Bazan Librarians Review...

This is an old time favorite young adult novel.  I read this a long time ago when it came out and instantly fell in love with the story.  I hadn't read a novel so unique for teens.  Every Day is about a being that wakes up as a different person each day since it can remember. The story is told through A, the teenager who's soul, for lack of better phrasing, inhabits different bodies every day. A has gotten accustomed to this lifestyle.  Over the years, A realizes that it is best to wake up as that being and live a life that does not interfere with that person's life. Things change on the morning he wakes up as a teenage boy named Justin.  He follows a typical morning Justin would have normally followed and instantly falls hard for Justin's girlfriend Rhiannon. The first chapter sets the stage for what to expect having your main character hop from body to body.  The rules are set and the reader is ready to embrace the rest. The book follows A desperate...

The Giver is a children's dystopian novel that tells the story of Jonas, an eleven year old who is soon turning twelve and given his life assignment that will shape his adult life.  Jonas lives in a controlled community with his father, mother, and sister.  He looks forward towards attending the ceremony of twelve, where all twelve year olds are no longer considered children and are on track to becoming adults.  This community controls the placement of professions, population, climate control, meals, and anything that could potentially lead to individuality.  Jonas is inquisitive, compassionate, and has a better understanding of love than anyone in the community.  This is clear later in the novel when he meets and cares for Gabriel. Jonas is selected to be the next Receiver of Memory.  The Chief of Elders lets Jonas know that it is very rare to be selected since there is only one Receiver, who will now train Jonas as his successor.  The Chief of El...

I remember ordering this book for my library shelves last year when it was released.  My coworker had suggested for me to read it because it's about gaming and I love video games.  I finally downloaded it as an ebook and e-audiobook.  E-audiobook to listen while I work or work around the house and ebook to read before going to bed. I really enjoyed listening to the e-audiobook.  The voice actors where perfect for each character. And it is great to hear Kiera, Claire, and a couple of auxiliary character's voices read their respective passages. The book is mainly told through Kiera who is an honors student at Jefferson Academy.  She is one of only a handful of black students at her school who is dating Malcolm, another black student who does not want to fall into black stereotypes.  This is not a love story even though Kiera has a boyfriend.  This is a story about identity, friendship, escapism, and gaming. The story quickly turns into suspense w...

A couple of friends had recommended reading this book so I picked it up last week and finished reading it on Friday.  Don't let my time spent reading the book fool you.  This is a novel written in verse and readers can easily finish reading in a day! This book hit a little too close to home.  Our main character, Xiomara, who goes by the alias X, faces a real challenge which most teenagers experience, and that is communication.  Sure, any one who reads this story will list many others that Xiomara undergoes but none is greater than family communication.  As the reader becomes invested in Xiomara, the reader realizes that while X lives in a compact apartment unit being able to eavesdrop on her parent's conversations through the apartment's thin walls, and watching her family routinely watch tv, pray, or text, we begin to notice that Xiomara does not know her family as well as she believes, and vice versa. What made me fall in love with her characte...

One of my favorite young adult novels is Thanks for the Trouble by Tommy Wallach.  I came across this book when I was working at McCreless Library Branch a few years back.   I remembered receiving the book and shelving it in the New Book shelf, away from my Young Adult section.  I was in need of wanting a young adult romance and found it.   I read the back summary of the book and decided to take it home to read.  It sat on my coffee table that week until I picked up for reading that Friday afternoon. The book tells the story of a teenage boy named Parker Sante who experienced a traumatic car accident resulting in his father's death, and the spawn of his new form of communication...silence. After the accident, Parker spends most of his time downtown San Francisco in the Palace Hotel, where he people watches and picks pockets.  The story starts with Parker introducing himself (writing about himself) and letting the reader know that he will share th...

With all of this extra time that I have spending at home, I put on Dumplin', a Netflix original movie and a movie adaptation of the book Dumplin' authored by Julie Murphy.  The story is about a teenage girl who was raised by her Dolly Parton loving aunt Lucy in the fictional town of Clover City, TX.   Willowdean Dixon, aka Dumplin', is a big girl in high school who is self conscious of her image.  She is seen made fun of and tries to play it off by making fun of slimmer girls and pageant participants. Will becomes troubled when her mother, Rosie, played by Jennifer Anniston needs to make room for her beauty pageant ongoings.  Rosie is not only the pageant president, but she is the seamstress for the young girls participating.  The room in which Rosie plans to use is aunt Lucy's old room.  Will refuses to get rid of her deceased aunt's belongings and takes them into her room instead.  During this time of grieving, Will decides to make a stance...

I chose to read Long Way Down from Jason Reynolds because it had been on my to-read shelf for a long time. I had picked up the book in the past to get a glance of the text, since I've heard that the book was written in verse. Right now I have more than enough of time to read what's been on my to-read list, and I tackled this book today. The book tells the story of a fifteen year old, African American boy named Will who is troubled by seeking revenge on the person who murdered his brother. Will has been taught by his deceased brother, friends, and family that there are three rules in life: No crying, No snitching, and no matter what, seek revenge. Will takes the elevator at his apartment from the 7th floor down to the lobby, only to be greeted by six people who question his intent, while providing some wisdom. The novel takes place in less than 24 hours, and most of the novel is set in a one minute time frame! A lot goes on in just one minute. Brief stories that t...

I chose to read this novel because it is set in San Antonio, TX, and it chronicles the life of Lorenzo, a 12 year old attending Tafolla Middle School.  To give you some perspective, Tafolla MS is less than a five minute drive from Bazan Library Branch.  This is a school that I frequent throughout the year for outreach. The book quickly captured my attention after reading the introduction.  It describes fear while walking home, describing streets and interstate highways that quickly set the stage in west side San Antonio.  The author lets the reader know that we will be reading his story as a middle schooler, while ending each chapter with the present day author writing to his younger self. The story presents fear, anxiety, and nervousness entering new territory, middle school.  Young Lencho enters a world that is unfamiliar and quickly learns to adapt new rituals to stay clear of trouble.  Gang fights, hazing, violence, and uncomfortableness bo...