the lost colony: the red menace

Title: The Lost Colony: The Red Menace by Grady Klein

Genre: Graphic Novel

Annotation: Propaganda reins supreme in a time where people choose to blame the world's woes on society's outcasts.

Review: In a world where conspiracy abounds and people are surrounded by wars and rumours of wars, sometimes a book is just what we need to illustrate the current state we find ourselves in. The Red Menace proves to be the kind of mirror that we need to see that. Using early settler conflict with the Native Americans, author Grady Klein paints a portrait of blind patriotism and profiteering that mirrors our country's present dilemma at home and abroad. Inhabitants of a secluded island fight the politics of misinformation in order to live peaceable lives.

General Sherman Krutch is stuck in his mind fighting "the Red menace" -- or American Indians, as it were -- even though the Indian wars are now over. Married to the general's daughter, Governor Snodgrass continues to profiteer from the perceived threat of these "evil Injuns," playing up the legend of "wartime hero" Johnny Crevasse. Stuck as outcasts in this story, fugitive slave Louis John and his barkeeper companion Joseph Padre -- or Jo' Pah' -- fight the cultural subjugation that surrounds them. Both of them must confront their identities and embrace who they are, even as society tells them that they are the source of its ills.

Perhaps our leaders today would do well to read Klein's comic parody and realize that playing off people's fears and insecurities does nothing to solve problems. Eventually, the truth of every matter comes out. War for injustice causes always fails, and in The Lost Colony, misinformation and greed likewise meets a karmatic end.

hear me out

Title: Hear Me Out: True Stories of Teens Educating And Confronting Homophobia

Genre: Nonfiction

Annotation: Coming out as a gay or lesbian is a very personal experience, and every person has their own story.

Review: I came out to my friends and family when I was 18. The summer after my graduation from high school was a tumultuous one, and I remember the anxiety of having to tell those close to me that I wasn't like them, that I was gay. Looking back, I do not regret speaking those words to them; it forced me to live a more authentic life because of who I was.

Participants of Toronto's Planned Parenthood project, Teens Educating and Confronting Homophobia (also referred to by the acronym T.E.A.C.H.), compiled a collection of their own coming out stories to share with other young adults who are facing those same kinds of situations. One of the best tools we have as a community is the power of our words. The strength of our voices can edify others and offer encouragement to be seen and heard. The premise of this collection is to create visibility outside of the GLBT community. So often queer youth are forced to remain silent, feeling they are doomed to live their lives amongst the shadows. Regardless of sexual orientation or minority status, each person should be allowed to live a full life without the fear that they will be put down as a "less-than" and not as an equal.

The stories in Hear Me Out demand a recognition of the existence of queer individuals everywhere, from rural farms to urban communities. Heartbreak and shame exists for many. Having felt it myself, the reinforcement of cultural oppression oftentimes can be crushing to GLBT youth. Yet, for each story of pain and loneliness, another is told of opportunity. These young adults have a choice to put themselves out as who they really are in public. That takes courage. Fictional stories have the safety of not being linked to real people, so when first-person accounts of queer persons are read by adolescents, the added layer of reality can be both frightening and comforting. Not much else stings as much as isolation. Books like Hear Me Out let teens know they are not alone, and that in & of itself is worthy of applause.

baby be-bop

Title: Baby Be-Bop by Francesca Lia Block

Genre: GLBT

Annotation: The spirits of his ancestors visit sixteen-year-old Dirk McDonald in order to help him resolve his anxiety about his homosexuality.

Review: Why, even today, must gay youth feel so "different," so stigmatized, as though they must keep hidden away their intimate desires and future hopes? This question becomes even more vexing when you consider that most of us only want to love and be loved in return; gay adolescents are, in fact, not so different from straight ones. Rather, social stigma creates anxiety and fear for many gay youth. Francesca Lia Block tackles these issues head on in Baby Be-Bop and provides GLBT adolescents with a colorful message of hope. The story revolves around sixteen-year old Dirk McDonald, who wonders if his caretaker grandmother Fifi will be able to accept his sexual identity if and when he tells her about it. Dirk fears that she'll only consider it a phase. Dirk also worries about being authentic and strong. He doesn't want his sexuality to weigh him down, and he doesn't want to be hurt for being gay. As Dirk is muddling through these feelings, he meets Pup Lambert, a rambunctious teen from a dysfunctional family. They soon become fast friends, but Dirk begins to develop romantic feelings for the clearly heterosexual Pup. After some tension, Dirk tries to tell Pup how he feels, but Pup scorns his coming out attempt and the two become estranged. Afterwards, Dirk manufactures another identity and a fake id to go along with it, and he delves into the gothic punk rock scene in Los Angeles. He goes out almost every night to unhappy clubs where the patrons are dressed in threatening attire and thrash to loud, angry music. It is obvious to the reader that Dirk is trying to punish himself for being gay, or identify with a subculture that eschews the traditional pop culture. As Dirk is leaving one of these establishments, he makes a derogatory comment about a swastika tattooed on another patron of the club, and that man along with several accomplices attack Dirk and beat him, all the while calling him a "faggot."

Dirk is fortunate enough to make his way home, where he collapses in his bed. What follows in the next few chapters is some of the best writing in the book. While Dirk is in a dreamlike state, he is visited by his great grandmother, his father and his mother, all of whom are deceased. The relatives recount their life stories to Dirk, who is stunned to realize that he's never asked his grandmother about any of them. Storytelling is a recurrent theme in the book; it is symbolized by a golden genie lamp that Fifi gives Dirk to tell his secrets to on his sixteenth birthday. "Telling your story is touching. It sets you free." Each character has a special narrative, and the description of their lives almost reads like a fairy tale. At one point, Dirk even tells his father that he's gay. The language is rich and luxurious at times, popping with colorful imagery and whimsical elements (such as fairies). In addition to his ancestry, Dirk gets a glimpse of his future, one that will involve a young man named Duck Drake who is a strong young surfer from Santa Cruz. At the very end of the book, we find that Dirk coming out of his deep sleep only to find himself in a hospital with Fifi watching diligently over him. She had been the one retelling their family stories to him; in effect Dirk came out to his grandmother while he was in this hallucinatory state.

Books like Baby Be-Bop are very important for gay youth struggling with their sexual identities. Block should be commended for writing a very accessible, short book that delivers some incredibly powerful messages. Moreover, Baby Be-Bop is a prequel to a series of other books that have positive gay characters. Among the more salient of Block's themes is love, "any love that is love is right." Block successfully shows how important it is to remain connected to one's past in order to find one's future, and narrative is one surefire method of ensuring these connections.

the bluest eye

Title: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Genre: Multicultural

Annotation: In the midst of racial hatred and abuse, an African-American girl longs to possess the beauty she desires and wipe away the ugliness that surrounds her in 1940's Ohio.

Review: Pecola Breedlove wants nothing more than to have blue eyes, the blues eyes one's ever seen. Who can blame her? The pretty white girls all have pretty blue eyes and pretty blond hair. In a place where black is not beautiful, Pecola suffers the degradation of her peers and turns into her own shroud of loneliness and despair. Pecola's family (if it can dare be called that) is wrought with dysfunction. Her mother has a loathing for her daughter and son, and Pecola's father is an abusive alcoholic who is controlled by his bestial passions. After being raped by her father, Pecola becomes pregnant and goes to live with Claudia (one of the story's narrators), but nothing is able to save the young girl from her own madness. The Bluest Eye paints a portrait of grasping for the unreachable, only to collapse within the hollowness of longing.

The Bluest Eye reveals a myriad of little horrors that make this book somewhat hard to read. The brutality of rape, the taboos of pedophilia & incest, the demoralizing nature of racism - all of these things could easily overwhelm any reader. The elegance of Morrison's story lies in how human truths well to the surface above the muck and mire of these said iniquities. The Bluest Eye tells more than just how a young girl unravels after being impregnated by her own father. Everybody has a piece of Pecola within them. We all yearn to belong, to find beauty in what others deem to be broken and ruined. The essence of human struggle can be summed up in our need accept ourselves and be excepted by others, for we are social animals to say the least. The block Pecola faces is society itself. Her culture had standards she could not reach, and without a support system to uplift her, Pecola fails to find the personhood she requires. The tragedy of her story is not in how she fails, but in how her family and community fail her.

This story could be argued as not suitable for adolescent readership, but I would reason that the harsh realities of life are never pleasant and do not change as young adults grow older. Educators and other adults need to provide the stories that will prepare teens to handle the unbecoming qualities society possesses. The Bluest Eye well earns the praise it receives.

kira-kira

Title: Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

Genre: Multicultural

Annotation: After moving from Iowa to Georgia, two Japanese-American sisters share an incredible bond that will withstand the ultimate test.

Review: Katie Takeshima adores her older sister. Lynn does everything with her younger sibling, and together it seems as if they can take on the world. They love their parents and want to make everything good in the world happen for them. But when their father's job prospects transport the family from the cornfields of Iowa to the chicken processing plants of Georgia, life seems to lose a bit of its kira-kira (or "sparkle" in Japanese). Even through the adjustments Katie and Lynn must make as cultural rarities in a new community, they maintain a friendship only sisters can know. Sadly, Lynn's dreams of going to college and buying a house by the ocean are threatened as she become progressively ill. With her most devoted companion paling before her very eyes, Katie must find her own voice even if it's the only way to honor her fading sister.

Kira-Kira is a superb illustration of the influence our siblings can have on us as we grow into young adults. Having my own younger sister, there were times I had to hold back my tears when reading Katie's accounts of pride and of sorrow, especially after Lynn dies from lymphoma. Lynn's confidence and aptitude for academics appears to take center stage with their parents, who - once arriving to Georgia - have to work themselves ragged to support the family and no longer seem to enjoy the life like they previously had up north. Katie easily could have become embittered by Lynn's "perfection," but no malice lies within her heart; she could never hate her sister. Towards the end of Lynn's life, she and Katie have a spat of frustration in which they shout that they hate each other. After her death, Katie mourns this fact, but is reassured that people do not display their true nature in illness. Lynn continually edifies her sister, and after she dies, Katie takes a step further into womanhood; her grades improve and she takes on more responsibilities to help her mother and father.

Even as a story of great loss, Kadohata's novel illuminates the joys of friendship, especially in the cohesiveness of family. Though tragedy may try to tear that webbing asunder, the threads of sisterhood last a lifetime. Lynn's presence exists with Katie up to the beaches of southern California. As the Santa Ana winds blow around the Takeshimas on the New Year, Katie can feel her sister's spirit where it had always longed to be.

home in one piece

Title: Home In One Piece by John Thompson

Genre: Biography

Annotation: A North Dakota farm boy fights for his life on a frozen, January day when his arms are ripped off in a machinery accident.

Review: Don't ever let someone tell you that farm work isn't hard. It is downright life-threatening, especially in John Thompson's case. While grinding feed on his family's farm in North Dakota one winter morning, John slipped and became entangled in the corkscrew-like auger he was operating. John awakes with the urgent licking of his beloved Blue Heeler, Tuffy, only to find that both of his arms have been brutally torn asunder from his body. Miraculously, John finds the strength to walk across the farmyard to his empty house, where he maneuvers around locked doors and calls for help. This young man lives to tell the tale of his harrowing surgery and road to recovery in his autobiography, Home In One Piece.

Having lived on a farm in North Dakota as a child and on into young adulthood, I related to a lot of the imagery that John used in his story, and found many aspects of his & his family's life to be similar to my own growing up. Stories of farming accidents are all too common back home, and this one was as heart-wrenching as the others. One cannot help but feel empathy for his family as they watch their son work through such a grueling path to wholeness. John's unintended heroism sparks hope for many across the United States, and even across the world. These wounds are not merely on the surface, but extend deep inside his psyche. The stress of publicity and emotional healing drains John as he adjusts back into everyday life and seeks to find a place in his rural surroundings.

Young adult stories often cover topics of emotional angst and adjusting to life changes. In John Thompson's case, these same issues occur in the face of great adversity, yet still ring as true as for any other teenager today. When the world offers us the gravest of circumstances, humanity still can be distilled into a melting pot of common experiences that translate across the ages and countless cultures. John's writing style reads as if he's talking directly to the reader; there is no pretense in his account. This book is one to which any adolescent can relate. Every person has a need to find their purpose in life and etch out the path which they must follow, and Home In One Piece illustrates that journey with frankness and precision.

the illyrian adventure

Title: The Illyrian Adventure by Lloyd Alexander

Genre: Adventure

Annotation: Sixteen year-old Vesper Holly embarks on a grand adventure replete with a quest for treasure, political intrigue, and a mysterious foreign destination known as Illyria.

Review: Reminiscent of a teenage, female Indiana Jones or a young Laura Croft (Tomb Raider), Vesper Holly leaps from the pages of The Illyrian Adventure with her boisterous resiliency. The adventure is relayed by Professor Brinton Garrett, newly appointed as Vesper's guardian after the passing of her father. This method of storytelling is actually quite engaging, and it's a nice respite after reading so many "first person" accounts in other works of adolescent literature. Regardless, the story really takes off after Vesper convinces Professor Garrett to accompany her to the obscure little country of Illyria to prove her father's wild theory of linking Illyrian mythology to actual history. Set in1872, the heroine encounters sexism and nationalism in the tiny European country. But upon learning the Illyrian language and customs, Vesper gains a great appreciation for their way of life. However, the country is on the verge of a civil war that dates back 700 years to a conflict between two ancient kings, Ahmad and Vartan. Vesper is lucky enough to befriend King Osman, who promises her protection, as she sets off into the backwoods of Illyria to search for a lost treasure. During her travels, she hires a "dragoman" named Nilo to guide the party to Alba-Collia, the place that Vesper believes will validate her father's suppositions regarding Illyrian mythology and history. As it turns out, Nilo is actually the leader of the rebel resistance that King Osman is fighting. Nilo and Vesper, along with Professor Garrett, eventually recover the treasure, which was the gift of peace from Ahmad to Vartan, and save King Osman's life. In the end, Vesper "saved a king's life, prevented a civil war, triumphed over her father's detractors, foiled an abominable villain, and contributed to scholarly knowledge."

The Illyrian Adventure was a pleasant surprise. While it might not win much critical acclaim, the story is intricate and defensible. More importantly, several themes visited in the story are germane to world affairs today. For example, the recent conflict in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, is somewhat parallel to the dynamics in Illyria. Vesper is an outspoken critic of the civil war in Illyria; she befriends leaders on both sides of the conflict. The storyline also illustrates how history is relevant to contemporary events and how, if not understood correctly, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of our progenitors. Lastly, it was refreshing to see a strong, young woman cast as the hero/heroine; Vesper was confident, intelligent, and keenly aware of the social inequalities that plagued Illyria.