Nigeria Jones

Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi
Harper Collins Publishers, 9780062888846

16-year-old Nigeria Jones was raised to be a warrior princess, fight against White Supremacy and support the Movement headed by her father, the famous Black separatist Kofi Sankofa. Without her mom’s support, Nigeria questions her own place in her father’s vision, especially when she begins to explore the world on her own and discovers that people don’t always sort into tidy categories.

The narration is instantly engaging, and although the astute reader will predict some of her revelations, Nigeria’s journey is a compelling page-turner. The on-page sex scene is poetic rather than specific. Recommended for ages 12 to adult.

Abortion, bullying, cussing (mild), death, diversity, friendship, gay friends, high school, homophobia, kissing, mental health, on-page sex, parents, pregnancy, racism, teachers.

Dread Nation

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Y'all need to understand that I am a coward, a complete chicken pants. I can't watch scary movies and I definitely can't read scary books...

...which makes Dread Nation something special.

It's the story of a young woman, Jane McKeene, born just two days before the dead at the Battle of Gettysburg began to rise up and attack the living. Now Jane is at a required school, where black girls are trained to kill the undead... and Jane has serious zombie-slaying skills.

Part suspense, part mystery, part adventure, and a big part social commentary, this book kept me turning pages from beginning to end. It's not too scary...but there are a lot of zombies. And they aren't all, um, dead yet.

Book #1 in a series but this one stands alone while offering a nice setup for book #2. Mild cussing, some kissing and other sexual situations, a bucket ton of racism, plus zombies. 

Highly recommended for ages 12 and up.

Orphan Monster Spy

Orphan Monster Spy  by Matt Killeen

15 year old Sarah is blonde, blue-eyed, and (according to Nazi reckoning) Jewish.  She is a talented gymnast, she speaks several languages, she is adept at assimilating.  In other words, she is perfectly suited to be a spy.

Assigned to infiltrate a school for the privileged daughters of high-ranking SS officers so she can discover the hidden location of a new kind of bomb, Sarah (now called "Ursula") sneaks, lies, snoops, and tricks her way into the top level of mean girls.  She finds the bomb...and much more.

The author's buckets of research and attention to character-building elevate this story above the adventures of James Bond, but some elements strain credulity.  The book is not quite as good as Code Name Verity, however, readers interested in the time-period will be fascinated by the descriptions from inside Nazi Germany.  

Although no sequel is specified, there is clearly more adventure in store for Sarah/Ursula.

Recommended for readers ages 14 to adult. 

The Black Witch

The Black Witch  by Laurie Forest

Elloren Gardner is the granddaughter -- and the perfect likeness -- of the original Black Witch, who drove back enemy forces and saved her people during the Realm War.  Because of the power of the Black Witch, Elloren's people are undisputed rulers now.  

Long after the death of her famous grandmother, Elloren was raised by her uncle in a small village, surrounded by people very much like her and her family.  Now it is time for her to travel to the big city, to attend University there, and possibly to meet someone to marry. 

Unlike those in the village, the people in the city are very diverse.  And, because this is a fantasy book, these diverse people don't simply have differently-colored skin and hair; instead, some of them have wings, some turn into wolves, and others have types of magic that Elloren has never seen before.  Elloren has always been told that people who are different are also inferior, or even evil. Why should she question this?

If you have ever read a book before, you will probably be able to predict what happens to Elloren when she actually gets to know a werewolf, a selkie, and some people with wings.  In The Black Witch, as is common in literature, the main character evolves and grows from a state of ignorance to a state of enlightenment (or at least, less ignorance).

However, YA blogger Shauna Sinyard didn't think that the change happened fast enough or convincingly enough.  In a very long and damning book review, she condemned both the book and those who enjoyed reading the book. She calls the book "the most dangerous, offensive book I have ever read.  It's racist, ableist, homophobic, and is written with no marginalized people in mind."

Ms Sinyard is welcome to her opinion, of course.  However, by urging Twitter and Tumblr followers to boost the signal by posting 1-star reviews on Goodreads and elsewhere without actually reading the book, a line is crossed.  

I do not always write glowing reviews.   

(Here's a review of a book that was originally well-received and later banned, which I consider a 3-star ho-hum of a read.  Here's another review of a book that just wasn't very well-written.) 

I do, however, always read an entire book before reviewing it.  

So, what was my verdict?

First off, I read this book in about a day and a half, skipping meals and ignoring bedtime to finish it. 

It's a quick, engaging story with magic, family drama, and several star-crossed romances. There was minimal cussing, some nekkidness, discussions of mating rituals with no sex on the page, and mentions of off-page sexual abuse.  The story did not explore new ground, philosophically speaking.  From Huckleberry Finn to Harry Potter, literature is filled with characters who overcome ignorance by getting to know an individual.  The Black Witch follows absolutely in those footsteps.

Ms Sinyard also seems unaware that "The Black Witch Chronicles" will be a series.  Her complaint that the character changes happen too slowly over hundreds of pages would be valid if the entire tale were told in a single volume.  However, the advertisement for book #2 The Iron Flower (due for release in May 2018) included at the back of my book served as an important clue:  the story is not yet finished.  

And as soon as I finished The Black Witch, I put myself in the library's hold queue for book #2.

Read it, and decide for yourself.  I thought it was a great book, and entirely appropriate and recommended for ages 14 to adult.

Like a River Glorious

Like a River Glorious  by Rae Carson (Gold Seer Trilogy #2)

Lee Westfall and her companions have arrived (mostly) safely, in California.  Soon Lee's "witchy" senses are detecting more gold than all of them will ever need--it's in the water, in the dirt, and in the rock walls above the small encampment they build.  

But the citizens of Glory are not the only gold seekers in California.  Her wicked uncle Hiram still hunts her, and he has plans for Lee that she has never dreamed, even in her worst nightmares.

Solid historical fiction with just a touch of magic.  The issues faced by the Chinese, the local native tribes, and the "confirmed bachelors" are not ignored, which is refreshing.  Of course the problems faced by women--considered akin to property or livestock by US and territorial law at the time--are essential to the story.

This is a fitting companion to Walk on Earth a Stranger, with some (not lots) of cussing, discussions of drug use (laudanum), and some referrals to prostitution (not shown on the page).  

Recommended for readers ages 12 to adult.

The Nightingale

The Nightingale  by Kristin Hannah

WWII is on, the Nazis have invaded, and France is occupied.  Elder sister Vianne is committed to surviving and to keeping her daughter safe.  Younger sister Isabelle is outraged, and determined to join the Résistance and beat the Germans.  The siblings rarely agree and are separated by time and politics for almost the entire duration of the conflict.

The point is made several times during the story that "war stories" are almost always about (and told by) men, and that the Nazis often overlooked the role of women in warfare, sometimes to the tremendous detriment of the Third Reich. 

Not everything goes well, of course.  Some of the wrong people are taken away, some of the characters that readers attach to come to grievous harm.  Very few of the characters would be objectively considered "good people"...and yet, the details of their lives are so compelling that the book is difficult to put down.

Written for adult audiences but with plenty of teen appeal, especially for readers of Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire.  Sexual situations are mostly off-page, but some of the violence (and torture) is not.

Highly recommended for readers ages 14 to adult, and especially for book discussion groups.

Joyride

Joyride   by Anna Banks
Feiwell and Friends, 2015.  978-1-250-03961-3  $1799.  276p

Carly Vegas lives with her older brother, going to school and working at night, helping to earn enough money to pay the smuggler who will bring her parents and younger twin siblings back across the border.  

She needs to keep a low profile, not attracting attention because what they are doing is obviously illegal.  She needs school to get a real job, a good college, and  move ahead. Her life revolves around school, grades, and work.  So why then, does she keep finding herself going out with Arden Moss, son of the local sheriff?

The attraction of the two opposites, we know, will lead to disaster.  It is impossible not to watch and root for the two.  While it is heartening to see racism addressed in YA lit, the sheriff father’s racist reactions to Mexicans is just too stereotypical.  Carly’s reactions to racism in the book are spot-on.  She is a smart, capable heroine who has goals and sticks with them.   Arden is a less-defined character.  Although likable, he carries lots of baggage, dealing with it in inappropriate ways.  There is growth on his part, but in the long run, life is too easy for him.  Even Carly comments on this.

The ending is too swift, too pat to be believable.  Although this was a Quick Pick, many teens will find that it drags in the middle.  It is also sad that Banks uses the need to make money as a reason why the family promotes a “you shouldn’t care about school” attitude. 

Despite these problems, the book is still a good read.

recommended 12 up