Two YA novels

Two YA novels

Home Home
"I groaned an apology to her. Tears trembled in my eyes. 'I'm
alive. But I can't talk, okay. I'm sorry.' And I hung up on my very
best and only family. Which made me feel so bad I started to panic
again. What was wrong with me? Why couldn't I just be normal?"
Kayla, protagonist of Lisa Allen-Agostini's Home Home, is in
Canada, living with her aunt Jillian and Jillian's significant other,
Julie. She'd been sent there from her home in the Caribbean after a
failed suicide attempt. Her mother hadn't been able to cope with the
situation.
At first Kayla really misses her island home and her best
friend. Canada is a big adjustment. The bus system is confusing.
Weather and people seem cold. Her medications take awhile to kick in
and the prospect of therapy is scary.
Unlike her mother, who thinks Kayla could kick her anxiety and
depression if she just tried, Jillian and Julie are able to help her
navigate the ups and downs of adjusting to living with a chronic
psychological challenge. Could she have found the loving, accepting
family she's yearned for?

Ball Don't Lie
"Nobody knew anything about Sticky turning seventeen. Except
his foster lady, Georgia, who put three candles in a Hostess Cup Cake
that morning before going to work."
Sticky, protagonist of Matt de la Pena's Ball Don't Lie, has
been in and out of foster homes. Each foster family has abandoned him
after promising acceptance. Now he expects impermanence, memorizing
the route from the group home so he'll know when he's being returned.
Sticky doesn't have much going for him. But he is very talented
in basketball. At each new placement he locates a gym. Lincoln Rec
is a run down place that doubles as a homeless shelter. But its
multiracial crew of players may have the potential to be his family in
a way that his foster placements never could be.
Hoops affecianados will love the cadance of this fast paced,
soulful coming of age narrative.
On a purrrsonal note, a lot of Mainers are holding our breath today.
TV meteorologists are all jazzed about a blizzard that's supposed to
arrive tomorrow. Depending on a number of unpredictable factors it
could either dump a foot of the white stuff or divert itself out to
sea. Everyone's talking about it albeit with a lot less enthusiasm
than the TV newspeople. We even discussed it in zoom class while we
were waiting for a few more people. I'm ambivolent. Snow is pretty.
I like sledding and sculpting. But it makes bus commuting a lot harder.
Last night in zoom class we had a panel of alumni give us advice about
stuff like networking and finding jobs. They were so organized and
achieving. I can't imagine ever being like them. My professor said
they were scared when they were where I am. Now that is hard to
believe. (Jules)
I am not ambivolent. I don't want snow. I'm impatient for spring and
the birdies. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to the alumni who took time out of
there busy schedules to share good advice with the class.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway




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