Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Newbery Honor middle grade novel Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango (Random House, 2022) delves into the tumultuous inner struggles of Iveliz, a seventh-grader, as she grapples with a myriad of emotional challenges and her mental illness. In this poignant free verse poetry novel, Arango gives Iveliz a realistically confused voice that resonates
The picture book Dark Cloud by Anna Lazowski and illustrated by Penny Neville-Lee (Kids Can Press, May 2023) introduces children to the concept of dark emotions (sadness and depression) with the symbol of a dark cloud. With tinted grayscale illustrations representing sad moments and bright colors showing moments of happiness and understanding, Dark Cloud provides a
OCDaniel by Wesley King is a much needed added addition to Young Adult collections, as it puts a frequently taboo subject (mental illness) at the center of the story. OCDaniel is about a middle school boy suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but he does not quite know what it is. He feels progressively frustrated with
The Fault in Our Stars by John Greene (Dutton Books, 2014) is both an existential novel about the meaningless of life as well as a sensitive exploration of the importance of friendship in the midst of the seemingly meaningless. Hazel is a 16-year-old girl with cancer, miraculously kept alive by a “miracle” drug that could
Nest by Esther Ehrlich (Random House Children’s Books; published today!) is an emotionally charged novel about a young girl facing stark change after her mother develops a serious disease. Naomi, “Chirp” to her family and friends, is a bird-loving sixth grader on Cape Cod in the early 1970s. Her life is full of nature and
At my classics book club last night, one of the women had not had a chance to read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (published 1940), but she came to hear the discussion about it nonetheless. She was not familiar with the book, and as we discussed it, she commented on how
I don’t often have the urge to seek out a young adult novel, but this month has been one of them. I’m pleased to say that I really enjoyed the two I chose. After deals with a teenage mother, and An Abundance of Katherines deals with a genius teenager dealing with yet another break up.
Last year, I read The Stranger by Albert Camus (L’Étranger, published 1942, translated from French by Matthew Ward), and the book struck me as odd and a bit disturbing given the themes. Overwhelmingly, the story seemed to say that life is meaningless. I read it again this summer for my book club, and I think
As I mentioned in my previous post, I loved Holden Caulfield when I first read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I was probably about 16 years old, which is Holden’s age. I read it again in college (20 years old) and I likewise enjoyed Holden’s story. I didn’t love Holden on this
Mirth, noun: gladness or gaiety as shown by or accompanied with laughter [amazon_link asins=’0140187294′ template=’RightAlignSingleImage’ store=’rebereid06-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’09ffaf72-17f4-11e7-81e6-99323011447d’]If you are looking for “mirth,” The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton is not the book for you. The House of Mirth is about a woman searching for happiness where true happiness will not to be found:
Katharine Graham was most well-known to me for being publisher of The Washington Post during the newspaper’s reporting of Watergate. However, her life extended far beyond the walls of the Washington Post city room. In a sense, her life was a life of contrasts and similarities. After reading Katharine Graham’s Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography, Personal History,
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