YA Historic Fiction From The Not So Distant Past

YA Historic Fiction From The Not So Distant Past

The following two novels have four things in common. They
happened in the very recent past. In fact the first was within my
lifetime. They tackle sensitive issues in a straightforward way. The
protagonists are portrayed as complex, relatable but not perfect
individuals. The issues have still not be resolved in the twenty-
first century.

Bad Girls Never Say Die
Evie, protagonist of Jennifer Mathieu's Bad Girls Never Say Die,
identifies and is seen by many people as a bad girl. She hangs with
three friends who consider themselves "tuff", cuts most of her high
school classes, and smokes and drinks. The only good girl alternative
she has access to is the one preached by her mother: marry a good man,
one who will stay around (unlike her dad) and provide for her and
their children. Only big sister Cheryl is desperately lonely and sad
in her not-so-happily-ever-after shotgun wedding situation. Shouldn't
there be more to life?
Diane is a fallen angel, a good girl gone bad in the eyes of her
wealthy, image conscious family. Awhile back she'd done something
that embarassed her parents and shocked her classmates. After
spending some time in exile she's come home only to be shunted aside
to her black sheep of the family alcoholic aunt who lives on the
proverbial wrong side of the tracks. In other words, she's in Evie's
neighborhood.
One night at the drive in movie theater Evie has to use the
bathroom. A rich scion of a rich and powerful family attempts to rape
her. Diane tries to scare him off with a switchblade and ends up
killing him.
Johnny, brother of Connie, the leader of Evie's gang, is
arrested, beaten up by the police, and jailed for the murder. It
looks like he'll be spending a lot of time, maybe even the rest of his
life in prison. The cops think it's a slam dunk--the killing of a
rich boy with a future and rich parents by a no good wrong side of the
tracks hoodlum. An open and shut case...
...unless a small group of teens can prove it isn't.
The book introduces teen readers to the sexism and classism
rampant in 1964. Girls are considered good or bad depending on actual
or perceived sexual behavior. The would be rapist considers himself
entitled to help himself to poor girls. Through much of the book Evie
sees the almost rape as her fault. The police unquestioningly take
the word of the rich and famous over that of the poor and neglected.
Today not enough has changed in either regard. Males still feel
entitled to sexually harass and create hostile environments for
females--everything from microaggressions to out and out aggravated
rape. If a girl accuses an alpha boy--say the quarterback of the
college or high school football team or a swimming star--of rape too
often he is seen as the victim of her malicious accusations and she is
the one who is blamed and shamed.
And in towns with visibly low income sections--say trailer
parks--there can be a lot of class based social segregation. And
authorities can be much more likely to believe the well off and
influential than the just getting by and powerless.

Out Of Darkness
"For the next three days, alone or in numbers, families mourn
their children and their neighbors' children. There are so many
funerals that the pews in the churches have no time to cool. Voices
grow thin and hoarse from singing. Throats tighten. Consolation
falters. Silence settles, and in silence they bear coffins. More
than grief, more than anger, there is a need. Someone to blame.
Someone to make pay."
East Texas in 1937 was a place where robes and hoods hung in
many white people's closets. The non white residents of places like
New London weren't exactly welcome. Signs on businesses excluded
them. Color lines were religiously enforced with dire consequences
for crossing them.
But we all know that even in the most forbidding of
circumstances lines will be crossed.
Naomi and younger siblings, Cari and Beto, have just arrived
from San Antonio. They'd been living with their grandparents since
their mother's death after birthing the twins. Now, nagged into
compliance by the pastor who converted him, Henry, the father of the
twins but not Naomi, has taken the children to live with him. Naomi
is lonely, overworked, and frightened. Before his baptism Henry had
not treated her as a stepfather should. What will happen if he
backslides? Will she be able to escape without abandoning the twins?
Wash is the son of two Tuskagee educated parents. The family
saves every spare cent so he and little sister, Peggy, can follow in
their footsteps. He knows that getting close to Naomi and her
siblings is downright dangerous.
But sometimes the heart overrides the head. Wash knows how
desperately the little family needs him.
Things come to a head when there is an explosion at the white
children's school. People are desperate to blame and punish. It's
known that Wash resents the unfair resource allocation between the
white and Black schools. In fact he's said in public that it would
take an explosion to wake up the school board.
Author Ashley Hope Perez grew up close to the site of the real
school explosion that is still considered the worst in United States
history.
"In researching this novel, I was struck by the many ways in
which whole swaths of lived experiences have been largely excluded
from historical accounts, in part because certain communities were not
deemed worthy of note in newspapers and other sources deemed
authoritative and reliable. These silences need to be amended. I
hope my fiction gives readers an appetite for stories lived in the
margins of spotlighted scenes."
Similarities to today are legion. Schools are more segregated
(and nowhere near equal) than ever before. We're still reading white
washed history and news that privileges some sources over others.
Although individual racism is not as overt as in the KKK heyday it's
still very much alive. Systemic racism is thriving. And we are
nowhere near the liberty and justice for all society that the pedge of
allegiance brags about.

On a purrrsonal note: Yesterday I aced my annual wellness check up.
According to my nurse practitioner I am in purrrfect health. Strong
heart and lungs, BP of 126/85, no lumps or weird looking cells... All
this despite the history of heart disease on both sides of my family.
Studying for that high stakes exam really paid off. Then today I got
myself a reward for good grades, nailing my internship, doing super at
work, and being in purrrfect health: a bear I'd been admiring at the
UMaine Book Store. I wanted to buy something there to show my
appreciation for something super they're doing in the real holiday
spirit. (Jules)
My Jules is in purrrfect health. YASSS!!! (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to the UMaine Book Store. They are
giving customers an awesome incentive to bring them food for the Black
Bear Exchange. If you bring in food you'll get a coupon worth 30% off
any item. They're gathering a lot of food that will help so many
people. Food insecurity is a major problem on college and university
campuses and one in every five food insecure students is a parent.
Yay, Book Store people! Way to show the holiday spirit!!! We love
you!!!
Tobago and Jules Hathaway





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