Between the Lines

New Books for Middle Schoolers

An order of new YA literature arrived and it was so exciting to see the middle schoolers gobbling up the new books. As soon as word got out that there were new YA books, the library passes for book selection came rolling in. The order contained many books that I heard about at a workshop – The Best New Young Adult Books, led by a dynamic speaker, Kathleen Odean. After the workshop I was so excited about the new titles that I drove right over to Barnes and Noble to buy some of them. Melissa and I have been skimming through the new arrivals. Below are some of our favorites.

Marina Budhos’ Ask Me No Questions looks at the life of an immigrant family from Bangladesh after 9/11. The expression “Ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies,” goes to the heart of Nadira’s family’s problems. Her family attempts to gain asylum in the United States by driving to the Canadian border from their home in New York City. A lot is riding on their attempt to gain asylum. Their biggest fear is being sent back to Bangladesh and having to leave their life in America. As they wait for news of their father held in a detention center in Vermont, they watch the men of their tight knit Muslim community, disappear in the night. Today’s Boston Globe (1/30/07) has an article on the prospects for citizenship for people currently working without papers in this country.

I bet you never knew Pop Warner of Pop Warner football got his start as a coach of Native American children in boarding schools run by the U.S. government. Pop Warner coached one of the greatest atheletes of this country, Jim Thorpe. Jim Thorpe – Original All-American by Joseph Bruchac is based on Bruchac’s research into Thorpe’s life – interviews with family members and the reading of many primary sources. Bruchac is an American Indian, as was Thorpe.