Cybils Review: SPINNING by Tillie Walden

Synopsis: First Second consistently puts out high-quality and varied graphic novels for audiences from kids to adults, and Spinning by Tillie Walden—one of our Cybils finalists for 2017 in Young Adult Graphic Novels—is a standout. It's a graphic memoir, a genre which I always find interesting (oddly enough, I'm not usually that interested in regular memoirs), and it's about (among other things) the world of figure skating, which is awfully topical with the Winter Olympics just past but is not a world I know the ins and outs of.

After reading Spinning, I have a lot better idea of what it's like to train as a competitive figure skater—and I can unequivocally say it would not have been for me. For the young Tillie, who has been a skater for ten years, figure skating is her life, her passion, her talent, and even her refuge. Until, that is, her family moves, and she starts at a new school. Not only is her environment new, she discovers she has new interests, like art. She also falls in love—with another girl. It takes some more time to realize maybe the rigid world of figure skating doesn't mean to her what it once did.

Observations: This book covers issues of growing up as a girl and coming to terms with sexuality across a wide age span, and should be accessible to a range of readers. It's easy to be flip and say it's a story about skating, but it's about so much more than that. It's also very down-to-earth both in writing/art style and in the narrator's way of looking at the world. Readers will recognize and relate to the various small and large dramas of coming of age—of friendship, competition, school, and learning who you are.

Image: Macmillan

Thematically, this one is complex—beneath the veneer of the ice-skating world, the importance of the story is really about Tillie learning who she is and learning to inhabit that self. Yet it remains easy to follow and clearly structured. As mentioned before, the style is down to earth—simple, clear, and effective—and keeps us focused on the story. The limitation to just a few colors lends atmosphere to the simplicity of the drawing.

Conclusion: This was truly deserving of being a Cybils finalist. It's wonderfully well-written, it's an intriguing glimpse into the world of professional ice skating, and it's a heartening story about the rollercoaster of coming to terms with who you are.

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I received my copy of this book courtesy of my library. You can find SPINNING by Tillie Walden at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

Turning Pages Reads: CALLING MY NAME by LIARA TAMANI

Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!

Synopsis: Taja Brown lives to the left of the buckle of the Bible Belt with her parents, annoying little sister, and vexing older brother, and from early days, she knows what's expected from a good Southern Baptist black girl: be good, keep up your grades, get to church, and don't shame your family. God - the Almighty - is faceless but speaks in the voice of her mother and father, so Taja also knows his requirements - stay out of other people's beds until you're married. But Taja as a budding young woman isn't the same as Taja as a parent-mimicking child. She's watching her athletic sister take her place on the track team, and feeling loss. She's watching her older brother swan off to college, and freedom, and feeling a loss there. She's sensing the wider world, and wondering about what she's been taught -- does church attendance really equal goodness, and planting begonias on a Sunday morning really mean hell? For everyone? Who is really "good?" Taja wrestles with these disquieting voices while still trash-talking the "hos" at church, openly, righteously critical of unmarried girls with babies and classmates who let more than one by kiss them... but after finding out for herself that kisses can take her brain to a faraway place, Taja is beginning to doubt that she's so immune. Her older brother, Damon, has been around the block a time or two, and the way he deals with the girls he's done with is scandalous. Taja hates how he uses and discards sexual partners. She doesn't want to be the girl who's discarded, but she wants... so much of everything. There's life out there, color and wildness and experiences outside of their straitlaced life in Houston. All Taja wants is to read it, write it, drink it down, and take a big bite. Can't she have what she wants, and still keep what God wants, too? And then, she meets the gorgeous Andre, and ... all questions become moot.

Taja's parents have she and Andre sign purity pledges, and though she wears the tiny ring, Taja knows it ought to tarnish on her. God, whom she's never heard from before, surely cannot be listening to her now. Can he...? Or, does it matter?

Observations: Probably the best description of the writing in this novel is 'dreamy.' There are eloquent phrases and sometimes it slows the narrative pace, but it's also reminiscent of the classic styling of memoir narrative, so patient readers will read on and become hooked.

Taja's world is narrow - and the overwhelming questions for her are regarding heterosexual intimate experiences - which reads as authentic, because many conservative Christian kids never meet anyone of another faith or another gender expression until they go away to college, and in the 90's, there was less sexual freedom for non-cis-gendered teens.

Because the novel is historical - set in the 90's - early '00's - there are musical references which may go over some teens' heads. The main thrust of the novel is dealing with the pressures of growing up within a conservative religious home, and straying from one's parents' values, and while this is touched on beautifully, I wished for more. While the reader spends the majority of the novel seeing Taja's frustration with the double standard between her brother and herself, I wished she would have gone deeper and named that hypocrisy for what it is within religious communities: women are policed one, because a baby is tangible shame, and two, because men often seek to control women. The license Taja's brother had to do just whatever was annoying.

This novel has a feel of looking back, begins slowly, but speeds up as Taja matures to the point of standing between two roads: the life she wants to lead, and the life her parents believe is best. There is explicit intimacy in the novel, so it would work better for more mature teens, or potentially 14+ instead of younger readers.

Conclusion: With lyrical language and one of the prettiest covers in YA this year, this time-capsule of a black Christian girl coming of age in the 90's evokes the quiet moments of bildungsroman spiced with the headiness of a teen's first explorations of sexuality, life, and independent thought. This one may work better with adults looking back, but will likely be passed from hand-to-hand in some teen circles.

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I received my copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. You can find CALLING MY NAME by Liara Tamani at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

SURVEYING STORIES: Historical Without History, in REAL FRIENDS by Shannon Hale

While May is indeed National Mental Health month, I'm... behind. I'm choosing to ignore that and the fact that Sarah did the actual review of this book weeks ago. Part of good mental health is accepting our... limitations.

*cough*

This book is actually a 'twofer' for things I don't see often in MG lit: one, it's an American narrative memoir, and two, it's a graphic novel which has a clear depiction of a mental health issue, in this case, anxiety. This is an occasional series which proposes to study elements of children and young adult fiction from a writer's perspective.

Let's survey a story!

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Shannon and Adrienne have been best friends ever since they were little. But, on day, Adrienne starts hanging out with Jen, the most popular girl in class, and the leader of a circle of friends called The Group. Everyone in it wants to be Jen's #1, and some girls would do anything to stay on top... even if it means bullying the others.

Now every day is like a roller coaster for Shannon. Will she and Adrienne stay friends? Can she stand up for herself? And is she in The Group - or out?

There's been a lot of praise for this books already, so I'll spare you my recap of the storyline - and how much I cried reading it. (Plus, Sarah already did that. Not the crying, the recap.) Instead, I want to focus on genre.

Memoir can be tricky. In this day and age, we're all amateur memoirists, constantly Instagramming and Pintersting our lives into scrapbooks of who we are, and what we did and what we wanted in our life and times. When a writer doesn't have a historical incident or a larger-than-life world to outline, memoir can seem self-involved and narcissistic. At least, that's how the New York Times criticizes most memoirists. However, memoir is actually a really good way to write for middle grade readers. It's a fun way to come to grips with the talking points of history, and I know that I read a metric TON of memoir in elementary school, as "acceptable" reading in the eyes of my parents. Told generally in the first person, memoir is truthful, without being totally factual. It takes giant bites of history and masticates them into digestible slivers, often taking readers back to a child's-eye-view of incidents, including historical incidents. The fact that memoir is more about episodes in someone's life than the day-to-day details of it make it good for younger readers as well, to read an episode, and set the book aside and think about it, or react to it. There are plenty of middle grade memoir books, but very few of them are quite so painfully personal, wherein the failures of parents, teachers, family, and friends are so clearly displayed. Rather than that casting shadow on the main character, however, or making her the most important character, it sheds life on how other people are living within the moment the main character feels is of utmost importance. More importantly, it turns the question around to the reader: Has this ever happened to you? What would YOU do? These are relatable questions, especially to younger folk.

As I've mentioned, memoir for me meant capital-H-history. It does seem like most of the memoir I've read for middle graders is from both the past, and is international. I've read books about growing up with rice paddies, the Communist Revolution, and the Holocaust. American memoir hasn't had too many huge historical incidents to grapple with in the past seventy years (although I distinctly remember reading We Were There books about the Normandy invasion in the fifth grade). Hale's book is rare in that it's recent history - just a slice-of-life from 1980's Utah. No big historical incidents happened there during that time: just life in elementary and middle school.

And, especially because both the writing and illustrations are brilliant? That's enough.

That's enough to let a kid know that their life has historical context. That's enough to remind them that "now" is not all there is, that someday, they will be 'looking back.'

The best memoir holds, once again, two ideas in tension. One, that life is a big-picture forest, and two, that this one, tiny ant is toiling along through this forest, trying to hang onto its load and keep in line behind its fellows. This keeps the characterization vivid. While this is both a story about one version of ant-Shannon growing up with anxiety and loneliness, it is also a story about the forest of imagination, and how ant-Shannon's lonesomeness was both cause and fuel for her imagination. Would she have had one without the other?

It's something to consider, while you're, as Dame Yolen puts it, telling your true.

Kelly Jensen put together a list of YA/MG non-fiction titles during the Cybils last year, of excellent narrative non-fiction. There's more great memoir out there, writers and readers.

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I received my copy of this book courtesy of the public library. You can find REAL FRIENDS by Shannon Hale & LeUyen Pham at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

Monday Review: REAL FRIENDS by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham

Synopsis: Shannon Hale is amazing. Just look at the range of YA and MG fantasy she's written, how awesome they all are, how beloved she is. And LeUyen Pham has long been one of our favorite illustrators here at Finding Wonderland. Now they've teamed up (SQUEE) on a heartfelt, hopeful middle-grade graphic novel that also happens to be a memoir of the author's tribulations with sisters and friends throughout elementary school.

Observations: Though some names and identifying details have been changed, at its heart this is still a story about Shannon herself as a girl. Imaginative, anxious, and eager to please, she finds that friendship is a bit more difficult to navigate than it had first appeared: friends move; friends change and grow apart; and sometimes friends become frenemies.

Unfortunately, sometimes bullies aren't only limited to school. This graphic novel tackles the difficult but important topic of bullying by older siblings. Shannon, as the middle sister of five siblings, struggles with finding her place at home as well as school. In the end, though it's not an easy or quick process, she discovers that it is possible to find true friends—and even repair broken relationships that once seemed hopeless. Change, after all, can be for the better.

This story handles tough situations like childhood anxiety and bullying with the gentle touch of someone who is no stranger to these challenges that many children face on a daily basis—but with a minimum of anger and blame. Not that Shannon-the-girl didn't get mad, or sad, or lay blame; but, from a later, wiser perspective, the story shows that patience and self-acceptance and kindness do bear fruit. And, as always, the artwork from LeUyen Pham strikes a perfect tone of charm, humor, and relatability, working seamlessly with the text to tell the story.

Conclusion: This book came out on May 2; this review is based on an advance reader's edition received from the publisher. Any kid who is struggling with friendship and finding their place in the world—and isn't that most kids?—will find a lot to recognize in this story, and hopefully will also find a lot of reasons to take heart, too.

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I received my copy of this book courtesy of the publisher, First Second. You can find REAL FRIENDS by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

Cybils Finalist Review: TRASHED by Derf Backderf

Synopsis: This is my last Cybils 2016 graphic novel finalist review! Last but not least is Trashed by Derf "Not His Real First Name" Backderf, an edutaining chronicle of the life cycle of garbage, and the trials and tribulations of a garbageman (apparently loosely based on a job the author actually held for a while).

Observations: I enjoyed the blending in of factual sequences describing the job details of a garbage collector and the journey garbage takes from curb to landfill and into the environment. It's bound to make readers think more about the trash they produce and about garbage as a global issue. As an older reader and homeowner, it was eye-opening to see things from the garbageman's perspective, and how we might not think twice about dumping random crap in the trash but it is truly somebody's job to deal with it, and it may have ramifications beyond just the mess in your garbage can.

The comic-strip style of this one was also enjoyable--plenty of humor in both the writing and the images, distinctive character art, and easy-to-understand diagrams in the educational portions. Having said that, because it IS distinctive, it won't be to everyone's taste; I wasn't sure if I'd like it at first because the characters have a weird blockiness to them that was a little off-putting, but it grew on me. (Which, in retrospect, seems like a terrible word choice for a book about garbage...)

Conclusion: There was plenty of hilarity here, in an old-school comic strip kind of style, and it offers an intriguing, humanizing window into the life of a garbageman as well as the life of garbage itself. The combination of educational elements with slice-of-life stories about the protagonist J.B. and his buddies was well done. The characters, of course, of necessity are adult characters, so that part doesn't feel very YA, I suppose, but older young adults might enjoy this one.

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I received my copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. You can find TRASHED by Derf Backderf at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

Cybils Finalist Review: MARCH: BOOK THREE

Synopsis: I had been looking forward to reading this one for quite some time, and I was not disappointed. In my opinion, the graphic novel format really lends itself to conveying history in a lively and interesting way, and there are few socio-cultural topics more relevant to the current American psyche than the ongoing discussion of race and civil rights. March: Book Three brings Congressman John Lewis's three-volume memoir of the civil rights movement to a close, but it has opened a much broader discussion--one that will, I hope, increase our understanding of pervasive injustice and our obligation to keep working on ourselves until we get it right.

Observations: The wealth of historical detail in this book--and the entire series--is presented in a way that the reader can readily engage with on a personal level, putting our recent history into context as a country struggling with race and racial identity. It is brilliantly told, both as a memoir of Congressman John Lewis's life and career, and as a story of the broader moment in time beyond his individual experiences. Actually, the unsung heroes, in a way, have just as much of a starring role here, and we can see and marvel at the level of sacrifice and determination put into helping this country adhere to its stated ideals.

click to embiggen

The semi-loose drawing style and monochrome color scheme help add drama and an active feel, making this much more than a static depiction of historical events. History comes alive here, and is interwoven with occasional scenes from the Obama presidency, showing both ends of the timeline and how they relate. The choice of which scenes to depict and how was very effective.

Conclusion: Such a densely informative historical chronicle is going to appeal to some readers and not others, but it is presented in a very engaging way, with its focus on action, emotion, and the earnest dedication of the central figure, John Lewis. This book makes it easy to connect with history on a personal level and SEE why it is so important to know about the events leading up to the Voting Rights Act.

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I received my copy of this book courtesy of my library. You can find MARCH: BOOK THREE by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

Cybils Review: DARE TO DISAPPOINT: GROWING UP IN TURKEY

Synopsis: This memoir of growing up in 1980s Turkey is a fascinating compare-and-contrast with the experience of growing up in America--I can't even say the West, because Turkey has long been a cultural crossroads between what we think of as West and East, between Europe and Asia. It was also one of my personal favorites from the YA Graphic Novels shortlist for Cybils this past year, and I was happy to see it's currently an Amazon bestseller in Teen and Young Adult Artist Biographies (not a category I was previously aware of, but there you go).

Observations: This memoir of growing up contains many relatable elements for non-Turkish readers—windows and mirrors are both available here, and the blend of new and recognizable will intrigue most readers who are also going through that journey of finding their own voices and facing family and societal obstacles. It's got plenty of humor, too, although a memoir about finding your calling isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea.

click to embiggen

Like Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, this is a valuable glimpse into growing up in a society that struggles between a long cultural history and Westernization, with competing directives for women growing up in that environment. Within that, the character proves to be a unique voice in and of herself, but also standing in for anyone struggling to find their own path among competing inner and outer voices. For its cultural diversity, its deceptive simplicity, and the thematic content, for me this scores high on literary merit (one of the Cybils criteria along with kid appeal).

This is one of my favorites of the Cybils shortlist for sheer artistry—the author is so well versed in traditional comic-book conventions that she can easily toy with them (removing panel borders, inserting art that meanders across the page) without sacrificing ease of readability. Characters were easy to distinguish and emotionally easy to "read," and the use of collage elements was outstanding.

Conclusion: Lots of readers, especially those with a creative bent, will relate to this story of not quite fitting in and finding the courage to be yourself in the face of external pressures--daring to disappoint those who might have wanted something different.

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I received my copy of this book courtesy of my library. You can find DARE TO DISAPPOINT: GROWING UP IN TURKEY by Ozge Samanci at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

Turning Pages Reads: HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD, edited by KELLY JENSEN

Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!

It took me a while to get to this review, not because I didn't read the book, but because I didn't want to finish it. This anthology took forever to read, as I delayed the ending, but I knew it didn't matter - because I will be reading some of these essays and cartoons and lists gain and again.

Synopsis: To me, this book is about identity, and how we live it out in our individual ways. The book is divided into Beginning the Journey, Bodies & Minds, Gender & Sexuality, Pop Culture, Relationships, Confidence & Ambition, and finally concludes with Go Your Own Way, which touches on the many ways people can be feminists. Each section has between 8 - 15 essays, cartoons, lists, glossaries, illustrations, songs, or doodles on the subject, written by people of various identities and abilities. Readers feel welcomed into the book from any direction. I started out reading from the front cover, and then flipped to a cartoon, circled back to another essay, and then read specific essays on various topics after that. Eventually, I made my way through everything.

Observations: Feminism is a concept which, when one is familiar with a world which lacks intersectionality, one does not necessarily expect to find oneself. To be blunt: I didn't really think this book was for me. Full disclosure: I've met and quite like the editor, I've met some of the poets and artists and essayists, but... Feminism. It's not an identity I've had time to explore.

As a woman of color, feminism seemed like unto yoga: something a lot of white women get into seriously and give side-eye at other people for not quite belonging. As a person raised in faith and wrestling with relating a tradition-bound religious patriarchy to an allegedly loving and equality creating Divinity, feminism seemed like something both too deep and too complicated to add to the mix. And yet: shouldn't anyone who believes in human equality be feminist? I realized I wasn't quite sure anymore what feminism was supposed to be... and I thought this book would be perfect since it's aimed at teens, and I know that books for younger readers often help adult readers get a grip on a concept. I sat down and tried to read with an open mind.

Almost at once, I found a few favorite pieces which spoke to my heart, among them Lisa Prince's So I Guess This Is Growing Up, about her struggles with being a misogynist to becoming feminist; Kaye Mirza's Faith and the Feminist ("As long as I practice my faith, to many, I am nothing but a secondhand feminist."); the beautifully drawn, The Princess and the Witch by Wendy Xu; Ashley Hope Pérez's The "Nice Girl" Feminist, and 5 Tips for "Nice Girl" Feminists. It was like seeing a pair of signal flags waving from the runway saying, "Your Spot Right Here." There's this feeling of, "Oh! Huh," when you find your tribe and didn't expect it.

Conclusion: This book is something which should simply be experienced. I'm not big on gushing, especially about books done by friends. I try to be objective and restrained. But, I just think this book is worth buying - for anyone. For everyone. I can't be more objective than that. The little arrows on the front that say "Here We Are" are for you, too. You're Here. We all are - and it's a surprise and a hopeful little blessing.

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I purchased my copy of this book. You can find HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD edited by Kelly Jensen, at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

Turning Pages Reads: EVERY FALLING STAR, by SUNGJU LEE

Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!

Many teens struggle with historical fiction which seems like a genre of "long ago and far away." The history of North Korea happened - and is still happening - right now. This book is a first-person bildungsroman useful for World History classes looking for an added dimension in their units on Communist governments. At times wistful and aching, this novel will give readers a tiny window into a world not their own. We need these stories, especially as the world grows more chaotic, to remember that we must have compassion for each other - we must. Or we'll doom each other to believing the worst propaganda and lies about each other.

Synopsis: Life for Sungju in Pyongyang, North Korea, meant star-gazing with his grandfather, playing army with his parents, amusement parks, and picnics on warm afternoons. A child of privilege, Sungju lived much like an American kid - he went to his school and taekwondo lessons, listened as his mother played their baby grand piano, and didn't worry much about anything. But life changed quickly, when Sunju was eleven. A "vacation" in the country from their beautiful home left them in a one-room shack in a coastal town. The prep-school where he proudly attended with good equipment and new books was exchanged for a little school with old books and students whose level he'd passed done long ago. Everyone was thin and weary looking, and suspicious. Naively, Sungju thought his classmates were lying, when they talked about eating squirrel. The money his parents had went not for private lessons or special picnics, but for simple peasant food... and soon even that wasn't available. School outings weren't museums, but executions. It was the 1990's, and the system had broken. Soon, there were no longer rations for those who worked, and everyone -- everyone -- was foraging, then stealing. Even Sungju, who had known a different world.

While joining a gang gave Sungju a measure of self-respect, there was nothing which could return to him his parents, nor his sense of the world as being a safe and understandable place. But, with his friends beside him, Sungju refused to give up hope that something would make sense. His is a story of survival.

Observations: We don't actually have as much memoir and first person creative non-fiction as we should in YA lit. Hearing voices from other communities and other countries can be so valuable to teachers trying to find a way to humanize current events. Though this novel's repeated tale of miseries, hunger, and gang battles may sometimes feel like a successful "thug life" story, the emotional resonance keeps the novel on track, and will, I think, open up a lot of thoughtful conversation afterwards, much like The Diary of Anne Frank and other such honest books. While the reader is held at somewhat a remove from the circumstances, the author still gives the narrative the feeling of "being there."

The biggest message that readers receive is that there is very little difference in our lives, except for circumstance. We are who and where we are, not because we or our country is better, or because we've somehow earned our privilege, but because we are - in this turn of Fortune's wheel, in this time and place - lucky and blessed. It is the author's point, I think, that this should remind us to be compassionate - not only with others, but with ourselves, if and when our own fortunes change.

Conclusion: While at times painful, this book had the positive of exploring life in wealth and in poverty in North Korea, and the hopes and dreams of a young man, whose understanding of the gift of democracy and freedom is its own gift to its readers.

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I received my copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. Afte September 13th, you can find EVERY FALLING STAR by Sungju Lee, with Susan Elizabeth McClelland at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!