Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

BookSnap

Rationale

The story of Monster follows a teenager who has been arrested on a murder charge.  He has been accused as acting as the look out for a robbery gone wrong, in which the cashier was killed.  The book is written in the format of a screenplay, with interspersed first-person narrative.  The main character, Steve, is in a film-making club and is writing his experience as a film which he intends to produce upon his release.  The story follows Steve throughout his trial and up to the verdict.  And, while the reader knows the outcome of the trial, you are left feeling that you still don’t know all the facts and whether Steve is, in reality, innocent or guilty.

I chose the picture of a stark jail cell for the BookSnap because, much like the book cover, the story (and Steve’s experiences) feel raw, real and barren like his jail cell.  I included a line from the Kirkus Review of the book.  I believe it captures the essence of the book and attracts the audience in relatively few words.  The quote from the book was chosen to show Steve’s internal struggles.  Throughout the book, he struggles with his identity and his own perception of himself.  Is he a “monster” or the good person he feels he is in his heart.

Related Reads

Related Read Title	Related Read Author	Category	How Related Read Relates to Initial Title	Why You Would Recommend the Related Read
Dreamland Burning	Jennifer Latham	Mystery	Both explore US race relations in the format of a mystery.	A YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books of the Year Pick. Kirkus Starred Review Booklist Starred Review
All American Boys	Jason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely	Law & Crime	Explores race relations and the division of the community following a robbery	A Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book. New York Times bestselling novel. Starred review in Booklist, School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.
The Hate U Give	Angie Thomas	Realistic Fiction	Covers social issues, race relations and violence	8 Starred reviews. National Book Award Longlist. Printz Honor. Coretta Scott King Honor Book. New York Times Bestseller.
The Outsiders	S.E. Hinton	Classic	Covers the darker side of young adulthood.	ALA Best Book for Young Adults. Similar in themes dealing with run-ins with law enforcement and cultural expectations.

Review

Kirkus Review: “In a riveting novel from Myers, a teenager who dreams of being a filmmaker writes the story of his trial for felony murder in the form of a movie script, with journal entries after each day’s action. Steve is accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and murder of a drug store owner. As he goes through his trial, returning each night to a prison where most nights he can hear other inmates being beaten and raped, he reviews the events leading to this point in his life. Although Steve is eventually acquitted, Myers leaves it up to readers to decide for themselves on his protagonist’s guilt or innocence. The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes written entirely in dialogue alternate with thoughtful, introspective journal entries that offer a sense of Steve’s terror and confusion, and that deftly demonstrate Myers’s point: the road from innocence to trouble is comprised of small, almost invisible steps, each involving an experience in which a “positive moral decision” was not made.”

References

Chance, R. (2014) Young adult literature in action: A librarian’s guide. (Second Edition). Denver, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

Hinton, S. E. (2017). The outsiders. NY, NY: Penguin Group.

Kirkus Review. (1999, May 31). MONSTER by Walter Dean Myers. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/walter-dean-myers/monster-myers/

Latham, J. (2018). Dreamland Burning. Turtleback Books.

Myers, W. D. (1999). Monster. New York: Harper Collins.

Reynolds, J., & Kiely, B. (2017). All American boys. NY, NY: Atheneum, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing Division.

Thomas, A. (2018). The hate u give. New York, NY: Balzer Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Van, A. (2014, December 3). Prison Cell Jail Crime [Photograph found in AlexVan, Pixabay]. Retrieved June 28, 2018, from https://pixabay.com/en/prison-prison-cell-jail-crime-553836/ (Originally photographed 2014, August 28)

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

BookSnap

Virtual Book Display

https://www.smore.com/9jrhv-multicultural-biographies

Rationale

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is Maya Angelou’s first autobiographical work.  Written in 1969 by the urging of some of her friends including author James Baldwin and cartoonist Jules Feiffer (Smith).  The story follows a young Margarite from the time she was shipped off to live with her Grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas, through her various moves amongst family members, ending in California with her Father.  The book deals with many issues Angelou had growing up involving identity, racism, rape and freedom through literacy.  The book has been highly acclaimed.  It was nominated for a National Book Award in 1970, has been a Book of the Month Club selection, and in 2011 was on the Time Magazine 100 best and most influential books written in English since 1923.  However, many parents have sought to have the title banned from public and school libraries due to its inclusion of premarital sex, profanity and graphic depiction of rape and racism (Henry).

The BookSnap has a picture of a country story much like the one the main character spent much of her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas.  I included the Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem “Sympathy” due to the fact that Maya Angelou used the line from this poem for the title of her book.  And, because this poem so well illustrates how the main character feels throughout much of her young adult life.  Also, since Paul Laurence Dunbar is a Daytonian (as am I), I like to show off his brilliance as often as possible.  The quote from the book was chosen to show how Margarite felt upon meeting her Mother again after a long separation.  She doesn’t remember Mother Dear as well as her brother and is shy and overwhelmed upon the reintroduction.  This situation is one the main character finds herself over and over as she is shipped between relatives.

Related Read Title	Related Read Author	Category	How Related Read Relates to Initial Title	Why You Would Recommend the Related Read
The Collected Poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar	Paul Laurence Dunbar	Poetry	Paul Laurence Dunbar wrote the poem, “Sympathy” that was used for the title of the book.	Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poetry deals with many of the same theme May Angelou deals with in her writing, especially the theme of racism.  Dunbar was one of the first African-American writers to establish and international reputation.
Gather Together in My Name (1974) Singin’ and Swingin’ and Getting’ Merry Like Christmas (1976) The Heart of a Woman (1981) All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986) A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002) Mom & Me & Mom (2013)	Maya Angelou	Autobio-graphy	These titles cover many other experiences from Angelou’s youth.  They each have a different style and/or narration but cover similar themes to her first story.	While not as highly acclaimed as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, these stories cover more of the authors life and cover the time period from WWII to Martin Luther King’s assassination.  And, even though most critics do not regard these titles in as high esteem as the first; Angelou’s writing is still fine story-telling and excellently written.
To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee	Realistic Fiction	Like the title book, this book deals with southern life and racial injustice around the same time period.	Told from a different point of view, from a young semi-affluent white girl.  This classic, highly acclaimed title shows how the main character, Scout, deals with the trial of a wrongly accused black man.
A Raisin in the Sun	Lorraine Hansberry	Play	This play depicts a poor black family finding a way to get by in the inner city much like the character Mama Dear lives in St. Louis.	Even though this play takes place in a slightly different time period, it shows similar circumstances of a black family dealing with how to survive in a mostly white city.  This play was highly acclaimed.  And, I like to get young adults interested in reading and seeing plays.

Reviews

Common Sense Media: “a poignant and poetic account of the author's life up until age 17. Named for the caged-bird image that Lawrence Dunbar used in his poem "Sympathy," the book honestly reveals the cruelty, indignity, and injustice that confined African Americans in the 1930s and '40s -- the cage -- but also celebrates black people's spirit, humor, and courage. Reading Dunbar's poem may offer further insight into this book. Nominated for a National Book Award, this autobiographical work is strong, honest, and beautifully written, but it details some very upsetting personal incidents, including the rape of a very young girl, shocking racial prejudice, and gritty urban life.”

The Washington Post: “This is really some book. This is a memoir of a black girlhood, or childhood, and it is written right from the center of the blackness.  There isn’t any easy, which is to say false line in the book.  The distance, which is everything, is a true as a plumb line.  She is outside and inside at the same time, looking at all of it with double vision, and to understand that you must read about mother’s brothers, Uncle Tutti, Tom and Ira, who are indiscriminately violent, smashing the face of all, regardless of race, religion, or place of national origin.”

References

Angelou, M. (2011). All Gods children need traveling shoes. Paw Prints.

Angelou, M. (2009). Gather together in my name. New York: Random House.

Angelou, M. (1997). I know why the caged bird sings. New York, NY: Bantam Books.

Angelou, M. (2003). Mom & Me & Mom. Random House.

Angelou, M. (2002). Singin and swingin and getting merry like Christmas. London: Virago Press.

Angelou, M. (2008). A song flung up to heaven. London: Virago.

Angelou, M. (2009). The heart of a woman. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks.

Chance, R. (2014) Young adult literature in action: A librarian’s guide. (Second Edition). Denver, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

Dunbar, P. L. (1994). The collected poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar (J. M. Braxton, Ed.). Charlottesville, VA: Univ. Press of Virginia.

Hansberry, L. (2017). A raisin in the sun. Oxford. Benediction Classics.

Henry, P. M. (2001). Maya Angelou: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In D. Jones (Ed.), Censorship: A World Encyclopedia (Vol. 1-4, p. 60). Routledge.

The Hitching Post Country Store [Photograph found in Genuine Kentucky]. (n.d.). Retrieved June 21, 2018, from http://www.genuinekentucky.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/The-Hitching-Post-Country-Store.jpg (Originally photographed 2012)

Just, W. (1970, April 3). A Caged Bird Sings of a Black Childhood. The Washington Post. Retrieved June 21, 2018.

Lee, H. (2018). To kill a mockingbird. S.l.: Harper Collins.

Schultz, B. (2011, May 04). I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Book Review. Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/i-know-why-the-caged-bird-sings

Smith, D. (2007, January 23). A Career in Letters, 50 Years and Counting. The New York Times.

Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly

Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly

BookSnap

Rationale

Seventeenth Summer, originally published in 1942, is a romance story from a simpler time.  In a way it follows the typical love story format; girl meets boy, girl loses boy, and then girl gets boy in the end.  However, since the story takes place in the 1940s, it deals with some problems in which today’s youth do not struggle.  For example, when Angie does not hear from Jack, she sits around and frets.  Today’s teenage girls would not hesitate to reach out and call or text a boy.  This was just not done in the 40s.  Social norms were different.  I’m not sure how relatable the story would be to an audience today.  For instance, when the couple kiss on the third date, it is meant to feel slightly shameful.  The part of the story that is still relatable, is how a teenage girl struggles with her emotions.  Angie is learning to juggle daily life, her parents and siblings’ opinions and her own emotions and desires. Every teenager struggles with learning new things, for the first time, and emotion maturity is a learned skill.

The BookSnap shows a quote from Nance Vogel about Seventeenth Summer being where "the modern period of young adult literature” began.  I chose this quote to show the potential reader they should expect a story from an earlier time.  By stating that this was one of the first young adult books, the reader knows that the story is from the past when times were different.  The quote from the book was chosen to show how Angie struggles with her emotions.  Even though she is falling for Jack, she is still irritated that he would embarrass her in front of her family.

Related Read Title	Related Read Author	Category	How Related Read Relates to Initial Title	Why You Would Recommend the Related Read
The Sun is Also a Star	Nicola Yoon	Realistic Fiction	This story also relates to social and family issues and the struggles with new experiences.	This story has many of the same themes but takes place in modern times and might be more relatable to the current generation.  Awarded one of the best books of the year by several reviewing organizations.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn	Betty Smith	Historical Fiction	This story also deals with coming of age in an earlier period.	Both books are classics and deal with coming of age, love and family.  However, they show the contrast between the middle-class Wisconsin Morrow family with the poor Brooklyn Nolan family.
Twilight	Stephenie Meyer	Fantasy	This story has many of the same themes including dating/romance and social/family issues.	While this book is not written well, it is widely popular, deals with the same themes, is more current and will appeal to readers of fantasy.
The 1940s	Stephen Feinstein	Informational	This book deals with the time period the initial title.	This book would be great source material for readers of the initial title to understand the time period in which the characters of the book live.  The non-fiction book covers culture, art, science and politics from the 1940’s decade.

Reviews

New York Times: “By a kind of miracle, and perhaps because she is so close to an experience not easy to recapture, Miss Daly has made an utterly enchanting book out of this very fragile little story — one which rings true and sweet and fresh and sound.”

Publisher’s Weekly: “the perennially popular Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly, written while the author was still in college herself. Diary-like entries depict the trials and tribulations of adolescent amour.”

The Hub: Your Connection to Teen Collections: “It won’t appeal to every reader, but those dreamy, romantic teens who want a clean romance will find much to enjoy.”

References

Book Review: New to Me-Seventeenth Summer - The Hub. (2011, February 04). Retrieved from http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2011/02/03/book-review-new-to-me-seventeenth-summer/

Chance, R. (2014) Young adult literature in action: A librarian’s guide. (Second Edition). Denver, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

Children's Book Review: Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly, Author Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing $17.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-689-85383-8. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-689-85383-8

Clker Free Vector Images. (2014, August 1). Basket Picnic Brown. Retrieved from https://pixabay.com/en/basket-picnic-brown-handles-wicker-310061/

Daly, M. (2010). Seventeenth summer. New York: Simon Pulse.

Feinstein, S. (2015). The 1940s. Enslow Publishing Inc.

Fox, M. (2006, September 29). Maureen Daly, 85, Chronicler of Teenage Love, Dies. NY Times. doi: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/books/29daly.html

Mack Type-3 S [Photograph found in 6 BK Collect Hobby, Emslichter 385 Images]. (2017, March 2). Retrieved June 15, 2018, from https://pixabay.com/en/mack-type-3-s-6-bk-collect-hobby-2111036/ (Originally photographed 2017, February 23)

Meyer, S. (2006). Twilight. New York: Megan Tingley Books.

OpenClipartVectors. (2016, March 31). Boat Sailboat. Retrieved from https://pixabay.com/en/boat-sailboat-sailing-1297487/

Smith, B. (2006). A tree grows in Brooklyn. New York: HarperPerennial.

Vogel, N. (1994). The Semicentennial of Seventeenth Summer: Some Questions and Answers. The ALAN Review,21(3). doi:10.21061/alan.v21i3.a.7

Yoon, N. (2016). The sun is also a star. New York: Delacorte Press.