Gabi, A Girl in Pieces

Isabel Quintero's Gabi, A Girl in Pieces is a realistic fiction novel about Gabi Hernandez told in the form of diary entries. It is a Young Adult novel, and it was published in 2014. Gabi is a high school senior with a pregnant best friend, a gay best friend, and a plethora of other modern teenage girl problems. Gabi is the oldest child of a Mexican American family. Her mother is a strict woman with conservative values, and her father is rarely around because he is a methamphetamine addict. Her younger brother, Beto, is a normal teenage boy with a propensity for getting into a bit of trouble. And when Gabi's mother discovers she is pregnant, Gabi's aunt, who is much more conservative than Gabi's mother comes to live with the family, who must deal with listening to her judgmental commentary. Throughout the novel, Gabi deals with having crushes on boys (that's right, multiple boys!) and dealing with issues like self-confidence (being, to some extent, overweight with mother and a society that feels the need to constantly remind her of that). Gabi learns to deal with all of her issues (friends, family, romantic relationships) by reading a writing poetry, and a healthy teenage romance blooms out of a mutual love for writing.

So, so much happens in this book. Two different people end up pregnant and having babies. Gabi's best friend comes out to his parents and lives with Gabi's family, then moves a couple more times. Gabi's brother gets arrested at one point. Gabi's father dies of an overdose. Gabi's other best friend (the pregnant one) turns out to have been raped. Gabi deals with one clingy boyfriend. Gabi makes friends with another girl who also gets pregnant, then Gabi drives the girl to get an abortion. Gabi falls for a boy who respects her and her writing, then eventually they start dating and having sex. One of the major events in the book is when Gabi's father dies of an overdose. Gabi and her mother eventually come to understand each other better, and ultimately, it sort of turns out to be a good thing (which sounds awful, but it true) for the family. 

This book does a lot of things right. I love that there are so many feminist themes running throughout this novel. Gabi learns to feel more comfortable with her body despite her mother's constant commentary on how Gabi needs to lose weight. Gabi learns not to feel ashamed for crushing on multiple boys at a time. The idea that a woman shouldn't feel guilty for feeling attracted to more than one person at a time, even if she (SHOCKING!) has a boyfriend. Furthermore, the idea that women have he same rights as men, even in the context of high school girls and boys, is an awesome message to be conveyed to teens. However, this book tries to accomplish so much, that at times the liberal messages are almost overkill. Personally, I'm pro-choice, but I felt the addition of an abortion story-line felt unnecessary in this story. I felt like Gabi's best friend's pregnancy made a good juxtaposition to Gabi's own story. Gabi's best friend got pregnant by a boy who didn't respect her and who didn't use protection. Gabi, on the other hand, first sexual experience was with someone who loved her, and they were careful and used protection. However, I felt that the sudden ending wherein Gabi discovers her best friend was raped, felt like a last minute addition. The abruptness of this particular story-line and the fact that this part of the story wasn't actually given that much page time rendered this a "lesser" subject in the vast range of subjects that this book deals with. This books attempt to tackle LGBT issues, feminism, abortion, drug dependency, safe sex, consensual sex, etc starts to make this book hard to analyze, as one begins to start putting different levels of importance on these different issues, which all deserve the same amount of attention, especially considering the fact that these are issues that not only interest but also are often integral to the lives of teenagers, the intended audience of this book.

Quintero writes Gabi beautifully, creating a funny and relatable character with great ideals, generating open-mindedness and a positive role-model for young girls, but her inability to narrow her scope of themes muddles some of the overall messages in the book into a just massive liberal idealism overload. I think I can genuinely say that this is not a bias (also the huge list of themes in the above paragraph an attest to this point also) because I am incredibly liberal, which may be a huge reason for why I can also say that I loved the book. I really loved Gabi, and her love for reading and writing poetry reminded me so much of myself when I was in high school. I love the positive portrayal of a relationship where two young people can respect each other and have safe sex (which kids should see more of in order to not shame them for their feelings of desire while also reiterating the fact that protection is of the utmost importance). I love that Gabi and her mother have a realistic relationship that isn't always good and isn't always bad, and I love that abortion was made out to be an awful situation, but also a definite option. This book tackled every theme in an appropriate way, but it just tried to cover too much ground, Despite these criticisms, I'd definitely recommend this book. It was a pleasure to read, and there's poetry interspersed that is beautiful and poignant. In fact, I think the book could have shed a story line or two and opted in a few more poems of Gabi's to render the book more straight-forward.

A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel

Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, first published in 1962, is considered a classic today and has been in print ever since its first publication. Hope Larson's graphic novel, published in 2012, follows the exact same story in a different format. It is a science fiction novel about the Meg Murray daughter of two scientists. Meg's father has been missing. Meg's beautiful mother knows that father is not dead, but missing. Meg's youngest brother Charles Wallace is a prodigy of sorts who introduces Meg and their mother to Mrs. Whatsit, who mentions a tesseract, which is something that their father was working on before he went missing. Meg and Charles eventually meet a boy named Calvin, and the three of them stumble upon a haunted house, which they enter to find Mrs. Whatsit, and her strange friend Mrs. Who, and they promise to help the Murray children find their father. That night Calvin eats dinner with Meg and her family, and they form a bond. Later in the evening, Charles Wallace declares it time to find their father. They meet a third strange being Mrs. Which, and Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin learn that Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which are supernatural, time-and-space-traveling beings who take the children to a dark planet, Camazotz, that has been taken over by an evil presence, referred to as "The Black Thing" that is attempting to take over the universe. It is explained to the children that they must stick together and not succumb to the evil presence in order to come back whole and safe and save their father. The children do find their father, though Charles Wallace had to succumb to the evil to find him. Father takes hold of Meg and Calvin and "tessers" them off the planet to a strange planet where they are cared for by a group of loving "beasts," one of which Meg refers to as Aunt Beast. Aunt Beast restores happy, loving thoughts to Meg, who must return to the evil planet to save Charles before the group can go home. Meg is successful when she realizes that the evil can be fought off with love. The family is then happily reunited back on earth, including Calvin, whose relationship with Meg has turned into young romance.

Hope Larson adapts L'Engle's classic novel into a graphic novel; so, it's the same material, but in a different format. Having never read the original, this was an entirely new story for me. At times, I felt the science of the science fiction portions of the story could have used a better explanation, and I wondered if the adaptation suffered from losing some explanatory bits in exchange for a new format. However, none of this really took away from the story too much for me. It was still easy to follow and enjoy, despite not really understanding tesseracts (but then again, I don't know that I would despite lots of explanation because it's not like quantum physics is an easy science to understand). The artwork is done entirely in black, white, and blue. For me personally, I love a simplistic color palette for a graphic novel. I believe it has a way of keeping the words and dialogue of equal importance to the pictures. The artwork itself isn't particularly intricate or beautiful in my opinion, but it works. The pictures of space and fantastic creatures have a sort of simplistic beauty that doesn't overwhelm the story and keeps your eyes moving across the page, from picture box to picture box, making the book an incredibly quick read. This book makes me want to read the original because the story is so good. And I can see the artwork being a really great way to get reluctant readers more interested in the story. I love that the main character of this story is female (despite the fact that I find her character annoying at times; she complains a lot) because science fiction stories are overwhelming lead by male characters.

This is a great story with a good, typical fantasy message ("love trumps evil"). Larson's graphic novel format gives the book a refreshing new face and way to read the classic. The cartoon style artwork is simple and not distracting from the dialogue and prose pieces in the story. Meg Murray was one of the first female protagonists created for a science fiction novel, which is a great trivia tidbit to add when suggesting this story to young readers. I'd definitely suggest this version (and the original) to other readers, but this graphic novel version is especially a great suggestion to those readers of graphic novels and comics who need to ease their way into reading more classics.

All the Bright Places

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, published earlier this year (2015, for those of you who may be lost) is a realistic fiction, young adult novel. The story begins as told by Theodore Finch, who is standing at the top of the school's bell tower, debating jumping off a little, but mostly just feeling the rush of the idea of jumping off. Theodore has decided that the end of his life will be his own choice, meaning he is choosing to some day end his own life, but jumping off the bell tower isn't how he wants to go, he's deciding when Violet Markey appears up there with him. Violet, whose sister died the previous year in a car wreck that they were both in, is depressed and is actually planning to jump off the building until she gets to edge and panics, which is when Theodore talks Violet down and ultimately saves her life.Violet is more popular at school than Theodore, who is a bit of an outcast and is generally considered a "freak" and a bit crazy. Theodore convinces the rest of the school that Violet was actually up there to save his life, so Violet's reputation will not be tarnished. From there the story is told in a back and forth style by both Theodore and Violet. Theodore develops a crush on Violet from that day on, and when there is an opportunity to get to know her better in their Geography class, Theodore takes it (without Violet's consent), and they begin exploring different landmarks in their state, and eventually they start to fall for each other. Theodore forces Violet to live her life (not stay forever in mourning of her sister) and teaches her that it's okay to move on from her grief and be happy.

There are the common controversial makings of a good realistic fiction Young Adult novel in that the two main characters have sex, and both characters exhibit signs of depression at different points in the novel. However, Violet's depression is purely situational; she's grieving for her sister. Theodore on the other hand is most likely bipolar; he has extreme highs and terrible lows, and (SPOILER ALERT), the book ends with him going missing for a month, and Violet finding Theodore has killed himself .  Theodore had spent the last month leaving notes for Violet to help finish their project and presumably to say goodbye, which does in many ways help to give her some closure.

While this book was engaging and easy to read, I did have many problems with this book that had nothing to do with its controversial aspects. My biggest problem with this book was how Theodore coerces Violet to do the school project with him. He proclaims her as his project partner without asking her first in front of their classroom, and when after class they discuss her being his project online, he forces her to work with him by threatening that if she doesn't talk to him, he'll talk to her about it in class over the entire classroom, which would humiliate her (because this also would include discussing her almost suicide attempt most likely). Theodore's manipulation is all in the pursuit of "saving" Violet, which the fact that Violet is continually in need of being saved is questionable. On one hand, she did almost try to kill herself, and instilling the idea that one should take interest in their peers who might be troubled isn't a bad idea. On the other hand, there is the problem in the continual retelling of stories wherein men are saving women from all their "feelings" and "whims." Women being cast as damsels in distress over and over again, especially in this retelling where Violet's will has already been subverted, is a problematic trope, especially for books that are aimed overwhelmingly at young girls. Stories that convey that it is okay for young men to push girls outside their comfort zones and paint that as romantic are tiptoeing a fine line; what is and isn't okay to do to another person without her permission? When is it okay to go ahead with an idea, even if the other person is saying no?
Of course the book moves past this, and eventually Violet gets painted as an actual round character with a personality, interests, and a story line of her own, but it was slow moving to get there and see her as more than just a (slightly unwilling) love interest for Theodore. Positives in this book, in my opinion, include a positive portrayal of sex and losing ones virginity. Both characters care about each other, it is consensual, and nothing bad comes from it (unwanted pregnancy or STDs), which is a good thing in Young Adult literature in my opinion. Teenagers are overwhelmingly shamed for having sexual urges and relationships. This is probably a controversial opinion, but the only thing that could make this portrayal better is if a mention of protection.
The best thing about this book is its way of discussing suicide post-act. Having lost my best friend in high school to suicide when I was just 17, Violet's reaction to Theodore's suicide is spot on. She is sad and grieving while also angry at Theodore for giving up and angry at herself for not doing more or taking notice sooner. All of these emotions were emotions that I believe "survivors of suicide" can relate to and recognize in themselves. Though most "survivors" don't get the same sort of closure in forms of things left behind at landmarks or notes, seeing someone else deal with a similar loss could be a very good thing for young adults going through a similar experience (as long as they are old enough and emotionally intelligent enough to understand that they were still loved and thought of by that friend/loved one that they lost, even if they didn't leave them notes or anything behind for a form of closure). Following is a book trailer.

Brown Girl Dreaming

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, published in 2014, is receiving many accolades this year, including the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, Newbery Honor, Sibert Honor, and the Coretta Scott King Award for Author. Woodson writes (autobiographically) about her young childhood, her memories of growing up in South Carolina and New York and memories of her family. The book is written entirely in narrative free verse. The free verse is beautiful enough to engage adult readers, yet simplistic enough for younger readers to understand just as easily as reading prose.
The story begins in Ohio, where Woodson tells us about the father her mother left behind. From there, Woodson and her two older siblings, an incredibly smart older sister and a silent, science-loving older brother, and mother move to South Carolina to live with her grandparents. She talks about being black in the sixties in the South and how it affected their family and even seemingly small decisions like to get lunch in town or where to sit on a bus. She tells about how the South became her home, her close relationship with "Daddy" (her grandfather), and then her mother moves her and her siblings to New York, where the kids eventually meet their new little brother. Woodson meets a lifelone friend, Maria, and she tells about the new experiences she has in New York. Throughout the book, the theme of having two homes and attempting to meld them within her runs throughout. Woodson also discusses growing up as a Jehova's witness and how the religion affected her as a young child. She tells about how she came to discover a love of writing, and how it being her own special thing gave her confidence.
I loved this book, both for being unique in its story- the story of a very young, naive "brown girl" growing up during the Civil Rights Movement, while also being of a religion that doesn't get as much play in popular culture- and for its being told entirely in verse. Woodson's verse is so simple; there aren't a lot of frilly words and superfluous poetic devices. It's simple narrative prose with enough imagery to make each poem beautiful without taking away from the overall story being told.
This was such an enjoyable book, and it was told so beautifully that I'd suggest it to anyone, not just young readers, but adults as well.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was written by John Boyne and published in 2006. Boyne's title page describes this book as "a fable," with the best definition of fable as it applies to this book being Merriam-Webster's, "a narration intended to enforce a useful truth." However, most fables are associated with animals, so I feel that this story is better classified as Historical Fiction, written for older children/younger teens in my opinion.

This story, unlike the many others I've read for children and young adults, is written in the third person. Despite the third person perspective, it is mostly focused on the young German boy named Bruno, whose family has recently been forced to move to a place that Bruno calls "Out-With" being incapable of pronouncing it's actual name, which is never given in the book, but which I believe is probably Auschwitz as it sounds similar and is also located in Poland. The family moves because his father has been promoted to Commandant by "the Fury" (Hitler) in the German Army.  Bruno hates the move as the family is located in a house with no neighbors, which means no other children to play with. Outside Bruno's window, he can see a large wire fence with people beyond it walking around dressed in their pajamas, though he also sees soldiers over there. However, Bruno has been forbidden to go near the fence, which to him seems cruel because beyond the fence is the only place where there are other children Bruno could possibly play with. Throughout the book, Bruno learns things about the camp (it is meant to "keep in" the Jews), the staff at the camp (Pavel used to be a doctor, but he cannot talk about it and is now their waiter), and the people on the other side of the fence are frail and hungry and pale, but Bruno does not understand why these things are the way they are. Then Bruno gets tired of staying inside the house, and he decides to go exploring. Bruno walks along the fence until he finds a boy, Schmuel, sitting on the other side. He and Schmuel are the same age; they even share a birthday. They discover that they both have a lot in common, but Schmuel is hungry and small, and Bruno is well fed and strong, They form a friendship, and Bruno brings him food, and Schmuel teaches Bruno that Jews aren't really different from he and his family the way that Bruno has learned and maybe Germany and the soldiers aren't as "superior" as he's been told. The story ends on a sad note with Bruno sneaking over to the other side of the fence (after his head has been shaved due to lice and Schmuel smuggled him a "costume") to explore and help Schmuel find his father who has been "missing" for days. The boys are hurriedly pushed into a giant room, where Bruno and Schmuel tell each other that they are best friends, then are tragically gassed (this is blatant, but can be assumed), and are never seen again.

While this book is incredibly sweet at times, it ends tragically and surprisingly (it isn't often you find that the main focus of the story is killed off), but for these reasons, it is incredibly effective in explaining the horror and tragedy that was the Holocaust. I believe it is better for older children or younger teens because I think there is a necessary background in the history of WWII and the Holocaust to understand certain parts of the book. Also, I think being older might make it easier to stomach the ending, which made me ugly cry despite being an adult.


Furthermore, there is a very good movie adaptation of the book that I'd suggest as a good film even if you didn't read the book (I actually saw the movie before ever reading the book, and I still could barely stomach the ending).

Bronx Masquerade

Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes, published in 2002, is a realistic fiction, young adult book short enough it could be considered a novella, but it is written and organized more like a series of short stories, telling their own independent stories (designated by the names of the students whose story it is as the chapter titles), as well as serving the purpose of an overall story which tells about learning about poetry in Mr. Ward's English class by writing it themselves and performing the poems for their class in a poetry slam style readings. These stories, or chapters, are separated by the poems of the students and the opinions of Tyrone, a student whose interest in school was severely lacking until these "Open Mike Friday" poetry readings were put in place by Mr. Ward.
The students telling these stories are from the Bronx and represent all different races, but it is made clear that the school's population is mostly made up of Black and Latino students. There is a general resentment among the students against the teachers and white students due to their privilege, which is not sugarcoated throughout the book. Instead the book tries to represent each student as an individual with their own trials and tribulations, and each students seeks to teach the others about how they aren't just what they see, and it is amazing how Grimes, in just a few pages per student, paints each character as complex with their own set of obstacles to overcome, whether it is an abusive home life, the reductive opinions of their classmates, or the neighborhood they live in (which for some students includes fearing drive-by shootings and pervasive gang culture of that society).

This book mixes formats with both prose and verse, and not a single word of this short book is wasted. The overall story ends on a hopeful note with the students having realized their own potentials and discovering positive things that they want for themselves and finally knowing that they can get it with hard work and help from Mr. Ward.

This book was refreshing, compared to many stories that take place in urban schools that are often racially charged and soaked in gang violence and depressing endings where often times it appears that only one character has a future outside of that setting. This book takes on those stereotypes and runs all over them, showing that with hard word from both teachers and students, a cycle can be stopped for those who truly want it.

The Divergent Series

Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant are the titles of the three books in the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. Published in 2011, 2012, and 2013 respectively, the books follow Tris and her relationship with Tobias in post-apocalyptic Chicago, Illinois. The city was divided into factions, the Amity, the Abnegation, the Erudite, the Candor, and the Dauntless, which citizens choose between (though usually they pick what they are told they have an aptitude for after an aptitude test) at a Choosing ceromony at 15 or 16 years of age, and if the faction of choice does not work out, they become a part of the Factionless (which appears to be a group of homeless forced to beg for food and live in run down buildings or on the streets). Tris leaves behind her former faction, the Abnegation, for the Dauntless, launching her into a journey where she meets Tobias and finds herself fighting for the faction she left behind. In each book, Tris's part as a revolutionary and a fighter for a better world for herself and the ones she loves progresses, and she finds herself fighting against a dictatorship and eventually against the scientists who were letting the inhabitants of the city kill each other and harm each other in the name of science. Tris gives her life in the end to protect the ones she loves and to give them the right to choose their own destinies for themselves.

Originally, I had intended just to blog about one of these books, but found myself flying through them so quickly, that I'd finished them all in time to blog about all three. These science fiction novels are action packed the whole way through, sprinkled - or well, doused -  with the love story between Tris and Tobias. At times the love story seems heavy-handed, sappy, and a touch silly; the ability of kissing to calm anger and grief so quickly either speaks to the fickleness of teens or the cynical nature of yours truly. But considering the intended audience and the action packed plot, it's an offense that is easy to forgive. A theme that lasts throughout the series is the ability to make choices and how our choices are what truly shape who we are more than where we come from, the name of our faction, the clothes we wear, or even our genetic makeup. This theme is a worthwhile lesson for all audiences, not just young adults (as well as PG enough for younger readers, although at times things seem to steam up, with one tiny allusion to sex that isn't entirely obvious), and these books were so much fun and so exciting to read that I'd suggest them to almost anyone, even a reluctant reader. Furthermore, there's a Divergent movie with more to come, which is always fun for readers of the books!

-Charlie Hittle

Blankets

Blankets, written and illustrated by Craig Thompson, is an autobiographical, graphic novel published in 2003 by Top Shelf Productions in Marietta, Georgia. 

Blankets is a coming of age novel Thompson wrote about himself, growing up in Wisconsin in a poorer, very religious family. Using flashbacks, a teenage/young adult Craig tells about his childhood with his younger brother and about sexual abuse inflected upon the two of them by their male babysitter. As Craig gets older, he depicts being a social outcast at his school and being bullied by other students. Eventually, his parents send him to church camp, where he meets other outcasts, including a girl named Raina who Craig develops a romantic relationship with, despite her living far away in Michigan. As Craig gets older, and as his relationship with Raina goes through the common stages of young love (infatuation, love, lust, disagreements, breakups), Craig is forced to come to terms with his upbringing, his  beliefs, and how his relationship with Raina shapes him even after the relationship is over.
Blankets is a refreshing take on disillusionment with religion, as you see Craig going from devout Christian to questioning not only the scripture, but how it affected his upbringing and the ways that religion shames young people as they discover their bodies and sexuality. Blankets are a motif throughout the novel, whether it is the blanket that he and his brother share as children, the quilt that Raina makes for Craig, or blank sheets of paper that Craig draws on. There are also themes of young love and dysfunctional families (Raina's parents' divorce, Craig's strict father who could be considered abusive). This book was a refreshing take on the classic young adult romance novel via the graphic novel medium (the all black ink drawings I find are nice for those not accustomed to reading graphic novels/comic books as it tends to make the page appear less busy, which can render the story line easier to follow) as well as the ongoing theme of religious disillusionment gives the plot a bit more intellectual meat (not that Thompson needs it, as he's a smart, yet vulnerable writer). This book was really a pleasure to read, and despite it's weighty 592 pages, it was a very quick read (another great thing about graphic novels!) and only took about 2-3 days to complete.