Finding Baba Yaga

Finding Baba Yaga by Jane Yolen     144 pages

From Goodreads:

A harsh, controlling father. A quiescent mother. A house that feels like anything but a home. Natasha gathers the strength to leave, and comes upon a little house in the wood: A house that walks about on chicken feet and is inhabited by a fairy tale witch. In finding Baba Yaga, Natasha finds her voice, her power, herself....

A mythic yet timely novel-in-verse by the beloved and prolific author and poet Jane Yolen, “the Hans Christian Andersen of America.”

Yolen reinvents the classic tale of Baba Yaga with a modern twist, and poetry. I loved the texture of words Yolen created, mixing soft with rough, kind with unkind. You could really get a sense of Tash's turmoil, her sense of self. Her character growth is well developed, from afraid and weak to strong and confident under the Baba's tutelage. 

There are some wonderfully playful elements to this story, between Tash and Vasilisa, and even with Baba Yaga. Yolen plays with modern elements, like with Baba Yaga's upgraded house elements, but still keeps much of the traditional story, like Baba Yaga teaching the girls to fly with the mortar and pestle. All the fun, interesting bits of Baba Yaga lore are there for fans to see, but Yolen also does a good job of ushering a new generation of Baba Yaga enthusiasts into the story, giving time to explain some of the more traditional elements of Baba Yaga's story. 

I really enjoyed this book, and once again, Yolen really hooked me into this modern fantasy world.

Rebound

Rebound by Kwame Alexander, 414 pages

“Before Josh and Jordan Bell were streaking up and down the court, their father was learning his own moves. In this prequel to Newbery Medal winner The Crossover, Chuck Bell takes center stage, as readers get a glimpse of his childhood and how he became the jazz music worshiping, basketball star his sons look up to.  A novel in verse with all the impact and rhythm readers have come to expect from Kwame Alexander, Rebound will go back in time to visit the childhood of Chuck "Da Man" Bell during one pivotal summer when young Charlie is sent to stay with his grandparents where he discovers basketball and learns more about his family's past.”  This is a great book for reluctant readers.  Despite its length, there is a lot of white space because it is in verse.  A great pick for teens who like realistic fiction, especially boys.

Solo

Solo by Kwame Alexander, 458 pages

“Blade never asked for a life of the rich and famous. In fact, he'd give anything not to be the son of Rutherford Morrison, a washed-up rock star and drug addict with delusions of a comeback. Or to no longer be part of a family known most for lost potential, failure, and tragedy, including the loss of his mother. The one true light is his girlfriend, Chapel, but her parents have forbidden their relationship, assuming Blade will become just like his father. In reality, the only thing Blade and Rutherford have in common is the music that lives inside them. And songwriting is all Blade has left after Rutherford, while drunk, crashes his high school graduation speech and effectively rips Chapel away forever. But when a long-held family secret comes to light, the music disappears. In its place is a letter, one that could bring Blade the freedom and love he's been searching for, or leave him feeling even more adrift.” Despite the length, this would work well for reluctant teen readers.  There’s lots of white space and the story is amazing.

Traffick

Traffick by Ellen Hopkins, 505 pages

“Five teens victimized by sex trafficking try to find their way to a new life in this riveting companion to the #1 New York Times bestselling Tricks from Ellen Hopkins, author of Crank.  In her bestselling novel, Tricks , Ellen Hopkins introduced us to five memorable characters tackling enormous questions: Eden, the preacher's daughter who turns tricks in Las Vegas and is helped into a child prostitution rescue; Seth, the gay farm boy disowned by his father; Whitney, the privileged kid coaxed into the life by a pimp; Ginger, who runs away from home with her girlfriend and is arrested for soliciting an undercover cop; and Cody, whose gambling habit forces him into the life.  And now, in Traffick , these five are faced with the toughest question of all: Is there a way out? How these five teenagers face the aftermath of their decisions and experiences is the soul of this story that exposes the dark, ferocious underbelly of the child trafficking trade. Heart wrenching and hopeful, Traffick takes us on five separate but intertwined journeys through the painful challenges of recovery, rehabilitation, and renewal to forgiveness and love.” This is gritty subject matter, as always with Hopkins’s books, but handled almost gently.  While some of the stories may shock some teens, this is a subject that should be addressed, as many teens have the potential to become victims or to know someone who is or has been a victim.  I would recommend this for teens who like realistic fiction, especially in poetry form.

Long Way Down

Long WayDown by Jason Reynolds, 304 pages

“An ode to Put the Damn Guns Down, this is National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestseller Jason Reynolds's fiercely stunning novel that takes place in sixty potent seconds--the time it takes a kid to decide whether or not he's going to murder the guy who killed his brother.

A cannon. A strap.
A piece. A biscuit.
A burner. A heater.
A chopper. A gat.
A hammer
A tool
for RULE

Or, you can call it a gun. That's what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge . That's where Will's now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brother's gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who he's after. Or does he? As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Buck, Will finds out, is who gave Shawn the gun before Will took the gun. Buck tells Will to check that the gun is even loaded. And that's when Will sees that one bullet is missing. And the only one who could have fired Shawn's gun was Shawn. Huh. Will didn't know that Shawn had ever actually USED his gun. Bigger huh. BUCK IS DEAD. But Buck's in the elevator? Just as Will's trying to think this through, the door to the next floor opens. A teenage girl gets on, waves away the smoke from Dead Buck's cigarette. Will doesn't know her, but she knew him. Knew. When they were eight. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES. And so it goes, the whole long way down, as the elevator stops on each floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows. A story that might never know an END...if WILL gets off that elevator. Told in short, fierce staccato narrative verse, Long Way Down is a fast and furious, dazzlingly brilliant look at teenage gun violence, as could only be told by Jason Reynolds.” Hard hitting and timely, this would be a great choice for reluctant readers.

Booked

Booked by Kwame Alexander, 314 pages

Nick is crazy about soccer.  He’s not so crazy about words, especially reading his father’s dictionary every day to learn new ones.  His father is a word nerd and he wants Nick to increase his vocabulary.  Nick secretly kind of likes knowing so many odd and interesting words, but he doesn’t like being forced to learn them.  When Nick’s parents start having marital problems and it looks like some things may get in the way of Nick playing soccer, Nick feels like his whole life is falling apart.  This book told in verse was excellent.  Great for reluctant readers because of the amount of white space, it’s realistic story will appeal to a wide variety of kids.  

Unbound

Unbound by Ann E. Burg, 345 pages

“The day nine-year-old Grace is called to work in the kitchen in the Big House, everyone warns her to keep her head down and her thoughts to herself, but the more she sees of the oppressive Master and his hateful wife, the more she questions things until one day her thoughts escape--and to avoid being separated she and her family flee into the Dismal Swamp, to join the other escaped slaves who live there.”  This novel in verse was a good story.  I would recommend it to kids who like historical fiction.

The You I've Never Known

The You I'veNever Known by Ellen Hopkins, 590 pages

This young adult novel in verse tells the story of Ariel who's been moving around with her dad for as long as she can remember.  Her mom ran out when she was little and she and her dad have always traveled to new places. Ariel longs for some stability and is thrilled when she and her dad finally stay in the same town for her junior year of high school.  Ariel hopes that she can graduate from here also, especially since she's made some really good friends.  There's even one very good, maybe more than a friend, that she can't tell her dad about because the friend is also a girl.  Another, coinciding story, is about Maya, who wants to get away from her controlling mother.  Maya and Ariel's stories come together in a way that I found predictable, but the story was still good.  Hopkins is pretty decent about telling stories in verse.  Sometimes I'm able to forget that I'm reading poetry and just read the story.  Maya's sections are told in prose which helped me enjoy this book more.  Realistic fiction fans will want to read this.

Audacity

Audacity by Melanie Crowder, 389 pages

Clara is a young Jewish girl whose family has escaped the Russian pogroms in the early 1900s and come to America.  In Russia, Clara was interested in learning but her family felt that education for a girl would be a waste of time.  Clara’s role was to learn to be obedient and to find a good husband.  Clara hopes that in America things will be different.  She wants to become a doctor.  She realizes quickly that nothing will change how her family feels but that she may be able to make her own decisions.  Forced to work in a factory sweatshop, Clara still finds time to attend classes but also realizes that she is interested in the unions that some of her coworkers are trying to organize to create better working conditions.  Despite her family’s objections, Clara becomes instrumental in the organization effort.  Told in a series of poems, this book is loosely based on the real life of Clara Lemlich, a young Jewish woman originally from Russia, who fought valiantly for the worker’s rights and the establishment of the unions.  Although books in verse are still not really my thing, this was a good story and a lot of teens will like the fact that, because of the format, it is a quick read.

Another Day As Emily

Another Day As Emily by Eileen Spinelli, 224 pages

Suzy’s brother, Parker, is a hero.  He found a neighbor collapsed on the floor and called 911.  He is only four and everyone is making a fuss over him, making him cookies, newspaper interviews, parade invitations.  Suzy is happy for him but a little jealous.  As part of the summer program at the library, Suzy learns about Emily Dickinson and dresses up to give a report on her.  After a terrible birthday experience (ruined by Parker, of course) and not getting cast in a part in the community play, Suzy decides to become a recluse, just like Emily.  But being a recluse is harder than she thought.  This is a sweet story, told in verse about a girl trying to grow up and figure out her life.  Give this to kids who like real life stories told in verse.

Rumble

Rumble by Ellen Hopkins, 546 pages

Told in verse, as all of Hopkins’s books are, this tells the story of Matthew, who has lost not only his faith in God, but faith in most of the human race also.  His brother, Luke, committed suicide a few months ago.  He was being bullied because he was gay.  Matthew blames his parents, the kids at school, and would even blame God, if he believed in God anymore.  But mostly Matthew blames himself for not being there when his brother needed him most.  This is the story of Matt’s journey through this process, including his parents’ marital problems, his problems in his own relationship with his girlfriend, and his struggle with his lack of belief in God.  Give this to teens who like books about issues and who like books in verse.

The Red Pencil

The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney, 308 pages

This novel, told in verse, is the story of Amira, a little girl growing up in Southern Darfur.  She dreams of being able to go to school but her mother is against it.  Her father believes that she is capable but won’t go against her mother’s wishes.  Except for this one wish, Amira is actually pretty happy, until the day the Janjaweed come and destroy their village.  Amira and her family are forced to go to a displaced persons camp in Sudan where Amira loses her voice.  This story is a very powerful one about a very real issue that is happening today.  Because the Amira in the story is also an artist the book is filled with drawings that are supposed to be hers.  This is a well done, compelling story that a lot of kids would enjoy reading.