Bruised by Sarah Skilton

Cover art matters. Think of those times when you saw the cover of a book and felt that instant, magical draw. The cover of Bruised is pretty impressive, and I found myself looking more and more at it as I read the story. You will see—you will want to understand why the trophy of the martial artist breaks apart.

Sure, the story will tell you: teen black belt survives a horrific hold-up in a local restaurant. She blanks most of the memory, blames herself for the gunman getting killed, and checks out of most of the rest of her life. Until she is able to step back enough to understand that she couldn’t change what happened in that hold- up. The idea of someone professionally trained in self-defense freezing in a situation like a hold- up makes great sense for a storyline, but this is the first time I have read about it in a young adult novel. I really liked how Skilton wove this story, and I feel certain some of her art came from her own experiences as a black belt herself.

I suggest you search this one out. And of course, check out the great cover!

One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo

Looking for a little lighthearted funness to read? I know funness is not a word, but read this book and you will see why I laid into that new word. Father/son, stuffed animal/real, twisted truths/honest relationships all show up in this clever story. Multigenre in nature--love that, Tom Romano--and with David Small's brilliant illustrations, kids will swallow this one hook, line, and sinker.

As I read this book again, I can almost see my mother in place of the father (although she is not near as self-absorbed) and me in place of the boy (although I am nowhere near as well-dressed), us finding our ways further into what interests us and then: collision!

Happy Reading! One Cool Friend. Pure funness.

Red Kite, Blue Kite by Ji-li Jiang

The author's bio starts with these words: "Ji-li Jiang was born in Shanghi, China, and now lives near San Francisco, California. For over twenty years she nursed her childhood memories of surviving the Cultural Revolution, and she finally brought them to life in her first book, Red Scarf Girl, which has become required reading in many schools..."

I kinda think Red Kite, Blue Kite ought to become required reading in many schools. The illustrator wisely offers spaciousness, breathing room to the painful story of a boy and his relationship with his father, Baba. The boy and Baba love to fly kites together among other things. Then, "a bad time comes." Baba must go to a labor camp to work. They arrange to fly their kites at dawn and dusk, ensuring each is thinking about the other and seeing the other's kite, even at a great distance apart. Months later, Baba returns for a superbrief time and tells the boy that he, the father, can no longer fly his kite, but the boy must continue to fly his. Angry for his father leaving again, his grandmother smoothes his anger with the story of how the father got to the boy. Confirmed as important, the boy commits to flying his kite even more.

No spoiler here. You gotta read this one. It is beautiful. Important. Required. Red Kite, Blue Kite.

When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders by J. Patrick Lewis

The front cover will stop you. The title force you to open it. On the first pages of the book, just after the title page, these words are written:

The poor and dispossessed take up the drums
For civil rights--freedoms to think and speak,
Petition, pray, and vote. When thunder comes,
The civil righteous are finished being meek. 
Why Sylvia Mendez bet against long odds, 
How Harvey Milk turned hatred on its head,
Why Helen Zia railed against tin gods,

How Freedom Summer's soldiers faced the dread
Are tales of thunder that I hope to tell 
From my thin bag of verse for you to hear
In miniature, like ringing a small bell,
And know a million bells can drown out fear.
For history was mute witness when such crimes
Discolored and discredited our times.

You read the poems then, in order, out of order, the images (created by five different illustrators) calling to you, the strength singing from the pages, the truths laying there for you and me to lift into our hands, our hearts, our minds, to continue the change these people and others like them started. Read it out loud for ears and softly for inner ears; just read it to a bunch of folks. When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders. As Black Elk said in his famous speech turned into a poem, "maybe we are who we have been waiting for."

Breathing Room by Marsha Hayles

Historical fiction: check.
Multigenre: check.
Engaging story: check.
Out of the ordinary: check.
Realistic: check.
Amazing autobiographical connections by the author that totally make me want to know more about her and her life growing up with a doctor for a dad who worked for Mayo Clinic: check plus.

Breathing Room is a keeper. I really enjoyed the quiet and calm energy of this story, if you can believe such a life threatening situation could be framed in a quiet voice. A teen girl who has TB moves into a sanatorium to rest and recuperate. While there for what must be a long time, she creates relationships with a number of girls and the medical staff that treat them, much to the thwarted efforts and surprise of the staff. A common practice in the '40's and '50's, these institutions are literally absent in our lives now having disappeared rapidly with the discovery of antibiotics and the disease being more controlled. The author offers plenty of history around the operations of a sanatorium: her father worked at the Mayo Clinic in the '40's. In a special section, she includes historical photos and brief stories that help readers link the author with the story. Find this gem if you are looking for some US historical fiction framed around medical issues and WW II.

The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn Saks

Are you a TED Talks nut like me? I scan those new listings regularly, eager to learn something wise and brilliant new life connection. A couple of months ago, I listened to Elyn Saks talk through her own life with schizophrenia. Wow. She can be so transparent and unemotional about what she has experienced, and oh so truthful. When I realized she had a book out, you can guess where I made a beeline to....yep: the library.

And it was worth it. I am kind of a nut about life- issue books but you already knew that. And Dr. Saks has a life issue that I have never read about, at least not with this lens and transparency. I am not sure how this book is categorized: is it a memoir or an autobiography? I am gonna guess the latter (but now that I read her website, I see she calls it a memoir). She writes with heartbreaking detail a number of her experiences with schizophrenia, offering us a fly-on-the-wall view of what life has been like for her as well how those experiences have helped her form what she does. A lawyer, she specializes in mental health law, teaching at University of Southern California. She brilliantly uses her own at times horrific experiences to advocate for those often without a voice: the mentally ill. Her work inspires me to continue exploring how to access my life experiences to support and advocate for others. She is just remarkable.

Here is the link to the TED Talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/elyn_saks_seeing_mental_illness.html

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool

Navigating Early is my new favorite book. I had heard rumblings on the web about this gem and read several blog entries describing the heft of the author's words. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I read fast for stuff I like and only rarely do I slow down, in those moments when I don't want a book to end. Here is one book I way slowed down on, savoring every word.

Teen-aged Jack's mother dies and military-dedicated father sends Jack to a military school thousands of miles from home. Experiencing the dreadful grip of uprootedness, Jack finds a surprising, unique, and steadfast friend in Early Auden. The two boys set off on a lifetime adventure, searching for a gigantic bear, rattlesnakes, and an important relative long believed by most to be dead. What they discover changes a number of lives and certainly not only their own. 

Author Clare Vanderpool won the Newbery for her first novel, Moon Over Manifest, a book I now feel compelled to read. She demonstrates such a sweet writing craft in Navigating Early. I treasured her framing of the story, and I frequently found sentences that I plan to use as writing prompts in my own writing. Add onto that the messages she ladles lovingly throughout the text: hope, compassion, empathy, patience. I can imagine this book being considered for the Newbery this year too.

"You're jumping into the navigating part too soon. Maybe you should focus on the beauty of those stars up there apart from their function. Just atke them in, admire them, stand in awe of them, before you expect them to lead the way. Besides, who's to say that one group of stars belongs together and only together? Those stars up there are drawn to each other in lots of different ways. They're connected in unexpected ways, just like people."  (page 36)

I am not the best at always living in the moment all the time but last night offered me another moment to try again at it. Alysa is redoing her room-- yep, she is a teenager and the loft that I would have loved has to go-- so she asked last night if I would go to Ikea with her for a few things. I appreciate when a book rivers into me during my life away from it, and I keep hearing some of the messages from Vanderpool's writing, particularly as I have an opportunity to lean into intentional time with my dear daughter.

I loaned Navigating Early to Ruth and after Ruth, my partner Laurie will likely read it. That means it will be a few weeks before I get it back into my loving, eager hands. I am not in a rush; I know that good things come to those who wait.....twiddle away, thumbs. I have all the time in the world.