He Said, She Said by Kwame Alexander

This novel is told through alternating narrators. The first narrator is Omar "T-Diddy" Smalls. He's the football MVP - all around hot stuff playa with the ego to match. The second narrator is Claudia Clarke who is headed for Harvard and not the least bit interested in someone like Omar. When he sees her at a party "looking like Beyonce" he gets it in his head that he has to have her. After everyone tells him she won't give him the time of day, he makes a bet that he'll walk away with her panties. Of course she wants nothing to do with him, not when she has far more important things to deal with, like the fact that teen pregnancy is running the school and the school board is laying off teachers, closing the school library, and cutting their arts fund. T-Diddy gets it in his head that he can woo Claudia by picking up her cause and leads the school in a silent protest against that school board's actions. With him leading, the whole school gets involved and Claudia begins to think he might not be as bad as she thought. At the same time, T-Diddy starts to fall for her in ways he's never felt for girls before. However, when his past starts to catch up with him, his relationship with Claudia is put to the test.

This novel is told through African-American characters, so at times the dialect takes getting used to (I'm not entirely sure what "ish" means or "woadie," but it doesn't detract from the story). For the vast majority of the novel I did not like Omar "T-Diddy." Even when he started to change and lose the ego, his attitude and motivation rubbed me the wrong way. Even Claudia seemed to easily swayed by his ways for being such a smart woman. Maybe, though, it was just a cultural thing that I couldn't connect with. Despite my dislike for the characters, this is a powerful story about standing up for what you think is right and using the civil rights history to change the world today. It is about changing your ways, and how one person can make you a better person. This book has the power to be inspirational.
MMK

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Monster is one of Walter Dean Myers's most popular books and is occasionally taught in school. It is written as a script and journal, a unique style that I felt both helped and hurt the story. While I know teens enjoy the book, I felt that it lacked something.

Steve Harmon is a 16 year old boy who is on trial for participating in a robbery that ended in homicide. In order to cope with the reality that he might be facing life in prison, Steve documents what's going on during the trial in a script as if what's happening to him is actually a movie rather than his life. The story, therefore, is the trial written out as a script. Mixed into the script are the occasional journal entry that reveal some of Steve's inner thoughts and fears, along with a few flashbacks from his life.

The fact that this is written as a script makes it an exceptionally fast read, which probably appeals to a lot of teen readers. The novel also doesn't hold back too much on the unpleasant aspects of jail-life. In other words, it gives a decent reality check of what might happen if you get caught in an unsavory situation. On the other hand, Steve somehow seemed to escape the truly horrible aspects of jail on a personal level - others were abused but not him, yet he was probably the youngest one there. Is that realistic, especially since he doesn't explain how the others left him alone? Even though he doesn't cry at night, he still seems like an easy target. Did the author hold back so as not to offend or turn-off readers? At the same time time, I felt that the trial pulled back from the actual story - you're looking at it rather than being a part of it. True, that's what Steve seemed to be doing, but as a reader, it's better to be a part of it. The story lacked character development. People came in and out of the story without making a mark - although Myers does do a good job of giving the characters realistic voices, so they seem real but they could still be anyone. Even Steve, whose head we get into, seems to be missing something. You can't tell if he's innocent or guilty. I ended the novel wanting more. It all went by too fast.

For teens this is a great novel to introduce them to many different things from unique storytelling to trial life to consequences of actions to life in jail. There are many things to talk about such as whether or not he's really guilty or not, how does a person's past change his or her credibility, and how should Steve be punished if he was merely a participant yet not completely involved. While the novel does have that working for it, as a whole it still lacks something in my eyes in terms of story telling and development. A little more would have made it better.
MMK

The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had By: Kristin Levine

This is a novel that is detailed, but set in the 1900's in Alabama. When teens that were white, went to separate schools from black children . It was unheard of mixed race relationship, or friendships. Life was full of pressure to socialize only with one's own race. This was true until the new postmaster, arrived at the Railroad Station, and it was a black family. Emma a 12 year old girl who was black, and very outgoing was accustomed to Boston where color was not as much an issue. Emma became good friends of Dit,who was white, but his Mother brought up her children to be friends of all nationalities, and races. So Dit has no problem with the friendship of a black kid, but isn't sure about friendship with a girl who doesn't know how to fish or throw a baseball. Emma isn't at all sure at first about a boy who doesn't read.

Tensions erupt in the small town when Emma is invited to take part in the play at the white school and the biased drunk lawman in town disapproves. Emma and later Doc, the black barber take a stand against Big Foot the lawman with terrible results.

Emma, and Dit get involved with the barber that has escaped and hiding in town , he is a black who is accused of a crime he did not commit. The two teens Emma & Dit plan to help the barber out. Meanwhile, the barber is in jail. They get the key, and let Doc(barber) free. They make the jail cell look like the Doc hung himself. The two teens Emma and Dit kill a rabbit, and smear the blood inside the casket that is meant for the barber. The barber has one son who wants to see his Dad one last time. It's getting to be a big problem the death of the barber.

Read the novel to find out details of the novel. This is a good read.