The Lions of Little Rock

The Lions of Little Rock

by Kristin Levine

Two girls separated by race form an unbreakable bond during the tumultuous integration of Little Rock schools in 1958.

Twelve-year-old Marlee doesn't have many friends until she meets Liz, the new girl at school. Liz is bold and brave, and always knows the right thing to say, especially to Sally, the resident mean girl. Liz even helps Marlee overcome her greatest fear - speaking, which Marlee never does outside her family.

But then Liz is gone, replaced by the rumor that she was a Negro girl passing as white. But Marlee decides that doesn't matter. Liz is her best friend. And to stay friends, Marlee and Liz are willing to take on integration and the dangers their friendship could bring to both their families. (description from Amazon.com)

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This was a book I would never have picked up on my own, but boy am I glad that I read it! This book talks about the time after the integration of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. I had no idea that the year after "The Little Rock Nine" faced such a hardship attending school that the town's government decided to actually close some of the schools so that they would not have to deal with the integration issue. It seems to be a part of that story that has hardly been told...

Levine tackles the story in an indirect and captivating way. The main character, Marlee, has an older sister that was attending the high school, but now is only offered correspondance courses for school since they shut hers down.  Marlee goes to the middle school, which is still open, but has to deal with issues of her own.  She is a shy, shy girl who hardly even speaks in school and it's not until she meets Liz that she learns to come out of her shell.

The problems?  Well, it turns out that Liz is African-American, but her skin is so light that she was "passing" as white so that she could attend Marlee's school. When the truth comes out, Liz is expelled from the school and even worse, her family is threatened because they were "trying to be above their station."  One of the boys that had tormented Marlee has an older brother that is making life both miserable and unsafe for the girls now.  All Marlee wants to do is find a way to keep her best friend, but she's not sure how on earth she'll be able to do that! 

This book touched my heart.  It made me cry and it made me want to learn more about this time in Little Rock's history.  It is a book definitely worth reading!

Slant

Slant
by Laura E. Williams

Thirteen-year-old Lauren, a Korean American adoptee, is best friends with the prettiest — and tallest — girl in the school, Julie, who has an endless amount of confidence. Lauren, on the other hand, has been saving for years to pay for a special eye surgery that will deepen the crease of her eyelids. It's not that she wants to look like everyone else in her suburban Connecticut school; she'd just be happy if kids stopped calling her "slant" and "gook." Up until now she's been able to ignore the insults, but when the cutest boy in her class calls her "slant," she realizes she needs to do something about her "nickname." When she convinces her reluctant father to consent to the eye operation, Lauren suddenly finds herself faced with a challenge: should she get the operation that might make her more confident and popular, or can she find that confidence within herself?
(description from Amazon.com)

I am deeply conflicted about this book. I need some opinions from other people who have read this...STAT!

First off, it is a well-written, highly accessibly toned, middle grade book. The character is relatable, her family members are great, her best friend is...um, pretty awesome, and there is just enough going on beyond the issues to balance out the message of the book. (I hate when the message becomes too...heavy)

My problem as a reader (personally) is the language used in the book...and yes, I do know that's the whole point of the book!...I was actually uncomfortable reading several passages in this book. I grew up in a house where I didn't even learn terms like "slant," "gook," or "kike," until I was entering college. SO, for me, all I could think when I was reading this was are we in fact teaching some kids these new words, instead of teaching them not to use them as is intended?

Now, as a Librarian, I don't want to censor the book. There are tweens out there who are probably facing this exact problem that will relate and be helped by this book! It is totally in our Library collection, though we aren't 100% sure what grade level to label it in the Children's Dept. (they go up to 8th grade) My gut, though, my own personal gut, wants this book to be geared to an older audience...sigh. Does anyone else have this type of issue?

Generation Dead

Generation Dead
by Daniel Waters

Phoebe is just your typical goth girl with a crush. He's strong, and silent, and dead.

All over the country, a strange phenomenon is happening. Some teenagers who die aren't staying dead. They are coming back to life, but they are no longer the same - they stutter, and their reactions to everything are slower. Termed "living impaired" or "differently biotic," they are doing their best to fit into a society that doesn't want them.

Fitting in is hard enough when you don't have the look or attitude, but when almost everyone else is alive and you're not, it's close to impossible. The kids at Oakvale High don't want to take classes or eat in the cafeteria next to someone who isn't breathing. And there are no laws that exist to protect the differently biotic from the people who want them to disappear - for good.

With her pale skin and Goth wardrobe, Phoebe has never run with the popular crowd. But no one can believe it when she falls for Tommy Williams, the leader of the dead kids. Not her best friend, Margi, whose fear of the differently biotic is deeply rooted in guilt over the past. And especially not her neighbor, Adam, the star of the football team. Adam has just realized his feelings for Phoebe run much deeper than just friendship. He would do anything for her, but what if protecting Tommy is the one thing that would make her happy? (description taken from Amazon.com)

This was a really well written book. It's a cool concept. Teenagers, just in the US (and a few in Canada) coming back as zombies. I loved reading the different potential explainations for the phenomenon, especially when Tommy finally tells Phoebe why he thinks that different zombies are able to be more highly functioning. Waters is able to present this topic in a humorous way, while still exploring some deeper emotions.

In fact, racism and discrimination are HUGE topics in this book. Yet, it's done in such a way that it's touching and the reader becomes invested in the characters and so it doesn't have that overwhelming heavy feeling that can totally ruin a book with its overarching concept. Waters presents not only the evidence that zombies are being murdered because they are "unnatural," but also allows readers to see how easily "traditionally biotics" can grow to hate.

There are degrees of fear and hatred shown, from Margi's fear derived from guilt over her friend's death, to Adam and Phoebe's mild fears of the unknown, to Pete's overwhelming, unrelenting, and unreasonable hate...that leads to some atrocious plans. What really struck me about this book was that it also showed the fear and hate that builds on the receiving end of this kind of racism. Several of the zombies are afraid to interact with "trads" for fear of being hurt. There is a moment when Adam and one of the zombies, Karen, connect and he kisses her cheek - she is overcome by the fact that he did it...like she was any other girl. Honestly, that was my favorite moment in the whole book!

There were moments when I felt like this book sort of dragged for me, but each time I thought about maybe, just maybe taking a break, two pages later one of the excellently drawn characters sucked me right back in! I loved Karen, Evan, Thorny, and Adam...

There was quite a bit of foreshadowing in this book, and I like where it's leading. Then with the big twist at the end....I will definitely be reading Kiss of Life very shortly!!