Teen Librarian Recommendations

The Collectors edited by A.S. King

Description:

From David Levithan's story about a non-binary kid collecting pieces of other people's collections to Jenny Torres Sanchez's tale of a girl gathering types of fire while trying not to get burned to G. Neri's piece about 1970's skaters seeking opportunities to go vertical-anything can be collected and in the hands of these award-winning and bestselling authors, any collection can tell a story. Nine of the best YA novelists working today have written fiction based on a prompt from Printz-winner A.S. King (who also contributes a story) and the result is itself an extraordinary collection.

Why I want to recommend it:

I am a librarian – you’d think I would be able to read tons of books all the time. Unfortunately, as much as I love to read, that simply isn’t the case. I go through phases… when I devour books, when I devour graphic novels, and when I struggle to read. I don’t know why this happens, and it is tremendously frustrating. But life is life. I start with all of this because I have been experiencing one of those periods, and the first book I have started AND finished in too long is The Collectors. In total frankness, it can be easier to read short stories when one is having trouble reading. No, it can be easier to read GOOD short stories when one is having trouble reading. That brings me to why I am really recommending the book. This book is chock full of short stories that are, while very different from each other, thought-provoking, empathy-inducing, and sometimes beautifully, agonizingly strange. Just as it is rather difficult to give a clear definition of “collection”, these stories explore radically different forms of collecting, for meaningfully different purposes. 

In Limbo by Deb JJ Lee – a graphic memoir

Description:

A debut YA graphic memoir about a Korean-American girl's coming-of-age story—and a coming home story—set between a New Jersey suburb and Seoul, South Korea. Ever since Deborah (Jung-Jin) Lee emigrated from South Korea to the United States, she's felt her otherness.For a while, her English wasn't perfect. Her teachers can't pronounce her Korean name. Her face and her eyes—especially her eyes—feel wrong.In high school, everything gets harder. Friendships change and end, she falls behind in classes, and fights with her mom escalate. Caught in limbo, with nowhere safe to go, Deb finds her mental health plummeting, resulting in a suicide attempt.But Deb is resilient and slowly heals with the help of art and self-care, guiding her to a deeper understanding of her heritage and herself.This stunning debut graphic memoir features page after page of gorgeous, evocative art, perfect for Tillie Walden fans. It's a cross section of the Korean-American diaspora and mental health, a moving and powerful read in the vein of Hey, Kiddo and The Best We Could Do.

Why I want to recommend it:

This graphic memoir explores family relationships and expectations, the weirdness and sense of profound isolation when you finally have a close friend who then seems to abandon you to spend time with other friends, and the destructive power of depression. However, it also captures how surprising and liberating life beyond the confines of depression can be. In Limbo is the perfect title for this book – Deb is in a powerful sense stuck between two spaces, as a Korean-American in a super-white American town, as a shy kid who doesn’t fit in in high school, and as a child of a mother who makes no sense to her. She seems trapped in this Limbo (which if you know anyone who is Catholic, is a horrid place where unbaptised babies go), but finds her way out with a modicum of help and an enviable sense of determination.

Last Pick (Volumes 1 and 2) by Jason Walz – graphic novels

Description:

In this first volume of Jason Walz's dystopian graphic novel trilogy, the kids last picked are humanity's last hope. Three years ago, aliens invaded Earth and abducted everyone they deemed useful. The only ones spared were those too young, too old, or too "disabled" to be of value. Living on Earth under the aliens' harsh authoritarian rule, humanity's rejects do their best to survive. Their captors never considered them a threat--until now. Twins Sam and Wyatt are ready to chuck their labels and start a revolution. It's time for the kids last picked to step into the game. ... In the second volume of his graphic novel series, Jason Walz pairs vivid world-building and fast-paced adventure in a beautiful story of bravery, sacrifice, and sibling devotion. Four years ago, aliens kidnapped most of mankind, leaving behind those they deemed unworthy--the "last picked." The future for Sam is bleak and unthinkable. A galaxy away from her twin brother, she is a pawn in the aliens' bloody civil war. But with her new friend Mia, Sam has found a way to resist her captors and hold onto her humanity. Back on Earth, Sam's twin, Wyatt, is leading a resistance of his own. With a ragtag army of the old, the young, and the disabled, he has a plan to bring the fight to his alien captors. But to defeat the aliens, Wyatt may need to befriend one.

Why I want to recommend it:

So I read each of these in a day. They are a super quick read, with underdog adventure up the wazoo. More than just that, these books take on bias against the neurodiverse with gusto! The story’s central characters are a set of fraternal twins: Sam, a badass and loving sister to Wyatt, brilliant autistic brother who  thinks himself dependent upon Sam’s help. But at the end of the first book, Wyatt and Sam are separated – they turn sixteen and the aliens return for Sam, but not Wyatt, since they see him as sick and useless. Of course, while the separation is traumatic for both of them, it also strengthens them both, as their different forms of intelligence, quick wit, and common determination lead them to outwit the murderous aliens on different planets, countless miles from each other. 

The Strange Ones by Jeremy Jusay – graphic novel

Description:

Filled with visceral and engaging prose, this graphic novella offers a nostalgic look at two young misfits who manage to find belonging and heartbreak in each other's friendship. Anjeline walks with an open heart, but alone, through a world that consistently rejects her; Franck, another loner, never smiles. After the hand of fate literally shoves them together in the roiling mosh pit at a Midtown rock concert, they bond over the long commute back to Staten Island, and begin a friendship that makes the world a little better for them both. Together, this strange pair turns the sharp-edged, gloomy New York City into their playground...even as pain and heartbreak await around the corner.

Why I want to recommend:

One thing to note: it took Jeremy Jusay a long time to write this graphic novel. He started it in 1993, and didn’t publish until 2020. It should thus come as no small surprise that its setting runs from 1993-1994. Admittedly, this might be part of why it appeals so strongly to me  – I was a teen during this period, and while the setting isn’t familiar to me since I am not a New Yorker, the feel of the story is. That said, I don’t think my generational familiarity with the setting of the book and the styles rocked by the main character are why I enjoyed this book so much. Rather, I want to celebrate first and foremost the characters and story. Anjeline and Franck are people I wish I knew. They are a bit strange – not existing within mainstream culture of the 90s and not really caring that they don’t. While outsiders, they are both kind in their own authentic ways. Franck, despite the fact that his smile comes with difficulty, is genuinely funny as well as curious and beautifully aware of the world around him. Anjeline’s smile is quick, but never fake, and while we as readers are witness to the pleasure she takes from becoming friends with Franck, she never seems to be TRYING to make him be her friend. Their time together – in parts of New York they show to each other, on the Staten Island Ferry (I LOVE that they both live in Staten Island and have no weird hipster self-consciousness about it), or just walking down the street, is engaging and enviably fun. I also recommend this book because it is about friendship, and not romance. It would have been so easy and annoying to have Anjeline and Franck “fall in love” and blah blah blah. The book is so much better as it is. If you know me, you know I’m not an artist. But I dig both the art and layout of this comic.