July/August 2002

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

A Top Ten for Teens

Phoebe Wells is a homeschooling mother of three who lives in Cambridge, MA.

I recently went book shopping for my 15-year-old's birthday and was pleasantly surprised by the number of books now available for teens that veer very far from the dating/sports/thriller/sci-fi genres I usually associate with typical fiction for young adults. I was happy to find novels featuring young main characters facing challenges such as political oppression, racism, sexism, and immigration with courage, intelligence, and resourcefulness. These are riveting novels with no medicinal aftertaste!

The following is my highly subjective list of young adult novels (with a couple non-fiction titles snuck in) published over the past few years which demonstrate both conscience and a respect for teen readers. I greatly enjoyed both reading them myself and sharing them with my son and his friends.

Any independent bookstore with a strong children's department will stock these titles. In the Boston area I've found that the Children's Bookshop in Brookline Village has the best selection. If your local booksellers don't carry these books tell them to get with it!

For anyone looking for more good choices, and there are many, I strongly recommend both the Horn Book Magazine, which features reviews of the best books for children and articles addressing issues in children's literature, and the Horn Book Guide, which rates and reviews all children's books published in the US. Your local children's librarian should have copies of both to share. If not, tell her to subscribe!

In The Circuit (University of New Mexico Press, 1997), author Francisco Jimenez tells of his family's move from Mexico to California where they were migrant farm workers in the '50s. Beautifully written, Jimenez's stories tell of his family's strength despite deplorable living conditions and arduous work and of his determined struggle to learn all that he could from the few months of school he was able to attend each year. Jimenez continues his moving story of deportation and legal return to the US for his teen years in Breaking Through.

Slap Your Sides (HarperCollins, 2001) by M.E. Kerr is about a Quaker family in a small town in Pennsylvania in 1942. The Shoemakers have already been enduring the snubs and bigotry of their neighbors, but when Bud, the oldest, leaves for Civilian Public Service camp as a 4E conscientious objector, someone begins painting, "your son is a slacker" and more on the family's storefront, Tom and Jubal, the younger brothers, question their own convictions in the face of this, their Quaker friends registering as 1AO non-combatants rather than 4Es, and their aunt's accusations that they don't care about the Jews. This book raises many issues, and the way Kerr addresses them will definitely spark discussion.

Taste of Salt (Harper Trophy, 1992) by Frances Temple is a powerful book of two teens' experience in Haiti. Djo was working as one of the Aristide's bodyguards when he was severely injured in a fire bomb. As he recovers in the hospital he tells Jeremie about his life. In turn Jeremie tells of her politicization, including going with her aunt to the "secondhand elections" where they were fired on by the Macoutes. This book is intensely moving without overwhelming the ultimate message of the importance of hope when working against oppression.

In Hope Was Here (Putnam, 2000) author Jean Bauer combines the art of waitressing, corporate-political corruption, an underdog mayoral candidate with leukemia, fabulous diner food, and a 16-year-old girl carving out her own identity to make a hilarious book of citizens cleaning up their small town's politics. Hope, the teen main character, is a very strong young woman with a unique voice. Bauer's other books are less political than Hope Was Here, but all feature admirable teens, good for all and possibly the funniest voice in young adult literature.

In Witness (Scholastic, 2001) by Karen Hesse, residents of a small town in Vermont in 1924 tell in turn of the Ku Klux Klan's attempts to poison an African-American family and shoot a Jewish family. Each voice is distinct, ranging from 6-year-old Ester to the 66-year-old town constable. As the story progresses, Hesse gives insight into reasons why people would join, turn a blind eye to, and ultimately reject the Klan, and also what motivates people to take a stand against the Klan. As in her previous book, Out of the Dust, about a family living in the Oklahoma Dustbowl in the '30s, Hesse writes in the first person in free verse, making a very memorable novel.

If You Come Softly (Putnam, 1998) by Jacqueline Woodson is an interracial love story. Jeremiah is an African-American from Brooklyn who meets white, Jewish Ellie on one of his first days at an elite prep school in New York City. They feel so perfect together that both are surprised at the reactions of their families and the world around them. This is as tender a first love story as you'll ever read, but it ends tragically as racism suddenly shatters their lives. A very sweet, sad story for those of us who like that sort of thing.

Red Scarf Girl (Harper Collins, 1997) by Ji-Li Jiang is subtitled, "A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution," so it is actually non-fiction but flows like a novel. Ji-LI was twelve in 1966 and eagerly hoping to join the Red Successors when her family came under fire for their class status (her grandfather, dead 30 years, had been a

landlord). Ji-Li's loyalties split, forcing her to choose between Chairman Mao and her family, which was publicly humiliated and punished. Though tempted, Ji-Li could not bring herself to denounce her family. Ji-Li's is a vivid personal account of her coming of age, brainwashing, and disillusionment during the Cultural Revolution.

A Step From Heaven (Front Street, 2001) by An Na tells the story of Young Ju and her family's emigration from Korea to California where they hope to become wealthy. As her parents struggle financially, Young Ju struggles to assimilate in school without enraging her father by becoming "too American." Eventually the family cracks under the strain, and it's Young Ju who finds the courage to dial 911 to stop her father's alcohol-fueled abuse. Freed from that suffering, Young Ju, her mother and younger brother pull together to integrate their Korean and American identities.

Bat 6 (Scholastic, 1998) by Virginia Euwer Wolff, is the name of the annual girls softball game played by the sixth grade classes of neighboring towns. The year is 1949, and each team has a new member. Bear Creek Ridge has Japanese-American Aki who has just moved back from an internment camp. Barlow Road has Shazam, an odd girl from Hawaii where her father was killed in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Because Shazam is such a good ball player her teammates ignore her strange behavior and disturbing statements about "Japs." Told in alternating voices of the team members, the story chronicles both the missed warning signs before Shazam's attack on Aki during the Bat 6 game and the girls' efforts to create peace afterward.

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