Tough Talk Book Club Choices: Round 1

You may want to remind yourself what the books are about. Here's a brief overview of what you heard today.

Same Sun Here, Silas House and Neella Vaswani	Indian immigrant girl from NYC becomes penpals and close friends with multi-generation Appalachian boy in coal country through letters	Not too hard hitting Poverty, immigration, climate change, frontline communities, racism, classism, identity - gender, region, ethnicity, politics Solidly Accessible Read
The Giver, Lois Lowry	Dystopian novel The Giver is written from the point of view of Jonas, an eleven-year-old boy living in a futuristic society that has a significant number of rules. The reader has to assess whether these rules make for a better world.	Sci-fi (ish) setting makes very tough issues slightly less confrontational Issues include: government, control, disabilities, choice, death, murder, sacrifice, ethics, shared responsibility, identity of race, ability, place. Challenging Read - vocabulary, tracking story lines
Under the Egg, Laura Marx Fitzgerald	An intelligent eccentric family deals with gentrification and with the challenges of dealing with a disability when support and healthcare aren’t available. What happens when you have to take care of a parent and when your neighbors want you out because of gentrification?	You will be looking at issues involving poverty, mental illness, schooling, privilege, class. Accessible: this is a mystery and you’ll have to keep track of the threads in the characters’ personal stories and in the plot
Amina’s Voice	A Pakistani-American Muslim girl struggles to stay true to her family's vibrant culture while simultaneously blending in at school after her mosque was vandalized.	An accessible read. The text will be touching on issues of racism and stereotypes of the Muslim faith.

How to Steal a Dog By Barbara O’Connor

Realistic fiction deals with homelessness and some issues more related to young teens. Accessible read.

The Hundred Dresses Louis Slobodkin

Realistic fiction - based in the 1930’s

Very accessible read. This story deals directly with bullying, stereotypes,   Immigration and have to Live with consequences of how you treat others.

Bud, Not Buddy Christopher Paul Curtis	Realistic fiction - based in the Great Depression. This novel deals with racism and foster care system.	Accessible read.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham Christopher Paul Curtis	Realistic fiction set in the 1960s during Jim Crow and the Civil Rights movement. The novel does an excellent job of taking you into an awesome family’s everyday world and then letting you feel deeply the terror and harm of racism in its most dangerous forms.	Accessible read. Really funny at times.
Bird Angela Johnson	Realistic fiction. Deals with difficult family structures. Run- aways and the dangers of being out in the world unprotected.	Challenging read - you have to track the characters and plot as you go along. The text is easy to decode but the story is complex.

Hush, Jacqueline Woodson	Gun violence and other tough topics including racism
I Am Malala, Malala Yousafzai	The autobiography of Malala Yousafzai who went to school despite extreme gender restrictions and spoke up for female rights. She survived a terrorist attack and continued to work for female rights with the support of her family and community.	Accessible
Refugee, Alan Gratz	This novel shares the story of four refugees from different parts of the world and different times in history. It gives you a sense of how horrible things can get - forcing people to flee their homes.	Accessible
Betty Before X,  Ilyasah Shabazz	In Detroit, 1945, eleven-year-old Betty’s house doesn’t quite feel like home.The novel deals with family and with racism and class. Betty Shabazz was Malcolm X’s wife. Inspired by Betty's real life--but expanded upon and fictionalized through collaboration with novelist Renée Watson--Ilyasah Shabazz illuminates four poignant years in her mother’s childhood with this book, painting an inspiring portrait of a girl overcoming the challenges of self-acceptance and belonging that will resonate with young readers today.	Accessible
Dear Martin, Nic Stone	Nic Stone's Dear Martin tells the story of an Ivy League-bound African-American student named Justyce who becomes a victim of racial profiling. He struggles to reconcile the fact that he's a "good kid" with suddenly being in police handcuffs.	Written for teens and pre-teens and somewhat challenging.
Jake and Lily,  Jerry Spinelli	Deals with issues of ableism, bullying, identity, and family conflict.	Accessible
The Inquisitor’s Tale, Adam Gidwitz	Issues of race, stereotypes, class, power, elitism and religious bigotry set in the Middle Ages.	Accessible, but long and will take some effort to keep track of the story line. Long book, but very entertaining.