Monday, August 31, 2009

MC Spotlight #31: Shadow of the Dragon by Sherry Garland

YA Fresh MC Spotlight #31! 

And that ends the August YA Fresh Multicultural Spotlight!! *whew*
I hope you enjoyed the month long entries and enjoyed reading about these
 fantastic stories. Thanks, Everyone, and happy reading!

Shadow of the Dragon

Sixteen-year-old Danny Vo is caught between two cultures-the American world of his Houston high school and his Vietnamese home life. Life gets even more complicated when Danny’s cousin Sang Le comes to live with them after spending years in a reeducation camp in Vietnam. Failing school and unable to get a job, Sang Le joins a Vietnamese gang. Danny must also contend with another dangerous gang-the white supremacist skinheads that his new girlfriend’s brother belongs to.

“Excellent characterizations and a complex, believable plot are blended into a moving story of the immigrant experience.”—Booklist


SHERRY GARLAND is the author of many award-winning novels and picture books, including Indio and The Last Rainmaker. She lives in central Texas.
www.sherrygarland.com.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

MC Spotlight #30: The Hoopster by Alan Lawrence Sitomer

YA Fresh MC Spotlight #30! We are almost done!

The Hoopster

Andre Anderson is an African American teenager with a bright future. He loves to play basketball. He loves to hang out with his friends. He loves to laugh. Andre has skills, brains, and heart. He also has a dream. Then he is viciously attacked. Now everything he ever believed about the world has been called into question. Even his deadly jump shot. How can a man get up when he has been unjustly beaten down? Andre is about to find out. Andre is The Hoopster.
Visit the book's website here.

Alan Lawrence Sitomer is California's 2007 Teacher of the Year. In addition to being an inner-city high school English teacher and professor in the Graduate School of Education at Loyola Marymount University, Mr. Sitomer is a nationally renowned speaker specializing in engaging reluctant readers who received the 2004 award for Classroom Excellence from the Southern California Teachers of English and the 2003 Teacher of the Year honor from California Literacy. In April 2007, Alan was named Educator of the Year by Loyola Marymount University and in February 2008 The Insight Education Group named Alan Lawrence Sitomer the Innovative Educator of the Year.

Mr. Sitomer has also authored four young adult novels published by Disney, which include THE HOOPSTER, HIP-HOP HIGH SCHOOL, HOMEBOYZ and THE SECRET STORY OF SONIA RODRIGUEZ. American Library Association named HOMEBOYZ as a Top Ten Book of the Year 2008, receiving the prestigious ALA Quick Pick Recognition for young adult novel which best engages reluctant readers. THE SECRET STORY OF SONIA RODRIGUEZ has also been nominated for the same award.

Alan is the author of HIP-HOP POETRY AND THE CLASSICS, a text being used in classrooms across the United States to illuminate classic poetry through hip-hop in order to engage disengaged students in both poetry and academics. Additionally, Mr. Sitomer has just written a teacher's methodology book for Scholastic titled TEACHING TEENS AND REAPING RESULTS IN A WI-FI, HIP-HOP, WHERE-HAS-ALL-THE-SANITY-GONE WORLD. Visit the author's website, www.alanlawrencesitomer.com.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

MC Spotlight #29: The Tequila Worm by Viola Canales

YA Fresh MC Spotlight #29!

The Tequila Worm

Sofia comes from a family of storytellers. Here are her tales of growing up in the barrio, full of the magic and mystery of family traditions: making Easter cascarones, celebrating el Dia de los Muertos, preparing for quincea–era, rejoicing in the Christmas nacimiento, and curing homesickness by eating the tequila worm. When Sofia is singled out to receive a scholarship to an elite boarding school, she longs to explore life beyond the barrio, even though it means leaving her family to navigate a strange world of rich, privileged kids. It's a different mundo, but one where Sofia's traditions take on new meaning and illuminate her path.
Read an excerpt here.

Viola Canales is the author of Orange Candy Slices and Other Secret Tales (Arte Publico Press). She lives in Stanford, California.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Splish Splash!

We’re nearing the end of a hot, dusty summer in the southwest, and as I look at the thirsty lawns and shrubs around me, mind has turned not only to wishing it would rain, but thoughts of cool, summer fun. With ideas like:

A ride on a lazy river:


A splash in a waterfall:


A swim in an resort pool:


None of which I've done this summer--but why not dream big?

Finally, take a look at what the officials in Los Angeles did last year for World Water Day. The world’s longest water slide! How fun would that have been?


So tell us, what’s your favorite way to stay summer cool--real OR imaginary?

MC Spotlight #28: Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before by David Yoo

YA Fresh MC Spotlight #28!

Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before

If Albert Kim has learned one thing in his tragic adolescence, it's that God (probably a sadistic teenaged alien) does not want him to succeed at Bern High. By the end of sophomore year, Al is so tired of humiliation that he's chosen to just forget girls and high school society in general, and enjoy the Zen-like detachment that comes from being an intentional loser.

Then he meets Mia Stone, and all the repressed hormones come flooding back. Mia, his co-worker at the Bern Inn, is adorable, popular, and most intimidatingly, the ex- long-term girlfriend of Ivy-bound, muscle-bound king of BHS and world class jerk, Ryan Stackhouse. But -- chalk it up to the magic of Al's inner beauty -- by the end of a summer vacuuming hotel rooms and goofing off together, he and Mia are officially "something."

Albert barely has time to ponder this miracle before the bomb drops: Ryan has been diagnosed with cancer, and he needs Mia's support, i.e. constant companionship. True, he's lost weight and he's getting radiation, but that doesn't make him any less of a jerk. And to Albert, it couldn't be more apparent that Ryan is using his cancer to steal Mia back. With the whole town rallying behind Ryan like he's a fallen hero, and Mia emotionally confused and worried for Ryan, Al's bid for love is not a popular campaign. In fact, it's exactly like driving the wrong way on a five-lane highway.

In this desperately funny novel, David Yoo tells an authentic story of first love, and thereincaptures the agony, the mania, the kicking and screaming that define teenage existence.
Read the raves here!

David Yoo is a graduate from Skidmore College with an MA from the University of Colorado-Boulder. His first novel, Girls For Breakfast (Delacorte) was a Booksense Pick, an NYPL Books For the Teen Age selection, and a Reading Rants Top Ten Books for Teens choice. He lives in Massachusetts, where he regularly plays adult soccer and Sega Genesis and teaches fiction at the Gotham Writers' Workshop. Visit the author's website, www.daveyoo.com.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

MC Spotlight #27: If A Tree Falls At Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko

YA Fresh MC Spotlight #27!

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period

Kirsten's parents are barely speaking to each other, and her best friend has fallen under the spell of the school's queen bee, Brianna. It seems like only Kirsten's younger science-geek sister is on her side. Walker's goal is to survive at the new white private school his mom has sent him to because she thinks he's going to screw up like his cousin. But he's a good kid. So is his friend Matteo, though no one knows why he’ll do absolutely anything that hot blond Brianna asks of him. But all of this feels almost trivial when Kirsten and Walker discover a secret that shakes them both to the core.

The Washington Post - Choldenko…has a spiky wit, an empathetic eye for kids' foibles and fears, an ear for their distinctive voices and an impressive range…While it treats issues of race, class and marital discord fearlessly, it's also one of the funniest they'll read this year.
Read an excerpt here.

GENNIFER CHOLDENKO is the author of Al Capone Does My Shirts and Notes from a Liar and Her Dog as well as several picture books. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area. Visit the author's website, www.choldenko.com

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

MC Spotlight #26: Amor and Summer Secrets by Diana Rodriguez Wallach

Here we are with YA Fresh MC Spotlight #26!

Amor and Summer Secrets

All She Never Wanted.

For fifteen-year-old Mariana Ruiz, it's not so much an unexpected vacation as a literal "guilt trip"-her father's way of atoning for ignoring his Puerto Rican roots. But freedom from her parents is little compensation for being forced to spend two months with complete strangers rather than with her best friends in Philadelphia.

Once on "vacation," her worst fears come true. The heat is merciless, the food is spicy, and her great aunt and uncle's mountain house teems with relatives, only one of whom-her distant cousin Lilly-speaks English. Bored, and hoping to make up for missing her best friend's star-studded Sweet 16, Mariana offers to help in the planning of Lilly's Quinceañera. Soon, despite herself, Mariana clicks with new friends who open doors to romance and long-hidden secrets. Suddenly the summer she dreaded is ending way too quickly. It might turn out that the last place she ever wanted to go is the one place she truly finds herself.

Funny, touching, and smart, Amor and Summer Secrets is a story about friendship, family, rivalry, secrets, and how much you can change over the course of one loco summer.
Read an excerpt here!

Born to a Puerto Rican father and a Polish mother, Diana Rodriguez Wallach has experienced the cultures her characters inhabit. She holds a journalism degree from Boston University, and has worked as a reported and as an advocate for inner city public schools. She currently resides in Philadelphia with her husband. Visit the author's website, www.dianarodriguezwallach.com/.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

MC Spotlight #25: New Boy by Julian Houston

YA Fresh MC Spotlight #25!

New Boy

Fifteen-year-old Rob Garrett wants nothing more than to escape the segregated South and prove himself. But in late 1950s Virginia, opportunity doesn’t come easily to an African American. So Rob’s parents take the unusual step of enrolling their son in a Connecticut boarding school, where he will have the best education available. He will also be the first student of color in the school’s history. No matter—Rob Garrett is on his way.

But times are changing. While Rob is experiencing the privilege and isolation of private school, a movement is rising back home. Men and women are organizing, demanding an end to segregation, and in Rob’s hometown, his friends are on the verge of taking action. There is even talk about sitting in at a lunch counter that refuses to serve black people. How can Rob hope to make a difference when he’s a world away?
Read an excerpt here.

Julian Houston was born in Richmond, Virginia, and educated in the public schools of that city before attending the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. He attended Boston University and was a community organizer in Harlem during the civil rights movement. He is now an associate justice of the Superior Court of Massachusetts. Julian Houston lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, with his wife and family.

Monday, August 24, 2009

MC Spotlight #24: Skunk Girl by Sheba Karim

Now for YA Fresh MC Spotlight #24!

Skunk Girl

If Nina Khan were to rate herself on the unofficial Pakistani prestige point system – the one she’s sure all the aunties and uncles use to determine the most attractive marriage prospects for their children – her scoring might go something like this:

+2 points for getting excellent grades
–3 points for failing to live up to expectations set by genius older sister
+4 points for dutifully obeying parents and never, ever going to parties, no matter how antisocial that makes her seem to everyone at Deer Hook High
–1 point for harboring secret jealousy of her best friends, who are allowed to date like normal teenagers
+2 points for never drinking an alcoholic beverage
–10 points for obsessing about Asher Richelli, who talks to Nina like she’s not a freak at all, even though he knows that she has a disturbing line of hair running down her back
In this wryly funny debut novel, the smart, sassy, and utterly lovable Nina Khan tackles friends, family, and love, and learns that it’s possible to embrace two very different cultures – even if things can get a little bit, well, hairy.
Read an excerpt here!

Sheba Karim was born and raised in Catskill, NY. She is a graduate of the New York University School of Law and the Iowa Writers Workshop. Her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in 580 Split, Asia Literary Review, Barn Owl Review, DesiLit, EGO, Kartika Review, and Shenandoah. One of her short stories was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her young adult novel, Skunk Girl, was published in 2009. She is the recipient of a 2009-2010 Fulbright-Nehru research grant to work on her next novel in India. Visit the author's website, www.shebakarim.com/.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

MC Spotlight #23: The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-mbachu

YA Fresh MC Spotlight #23!

The Shadow Speaker


Niger, West Africa, 2070:
After a nuclear fallout in the early twenty-first century, the earth's civilization has been completely transformed. Magic, mysticism, and mind-blowing technology now rule the world. In West Africa, fourteen-year old Ejii struggles to master her own magical powers. When her world is completely upended after she witnesses her father's death, Ejii faces a unique opportunity to explore her power and realize her destiny. But is she ready for the responsibility that comes along with that?

Embarking on a journey across the Sahara, Ejii befriends new allies and battles dangerous foes. It soon becomes clear that her people need to be protected from a terrible force seeking to annihilate them. And Ejii may just be their last hope for survival.

Fast-paced and full of tender friendships and thrilling action, this futuristic adventure heralds a bright new talent in young adult science fiction.
Read an excerpt here.

Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu’s short stories have been published in anthologies and magazines, including Dark Matter II, Strange Horizons, and Writers of the Future, Volume XVIII. Nnedi lives with her daughter, Anyaugo, and family in Illinois. Visit the author's website, www.nnedi.com/