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Get Genrefied: YA Memoirs

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While we’ve been putting together our monthly “get genrefied” guides over the last two years, it’s been neat to see what trends in publishing have emerged and which have subsided a bit. Without doubt, one of the biggest trends in the last two years is one which we aren’t as familiar with and one we don’t talk much about: young adult non-fiction. The growth in YA non-fiction can, of course, be partially attributed to the implementation of Common Core. But it’s also worth noting that because YA non-fiction has gotten so great in the last few years that more and more of it has been published.

One subsection within YA non-fiction that has seen tremendous growth in the last few years is the YA memoir. These are written for teens, about an experience by the author in their teens, regardless of whether or not they’re in their teens as they’re writing or it they’re adults reflecting upon a teen experience. Though it’s arguable whether or not memoirs are a genre per se, let’s dig into this category of YA.

Definition and History

What’s a “memoir” and how does it differ from “autobiography?”

This isn’t a dumb question at all, and it’s one that people are often confused about because the terms are often used interchangeably. Even major retailers lump the two together, even though they’re not the same thing.

Memoir, by definition, covers a specific period of time or experience within a person’s life. An autobiography, on the other hand, covers an entire lifespan. Wikipedia actually puts it most succinctly, noting that autobiographies are of a life while memoirs are from a life. Both of these differ from biography, which is a story of someone’s life as told by a third party.

Memoirs have huge appeal for teen readers and they always have. Anyone who has worked in a library knows that books like Dave Pelzer’s A Child Called It is perennially popular with teen readers, especially among younger teens. Other memoirs, like Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone and Jeannette Walls’s The Glass Castle, are popular among teen readers and are frequently on reading lists in classrooms or for enrichment. There is something appealing about reading someone’s true story, and while these three books, along with many other sought-after memoirs, are published as adult non-fiction, they have tremendous crossover appeal. But with the explosion of memoirs geared directly toward teen readers in the last few years, the options for what teens can pick up and relate to continue to get better and better.

Very little has been written about YA memoirs specifically, likely because it’s become an emerging category of YA non-fiction, rather than something that’s always been specifically geared toward those readers. It’s not just adult books that are being rewritten and adapted for a teen audience (which we’ve written about before), but it’s a category all its own.

Taking a look back at the memoirs written for teens in the early 2000s, it’s interesting to see that the bulk — and those which have remained around — were written by well-known and popular young adult authors. Walter Dean Myers, Ned Vizzini, Jack Gantos, and Chris Crutcher all wrote YA memoirs: Bad Boy, Teen Angst? Naaah…, Hole in My Life, and King of the Mild Frontier respectively. More recently, though, it’s new voices that are lending their stories to YA audiences. These are authors who don’t already have a foot in the category or who may otherwise not be known to teen readers at all.

Resources


Since YA memoirs are an emerging category within YA non-fiction, there aren’t many resources available. Seeking these books out isn’t the easiest, as YA non-fiction has itself been difficult to seek out more broadly. As always, Edelweiss proves to be one of the best resources, though it’s also one of the most time-consuming: even with good searching, finding the non-fiction for teens can be challenging. 

With the change in YALSA’s awards and selection list honors a few years ago, non-fiction become deemphasized. The “Best Fiction for Young Adults” list used to be the “Best Books for Young Adults” list, and it included both fiction and non-fiction; now it’s fiction only. Part of the change, of course, was to help guide people toward one of the best resources for finding YA non-fiction: the Excellence in Non-Fiction Award (ENYA). Though it covers the broad range of non-fiction titles published for YA readers, it does and has included memoirs on its lists. 

The ENYA isn’t the only YALSA resource featuring non-fiction, though. The Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers list also includes non-fiction titles, some of which may include memoirs. Likewise, the Great Graphic Novels list includes non-fiction, too. Since memoirs can be rendered in comic form, this is a really valuable resource for finding those titles. Of course, non-fiction of any flavor is as eligible for the Printz award and the Morris award as fiction. 

Beyond those lists and the use of Edelweiss, there aren’t many resources available for finding YA non-fiction and even fewer for YA memoirs. Perusing the awards of other organizations, it’s interesting to see that YA non-fiction isn’t even a category in some cases. For example, the International Reading Association designates awards for primary non-fiction and intermediate non-fiction, but they limit their YA honors to fiction only. Perhaps as non-fiction becomes more pervasive in YA — and again, its growth has been remarkable in the last two to three years alone — more acknowledgement and more tools will become available for finding high quality stories and matching them with teen readers. 

Books


Because trying to include crossover titles in this list would make it really long, I’m sticking (mostly) to memoirs that were published for a YA readership. I’ve limited the list further to those titles out in the last 5-7 years, as well as forthcoming titles worth having on your radar now. As always, descriptions come from WorldCat, and any other additions are welcome in the comments. These are all memoirs, as opposed to autobiographies. In some cases, there’s not an easy distinction or it becomes blurred and fuzzy (as in the Earl title), but I’ve included it here anyway. 

Model by Cheryl Diamond: Presents the true story of one teen’s attempt to break into New York’s modeling industry at the age of fourteen, where a career-altering event changed her life and nearly ruined her shot at her dream.

Positive by Paige Rawl A teenager’s memoir of the experinces of bullying, being HIV positive and surviving the experiences to become a force for positive change in this world.

Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler: Aaron Hartzler grew up in a home where he was taught that at any moment the Rapture could happen — that Jesus might come down in the twinkling of an eye and scoop Aaron and his whole family up to Heaven. As a kid, he was thrilled by the idea that every moment of every day might be his last one on Earth. But as Aaron turns sixteen, he finds himself more attached to his earthly life and curious about all the things his family forsakes for the Lord. He begins to realize he doesn’t want the Rapture to happen just yet — not before he sees his first movie, stars in the school play, or has his first kiss. Eventually Aaron makes the plunge from conflicted do-gooder to full-fledged teen rebel. Whether he’s sneaking out, making out, or playing hymns with a hangover, Aaron learns a few lessons that can’t be found in the Bible. He discovers that the best friends aren’t always the ones your mom and dad approve of, the girl of your dreams can just as easily be the boy of your dreams, and the tricky part about believing is that no one can do it for you. In this coming-of-age memoir, Hartzler recalls his teenage journey to become the person he wanted to be, without hurting the family that loved him.

Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes-Courter: Ashley spent nine years in foster care after being taken away from her mother. She endured many caseworkers, moving from school to school and manipulative, humiliating and abusive treatment from one foster family. See how she survives and eventually thrives against the odds.

Three More Words by Ashley Rhodes-Courter (May 5): In the sequel to the New York Times bestselling memoir Three Little Words, Ashley Rhodes-Courter expands on life beyond the foster care system, the joys and heartbreak with a family she’s created, and her efforts to make peace with her past. (Description via Goodreads)

Smile for the Camera by Kelle James: The author relates her experiences after she left an abusive home at sixteen and traveled to New York City to pursue a career as a model.

Rock ‘N Roll Soldier by Dean Ellis Kohler: Dean Ellis Kohler, aspiring rock star, is drafted and sent to Vietnam, where he forms a rock ‘n’ roll band at the behest of his Captain.

The Pregnancy Project by Gaby Rodriguez: In this book, Rodriguez shares her experience growing up in the shadow of low expectations, reveals how she was able to fake her own pregnancy, and reveals all that she learned from the experience. But more than that, Gaby’s story is about fighting stereotypes, and how one girl found the strength to come out from the shadow of low expectations to forge a bright future for herself.

The Year We Disappeared by Cylin Busby and John Busby: Cylin and John Busby share the challenges they faced after their family was forced into hiding to protect themselves from a killer who had already shot John, a police officer, and was determined to finish the job.

Rethinking Normal by Katie Rain Hill: In her unique, generous, and affecting voice, nineteen-year-old Katie Hill shares her personal journey of undergoing gender reassignment. Have you ever worried that you’d never be able to live up to your parents’ expectations? Have you ever imagined that life would be better if you were just invisible? Have you ever thought you would do anything–anything–to make the teasing stop? Katie Hill had and it nearly tore her apart. Katie never felt comfortable in her own skin. She realized very young that a serious mistake had been made; she was a girl who had been born in the body of a boy. Suffocating under her peers’ bullying and the mounting pressure to be “normal,” Katie tried to take her life at the age of eight years old. After several other failed attempts, she finally understood that “Katie”–the girl trapped within her–was determined to live. In this first-person account, Katie reflects on her pain-filled childhood and the events leading up to the life-changing decision to undergo gender reassignment as a teenager. She reveals the unique challenges she faced while unlearning how to be a boy and shares what it was like to navigate the dating world and experience heartbreak for the first time in a body that matched her gender identity. Told in an unwaveringly honest voice, Rethinking Normal is a coming-of-age story about transcending physical appearances and redefining the parameters of “normalcy” to embody one’s true self. 

Some Assembly Required by Arin Andrews: Seventeen-year-old Arin Andrews shares all the hilarious, painful, and poignant details of undergoing gender reassignment as a high school student in this winning teen memoir

The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson: The biography of Leon Leyson, the only memoir published by a former Schindler’s List child.

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai: I Am Malala. This is my story. Malala Yousafzai was only ten years old when the Taliban took control of her region. They said music was a crime. They said women weren’t allowed to go to the market. They said girls couldn’t go to school. Raised in a once-peaceful area of Pakistan transformed by terrorism, Malala was taught to stand up for what she believes. So she fought for her right to be educated. And on October 9, 2012, she nearly lost her life for the cause: She was shot point-blank while riding the bus on her way home from school. No one expected her to survive. Now Malala is an international symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize nominee. In this Young Readers Edition of her bestselling memoir, which includes exclusive photos and material, we hear firsthand the remarkable story of a girl who knew from a young age that she wanted to change the world — and did. Malala’s powerful story will open your eyes to another world and will make you believe in hope, truth, miracles and the possibility that one person — one young person — can inspire change in her community and beyond.

Laughing at My Nightmare by Shane Burcaw: With acerbic wit … Shane Burcaw describes the challenges he faces as a twenty-one-year-old with spinal muscular atrophy. From awkward handshakes to having a girlfriend and everything in between, Shane handles his situation with humor and a ‘you-only-live-once’ perspective on life. While he does talk about everyday issues that are relatable to teens, he also offers an eye-opening perspective on what it is like to have a life-threatening disease. 

This Star Won’t Go Out by Esther Earl: A memoir told through the journals, letters, and stories of young cancer patient Esther Earl.

Little Fish by Ramsey Beyer: Written in an autobiographical style with artwork, this book shows the challenges of being a young person facing the world on your own for the very first time and the unease – as well as excitement – that comes along with that challenge. (This WorldCat description is not good — this is a memoir that mixes narrative with lists, ephemera, and art). 

Tomboy by Liz Prince: Eschewing female stereotypes throughout her early years and failing to gain acceptance on the boys’ baseball team, Liz learns to embrace her own views on gender as she comes of age, in an anecdotal graphic novel memoir.


How I Made it to Eighteen (A Mostly True Story) by Tracey White: How do you know if you’re on the verge of a nervous breakdown? For seventeen-year-old Stacy Black, it all begins with the smashing of a window. After putting her fist through the glass, she checks into a mental hospital. Stacy hates it there but despite herself slowly realizes she has to face the reasons for her depression to stop from self-destructing. Based on the author’s experiences, How I Made it to Eighteen is a frank portrait of what it’s like to struggle with self-esteem, body image issues, drug addiction, and anxiety. 

Tweak by Nic Sheff: The author details his immersion in a world of hardcore drugs, revealing the mental and physical depths of addiction, and the violent relapse one summer in California that forever changed his life, leading him down the road to recovery.

We All Fall Down by Nic Sheff: Sheff writes candidly about stints at in-patient rehab facilities, devastating relapses, and hard-won realizations about what it means to be a young person living with addiction.

We Should Hang Out Sometime by Josh Sundquist: Why was [Paralympic ski racer and cancer survivor] Josh still single? To find out, he tracked down the girls he had tried to date and asked them straight up: what went wrong? The results of Josh’s semiscientific, wholly hilarious investigation are captured here: disastrous Putt-Putt date involving a backward prosthetic foot, to his introduction to CFD (Close Fast Dancing), to a misguided ‘grand gesture’ at a Miss America pageant, this story is about looking for love–or at least a girlfriend–in all the wrong places. 

The Bite of Mango by Mariatu Kamara: When Mariatu set out for a neighborhood village in Sierra Leone, she was kidnapped and tortured, and both of her hands cut off. She turned to begging to survive. This heart-rending memoir is a testament to her courage and resilience. Today she is a UNICEF Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.

The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon: Brent Runyon was fourteen years old when he set himself on fire. In this book he describes that suicide attempt and his recovery over the following year. He takes us into the Burn Unit in a children₂s hospital and through painful burn care and skin-grafting procedures. Then to a rehabilitation hospital, for intensive physical, occupational, and psychological therapy. And then finally back home, to the frightening prospect of entering high school. But more importantly, Runyon takes us into his own mind. He shares his thoughts and hopes and fears with such unflinching honesty that we understand₇with a terrible clarity₇what it means to want to kill yourself and how it feels to struggle back toward normality. Intense, exposed, insightful, The Burn Journals is a deeply personal story with universal reach. It is impossible to look away. Impossible to remain unmoved. 

Ghosts of War by Ryan Smithson: Ryan Smithson joined the Army Reserve when he was seventeen. Two years later, he was deployed to Iraq as an Army engineer. In this extraordinary and harrowing memoir, readers march along one GI’s tour of duty. Smithson avoids writing either prowar propaganda or an antimilitary polemic, providing instead a fascinating, often humorous-and occasionally devastating-account of the motivations and life of a contemporary soldier.

Popular by Maya Van Wagenen: A touchingly honest, candidly hysterical memoir from breakout teen author Maya Van Wagenen. Stuck at the bottom of the social ladder at “pretty much the lowest level of people at school who aren’t paid to be here,” Maya Van Wagenen decided to begin a unique social experiment: spend the school year following a 1950s popularity guide, written by former teen model Betty Cornell. Can curlers, girdles, Vaseline, and a strand of pearls help Maya on her quest to be popular? The real-life results are painful, funny, and include a wonderful and unexpected surprise-meeting and befriending Betty Cornell herself. Told with humor and grace, Maya’s journey offers readers of all ages a thoroughly contemporary example of kindness and self-confidence.

Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton: Bethany Hamilton, a teenage surfer lost her arm in a shark attack off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii. Not even the loss of her arm keeps her from returning to surfing, the sport she loves.

To Timbuktu by Casey Scieszka and Steven Weinberg: Casey and Steven met in Morocco, moved to China then went all the way to Timbuktu. This illustrated travel memoir tells the story of their first two years out of college spent teaching English, making friends across language barriers, researching, painting, and learning to be themselves wherever they are.

A List of Things That Didn’t Kill Me by Jason Schmidt: In his memoir, Jason Kovacs tells the story of growing up with an abusive father, who contracted HIV and ultimately died of AIDS when Jason was a teenager

Elena Vanishing by Elena and Clare B. Dunkle (May 19): Seventeen-year-old Elena is vanishing. Every day means renewed determination, so every day means fewer calories. This is the story of a girl whose armor against anxiety becomes artillery against herself as she battles on both sides of a lose-lose war in a struggle with anorexia. Told entirely from Elena’s perspective over a five-year period and co-written with her mother, award-winning author Clare B. Dunkle, Elena’s memoir is a fascinating and intimate look at a deadly disease, and a must read for anyone who knows someone suffering from an eating disorder. (Description via Goodreads).

I Will Always Write Back by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda (April 14): It started as an assignment. Everyone in Caitlin’s class wrote to an unknown student somewhere in a distant place. All the other kids picked countries like France or Germany, but when Caitlin saw Zimbabwe written on the board, it sounded like the most exotic place she had ever heard of–so she chose it. 
Martin was lucky to even receive a pen pal letter. There were only ten letters, and forty kids in his class. But he was the top student, so he got the first one.

That letter was the beginning of a correspondence that spanned six years and changed two lives.

In this compelling dual memoir, Caitlin and Martin recount how they became best friends –and better people–through letters. Their story will inspire readers to look beyond their own lives and wonder about the world at large and their place in it. (Description via Goodreads). 

No Summit Out of Sight by Jordan Romero: The story of Jordan Romero, who at the age of 13 became the youngest person ever to reach the summit of Mount Everest. At age 15, he reached the summits of the world’s 7 highest mountains.

Hidden Girl by Shyima Hall The author, Shyima Hall, was eight when her parents sold her into slavery. In Egypt’s capitol city of Cairo, she lived with a wealthy family and serve them eighteen hours a day, seven days a week. When she was ten, her captors moved to Orange County, California, and smuggled Shyima with them. Two years later, an anonymous call from a neighbor brought about the end of Shyima’s servitude– but her journey to true freedom was far from over. Now a US citizen, she regularly speaks out about human trafficking and candidly reveals how she overcame her harrowing circumstances.

Nonfiction on Audio

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It might not seem like it, but I do read adult books occasionally – even adult nonfiction! It’s rare, but when I do read adult nonfiction, I find that I enjoy it a lot on audio. Nonfiction is easy to listen to in pieces without losing the thread of the narrative, making it great for commutes or workouts or cleaning frenzies. Below are a few nonfiction books I’ve listened to in recent years that I’ve enjoyed. Do you find that you enjoy a certain type of book more on audio?

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
The basic concept of the book is this: Bill Bryson describes how the universe, and everything in it, came to be. This is a pretty tall order, but it’s precisely because he covers so much in so little space that he manages to keep the lay reader (or listener) interested. He covers the big bang, evolution, plate tectonics, ice ages, and volcanoes, among a dozen other subjects. He also talks a lot about the people behind the major discoveries and includes a few funny stories that show just how odd (or just plain human, really) scientists can be. The book is never dry or boring, but it also doesn’t give the reader a full picture on any one subject. It’s a fascinating look at science for non-scientists and would be especially great paired with the the recent tv series Cosmos. Bryson’s narration is fantastic, bringing out the humor in book. The experience is also tailored to the listener, not the reader. By this I mean that whenever the text read “If you’re reading this,” it was changed to “If you’re listening to this.” It’s a nice touch that iced the experience for me.

On Writing by Stephen King
King’s well-known writing memoir is part autobiography, part meditation on the craft. By marrying these two concepts within the book, King makes the act of writing both personal to himself and accessible to his readers. King’s life is interesting but also ordinary in many ways – much like his fiction writing, which usually addresses how ordinary people react to extraordinary events. He narrates the book himself and does a wonderful job. I’ve read a few other books on writing (Bird By Bird, Crafting a Life) and this is by far the best.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
Sedaris’ books are (almost) always winners. I first listened to his books while in library school and have been hooked ever since. Sedaris’ essays are funny, often raunchy slice-of-life stories that frequently put me in stitches. Sedaris himself is perfectly suited as the narrator. He relates his stories with a dry, almost deadpan tone, which enhances their humor. I know the veracity of his stories has been called into question, but they’re funny and thematically true even if the events themselves didn’t strictly happen in the way described. This volume is his sixth and may be my favorite.

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
I can’t say I thought this was the feminist manifesto of our times, but I’m glad I read it. It’s definitely part of our cultural conversation, which means I can now converse intelligently about it with others. I agree with a lot of the common criticisms. It focuses almost entirely on the white, privileged, middle to upper class experience, and its central premise – that women can and should alter their behavior in order to get ahead or level the playing field – smacks of sexism itself. I particularly disliked the part where she counseled women to refer to us ourselves as “we” rather than “I” so we don’t come across as self-centered when in meetings or negotiations. Um, what? I’ll avoid that suggestion, thanks. She also calls for solidarity among women near the end of the book, seemingly at the expense of honest discussion and criticism. The problem isn’t women disagreeing with each other, the problem is institutional sexism – which also includes institutional racism, heterosexism, and so on. It’s all connected, and by avoiding discussing these connections, Sandberg’s book is only truly helpful to a few.

All that said, I did find parts of this useful or insightful. The one thing that really stuck out to me was how Sandberg encourages girls (and I mean those under 18) to be ambitious. I felt this very personally. I grew up without much ambition, I think. It’s pretty common in my field for the women to say they don’t want to be managers and the men to say that’s their ultimate goal, even while still in library school. This starts from a young age – boys are encouraged to reach for higher and higher goals, while girls are encouraged to hang back, told that ambition makes them unattractive or unlikeable. As a result, I do think it’s helpful for girls and women to be given “permission” in a way to be ambitious, to want more, to be confident they can achieve more, and to go for it completely. After reading this, I’ve found myself being much more open about my own goals (which are ambitious!) and encouraging other women to reach for more as well.

The narration, done by Elisa Donovan, isn’t great. Donovan speaks clearly and carefully, but she overemphasizes a lot of the points, making them come across as great revelations rather than just perfunctory statements. For example, Sandberg writes that women are more successful when their romantic partners are supportive. Well, obviously. This is not new. The way Donovan tells it, though, you’d think she were announcing a miracle.

What I’m Reading Now

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The last couple of weeks of my life have been chaotic, between traveling to Connecticut, changing jobs, and now, I’m in Virginia for a couple days. I haven’t had a lot of good time to “settle” into a new routine, and because of that, my reading has been a little all over the map. I’m a pretty good reader while traveling, so I’ve at least been able to sneak in pages between destinations. Here’s a look at what I’ve been reading and have in my bag right now while I’m trying to find that new groove. I guess I’m also a little all over the map in what’s been catching my interest, too!



Sex Criminals, Volume 1 by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky: I heard about this one so long ago and preordered it so long ago, and when it showed up in my mail this week, I was really excited since I’d forgotten I bought it. It’s a comic book featuring a main character who is a librarian that, when she orgasms, she is able to stop time. The story picks up when she meets a partner who has that same special talent. I’m not too far into it, but I am really keen on the artwork.

The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison: I can only remember having read one collection of essays in book form before, and that was Eula Biss’s Notes From No Man’s Land, published by Graywolf Press. So when Jamison’s collection started getting some buzz, my interest was piqued. Then someone shared one of the essays in this collection titled “A Grand Unified Theory of Female Pain,” which you can read in full here, and I knew I wanted to pick up the book. I’m about half way through the collection and have had some hits and some misses, but Jamison’s writing is knockout.

The Break-up Artist by Philip Siegel: I haven’t cracked this one open yet, but I have it with me while I’m out this week because it looks like a lighter-hearted read. It’s a story about a girl who falls into the business of breaking up relationships.

The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno: I know very little about this book, and I wouldn’t have put the galley on my ereader had I not seen someone mention that it’s a great read alike to Stephanie Kuehn’s forthcoming Complicit. I read and loved Kuehn’s book, so I’m eager to see what makes this a read alike and if it’s as successful in being a psychological thriller that actually surprised me with its twists.

Before I left, I shoved a ton of other galleys on my ereader, as well, including Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist (another collection of essays), Carrie Mesrobian’s Perfectly Good White Boy, Micol Ostow’s Amity, and Kat Rosenfield’s Inland.

What’s been on your reading plate lately? Anything recently released or coming out soon that I should have on my radar?

Going Graphic: Graphic Novels on the Outstanding Books for the College Bound List

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In continuing the short reviews and discussion of the titles on this year’s Outstanding Books for the College Bound list (OBCB), I thought I’d hit on format in this roundup, rather than thematic connections. One of the things that makes me really proud of the work we did on this list was that we included a nice number of graphic novels and graphic non-fiction titles. Even though it seems like those who are huge readers have been “on to” graphic books forever, it’s still a format not everyone widely accepts as a legitimate type of reading. The books that we were able to include in a list of books for those who want to attend college or who are life long learners in the graphic format definitely prove otherwise — included here are both fiction and non-fiction graphic novels, as well as a couple of graphic novel hybrids.

These titles spanned all of the categories on the OBCB list, so I haven’t read them all personally. Because of that, I’m going to format this roundup a little bit differently than the previous formats. I’ll offer up the official WorldCat description for each, and then for the titles I have read or have more to elaborate upon, I’ll note that beneath.

As a bonus, many of the graphic novels are also diverse titles. 



March: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell: John Lewis’s autobiographical account of his lifelong battle for civil rights for all Americans.

I didn’t get a chance to read this one, but it looks like an outstanding (auto)biographical work about John Lewis’s life and how much a role he played during the civil rights movement. 

Philosophy: A Discovery in Comics by Margreet De Heer: A fun introduction in comics to deep thinking and the history of philosophy. 

The WorldCat description tells you everything and nothing about this little gem. It is a fun introduction to the history of philosophy, but it’s more than that. While it definitely offers a solid history, the core of the book is about how readers can learn to develop their own ideas about philosophy and figure out what their own philosophy on life is. It’s easy to follow and it’s not going to go over the heads (nor bore!) readers who may not be interested in philosophy or those who think that philosophy is a tough, hard-to-grasp concept. This makes it really easy. 

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley: Lucy Knisley loves food. The daughter of a chef and a gourmet, this talented young cartoonist comes by her obsession honestly. In her forthright, thoughtful, and funny memoir, Lucy traces key episodes in her life thus far, framed by what she was eating at the time and lessons learned about food, cooking, and life. Each chapter is bookended with an illustrated recipe– many of them treasured family dishes, and a fewof them Lucy’s original inventions. 

I reviewed this book last year, well before deciding to nominate it for OBCB consideration. What made this a standout and one we decided to put on the Arts & Humanities list was how much love was poured into food and eating. This is the kind of book anyone — from a passionate foodie to a person who merely enjoys a good meal now and then to the reader who has never thought much about the food they eat — could get into. Knisley’s art is really enjoyable, and her ability to be respectful of the way food connects us as people and the way food becomes a centerpiece to our lives gets at the heart of arts and humanities. 

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang: Alternates three interrelated stories about the problems of young Chinese Americans trying to participate in the popular culture. Presented in comic book format.

That’s not the most useful WorldCat description, but it’s pretty spot on about what the book is. It’s been a long time since I read this one — back in grad school is when I think I read it — but it’s one that’s stuck with me not just because it’s three interconnected stories about the Chinese-American experience, but also because of how outstanding the artwork is. This is easily a classic of YA literature and of graphic novels for young readers (if not graphic novels, period) and it’s a perfect fit for the list.

Feynman by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick: In this substantial graphic novel biography, First Second presents the larger-than-life exploits of Nobel-winning quantum physicist, adventurer, musician, world-class raconteur, and one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century: Richard Feynman. Written by nonfiction comics mainstay Jim Ottaviani and brilliantly illustrated by First Second author Leland Myrick, Feynman tells the story of the great man’s life from his childhood in Long Island to his work on the Manhattan Project and the Challenger disaster. Ottaviani tackles the bad with the good, leaving the reader delighted by Feynman’s exuberant life and staggered at the loss humanity suffered with his death. 

War Brothers: The Graphic Novel by Sharon McKay and Daniel Lefrance: Jacob is a 14-year-old Ugandan who is sent away to a boys’ school. Once there, he assures his friend Tony that they need not be afraid — they will be safe. But not long after, in the shadow of the night, the boys are abducted. Marched into the jungle, they are brought to an encampment of the feared rebel soldiers. They are told they must kill or be killed, and their world turns into a terrifying struggle to endure and survive.

This is a title I didn’t get my hands on, despite being on one of my own subcommittee’s lists. If you’ll remember, one of the things I talked about in terms of the committee process is that sometimes, you don’t get to read everything (in this case, the book was too new and I couldn’t get it at work, nor could I interlibrary loan it) but a good argument and discussion by those who did read it can persuade you to consider it worth including on the list. I’ve since acquired it for my library and look forward to checking it out. 

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie: Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

Alexie’s novel isn’t a straight graphic novel — it’s a hybrid. It’s been years since I read this one, but like with Yang’s title, it’s a staple of YA lit and it’s a perfect fit for the Literature and Languages list. This could have easily fit, too, on the History and Cultures list. 

Chasing Shadows by Swati Avasthi and Craig Phillips: Chasing Shadows is a searing look at the impact of one random act of violence. Before: Corey, Holly, and Savitri are one unit– fast, strong, inseparable. Together they turn Chicago concrete and asphalt into a freerunner’s jungle gym, ricocheting off walls, scaling buildings, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. But acting like a superhero doesn’t make you bulletproof. After: Holly and Savitri are coming unglued. Holly says she’s chasing Corey’s killer, chasing revenge. Savitri fears Holly’s just running wild– and leaving her behind. Friends should stand by each other in times of crisis. But can you hold on too tight? Too long? In this intense novel, told in two voices, and incorporating comic-style art sections, Swati Avasthi creates a gripping portrait of two girls teetering on the edge of grief and insanity. Two girls who will find out just how many ways there are to lose a friend– and how many ways to be lost. 

I reviewed Avasthi’s title before I nominated it for our list and I still stand behind everything in that review for why it belongs on the OBCB list. One other reason is that this story is set in that strange time period between the end of high school and whatever comes next. Though there have been more of those books in recent years, Avasthi’s handling of the social elements in that time frame — friendship, specifically — really makes it stand out. This, like Alexie’s book, is a graphic hybrid, rather than a solid graphic novel. 

Pluto by Naoki Urasawa (the entire manga series): In a world where man and robots coexist, the powerful Swiss robot Mont Blanc has been destroyed. Elsewhere a key figure in a robot rights group is murdered. The two incidents appear to be unrelated…except for one very conspicuous clue – the bodies of both victims have been fashioned into some sort of bizarre collage complete with makeshift horns placed by the victims’ heads. Interpol assigns robot detective Gesicht to this most strange and complex case – and he eventually discovers that he too, as one of the seven great robots of the world, is one of the targets.

This series of books is on the Science and Technology list, and it’s one that I didn’t read. It sounds really fantastic though, and I appreciate how an entire manga series is on the OBCB list — not only does it showcase how graphic novels can be “real reading,” but it shows that even a format that many consider to be “lesser” than more “prestigious” graphic novels are worthwhile, thought-provoking, important reads. 

Little Fish: A Memoir From a Different Kind of Year by Ramsey Beyer: Told through real-life journals, collages, lists, and drawings, this coming-of-age story illustrates the transformation of an 18-year-old girl from a small-town teenager into an independent city-dwelling college student. Written in an autobiographical style with beautiful artwork, Little Fish shows the challenges of being a young person facing the world on her own for the very first time and the unease–as well as excitement–that comes along with that challenge. 

Beyer’s memoir is maybe less of a graphic novel than the others on this list, but I’m including it because the style will have appeal to those readers who love the graphic format. This is sort of collage/scrapbook style storytelling, with art, lists, and images sprinkled throughout the story of Beyer’s first year at art school. What’s great about this book and why it fits so well on the list is that it’s the first-hand experience of the first year of being away at school. There are highs and there are lows, there are expectations met and failed, and there is a lot of musing about relationships past and present. It’s honest and heartfelt, and it’s the kind of realistic portrayal I wish I’d read before I went to college. It would have definitely made me feel less alone or weird in some of the less-than-pleasant feelings I had when I went to college and away from home. 

For the previous roundups of titles on the Outstanding Books for the College Bound list, you can find them on the topics of music and musicality, religion and spirituality, girls across borders, and football and football culture. 

Girls Across Borders: Reviews from the Outstanding Books for the College Bound List

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To round out women’s history month and continue talking about some of the amazing titles on this year’s Outstanding Books for the College Bound list (OBCB), I thought I’d dive into the books on the list that talk about girls across borders. This is a longer roundup of titles, as there were a number of really great titles that would fall under this umbrella. Some of the borders these girls move across are physical, some are mental, and some are socially-constructed boundaries. I’ve pulled the titles from across the five categories of the OBCB list, so there’s a little literature, a little social science, and a little bit of arts and humanities covered here.

Sold by Patricia McCormick

This isn’t a new title, and it’s not one that hasn’t gone unnoticed or not earned accolades. That’s for good reason. This is a powerful novel in verse about human trafficking and prostitution.

Thirteen year old Lakshmi lives in Nepal, and when a devastating
monsoon destroys her family’s crops, her step-father informs her that her duty is to help the family recover from this tragedy. While she’s under the impression that she’s being sent to do work a a maid, the truth is, she’s being sold into prostitution in India.

It’s a harsh, cruel, and brutal world, but Lakshmi does what she can to endure. She’s able to at least try to foster friendships with the other girls in the brothel.

Sold is horrifying and heart-wrenching, and it’s not necessarily the kind of story with a happy ending to it. What’s left unsaid because of the verse style of the novel is as painful as those things which are said and described. Likewise, despite being a fictional novel, it’s clear that McCormick has done her research on the truth behind stories like Lakshmi’s, and she’s unflinching in what she presents as the truth of her experiences as a child sold into prostitution.

Though not a personal favorite read of mine, it’s one that I am still thinking about months later. It’s powerful, and it’s the kind of story any reader curious about the ongoings in other parts of the world should read. But, of course, they shouldn’t read it for just that. Because as much as we want to believe this is an issue “in other places,” it still happens in the places with which we have great familiarity.

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

So what can be done about oppression and the horrific abuses women suffer around the world? Kristof and WuDunn delve into what we can do and how we can do it in their work.

I should note before diving into this a bit more than this book didn’t work for me. It’s really brutal, even more so than Sold, and I had a problem more specifically with how these women’s stories of being hurt and broken and abused were coaxed out of them in a way that I felt took the power away from the victim and instead gave it to Kristof and WuDunn. But I note that this was my personal bias in the reading and it came up because this book is PACKED with these sorts of stories — it’s not an easy read nor is it a gentle one and it’s not meant to be either of those things.

That said, this is the kind of book any reader interested in social justice, particularly on a global scale, should pick up. It gives a broad perspective of practical things that can be done to help make the world a little bit of a safer place for women who endure brutality. It puts a real face and story to the ones told by McCormick in Sold. I should be fair in stating, too, that alongside the really tough reads are stories about how many women recovered from their positions and situations. Those are, of course, meant to be a call to action.

Factory Girls: Voices from the Heart of Modern China by Leslie T. Chang

When you think of China, what do you think? What about those stickers littering your clothes or on toys that proclaim “made in China?”

Chang enters into migrant China and follows two girls through their “careers” in the factory/migrant world. Min and Chunming represent the girls who leave their village homes and seek work in the cities inside factories that run them dry, pay them little, and “own” them. But what’s most fascinating is how Chang doesn’t necessarily look at this as a negative thing in and of itself; these girls see these jobs as upward mobility in China. This exploration of China’s social situations and work/personal lives is fascinating, heartbreaking, and — surprisingly — somewhat hopeful. Although I found Chang’s personal history in here boring (I skimmed those few chapters), I see how they relate and tie into the greater story. 
A great book for considering not just the social world of China, but how China’s changed and evolved in the last few decades, how the population has adapted to this, what promise and hope look like for young women who aren’t attending colleges/universities, and it’s also a means of reflecting upon our own choices in what we purchase and use product-wise in America. We consume the goods these girls take part in making; how does and should this impact us here, knowing what those jobs there might mean?

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

Going back to fiction and back to the US momentarily, Kwok’s novel focuses on the double life which immigrants to this country can sometimes lead.

Kimberly Chang and her mother arrived in Brooklyn from Hong Kong poor but eager to get away from their home country. They’re set up in an apartment of squalor. During the day, Kimberly is an immensely talented and eager school girl. From that, it would appear she’s living the American Dream, but it’s far from that.

At night, Kimberly works in the factories and hopes to help supplement the income her mother has in order for them to stay afloat in their new home. She’s obligated to help, and in the process of this work, Kimberly comes to a number of realizations about how much responsibility falls on her to help make life in this country possible. There is a romance that emerges in the story, as well, and it’s in these scenes where readers get a real sense of the challenges faced — no matter which decision or opportunities Kimberly pursues, she’s going to have to work hard and make significant sacrifices.

What happens, too, when someone finds out about your real home life and it doesn’t match the face you present in the classroom?

Girl in Translation makes for a really interesting read against Factory Girls. While they’re set in entirely different worlds, what these girls do and don’t do reflect the realities of their worlds in ways that make them almost more similar than they make them different. 

Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow by Faiza Guene

If I had to pick a single book I read over the course of OBCB work that stood out to me the most, it would be Guene’s novel. I’d put it off for quite a while because I had no idea what it was about (the title and the cover didn’t attract me) but when I picked it up, I read it in a single sitting.

What a little gem of a book. This was published adult but has mega YA appeal, as it’s about a 15-year-old Doria growing up in the projects about half an hour from Paris. While we have our romantic notions of what Paris is like, that notion is best left to what Paris is — not the suburban landscape. 

Doria’s dealing with her father ditching her and her mother, who is illiterate, as he heads back to Morocco in order to attempt marrying a woman who can sire him a son (that’s all that matters in his culture). It deals with urban issues in a way that’s cross-cultural, about the challenges of growing up between cultures, and what it means to figure out who you are and what you do when your world’s been blown apart. It looks at what happens when the people you’ve come to know and rely on for certain things — their always being there, their always NOT being there — change and mold into their own lives and new paths, too. 

Doria’s voice is amazing: it’s funny, but also deeply hurting and that hurt comes in those really funny moments, making them even more searing. Doria’s not one of those girls who is a miracle, and I think that’s what made it resonate so much. She’s NOT good at school and she doesn’t care. But it doesn’t at all make her worthless or driftless. She’s 15 and only trying to figure it out as best she can. Even when the school reassigns her to a trade she doesn’t care about, Doria’s actions and reactions are real and authentic to who she was. 

The reason this particular novel was one we talked about and thought was worthwhile for including on OBCB was not just the voice, but that it showcased a girl whose cultural identity is one we don’t often see. She’s poor, she’s part French and part Moroccan, and she lives on the outskirts of one of the most romanticized, lauded cities in the world. 

Three other female-lead and female-centric titles that fit within this idea of girls across borders include the following:

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

There’s not much I need to say about why this book fits not only on the OBCB list (it’s in the literature and languages category) nor about why it fits within this post about girls across borders. Frankie’s a girl who takes charge, gets things done, and does so despite what stands in her way. While fictional and the stakes that exist in the real-life stories discussed above aren’t as high, this is the type of book that fits into the conversation, if it’s not a gateway to the larger conversation about social constructs, gender, and about girls breaking down borders.


Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX, The Law That Changed the Future of Girls in America by Karen Blumenthal

Blumenthal’s non-fiction title, which skews much younger than the other titles on this list, is a carry over from the 2009 list. It’s an excellent look at how Title IX came to be and how women earned their rightful place in sports and athletic history. Here is how girls spoke up and out, despite the challenges standing before them. What keeps this book particularly interesting is how well the photos and sidebars are used and placed throughout.

Rookie Yearbook One edited by Tavi Gevinson

I nominated this title not having read it and wondering if maybe I’d nominated something that had no chance or place on our list. But I was wrong. This book, which is on the arts and humanities list, is such a fantastic guide to pop culture, to counter pop culture, to fashion, and to music. More than that — and I think why this is such a perfect fit for the OBCB list, as well as for this roundup of titles in particular — is that it explores “big issues” that teen girls face. It tackles figuring out what you want to do with your life, how to begin and end friendships, as well as sexuality, dating, and more. Tavi and her fellow writers have their fingers on the pulse of being a teen girl, and while things like makeup tips or fashion photo shoots won’t capture the interest of all girls who pick up this title, there are powerful pieces in here that will speak to them. This isn’t a book you sit and read cover to cover; it’s more a book you pick up and read when you feel like you need to talk to someone who will get you and offer you some really worthwhile advice or food for thought on life stuff. A big thumbs up, too, for this book featuring models of many colors and more than one shape.

Earlier title roundups of books on the Outstanding Books for the College Bound list I’ve talked include titles tackling music and musicality, football and football culture, and religion and spirituality.