Preteen Issues In Graphic Novels

     I found two amazing juvenile graphic novels dealing with identity issues, the kinds that feel so insurmountable when you're eleven as the protagonists of Kayla Miller and Jeffrey Canino's Besties Find Their Groove and Claribel A. Ortega's Frizzy are.

 

    Beth and Chanda, Miller and Canino's protagonists, are elated when they learn about a middle school formal dance, all ready to pick out the perfect outfits and dazzle their peers.  But things turn out to be complicated.  Chanda is unable to get a date despite some decidedly creative attempts.  It doesn't help that her perfect older sister, Amaya, had a date for every dance.  Meanwhile Beth, who is chubby, can't find anything that fits and flatters.

     It shouldn't be so hard to have fun.

     When we meet Marlene, Ortega's protagonist, she is not a happy camper.  It's bad enough that she has to spend time every weekend in a salon getting her hair torturosely straightened by beautician Gleny.  This week she has to make an extra visit so she can look presentable for her perfect cousin, Diana's quinceanera.  

     In her mother's words, "The whole family will be there, Marlene.  We have to make a good impression.  There will be pictures!  Lots of pictures."

     It's not just her mom.  Her whole family judges members on whether they have good (straight) or bad (curly) hair.  Needless to say Diana has perfect hair.  She looks like a freaking Barbie doll. 

     And it's not just the salon.  Now Marlene isn't supposed to play rough, get dirty, or work up a sweat--do anything that might make her hair frizz.

     Marlene wonders if her looks are all that matter to her mother.  She just wants to be loved for her real self.

     Rose Bousamra's illustrations really help the narrative come to life.  She captures nuances of emotion and interaction superbly.

     Both books are really good purchases for school and public libraries.

On a purrrsonal note, today I helped the Student Wellness office put on Fresh Check.  Colleges across the country put on these events.  The purpose is to let students who might feel serious despair know that suicide is not the answer and they are not alone and to help all students cultivate resources and resilience.  We had a good turnout of engaged and appreciative students.  (Jules)

People kept telling her what a great job she did in the drag show.  My celebrity.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to all participants, Student Wellness people for all the hard work they put in, and Channel 5 News for excellent coverage.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

     

     

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That's the outfit I wore dancing to Fame.  As you can tell the picture was taken by a very tall person.  6'4" not including very tall heels.  It gives me the stature of a kindergartner.  For Fever I wore a clingy, short sequined number.  Under the lights you'd better believe I shone.

How It Went Down

YA fiction 

     When I started reading Kekla Magoon's How It Went Down I realized that the names of the characters seemed very familiar.  The puzzle was solved when I realized that the they're also the characters in her much more recent Light It Up.  In that book there are allusions to the murder of Tariq Johnson.  How It Went Down is the story of his death and the community aftermath.  Like it's sequel, it's narrated by a wide range of community members.

     Tariq had been returning home from buying groceries for his mom and a candy bar for his little sister, Tina.  The storekeeper called out to him.  A man who thought he was a shoplifters grabbed him, only to back off when a white man with a gun approached them and fatally shot Tariq.

     After talking to the police the man who shot Tariq is allowed to walk.  He even gets to keep the murder weapon.  This does not sit well with neighborhood residents who know that it would have been a whole different story if a Black man had shot a white youth.  Activists plan a protest while gang members contemplate something else.  

     Readers will get to know some of the characters effected by the tragedy.  

     Tina, Tariq's kid sister, is developmentally delayed.  He'd always cared for her.  When he went to the store he'd buy her her her favorite candy bar.  She desperately misses him and can't quite understand the concept of death.

     Brick is the leader of the local gang.  He'd been courting Tariq for membership with plans of eventually making him his second in command.  With Tariq's death he's turned his attention to Tariq's best friend, Tyrell, thinking that bringing the slight, bookish boy into the gang's protection will be the best way to honor Tariq's memory.

     But Tyrell wants more than that out of life.  He's counting down the months til graduation when he can escape to college.  He has the grades to get him in.  Brick's attentions are a source of terror, not security.  It's hard to not become a gang member, but whatever Brick wants him to do would destroy his dreams.

     Reverend Alabaster Sloan, preacher turned politician, is running for office.  This incident may be just what what his lagging campaign needs.  "I need some magic potion, some pick-me-up to bring me back into the spotlight.  An issue to tout, a side to stand on, a moral high ground to stomp with my righteous foot."  He's flown in from DC to be the voice of the people.

     And there are so many others.

     This fine book and its equally fine sequel deftly describe how tragedies have ripple effects on entire communities.  I highly recommend them both.

On a purrrsonal note, last night's drag show was pure magic.  We packed out the biggest venue on campus: the Collins Center for the Performing Arts.  The crowd was pumped.  We had a wonderful variety of quite diverse acts.  I performed two solos and was in two ensemble numbers.  And when I was on I owned the stage.  I was lit.  And I was getting and returning so much love!  I also tried something new:  tossing bracelets and necklaces like at Mardi Gras.  The crowd loved that.  It was a truly enchanted night--always one of my favorite of the year.  Of course during April all of us drag artists will be campus celebrities.  I can live with that.  (Jules)

And she got home safely.  I can live with that.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to all who participated in this night to remember.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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The Rock and the River

YA fiction 

     "He stood up at the front of the throng, feeding the crowd with his words.  The podium shook under the pounding of his fist.  Mama stood behind him, where she always stood, hands folded, lashes low, her stillness a mirror for his fervor."

     The year is 1968.  The city is Chicago.  Sam, 13, the protagonist of Kekla Magoon's The Rock and the River, is the younger son of a civil rights activist charismatic preacher.  Like Martin Luther King, his dad believes that although the arc of justice is long the goal will be reached through non violent protest.  Needless to say, he expects both his sons to follow in his footsteps, not straying into the more militant groups.

     Sam's older brother, Stick (Steven), is becoming impatient with their father's pacifism.  Not surprisingly he joins the local branch of the Black Panthers.  This does not sit well with their dad.

     "'I'm a Panther."  Stick broke through Father's tirade with a calm breath. 

     Father sucked in his belly, sucked back the words that would have come next.  'Not in my house,' he said instead."

     So Sam is caught not only between two drastically different ways of dealing with racism, but between two of the most important people in his life.  And things are heating up.  First Sam sees Stick's friend Bucky seriously beaten by cops and arrested on trumped up charges.  And then King is assassinated and his city is on fire.

     This perceptive coming of age narrative takes readers back to the not so distant past when it was becoming clear that change was desperately needed and irreconcilable differences split change makers into two opposing camps, each convinced that their way was the only valid one.

On a purrrsonal note, tonight is the drag show.  I have over nine hours until the lights go up and the music starts.  I have my outfits packed.  I'm just not sure how much homework I'll be able to get done.  It's a little hard to focus on anything but tonight.  (Jules)

She'll nail it.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to everyone who will participate.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

  

     

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