Recommended Reads: Flight

This week, we're recommending a book that is kind of controversial. Actually, to be more specific, it's not so much the BOOK that is controversial but the author, Sherman Alexie. Alexie, whom you might know from reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has recently been accused of inappropriate behavior towards women  - allegations which he has chosen not to fully respond to.

So, if this is a deal breaker to you, you can stop here and we'll be cool with that.
Since YCLD doesn't censor books or limit what you are allowed to check out, we're going to recommend Flight (<--- click the link to go to the library's catalog and find a copy) to you for a couple of very good reasons. First, it's one of the books that was chosen this year to be part of the Great Stories Book Club (our library is one of only two in Arizona that was chosen to be part of this club this year!) and second, it's a REALLY good book.

Honestly. I 100% did not think I was going to like this book when I picked it up because it's pretty different from what I usually read, but I was seriously hooked from the first couple of pages. I'm not going to lie - some of the language and subject matter in the story is tough to read, and it's not going to be for everyone's tastes.

The story is basically this: Zits is a half Native-American, half Irish kid in the foster system. He's been in and out of juvie a bunch of times because, as he will tell you himself, he hates everyone - especially himself. He keeps getting kicked out of foster homes because of his attitude, and as the story begins he's just gotten kicked out of his latest one for cussing out his foster dad on his first day there. Zits gets picked up by the cops, and meets a kid his age named Justice who instantly becomes his new best friend. They run away together, and Justice convinces Zits to do something INCREDIBLY stupid: using a couple of guns Justice has gotten his hands on, they plan to rob a bank.

Not to spoil things too much for you, but things go REALLY, REALLY, super wrong and Zits gets himself shot.... and as he is dying, something amazing happens: he gains the ability to time-travel. Downside: he can only time travel by jumping into someone else's body, and he has no control over whose body it is or what time period he ends up in. I won't say much more about it, but things get weird fast, and Zits ends up learning a LOT about himself and other people. That's all I am going to say about it so I can avoid mega-spoilers, but it's definitely a good read.

Official rating: 4/4 Booker Bears

Recommended Reads: Kindred - A Graphic Novel Adaptation

Kindred (the graphic novel version of the novel by Octavia Butler) asks a really interesting and difficult to answer question: would you save the life of an ancestor who you know is a pretty terrible person just to make sure you could be born? Of course, none of us would ever be in that actual situation, but it is the exact situation the main character, Dana, finds herself in.

You see, Dana is a black woman living in the 1970's with a pretty serious problem: she keeps getting sucked back in time to the days when slavery was legal - and every time it happens it is because she has to save the life of her great-great-great grandfather: a man she knows was a slave owner who forced her slave ancestor to have children with him. If Dana ever decides NOT to save his life, there's a pretty good chance she will never actually be born - or at the very least she could get stuck in the past for the rest of her life, and have to live as a slave.

Each time Dana gets pulled back in time, horrible things seem to happen: she even loses one of her arms, as she tells us in the first pages of the book. Yes, some of the stuff that happens to Dana put the "graphic" in graphic novel, but they are things that really happened to real slaves in our country's past. The book really makes you wonder how far a person can be willing to go to survive. You can borrow it at the link ---> here.

Official rating: 4/4 Booker Bears.

Featured Artist: Dani

Our artist of the week this week is Dani. She made us this awesome pencil sketch of Rider from the Splatoon manga! Excellent work Dani!

Rider from Splatoon by Dani

If you want to read all about Rider's adventures, you can check out the Splatoon manga from your nearest library. Check it out here: Splatoon at YCLD

Featured Artist: Melina Flores

This week's featured work of art comes to us from Melina Flores who drew this awesome picture of Tsuyu from the My Hero Academia anime and manga. Great job Melina!

Tsuyu from My Hero Academia by Melina Flores

If you want to check out Melina's inspiration for this work of art, check out the My Hero Academia manga from your nearest library! They're available here: My Hero Academia at YCLD

Featured Artist: Lilith Trip

This week's featured artwork is a pencil sketch by Lilith Trip. It's fan art from Deltarune and we think it's amazing! In case you do not know, Deltarune is a video game, and is a spin off of Undertale.

By the way, Lilith has an Instagram for her art, @TheDemonWolf1548 so give her a follow to show her some support. 

Great job Lilith!

Pencil sketch by Lilith Trip.

If you want to submit art for our blog, drop it off in person at your nearest library's teen room, or e-mail us a high resolution Jpeg scan at teen@yumalibrary.org