DBRLTeen

Danny doesn’t fit in. His mother is white and his father Mexican. His father left his mother and moved back to Mexico. Danny is spending the summer with his father’s family in San Diego, but he doesn’t know Spanish, and they see him as white. They live in a poverty-stricken part of the city where violence and crime are frequent occurrences. During the school year he attends a private school where everyone else is white and sees him as Mexican. His mother is dating a white man and wants Danny to move with them to San Francisco, but he prefers his father’s family.

Danny has one thing going for him – he’s a seriously great pitcher. He has another thing going for him, too – his family loves him. Danny’s big issue is one common to teens – what is his future? Can he escape his present unhappiness and bad circumstances and have a better life some day?

Why should you read this?

Most of you probably aren’t of mixed race, an ethnic minority, living in poverty, with an absent parent. But even though Danny is different than you, and lives in a place very different from yours, and faces problems you’ll never encounter, inside you may find he is human and understandable, just like you. Writers (and librarians (and teachers)) hope that if you can learn to understand fictional characters who are different than you, it will help you understand real people who are different than you…and that can make your real life, and relationships, much easier….

Now a few words about words – writers have a choice in how to write conversations. They can use clean sanitized language that anyone’s Grandma would approve of, or occasional profanity that makes characters seem more real but makes some people mad at libraries. This author chose to use realistic language – and its not for the faint of heart.

But Dbrlteen recommends Mexican WhiteBoy by Matt de la Pena anyway, because great books can take you beyond mere words.

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyers, is sold in many countries around the world, but with a different cover than the U.S. edition.  Take a look at the various covers on Stephenie Meyer’s website – which do you like best?

Teens at our Twilight discussion in Columbia on November 12 liked the German covers the best!  Vote on our poll below for your favorite!

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Check this great site – www.readergirlz.com – they do an in-depth report on a single good book every month.  Here is their “manifesta”:

So here’s our official readergirlz manifesta: what we stand for, what we believe, what we promise YOU:

* readergirlz is about having serious fun while talking about books with the author and your friends!

* readergirlz is about getting the inside scoop about why the novel was written, the tears and joys and real-world angst that the author has lived and layered into her story.

* readergirlz is about reading great books to get to know yourself, your friends, and yes, even your mother, better.

* readergirlz is about celebrating strong girls in books who’ve got the guts to dream.

* readergirlz is about reaching out to others based on what you’ve read.

* And most of all, readergirlz is about inspiring girls to make history of their own!

from The Foundation For A Better Life

Love – such a common human emotion, such an important part of our lives, dominating our daydreams, the topic of so many songs and poems and greeting cards.  So why is it so hard for teenagers to figure out?

Will Tuppence has started to notice his friend Mi-Su in a romantic way.  But does she like him that way or not?  Should he kiss her?  Ask her out?  How?  One day she seems to be interested in him, the next day someone else.  Will’s detailed plans for getting Mi-Su to be his girlfriend always work better in his imagination than in real life.

And what does all this have to do with skateboarding, Monopoly games, proton decay, and kid sisters?

This is a love story, but not the one you think.  And it does have a happy ending, but not the one you expect. Dbrlteen recommends Smiles to Go, by Jerry Spinelli.  And if you haven’t yet you are also directed to read his Maniac Magee and Stargirl.  Some writers are so good they must not be missed.

(Visit Jerry Spinelli’s website, and find out how to start a Stargirl Society at your school!)