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Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose

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Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose is the fourth book in my quest to read all five National Book Award nominees for Youth Literature. Unlike the prior three books, Claudette Colvin is a work of non-fiction.

Claudette Colvin was the catalyst for the Montgomery Bus Boycotts during the 1950s and Civil Rights Movement. But unlike Rosa Parks, she was forgotten and overlooked for her major contribution to integration.

Hoose’s story is meant to share Colvin’s story and shed light into her role into the monumental and oft ignored Browder v. Gayle case that ruled integration the law in Montgomery and all of Alabama.

Claudette refused to give up her seat on the bus as a teenager, and she didn’t go quietly. She was beaten and degraded as police officers dragged her off the bus for not giving up the seat upon the bus driver’s request (which, back then was de facto for blacks). She was sentenced for the crime, but her cause was taken up by Dr. King and Rosa Parks shortly thereafter. As students of American history, we have an idea of what happened when they became involved in the situation in Montgomery.

But Colvin faded from the spot light, even though it was her action that spurred movement from blacks and equal rights supporters of all colors and backgrounds. Why? She became pregnant and birthed a light-skinned baby. Scorned by white culture for being black and refusing to follow Jim Crow and equally scorned by her black community for having a child out of wedlock with what they assumed was a white father pushed her story to the periphery.

Hoose’s book was engaging and solid — I felt like the prose moved in a story-like fashion enough to keep audiences who may not otherwise have found a non-fiction book about a lesser-known history maker reading. Fortunately for Hoose and for readers, Colvin is still alive today and was able to provide insights into the story herself.

The book has segments of her interviews, along with a selection of photos, sidebars, and other graphics to tell the story. Additionally, Hoose fills in many of the holes between Colvin’s interviews to give the book shape and structure.

This, however, made me sad — I actually found Hoose’s additions the dullest and slowest portions of the book. I wanted to read more of Colvin’s own words and I feel like she got short changed for his prose. I’m a big fan of graphics, and I almost would have preferred more, as well. I consider myself a fairly well educated reader and I felt like having more visuals would have helped me better construct an understanding; I imagine for the age range this book is intended for that adding more graphics would be not only helpful but crucial to better capturing the essence of the Civil Rights struggle, particularly in Montgomery.

Although I believe this is a fantastic book, I do wonder how receptive audiences would be to this if it were not hand sold or used as part of a classroom collection/unit on the Civil Rights movement. I think this because she is (unfortunately!) a little known member of such an important era and she will be overlooked on the shelves in favor of King or Parks. That’s not to say she doesn’t belong, for sure. Additionally, I did find the section about her becoming pregnant a bit non-essential — the graphic details about sex here were tangential to the larger issues, and I think they will be a sticking point for use with younger readers.

I think this is a worthy NBA nominee, for sure, but I still hold my torch for Lips Touch. Fortunately for Claudette Colvin, the nomination will get more librarians, teachers, and book loves to read this story and talk up this lesser known but utterly important member of the Civil Rights movement and perhaps will bring a renewed interest in learning about the faces and stories behind it.

Lips Touch, Laini Taylor w/ Jim Di Bartolo

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I’m going to do something I haven’t done before: I’m reviewing this title without finishing it.

Lips Touch by Laini Taylor and with illustrator Jim Di Bartolo is one of the nominees for this year’s National Book Award. I’m going to go out on a limb and say — even without reading the other two nominees just yet — that this is going to be the winner.

Why?

This book is fantastic, it is beautiful, and it is a book worthy of such an accolade. Although this definitely strikes me as a book that would speak in that way to an awards committee, this is also a book with high appeal, though it’s definitely going to appeal most to those who love fantasy, mythology, or fairy tale worlds and older teens. That’s not to say it’s got a lot of questionable content that wouldn’t be appropriate for younger teens but more because it is written in a very sophisticated manner with dense language. And the allusions and depth Taylor has is going to be most appreciated by those with a little reading and literary currency.

Lips Touch is a series of three short stories that revolve around kissing. They’re wildly different but are related through that common theme. Each story is preceded by a few pages of fantastic illustration by Di Bartolo which tell the story graphically. The art uses red, black, and grey to set the tone and the colors are throughout the book, as titles, page numbers, and chapter titles are red themselves. The extra money that the publisher spent on the color was well spent and as a reader, I just loved the beautiful book itself. Sorry Kindle users, but you will miss out on a piece of art.

The first story is an exploration of Christina Rosetti’s famous poem “Goblin Market.” This a poem that, like Taylor, I’ve been fascinated with for a long time. Kizzy, the main character in the story, is one of those girls who wishes she had the boys interested in her like others in her class do. She never will, of course, because she’s not that attractive and well, she has a very, very weird family.

That is, of course, until a new boy comes to town and rouses the goblins. Will they ruin her or him? Will they ever get to experience a true kiss or will they become victims of the goblins out to haunt Kizzy?

Taylor’s second story is a story about a curse placed upon a baby. Based heavily in mythology — and I believe this is Middle Eastern mythos — Taylor crafts a story where the Devil can kill at will, but it is through the promise to a woman with power to travel between life on earth and Hell that he chooses no longer to kill children. That is, if this child who will be given the most beautiful voice on earth never utters a word. When a solider sees the cursed individual upon her late teen years, and she falls deeply in love, will she break the curse? Will she break it for love?

And the third story, admittedly, I did not get through. This is a story that relies a lot on world building and development and will definitely appeal to fantasy readers. This is not my genre and because I was so enamored with her first two tales, I did not want to read through the third knowing that I could not appreciate nor evaluate it well. The preceding art I did enjoy but knew from that and the short summary following the illustrations that it wouldn’t be for me.

Lips Touch was so enjoyable, so different, and so memorable. I first heard of this book from a webinar I attended wherein David Levithan raved about the book but had a heck of a time finding it anywhere. I wanted to purchase it for my library when I first learned of it but could not locate it through my vendor. A few trips to a number of big chains proved fruitless, as well, both before and after the NBA nomination announcement. So, if you’re interested in reading it and can’t find it easily, don’t be surprised. I did land a copy through Amazon.

This is a literary work. It is based deeply in language and imagery, and it alludes to many myths, legends, and other literature. This will not have wide appeal, but I think that any reader can appreciate at least one story in here. If for no other reason, pick up Lips Touch for incredible language use and for the unique use of visual story telling.

I’m pretty okay taking the risk in saying this will be the winner this year — I suspect that Claudette Colvin and Charles and Emma are going to be great reads, but this book has so much more to it than the text and for a fiction title just glows differently.

Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

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On to my second book out of the five nominees for the National Book Award in Youth Literature. This time it’s Rita Williams-Garcia’s Jumped, which is also a Cybils nominee this year.

Jumped is an urban novel, told from three perspectives and takes place over the course of one school day — about 7:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. with a bit of story taking place later. This is the story of a girl full of confidence and pride who inadvertently got in the way of a girl with a mission to cause trouble (to make herself feel better about her troubles) and a third girl – the one who saw it coming.

Leticia has to take class during 0 hour to make up for not doing so hot in school last year. She’s a sly one, of course, and tricks her teacher into thinking she needs to use the bathroom desperately and is able to ditch out of class early that day.

Dominique, at that time, was making her way to her basketball coach’s office to ask for play time in the game. She’s not passing with a high enough grade in one of her classes and coach has benched her. She isn’t happy. When her coach tells her she can’t play, she leaves his office, rage rising.

And Trina? Well, her day is great. She’s looking cute and her art work’s put on display in the hallway. Girl’s floating through her day … and floats right past Dominique in the hallway who swears she’s going to beat her at 2:45.

Leticia saw it all go down. But is it her responsibility to tell Trina? Should she intervene in a situation that could only get her in deeper trouble? Trina did nothing to warrant the anger Dominique has for her.

Jumped is an interesting story and it gives a good perspective into a culture I am totally unfamiliar with – the urban high school. With the proliferation of stories in the news lately, I thought this book was so contemporary and so well done without becoming an issue novel. But unfortunately, I think the enjoyment I got stopped there.

I found the book very slow for being such a small book. I think the pacing is intentional, building up how each character proceeds through their school day through the end scene. The end scene unfolds precisely as we imagine it will, but when it’s over, well, there’s no resolution. An issue novel would go the mile to resolve the story, and since this ISN’T an issue novel, there’s not a good resolve. I’m still undecided how I feel about that as a reader taken into such an unfamiliar world. I believe readers who find this a familiar world may feel similarly.

Williams-Garcia knows the language and the people well. I don’t think, though, that their voices are well developed. If this is intentional, it’s brilliant, but my reading on the story — and my understanding in the format of a very short time line and short novel more generally — maybe didn’t lead to that conclusion. The characters are pretty flat, built as just their situation. As a reader, I know why Dominique is mad and I know what Trina did to irritate her. Kind of.

Maybe I’m meant to feel like Leticia, unsure of what’s going on and what to do about it.

That said, this is a quick read that will be enjoyed by so many teen girls, both those who know about this urban landscape and those who don’t. I don’t think this one will walk away the winner of the award, though — but I think it was highly deserving, whether or not it was one of my favorites. I understand entirely why it is appealing and worthwhile, and the press it will get from its nomination is justly earned.

Stitches by David Small

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This week, the finalists in consideration for National Book Awards were named, with much kerfuffle over one title named to the Young People’s Literature category: Stitches by David Small. Throughout a number of list servs and through the discussions on various blogs and Twitter, it seems many are disappointed that a number of worthy titles in the Very Large category were left out, while Stitches — published as an adult graphic novel — was given a nod.

Since last year I missed out on reading the nominees before the winning title was announced, I have made it my goal to be on top of it this year. I’ve got Charles and Emma and Jumped on my pile right now, with Claudette Colvin available to be at work, too. Lips Touch, on the other hand, is going to require some hunting, as a prior attempt to purchase it for my library’s collection met with an inability to find it. I digress.

Stitches is Small’s memoir about growing up in an abusive household. At this point you’re probably thinking his name sounds familiar — it is. He has done a lot of work on children’s books, so chances are you’ve seen his work.

Small’s story is dark. His mother had a deep seeded hatred for him from an early age, and his father may have been responsible for him being a sickly child and ultimately developing cancer. It is Small’s therapist who becomes his real savior in the story. It’s the first scene between Small and his therapist that brought tears to my eyes.

Depressing and dark indeed, but an absolutely moving story with, I think, an optimistic ending. This is a story very conducive to the graphic novel format and would be one in which non-graphic novel enthusiasts would find themselves wrapped. This is the *perfect* companion to Dave Pelzer’s A Child Called It, and I think many of us working in libraries can attest to this particular title still being one asked for again and again by teens and adults alike.

This is where it is crucial to discuss category. Where does Stitches belong? Is it an adult novel or a teen novel?

I say it does not matter. It will find its audience.

We use categories for convenience, and as in all things in life, there are rule breakers. You know how there are men and women in the world? Well, there is also a whole spectrum between those two polar ends, even though we only have categories for those two. People who live in that middle find their way and find one another, even as they often have to dodge the bullets from those who see things as one or the other, not both or neither.

Stitches is that sort of book. And for that matter, so is A Child Called It. In the case of the latter, I don’t think anyone can say that the book has become lost nor not received any attention because it’s not clearly for a certain audience (or if it falls clearly into fiction or non-fiction – it’s a memoir!). It will have appeal for so many ages and readers that its classification does not matter. For sake of locating an item, we have to put it somewhere, but look: there is no “right” place for it. It will find its audience whether or not it’s shelved in teen graphic novels, adult graphic novels, or among memoirs penned by authors.

It’s also worth stepping back for a second and looking a little closer at the particular publisher here: W. W. Norton. Know anything about them at all?

They only publish one imprint and thus do not publish for any specific audience in mind. So, sure, this book was definitely not marketed for teens when it came out because, well, that’s not what Norton markets for any time.

I’m thrilled such a book has made the short list for the National Book Award. This sort of book needs this attention to reach the multitude of audiences it could reach. I think it’s quite an honor a book like this can make the Young People’s Literature category among so many tough competitors. Who cares whether or not it was marketed as a teen graphic novel — there’s something much deeper here than category or marketing.