Reprinted from School Library Journal Teens

Jane Eyre is the perfect coming-of-age novel, if you ask me. To read a 20th century retelling is a joy. And this is not just any retelling, but a beautifully written one that dovetails back and forth with the original, sometimes staying close, sometimes wandering farther afield.The Flight of Gemma Hardy is a great book in its own right, but it also offers the opportunity to ponder the author’s choices and what they say about womens lives and independence in the 1960s compared to the mid-1800s.

There is also great pleasure to be had in the correspondence between the title and the text. As a young girl, Gemma would fly away into the pictures of her uncles birding book. She is attuned to the natural world, and birds in particular. She takes great interest in the unfamiliar species she spots in the Orkneys during her walks. Gemma herself is in flight more than once. Its not a complicated correspondence, but it is lovely.

How many teens read Jane Eyre these days? Im not sure. In my school, Wuthering Heights is a much more frequently assigned text. Fortunately, Gemma Hardy stands alone. And it might inspire the right young reader to pick up its inspiration.

Obviously, I am a huge fan of The Flight of Gemma Hardy. I suspect it will be among my personal favorites of the year. So why didnt I give it a starred review? First, it sticks a little too close to the Jane Eyre storyline for the first half. And the nature of its appeal is not immediately engaging. As I mention in the review, it becomes progressively more absorbing as it moves forward. This is not the ideal trajectory for teen appeal. Also, the writing style is full of detailed description, both of place and of emotion. The reader comes away with clear mental pictures of the English country house where Gemma lives with her uncles family, the landscape and wildlife of the farm in the Orkneys, and the shores of Iceland. I reveled in this immersion myself, but I think it might slow down some teens readers. Gemma is young and very interesting, but she is rather adult in her self-examination, in the way she reflects on her motivations, influences, and cares. On the other hand, she is such a teenager in her yearnings for wider experience and the black & white nature of her judgments. Then she matures, gains perspective and some of that experience, and finds peace with the imperfections both of her past and of the man she loves. She grows up.

It wasn’t until I wrote all of this, including the review below, that I allowed myself a look at the New York Times review. (One of my rules, as you can imagine — no reading other reviews until I’ve figured out my own.) How touching is that first paragraph? I’m sure it’s not necessary for such personal experience to inspire a book, but it certainly explains the deep connections between Jane and Gemma… and Margot.

LIVESEY, Margot. The Flight of Gemma Hardy. 464p. Harper. 2012. Tr $26.99. ISBN 978-0-06-206422-6. LC number unavailable.

Adult/High SchoolGemma is born in Iceland, but taken to England to live with her kind uncle after her father disappears at sea, fishing, when she is barely three. She is alternately ignored and abused by his cruel wife and children after his death, so she pursues a scholarship to attend boarding school. Unfortunately, at Claypoole scholarship students are lucky to spend any time in the classroom, more often preparing meals or cleaning bathrooms. Still, Gemma excels and, at 18, wins a post as nanny to a young girl who lives at Blackbird Hall, an isolated farm in the Orkney Islands owned by the frequently absent Mr. Sinclair. For the first time, she has a comfortable room of her own and satisfying work. But she is restless, and begins to suspect that making it to adulthood is only the start of her struggle for a better life. In this retelling of Jane Eyre set in the1960s, Gemma yearns to attend university, to be beloved and regarded as an equal, to know more about where she came from. Mr. Sinclairs shame is not a wife in the attic, but a wartime lie. Birds and images of flight appear lightly and effectively throughout the text. Gemma shows an interest in birds from a young age, and her behavior mimics theirs, alighting briefly on a spot before taking off for the next, moving away from her aunts unhappy home, from Claypoole, from Mr. Sinclair, finally flying toward Iceland to find her past. Liveseys affecting version of Bronts coming-of-age story becomes more and more absorbing the farther it moves away from the original, as Gemma finds the compromises in life that will work for her. Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City

Best Books 4 Teens - Best Books for Teenagers and Young Adults - Top Novels & Reviews

Reprinted from School Library Journal Teens

Arthur and Kel are both isolated and lonely, and that is about all their stories seem to have in common for much of this novel. Arthur is a morbidly obese adult; Kel is a teenager whose life is just not going very well. Kels story doesnt launch until about 80 pages into the novel, which may test the patience of some readers. On the other hand, Arthur is a great narrator of his own story, and teens may find themselves drawn in by his condition.

Liz Moore is both a writer and a musician; her debut novel The Words of Every Song (Broadway Books, 2007) was based on her experiences in the music business. You can readexcerpts of Heft on her blog (scroll down to find them).

San Francisco Chronicle reviewer Katie Crouch expounds on Kels situation and the appeal of the novel’s high school scenes:

“As emotionally appealing as Arthur is, he’s in a dead heat with Kel, the other voice of the novel. Kel is a baseball prodigy, but that’s the only thing he has going for him in life. Though his mother has petitioned him to go to school in a tony suburb where the boys stick to a uniform of chinos and expensive leather flip-flops, Kel’s house in Yonkers often has no heat and electricity because his mom can’t pay the bills.

As we are introduced to Kel’s world, we enter some terrific high school scenarios, the sort those of the John Hughes era may dearly miss in the new teen world of dystopian zombie colonies. Kel is poor, but he’s at a rich school, and his efforts to fit in will tweak even the dustiest of heartstrings.”

MOORE, Liz. Heft. 384p. Norton. 2012. Tr $24.95. ISBN 978-0-393-08150-3. LC 2011031979.

Adult/High SchoolHeft is told in alternating first-person points-of-view by Arthur Opp, a 500+ pound recluse who hasnt been out of his New York brownstone in years, and Kel Keller, a teen jock living in Yonkers who attends a prestigious public high school in a much richer town. Arthur once taught English at a local university and his only true joy is a sporadic correspondence with Kels mother, Charlene, a former student. Kel is trying to hide the fact from friends and school officials that his mother is a staggering drunk who can no longer pay their bills. When she says she is coming to visit, Arthur is forced to reevaluate his solitary life and Kel discovers he doesnt really know his mother at all. The two men search for meaning and explore their own mettle while forging new relationships: Arthur with Yolanda, a pregnant young maid who comes to clean his house, and Kel with Lindsay Harper, a vivacious girl who seems to be able to look past the surface and see who he really is. Although Arthur and Kel never meet or even speak to one another until the very end of the book, their stories intertwine and run parallel, forming the core of a complex exploration of family and connections, both those we try to make and those that are missed. Both Arthur and Kel have distinct voices, which are welcome lures to those who are willing to stretch a little.Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI

Best Books 4 Teens - Best Books for Teenagers and Young Adults - Top Novels & Reviews

Reprinted from School Library Journal Teens

Shannon Hales first adult novel, Austenland (Bloomsbury, 2007) is a fast, fun romantic comedy, well-reviewed in SLJ’s AdultBooks for High School Students column. In the sequel, were back in Pembrook Park resort with a new heroine, hoping for romance Darcy-style.

Shannon Hale is well-known by younger readers for The Goose Girl, Princess Academy, and Book of a Thousand Days. Teen fans of both Hale and Jane Austen looking for a different kind of Austen experience will enjoy this romp. They may be aware of it already, thanks to an interview with Hale published on Twilight Lexicon over the weekend.

Amovie version of Austenland is in post-production, scheduled for release this year. In fact,Hale came up with the inspiration for Midnight in Austenland while working on the screenplay. I love the idea of Midnight being, as the author describes it, less of a sequeland more of a Fantasy Island-like use of the same location.

HALE, Shannon. Midnight in Austenland. 288p. Bloomsbury. 2012. Tr $22. ISBN 978-1-60819-625-8. LC 2010053029.

Adult/High SchoolConfused and angry after her divorce, Charlotte Kinder decides to take a vacation to England. Her travel agent suggests the ideal adventure: Austenland. Upon arrival she is greeted with Welcome to 1816 and from that moment on Charlotte dresses, eats, and lives like the characters in a Jane Austen novel. Austenland offers all the expected ambience as both guests and actors play the parts necessary to create a complete Austen experience: Charlottes handsome brother Edward, the genial Colonel, consumptive Miss Gardenside and her nurse; lonely Miss Charming; the owner, Mrs. Wattlesbrook, and of course, dark, brooding Mr. Mallery, Charlottes intended love interest for the duration. Guests and actors dine formally each night, take long romantic walks, play cards, flirt, and indulge in pretend murder mysteries devised by the Colonel. But one nights mystery turns sinister when Charlotte stumbles upon a body in the dark. Is it real or is it part of the play? She investigates and discovers that not all is as it seems in Austenland. This book, following Austenland (Bloomsbury, 2007), has much to recommend itself: the alternating chapters of Charlottes modern life intersperse well with those of her experiences in Austenland, interesting characters, and a fabulous ending. But there are drawbacks too. The writing during the Austenland chapters sometimes tries too hard to be clever, and the mystery doesnt completely ring true. But overall these arent enough to dissuade true Austen fans, and most teens will not be disappointed by the story.Connie Williams, Petaluma High School, CA

Best Books 4 Teens - Best Books for Teenagers and Young Adults - Top Novels & Reviews

Reprinted from School Library Journal Teens

Drusilla Campbell writes fiction around contemporary issues, including post partum depression (The Good Sister), surviving the loss of a child (Blood Orange) and losing a family member to a drunk driver (The Edge of the Sky).

Although teen characters appear in these novels, Campbell’s latest has full-blown appeal for teen readers, echoing stories of abduction in the news (a l Jaycee Dugard, and her memoir A Stolen Life) or popular fiction (think of Emma Donoghues Alex Award-winning Room).

The first 6 chapters of Little Girl Gone are available on the authors website. By the end of chapter one, teen rebellion, losing her father, drugs, and the wrong friends have lead Madora to make some scary choices.

Five years later, Madora is living with Willis and letting life happen to her when 12-year-old Django shows up and helps her see other possibilities. I enjoyed the authors blog post about how Django arrived in her novel fully formed.

Your teens may already be aware of Little Girl Gone, thanks to a writing contest on Figment.

CAMPBELL, Drusilla. Little Girl Gone. 307p. Grand Central. Jan. 2012. Tr $14.99. ISBN 978-0-446-53579-3. LC 2011015394.

Adult/High SchoolCampbell comes from the same ripped from the headlines/domestic drama school as the more well-known Jodi Picoult. Hints of Jaycee Dugard populate her latest, about the shrinking-violet helpmate of a man who starts out creepy before going full-on sociopath. When Madora was 17, she left her slightly troubled family situation to run off with much older Willis. After five years, which take place off the page, Willis brings home a pregnant homeless teenager and holds her captive in his rickety trailer, with the intent to sell her baby on the black market. Enter Django, a 12-year-old who moves into the neighborhood with his aunt after his rich and famous parents die in a car accident. Django befriends Madora after watching Willis mistreat their pitbull, and soon he wants to save them both. This combination of events seemingly wakes Madora from her slumber under Williss spell. Told from all of the characters points of view, the book moves at a lightning pace, in part due to the matter-of-fact language and a rapidly shifting plot. Campbell makes Madora at least slightly sympathetic, not an easy task to those who usually look at criminals spouses and wonder about their guilt. With several of the characters being teenagers or just slightly older, as well as the constant thread of danger in the plot, teens are a natural audience for this book. Even reluctant readers will be engaged quickly.Jamie Watson, Baltimore County Public Library, MD

Best Books 4 Teens - Best Books for Teenagers and Young Adults - Top Novels & Reviews

Reprinted from School Library Journal Teens

J.H. Trumbles debut began as a NaNoWriMo novel. It was also written with a YA audience in mind. In aninterview on Lambda Literary the author is is asked how she feels about Kensingtons decision to publish the novel as adult, and I thought her response was quite smart. Yes, teens are likely to find it anyway — especially if librarians hear about it and buy for the teen section — and if it made her more comfortable writing an honest gay love story, it undoubtedly resulted in a better book.

Music is a big part of the story, and Trumble provides a playlist on her website. (Any playlist that includes Rufus Wainwright is OK by me!)

TRUMBLE, J. H. Don’t Let Me Go. 337p. Kensington. 2011. pap. $15. ISBN 978-0-7582-6927-0. LC number unavailable.

Adult/High SchoolNate feels his life is over: his lover, who is his rock and at least half of himself, is moving to New York after high school graduation to take an off-Broadway job. Adam, a year older than Nate, has helped him cope with his changed life (giving up football, coming out very publicly, and the horrible gay bashing incident that landed Nate in the hospital). Now they both must learn how to be a couple while being apart. The first half of the book is filled with flashbacks detailing the start of their relationship; the second shows Nate on his own, making friends and making mistakes, including helping a younger student begin to explore his sexuality. Doesnt that sound normal? That appears to be the point behind Dont Let Me Go: gay love is as normal, complicated, wonderful, and scary as heterosexual love. The adults in the book are more stereotypical, ranging from completely accepting to youre dead to me, all of which GLBTQ students may encounter as they come out at home and at school. This is a great addition to GLBTQ collections, and a good read for those teens looking for a gay love story that explores a relationship in the same way that straight love stories do.Laura Pearle, Venn Consultants, Carmel, NY

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Reprinted from School Library Journal Teens

Prolific science fiction authorJohn Shirley calls his latest novel an anti-teabagger political metaphor and near-future thriller.

Just yesterday, Shirley wrote a piece on his blog about a possible reaction against the politics of the novel by those he chose to satirize. Very interesting, and something I had never head of before.

SHIRLEY, John. Everything Is Broken. 288p. Prime. 2012. Tr $14.95. ISBN 978-1-60701-292-4. LC number unavailable.

Adult/High SchoolThis terrifying story examines what happens when a town whose mayor does not believe in government is hit by a tsunami. Lon Ferrara, mayor of the small town of Freedom, CA, believes that privatization means efficiency; he has even dismantled wasteful public safety services, planning to have private contractors handle them. Ferrara chalks up repeated warnings about seismic activity to government fear mongering and does nothing to prepare or protect his citizens. Shirley describes the ravaging effects of the tsunami on buildings and human bodies in excruciating detail. Freedom suffers massive destruction, but Ferrara sees this as the opportunity to create his ideal town. After allowing a few people to leave, he seals the border. He tells the police chief of the neighboring town that he does not need help, even rejecting FEMA assistance, as he sees this opening the door to living under a dictatorship. When a group of citizens who have been trying to help the injured and restore order attempt to leave to get help, Ferrara and his crew of young thugs and gangbangers stop them. Their subsequent battle against Ferrara’s gang, amidst the wreckage, fear, and personal loss, is told in devastating detail. With the destruction caused by the tsunami in Japan still fresh in readers minds, and with recent political movements in this country calling for dismantling government agencies, this story is frighteningly plausible. It will appeal to fans of both thrillers and realistic fiction.Carla Riemer, Claremont Middle School, CA

Best Books 4 Teens - Best Books for Teenagers and Young Adults - Top Novels & Reviews

Reprinted from School Library Journal Teens

from graphic novel guest blogger, Francisca Goldsmith:

As experienced readers even in traditional print formats, we all know how the size of a page, the presence or lack of margins, font choice and color can be relevant to something beyond merely our enjoyment or comfort with reading. These factors can also tinge how we judge what we read, where we find ourselves holding the book, and how deeply our noses may be pressed into the narrative figuratively as well as anatomically. The choice of binding, paper stock and ink arent just matters of economy, but also lights and textures we experience physically as we read glossy coffee table pages, cheap paperbacks, book club editions that, although encased in board covers, nonetheless tend toward less than quality ink crispness.

The story of Charles the Mouse would have a very different feel if it had been given narrow gutters, an arrangement of panels that bound individual scenes, or a black and white palette. An important manner in which this story of a depressed and blocked author is experienced by the reader includes full pages of panels that contain one image arranged in tile like panels, beautifully hued in oranges, pinks, and a brilliant light blue. Because Bubbles & Gondola is folio sized and lies flat, it can be left open as one reads, without having to move ones thumb from where it could block the print as ones eye scurries down a gutterless, tight paperback.

Dillies and his publishers have used some very physical choices here to show the magic Charles finds as he steps outside, makes friends, allows himself to delight in things as winsome as soap bubbles and a hot air balloon. And that is a perfect arrangement, for the charms of bubbles and a balloon are physical, relying as much on the space of air as the skin of substance.

DILLIES, Renaud. Bubbles & Gondola. tr. by Joe Johnson. illus. by author. 80p. (A Magical Graphic Novel). NBM/ComicsLit. 2011. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-56163-611-2. LC 2011931933.

Adult/High SchoolDisguised as a cute animal story, Dilliess substantive tale of writers block, social anxiety, and the magical and restorative powers of allowing oneself to take a break and have fun proves striking it its visuals and narrative. The mouse-man at the center of this tale is an appropriately garret-dwelling fellow named Charlie, possessor of big ears; long, upturned nose; and a penchant for the guitar. The artists cartoon style takes readers into delightfully cluttered crowd scenes as well as panels showing the singular detail of a closed eye, with many pages showing one large image broken into tilelike panels that invite the eye to travel through the image along a reading route. While this is in fact a very different story from Craig Thompsons Good-bye, Chunky Rice, there are some similar tropes, beyond the disheartened mouse: here Charlie experiences urgency and sadness and then confusion when his bluebird friend seems to disappear; the visual aspects of the narrative carry the story, with words a pleasant but ultimately somewhat incidental shading and highlighting of what we see. Like Chunky Rice, Charles is a an adult who drinks, smokes, and has attitudes hes fostered across a lifetime. The title derives from two activities that lead to his salvation, along with his renewed willingness to socialize and play his music openly.Francisca Goldsmith, Infopeople Project, CA

Best Books 4 Teens - Best Books for Teenagers and Young Adults - Top Novels & Reviews

Reprinted from School Library Journal Teens

YALSA’s 2012 Alex Awards were announced yesterday morning at the ALA Media Awards. The winners are (with links to the AB4T review of each title):

Big Girl Small,by Rachel DeWoskin

In Zanesville,by Jo Ann Beard

The Lovers Dictionary,by David Levithan

The New Kids: Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens,by Brooke Hauser

The Night Circus,by Erin Morgenstern

Ready Player One,by Ernest Cline

Robopocalypse: A Novel,by Daniel H. Wilson

Salvage the Bones,by Jesmyn Ward

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures,by Caroline Preston

The Talk-Funny Girl,by Roland Merullo

First, a huge congratulations to the Alex Awards committee members on their hard work, and on a wonderful mix of titles.

To my mind, three titles were obvious choices — The Night Circus, Ready Player One, and Robopocalypse. A few of the other titles were surprises to me, but I like to think of that as a reflection of the vast number of titles published for adults each year. And let’s face it — teen appeal is subjective. Teens and their tastes and interests are as varied as those of adults.The fact that a few of these titles were not on our radar for best of the year shows just how diverse the possibilities are. Frankly, I was relieved that we had reviewed all ten titles!

The Alex committee also published their list of nominated titles yesterday, which includes 2 of the 3 titles I would have bled on the table for this year. The two included among the nominations were Among Others by Jo Walton and Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell. I think I have expressed my love and enthusiasm for these two books often enough here, so I will leave it at that. Please take a look at the original reviews for more. The third is Little Princes by Conor Grennan, which is a wonderfully accessible, life and love-fillednonfiction title which I had been considering a natural choice. I also miss When She Woke by Hillary Jordan, which does not appear on the nomination list.

The list of winners introduces a list of wonderful books to teens and the librarians serving them. Publishers know that a nod from the Alex committee increases sales of a book, at times sending them to additional printings. The Talk-Funny Girl, In Zanesville and Big Girl Small are most likely to profit from this bump because I doubt that teen librarians were as aware of these books as they were of the others.

What about teen appeal?The Lover’s Dictionary is very, very popular in my library. National Book Award winnerSalvage the Bones has a small but intense following — each reader has passed the book to a friend. And The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt does very well on the display table; it is often read or browsed by students during a free period, if rarely checked out. Fans of Robopocalypse have a new book to look forward to — Amped is coming in June.

Let’s take a look at the overlaps among the three best of the year lists that address adult books for young adult readers: Best Adult Books 4 Teens 2011, Booklist Editors’ Choice Best Adult Books for Young Adults and the Alex Awards:

3 lists
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

2 lists
Big Girl Small by Rachel DeWoskin
Girls Like Us by Rachel Lloyd
Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch
The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan
Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

I look forward to reading your comments on the Alex selections!

Best Books 4 Teens - Best Books for Teenagers and Young Adults - Top Novels & Reviews

Reprinted from School Library Journal Teens

Elizabeth Eckford and Hazel Bryan were both 15 years old in 1957. The photograph that was taken of them that day affected the rest of their lives.

David Margolick follows both their lives and their relationship, using them as a unique lens through which to view race relations in the United States. After Little Rock, Elizabeth and Hazel’s first contact was in the early 1960s, when Hazel telephoned Elizabeth to apologize. They met in person on the 30th anniversary of the photograph, found they had a lot in common, and became friends. They traveled together, spoke to school groups together. Sadly, it didnt last; Elizabeth and Hazel are currently estranged.

MARGOLICK, David. Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock. 310p. photos. index. notes. Yale Univ. Oct. 2011. Tr $26. ISBN 978-0-300-14193-1. LC 2011014101.

Adult/High SchoolOne of the most iconic photographs in the United States, taken at Central High School on September 4, 1957, shows two teens entering high school, one cursing with rage, the other quietly resolved. Margolicks book fills in the rest of the story. Elizabeth Eckford was never supposed to walk to school on her own that day. However, the lack of a telephone in her house meant she never got the message to arrive en masse with the other black students, soon to be dubbed the Little Rock Nine. Hazel Bryan, the white girl filled with hate, would not cross paths with Elizabeth again until the two reconciled many years later as adults. Weaving in and out of both womens lives from a young age to current day, Margolick reveals new facts about the civil-rights movement by focusing on this narrow subject. At times his book is almost painful to read because of the hateful language used. The first-person interviews and detailed research no doubt accurately reflect the strong emotions of that time. Readable, and with plenty of photos, this title should be available to all high school students as well as adults. Elizabeth and Hazel is a poignant reminder that equality and freedom came with a steep price 60 years ago.Sara Campbell, Rowan Public Library, Salisbury, NC

Best Books 4 Teens - Best Books for Teenagers and Young Adults - Top Novels & Reviews

Reprinted from School Library Journal Teens

from graphic novel guest blogger, Francisca Goldsmith:

The well constructed anthology not only offers readers an opportunity to find multiple voices, views and styles within a single pair of covers, but also directs the readers attention to similarities, differences, developing tropes and legacies arising from the variety. Tom Pompluns long running series of Graphic Classics typically provides richly rewarding explorations of both the writers and the cartoonists he pulls together in any single topical volume. Even at that, African-American Classics, number 22 in the series, is especially fine. Poems included are maintained as the authors wrote them, while the short stories have undergone necessary adaptation so that the book can hold more than a few and the text and images composed by current artists are both sized to show clear detail.

So, whats inside? Florence Lewis Bentleys 1921 story about brotherly love and racist hate before and during the Great War replete with explosions and a lynching in Georgia; Charles W. Chesnutts 1899 trickster tale of the bewitched vineyard and the buyer who goes along with the trick; the Paul Lawrence Dunbar poem, from the same year, that gave Maya Angelou the title for her first autobiographical book. And then, on the visual side, theres co-editor Lance Tooks working in a style reminiscent of lithographs; Arie Monroes big-eyed cartoony people with their super springy legs; Jeremy Loves small, finely detailed, and unpanelled illustrations. In all, there are 23 pieces of literature, with nearly that number of artists providing their imagistic creativity to the unfolding plots, kaleidoscope of moods, and salient historical realities in which each fiction or poem was bathed by both the writer and the original readers of these works.

Taken as a whole, the anthology shows why these particular writers are classics, how their expressions of fictional or metaphoric narratives bring history to life, and the role visual expansion can play in making an abridged text feel full and complete.

POMPLUN, Tom & Lance Tooks, eds. African-American Classics. 144p. Eureka. 2012. pap. $11.95. ISBN 978-0-9825630-4-5. LC number unavailable.

Adult/High SchoolIn a long running series of high-quality, high-concept adaptations, this volume is a standout. Twenty-three short stories and poems authored by African Americans writing from the end of the 19th century through the Great Depression have been carefully and sensitively adapted in text and retold in sequential art. Among the authors are Jean Toomer, Zora Neale Hurston, W. E. B. Du Bois, Paul Dunbar, and Langston Hughes; the others included are equally well known both in American literary history and as insightful social political writers. The bevy of cartoon artists who worked on theseone artist and his or her interpretive envisioning per literary pieceinclude some well known, such as Lance Tooks, Kyle Baker and Kenji. Colorists and artists alike provide uniformly sound and genuine visions of the tales being told while providing readers with a range of styles and moods. To keep each piece within the limits of a dozen pages, longer short stories have been abridged but without losing the sense of the writers voice. Subject matter includes enemies meeting on a World War I battlefield in France, a Northern Black man ignoring Southern segregation laws, a fantastic murder story, verses on ethnic identity, and fablelike lessons on the results of poor morals. Vastly superior to many anthologies, and more accessible than many textbooks of literary history, this book will charm casual readers as well as students and teachers who can see its role as a study supplement.Francisca Goldsmith, Infopeople Project, CA

Best Books 4 Teens - Best Books for Teenagers and Young Adults - Top Novels & Reviews