Juvenile bias related fiction

Juvenile bias related fiction

Recently while shelf reading the juvenile wing of the Orono
Public Library I found some fine examples of juvenile fiction books
that incorporate timely issues into engaging narratives.

Partly Cloudy
"There should have been thick, slate-colored clouds piled up
against a pewter-colored sky. There should have been sharp, cold
winds whistling and silver-bright stabs of lightning.
Instead, it was a bright, sunny June-in-California morning, and
Madalyn Thomas was cranky.
So why is Madalyn, protagonist of Tanita Davis' Partly Cloudy,
feeling cranky on the first day of vacation? She's entitled. She's
just finished a really sucky sixth grade year. Her dog died. Her
best friend moved away. A diagnosis of lactose intolerance dictated
cutting down on ice cream, a favorite food. Her father's job loss and
the financial impact dictated a move involving transfer to a more
dangerous school.
Unbeknownst to Madalyn there are more changes in store. Her
parents share her determination that she never return to Robinson
Howard Middle School. Only the options are limited. Most potential
transfer schools are too full to accept new students. Catholic school
is too expensive.
There is only one way for Madalyn to get into a safer and better
school. She must move in with a great-uncle she barely knows and stay
there at least four days a week. Papa Lobo, the great uncle, is a
bachelor who decorates his living room with ceramic roosters and
carries on an ages old feud with his next door neighbor.
Although there are some mean girls in Madalyn's class, there are
classmates who welcome her to their school and community. And then
there's Natalie. It would seem that she and Madalyn have so much in
common. But Natalie is afraid of Jean, Papa Lobo's godson who is Black.
Madalyn wants to call Natalie on what she feels strongly is
racism. But there never seems to be the right time or place.

Lupe Wong Won't Dance
"...It's been almost two years and I'm starting to forget things
about Dad. But I do remember what he said when I was the first girl
to make the Isaaquah Select Little League team. 'If there's something
you're passionate about, don't ever settle for less.'"
Lupe Wong and her deceased father had shared a passion for
baseball. He'd been good enough to play in the minors until becoming
a parent. Then he'd been very involved in coaching his talented and
dedicated daughter.
This year Lupe needs to get all As. If she does her Uncle
Hector will take her to meet Fu Li Hernandez, the first major league
Asian/Latino pitcher. He has the pull. He works for the Mariners.
And nothing less than all As will do.
Lupe is pulling all As in most of her classes. The only one up
in the air is coed gym. She feels that she can handle just about any
sport her class is assigned. Only her gymn teacher is about to pull a
fast one. The class is going to learn square dancing.
"I've never associated the inside of a gym with such
horror...Dancing belongs in night clubs and ballet studios, not a
gym. And square dancing belongs somewhere far away where it can't
embarrass anyone, like the 1800s."
Lupe is determined to shut down the square dancing unit, even
though it's been a school tradition for decades. Every tactic she uses
is foiled by her gymn teacher and prinipal. Some unintended
consequences alienate her classmates. And it doesn't help that her
former best friend, Andy, has started to prefer the mean girls.
Only when Lupe has given in and decided to go for that A in
square dancing she makes an alarming discovery. She accidentally
discovers ample racism in that dance's Southern origin. A version of
the Turkey In The Straw lyrics really gets to her.
"All I can think of how Andy would feel if she was here. Tears
sting my eyes...
Even though she wants nothing to do with me, I can never let her
hear that song."

Yusuf Azeem Is Not A Hero
Saadia Faruqi's Yusuf Azeem Is Not A Hero is my favorite of the
three books.
Yusuf is excited about starting middle school. He'll have a
locker. He's already memorized the combination. There's cafeteria
food to look forward. And he'll finally be eligible to take part in
the Texas Robotics Competition.
Only this isn't just any year. It's the 20th anniversary of
9/11. A lot of people in Yusuf's small Texas town live by the motto:
never forget. The annual commemoration is really ramped up with
people like the Patriot Sons deciding to once and all get their
community rid of the people they consider the enemy.
Although Yusuf is the primary narrator he isn't the only one.
Interspersed with his story are entries of his uncle's post 9/11
journal. His uncle was his age when the attack happened.
Faruqi was inspired by Ahmed Mohamed's arrest for bringing a
digital clock he'd built to school to show his teachers. Over a
decade after the attack on the twin towers Islamabhobia was
unfortunately still very much alive and well in America.
"With the twentieth anniversary of 9/11 approaching, we must ask
ourselves: What has been gained and lost in the last two decades?
Have we progressed as a nation? Do we treat others better than we did
in the days and months after the attacks? Or are we still the same,
maybe even worse?"
Now that's what I consider food for thought.

On a purrrsonal note, well I'm back in the Rapunzel lifestyle until
spring semester begins on the 18th. I may have been exposed to
omicron. I feel fine except for a runny nose. But omicron is a
trickster. I don't want to kill any of the unvaxed. The librarians
understand that I won't be able to do any more shelf reading. I also
won't be able to cash in Tobago's returnables or take stuff to the
thrift shop. I'd planned to do that decluttering. (Jules)
YASSS!!! US GRRRLS TOGETHER!!! (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to all the scientists and health care
people combatting COVID.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway


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