare and powerful astronomical event.
The three teenagers are strangers whose lives intersect in an unusual way in the middle of the woods one summer, and each of them experiences changes which will shape them forever.

So Hard to Say

So Hard to Say
By Alex Sanchez

Like in Wendelin Van Draanen's book Flipped (see post from April 2011), this novel is told by alternating voices in each chapter:
Xio (short for María Xiomara Iris Juárez Hidalgo) is funny and super social, and has a major crush on a new boy in 8th grade...
Blue-eyed Frederick has just moved to southern California from Minnesota with his parents, and really likes Xio--as a friend...
They each tell their side of the story chapter by chapter. Xio confers with her group of friends, Las Sexy Seis, as Frederick begins to make friends with some of the soccer-players, especially Victor.
Things are going along fine until Frederick begins to wonder why he's not as attracted to Xio as she is to him--and he wonders why it feels like his crush is on Victor, instead.
Frederick finally realizes he is gay, and he secretly seeks out the school bully-victim, Iggy (who is thought to be gay) to talk to.
Alex Sanchez has written a very believable story of middle school, crushes, friends, and one boy's first awareness of being gay.

Smile

Smile
By Raina Telgemeier

From the creator of the very popular Baby-Sitters Club graphic novels, comes the author's own true dental nightmare story from her middle school years...

Poor Raina knocks out her two front teeth when she accidently falls while running to her front door. She has to endure many major trips to the dentist--and the orthodontist, endodontist, and periodontist to deal with the damage, and also to get braces! Meanwhile, middle school is happening: crushes, puberty, issues with friends, etc. I loved this graphic novel, and especially how it takes place in our own foggy, earthquake-prone San Francisco! Raina Telgemeier grew up in SF, so the book has a very familiar setting.

Operation Redwood

Operation Redwood
By S. Terrell French

After sneaking a peek at his rich and powerful Uncle Sibley's email, 12-year-old Julian realizes his uncle is planning to destroy a giant redwood tree grove as part of an investment deal.  Julian starts corresponding by email with a girl named Robin, who lives near the redwood forest.  With the help of his loyal friend Danny, Julian decides to join Robin in the struggle to save the trees.  He also wants to get away from his cruel uncle and aunt in San Francisco.  He has to sneak out of their house (his mom is away in China) and get to northern California on his own.  Will he be able to do anything to help the desperate situation?  Julian and Robin and Danny are determined to make their plan work.  But the redwoods are part of a million dollar deal...

One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street

I loved this sweet and bittersweet tale of one day on one neighborhood street in L.A., where a bunch of kids each have their own moments of happiness and sadness, and issues with growing up. The big Valencia orange tree in the empty lot--the last remaining tree from an old orange grove--unites them, and brings out courage in each person on the street. A wonderful book!

AND our library now has an audio book version of One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street, read by my dear friend up in Northern California, Lisa Baney! So come check it out.

One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street
By Joanne Rocklin

Fred Korematsu

Fred Korematsu: All American Hero
By Anupam Chander and Madhavi Sunder
Illustrated by Angelia Loi


This informative graphic novel tells the story of Fred Korematsu, who spoke up and fought for justice for his Japanese American community despite great challenges. During WWII, Fred and his family and 120,000 other Japanese Americans living on the West coast were forced to live in internment camps for no reason but that they were of Japanese ancestry. Fred Korematsu took his case to the Supreme Court--twice--before the U.S. officially apologized to him, and to the entire Japanese American community. He continued to fight for justice for all people in the United States until his death at age 86, in 2005.
The story also mentions similar unfair treatment of Muslims after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001.

  

California now commemorates this impressive civil rights activist each January 30th (this began in 2011) with Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberaties and the Constitution.

Al Capone Does My Shirts

Al Capone Does My Shirts
By Gennifer Choldenko

It's 1935 and Moose Flanagan (age 12) has just moved to...Alcatraz.  His dad is the new electrician for the prison, and Moose and his family have to adjust to life on an island with folks like Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, and Roy Gardner--all notorious criminals.  Moose finds himself caught up in a money-making scheme with the warden's daughter (!), while he tries to care for his sister, who has severe autism.
Great story!  Fun to read about Alcatraz, and what it would be like to live there...
There's a sequel, too, if you like this one:  Al Capone Shines my Shoes.

The Harvey Milk Story

The Harvey Milk Story
By Kari Krakow
Illustrated by David Gardner

The inspiring story of our country's first openly gay elected city official, right here in San Francisco.  Everyone should know this story.  Every kid and adult should read this book.
(ISBN: 0-9674468-3-x-51795)

Kindred

Kindred
By Octavia E. Butler

This sci-fi novel is a chilling tale of a modern African American woman newly married in California who is transported back in time--unwillingly--to the South, where she is suddenly plunged into a life of slavery.  The white plantation owner's young son somehow calls out to Dana through time during times of danger, and she learns it is her job to protect him because he is one of her ancestors.  Her life is more and more threatened, however, and it is unclear whether she can survive the experience...
(ISBN: 0-8070-8369-0)

Parrot in the Oven

Parrot in the Oven;  Mi Vida
By Victor Martinez

For Manny Hernandez, life is no walk in the park.  He lives in the projects with his family, including his unemployed, often drunk dad.  His bitter but resigned mom spends all of her time cleaning their apartment, his older brother loafs around drinking and not holding jobs.  Manny also has two sisters--a toddler who he accidentally almost shoots with his dad's rifle, and an older sister who gets pregnant but loses her baby in their bathroom.
Somehow Manny's family sticks it out and sticks together, despite hard times.  Manny is beginning to learn about racism in his small town, growing up in a mixed-race community in the 1950's.  He tries to find friends but struggles with self-confidence and fitting in.  He loves his family and tries to understand the battles he witnesses between his mom and dad, and between his mom and older sister.  And Manny sometimes gets bullied, even though his brother is tough and protective. 
Desperate to meet girls and fit in, Manny decides to join a gang in a neighboring community and go through their initiation rites--getting beat up by the other gang members.  Then he must face decisions about breaking the law to keep his new "friends".   Ultimately Manny has to figure out if that's the kind of life or friends he really wants to have. 
Victor Martinez, the author, grew up in Fresno but until recently lived in the Mission District in San Francisco.  He died earlier this year.  His novel about a Chicano boy's coming-of-age is a serious but sometimes funny fictional account of his own life experience.
(ISBN:  0-06-026704-6)