Eleanor & Park

 Rowell, R. (2013). Eleanor & Park. New York: St. Martin's Griffin.
She is overweight and her looks stick our like a sore thumb. Becoming the new target at her new school, Eleanor endures harsh comments and is bullied by her peers. Park is half Korean and feels like an outsider. Eleanor's family is poor with no money, while Park's family is well off and comfortable financially. Their relationship began with minimal interactions, but soon led to a more in depth emotional journey. As each other's true first love, both Eleanor and Park navigate different lifestyles and become cautious as they become more involved with one another. Eleanor's stepdad is easily triggered with anger by Eleanor's actions and he throughs  a twist into end of the story that one would not expect.

This was my first audiobook that I had ever used. I was able to use my school district's Over Drive. I did not like the way this book ended. I found that I felt like I was left hanging. Although I liked the storyline, the way it came to a halt, just irritated me. I was expecting a different ending, more positive. I liked how different personalities were attracted to one another, but the thoughts and some quotes were depressing and harsh. Some of the situations were harsh as well. Such as a mother allowing her children to be around a man who is could be abusive and cause children to become fearful of behaviors or actions. 

Yaqui Delgado Wants To Kick Your Ass

Medina, M. (2013). Yaqui Delgado Wants To Kick Your Ass. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

Piddy Sanchez has a lot to deal with this school year. Her best friends has moved away and seems to be to busy lately for her, she has to move because of some building structure failure, and she has to deal with the aftermath of being brutally attacked by the school bully. To add to the already agonizing list, she has no idea who her father is and nor will her mother tell her. Piddy experiences withdraw from school, family, and life in general, not to mention changing her appearance. Piddy learns to fight back, although not the way she wanted to, but ultimately the way that would end right for her.

Medina presents to the reader a well-developed first person encounter of a victim to bullying. The character of Piddy gives adolescents today an idea of what does and can happen. It provides adolescents a sense of what psychological impacts can cause them to withdraw from those around them who care. Medina makes it seem as though Piddy thought she could handle the bully when in fact she needed help desperately. She was beginning to not care about what happened to her and her future. Medina shows the readers that even if something tragic like this type of bullying did happen, you can over come it with the help of friends and family. She also show the readers that the conflict may not always resolve to plan, but will do so in a format that is suitable for the individual and the situation.

I read this book while driving home from Arkansas this past weekend and had to close the book at times to emotionally grasps what Piddy was experiencing. With bullying such a popular topic in today’s education, this book is ideal for young adults to read. It provides the victims point of view that many do not see until they are the victim. It provides a window of what emotional impact bullies have on others and what such altercations can do to someone. When finishing the last page, I turned to my husband and we discussed what we experienced in school as the minority and newbies. We both experienced situations like Piddy in a sense, both new and “fresh meat”. We discussed what entailed in our encounters and how we dealt with the bullies on our campuses. For some time the silence made me wonder what my students go through outside of my classroom. I try to be very aware of such situations and get ahold of it before it escalates, but wonder what is it I don’t see amongst them and what do they encounter outside of school.

Reviews

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-Piddy Sanchez seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her best friend moves away and Piddy's Mom literally has the floor pulled out from under her as the small staircase in their apartment building collapses, forcing the family to move to another part of Queens. The move does have a bonus. For the first time, Piddy will have her own room, but it comes at a price-she has to start at a new school. Her developing body is starting to attract some unwanted attention from the Latino boys in the school as well as from Yaqui Delgado. Yaqui feels that the teenager is shaking her booty and doesn't consider her a fellow Latina. Piddy's skin is too light, she doesn't have an accent, and she does well in school. The bullying escalates and Yaqui and her crew seem to have it in for Piddy and her blossoming bottom. The teenager also faces some internal struggles as she searches for information on a father she has never known or even seen. Roxanne Hernandez, a fluent Spanish speaker, pronounces the occasional Spanish words nicely and provides a great voice and tone for each character. The Latin music at the beginning and ending of each CD (Piddy is half Cuban and half Dominican) adds a cultural element. With a title that is sure to draw attention and Medina's great story (Candlewick, 2013) to back it up, this is a definite purchase.-Katie Llera, Bound Brook High School, NJ

Booklist

When Piedad “Piddy” Sanchez hears that Yaqui Delgado is going to crush her, she has no idea why she has become a target of one of the roughest girls in her new Queens school. But Yaqui tells everyone Piddy is a skank who shakes her ass when she walks, and as the bullying escalates from threats to physical attacks, Piddy finds herself living in constant fear. A strong student with a bright future at her old school, Piddy starts skipping school, and her grades nosedive. After a truly upsetting attack on Piddy is uploaded to YouTube, she realizes this isn’t a problem she can solve on her own. Medina authentically portrays the emotional rigors of bullying through Piddy’s growing sense of claustrophobic dread, and even with no shortage of loving, supportive adults on her side, there’s no easy solution. With issues of ethnic identity, class conflict, body image, and domestic violence, this could have been an overstuffed problem novel; instead, it transcends with heartfelt, truthful writing that treats the complicated roots of bullying with respect. Grades 8-11. --Krista Hutley

Grasshopper Jungle: A History

Smith, A. (2014). Grasshopper jungle: A history. New York, NY: Speak.

Accidents happen, but what about releasing indestructible mutant insect that are taking over? Oh, and these mutant insect are only interested in food and sex. Not only has Austin and his best friend, Robby, just unleash a death wish, but Austin is also confused about his sexuality.  He loves his girlfriend, Shann, but has intense feelings for Andy? Austin’s thought are all over the place, he cannot seem to focus. What teenager could when the world is being attacked?

This science fiction novel is appropriate for adolescents 14 year of age and up.  Smith presents a story that is humorous, but also deals with surviving the mutant insects while trying to figure out one’s sexuality. The characters also deal with bullying from peers within their deserted town and drugs within their families.  

This novel would be ideal for a book club or a small group of students. Discussion amongst the students can be about discovering who they are, weeding through the emotions and mix feelings.  Side discussions could be about the science fiction part of the novel and the events that came to be with the release of the mutant insects.