Half Bad and Totally Awesome

In a new England where witches live silently amongst humans, there are two kinds of witches. Even amongst the small minority, there is prejudice. White and Black, the witches do not mix. Until, they do. In Sally Green's Half Bad, a young boy is the victim of his parentage, for White or for Black. 

Nathan's father was the evilest Black witch in the world. His mother was a White witch who committed suicide. Every year, Nathan goes for an assessment to see if he has officially coded to one side or the other, but on his seventeenth birthday, the results will no longer be inconclusive. All witches must receive three gifts from an immediate family member and drink the blood of a family witch in order to come into their gifts. For a White witch, not receiving their gifts merely means they lose their opportunity for their gift. For a Black witch, it is said they will die if they do not receive their gifts. Nathan's grandmother has tried to raise him in a White witch household, but his heritage cannot be denied. 

As a Half Code (Black and White), Nathan's final allegiance is still unsettled, but the council isn't about to let him roam about like a powder keg waiting to be lit. Decree after decree is handed down that specifically limit Nathan's comings and goings. Finally, just limiting his journeys from the house aren't enough, and he is captured and caged until his seventeenth birthday, which is years away. His captor doesn't necessarily agree with the decision, but Marcus, Nathan's father, killed her sister, so she isn't shy about her dislike of Black witches either. But nothing changes the fact that Nathan's birthday is fast approaching, and he has nobody to give him his gifts. Is he Black? Or is he White?

I know we have all lived through the Harry Potter era where witches are adorable like the Weasley clan. Sure you have a Malfoy or a LeStrange or a Voldemort in the mix, but for the most part, they are normal folks with some awesome abilities. These witches? A whole different world. I half expected a Potter-esque witch story going in, but I came out like I was ripped through the spin cycle. This is one seriously dark book! I mean, this kid is tortured. He is held in a cage and affixed with a collar full of poison. This is some pretty heavy, dark business here. 

And Nathan? I am choosing to think he wouldn't be as dark as he turns out. I feel he was made Black by the very same people who feared his Half Code. By imprisoning him and torturing him, they have created a dark individual. In fact, the brutality, the violence, the dark in this story reminded me of a somewhat tamed version of The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski. It is the single darkest book I have ever read (makes The Road look like Goodnight Moon), and Nathan just made me think of that little boy the entire time I read it. That doesn't mean this is THAT dark, but it certainly isn't any Harry Potter. Instead, this is a truly unique story that will catch the attention of your students. Especially those who have a dark side!

The implications towards prejudice and racism in this story are very thinly veiled. The decrees about Half Codes and Black witches reek of Jim Crow. You can see the allegory here, and it is incredibly interesting when juxtaposed with historical racism. I think any student will be able to make those connections without any guidance, which will give them an added layer to the story. I was really bowled over by this story, even though it was so disturbing, and I will certainly be finishing the series. 

One Crazy Summer and One Fabulous Story

Every student who makes it to middle school has heard of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but how many know about Malcolm X or the Black Panthers? An underrepresented piece of this important history comes alive in this tale of sisterhood, motherhood, and a bigger need to be heard and treated with equality. In Rita Williams-Garcia's beautifully written story, One Crazy Summer comes alive with the way the world existed in Oakland in 1968.

Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern are packed up and ready to be shipped across the country to spend the summer with their mother Cecile who they haven't seen in years. Once Fern was born, Cecile left them to be cared for by their father and grandmother in Brooklyn and never looked back. While Big Ma questions Papa's judgment for sending them across the country to a woman who doesn't want them, the girls are full of nerves and excitement. As the oldest, Delphine is expected to make sure her sisters behave and don't embarrass Big Ma and Papa by being the "black girls everyone expects them to be". The color of their skin means they have to be better behaved than any white girl would have to be. 

When they arrive in California, it is clear Cecile didn't want them to come. She sends them by themselves to get Chinese food for dinner every night and to the Center to get free breakfast every morning. She won't even let them into her kitchen to get a proper glass of water. And she doesn't hold back from reminding them that she didn't want them there in the first place. When there is a knock on the door, she shoos them into the back room and tells them to stay back there and stay quiet. But Delphine can't help but peak and she sees men in black clothes with large afros: Black Panthers. She had seen some Panthers in Brooklyn, but they weren't like the men she sees now, with her mother. As the days continue on and Delphine continues to take care of her sisters while her mother ignores them, she starts to learn more and more about who she is as a young black woman. The Center is full of Panther information and the summer classes revolve around learning not to trust The Man. While others are content to fight in any way they can, Delphine can't help but remember her one priority: keeping her sister safe. And if the Man shot an unarmed black boy in his underwear just because he was a Panther, they wouldn't think twice about three little girls who their own mother doesn't even want.

This story was so rich with amazing historical facts and personal, real family emotions that I can barely wrap my head around it all! First and foremost is the emotional family dynamic. Williams-Garcia must have younger sisters because this incredibly realistic portrayal of three sisters is so perfect it made me laugh and cringe thinking about my own childhood with my sister. Everything from the way they parrot their older sister, to their precocious goofiness, to their enthusiasm about everything Delphine doesn't want them to do, all of it is so skillfully written you would think you were there with your own sisters! 

Then you have Cecile. At first I was shocked their father would just ship them out to her, but I realized by the end that he cared about her and trusted her with his kids. Cecile was such a dynamic yet subtle character that you really had to read between the lines to fully appreciate the character Williams-Garcia created. At first it appeared she was working for the Black Panthers, and then it felt like she was somehow forced into it. Then it seemed she didn't believe everything they stood for and then she lectured her daughter about being her own woman and not adopting the housewife subservience her gender has been forced into. It was a little confusing at times, but it made Cecile more human, more real. But more importantly, this story gave life to the Women of this movement, the women caught in between a war of men. From Big Ma back home, a poor but strong southern woman, to the ladies at the Center to Cecile, this was a wonderful book to allow your young readers to see a side of the story never talked about: how it affected the women these men belonged to. I loved this angle on the story, especially since we never hear about the women of the Black Panther movement.

And finally, this story is a much needed addition to the world of our cultural and racial history in this country. Everyone likes to talk about MLK, but what about the other side of the movement? They are an important part of our legacy, but it isn't taught as openly in schools, so I am glad to see a book that is appropriate for middle readers that also opens their eyes to a part of their cultural they most likely haven't been exposed to yet. There isn't a deep understanding of the Panthers, but enough to pique their interest. This might be a story best taught in a class or read with a parent in order to help them fully understand the nature of the revolution. I am really glad there is a book like this out there. It is a great addition to the shelves of our libraries and our classrooms. 

Dragon Racism?

In a land where dragons can kill humans on a whim with all of their reptilian power and strength, but humans can band together and be the first real threat the dragons have encountered, a truce between the two would be delicate at best. In Rachel Hartman's Seraphina, a land where the dragons walk amongst the humans is also a land filled with danger, mistrust, and extreme prejudice.

In order for the dragons to participate in daily activities and government, they must fold themselves into human form. While they immediately look human, there are undeniable dragon traits like silver blood, a lack of human emotion or sensitivity to social constructs, and the bells dragons must wear to identify themselves. The treaty struck years ago allows this delicate balance to hold, but humans and dragons alike despise living together. There are plenty of people who would stop at nothing to see the treaty fail, even by killing the crowned prince.

Seraphina has always had to keep to the shadows and stay out of the public eye because her true nature is something that makes her an abomination in the eyes of both humans in dragons- she is the daughter of a human father and a dragon mother. Inter-species reproduction is forbidden, and for all Seraphina knows, she is the only one. But her mother left her with more than just scales she must keep hidden to avoid detection- she left her with maternal memories that give Seraphina insight into the dragon and human worlds. These maternal memories coupled with Seraphina's mind (and the odd collection of people swirling around inside it) help her to find her way out of a darkened corner and into the light of truth, but truth isn't always easy. Especially when she has grown close to the prince in an effort to solve the mystery of his uncle's murder. 

Seraphina was truly high fantasy. With a dynamic and living fictitious world, new beings and creatures, and a language that required a glossary at the end of the book, this is not a fantasy for those who are just dabbling in the genre. It required a lot of patience and focus to truly enjoy. In fact, as school started and things got hectic for me, I actually had to put it down because reading in between speaking to parents and pre-school meetings was leaving me confused and frustrated with the story. I am actually very glad I put it down and saved it for a better time, because if I had forced myself to read it then, I wouldn't have appreciated it as much as I did by waiting. So be aware that this is a beautiful and intricate story, but you must have the time to devote to careful reading or you will miss the beauty of the story.

That is why this story is best left for an older, stronger reader, preferably one who is into fantasy already. There is a confusing element to the story about these people who roam around Seraphina's head (and she puts them "into a garden" and "tends to them"), but it begins to make more sense later in the story. At first it seemed like a totally unnecessary and confusing element, but once the true nature behind it was revealed, it made a lot more sense. So if you like true fantasy and dragons, you will want to check out Seraphina, if for no other reason than to bear witness to the ugly face of racism against dragons!

Team Fight the Cheese!

Imagine a world with humans and vampires living side by side. The vampires aren't allowed to turn people without a consensual license, they aren't allowed to eat people, but they still have the potential to do all the things that made them feared throughout history. In that world, where does one passionate, meddling teen find herself? Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan tell you in Team Human.

The city of New Whitby was created as a haven for vampires who may have been persecuted elsewhere, but that doesn't mean everyone is happy to have the vampires nearby. For the most part they stick to the Shade, the vampire part of town, but when a vampire comes to Mel's high school, he brings mixed opinions. Some kids are obsessed with Francis, others hate him with a passion, but the scariest reaction is Mel's best friend Cathy who falls madly in love with him.

Mel takes it upon herself to blackmail Francis into leaving Cathy alone, but there was a misunderstanding about her source of blackmail. When Cathy runs away to the Shade to find Francis, Mel figures it out and tracks her down, but not before she breaks into a vampires lair (properly called a shade in such politically correct vampire times!). While there, they meet Francis's "nephew", a human named Kit who was raised by a group of vampires. Kit's "mother" is a vampire cop who isn't too thrilled about their entry into her house, but once Mel takes a minute to get to know them all, she may realize the vampires in the equation aren't always the bad guys.

So, let's get this out in the open. This looks like a ChhEEEsy book, right?! Well, yeah, sort of. But it is also surprisingly good with some strong allusions to racism and Civil Rights in our own not-alternate history. Mel's emphatic dislike for vampires is said to be based on her friend Anna's father's abandonment of his family for a vampire patient, but that kind of hatred and prejudice doesn't happen easily. It was something that was clearly societal and ran much deeper than just one or two instances. And Mel wasn't afraid to show it. When Francis arrived, despite being totally polite (albeit a bit of a stuffy pants), Mel made comments that were considered highly insulting in the vampire world. Her friends even called her on it on more than one occasion. The other interesting thing about Mel is how darn much that girl meddles into other people's business. At first you think she is being protective, but there are points where you want to tell her to just back off and let people make their own decisions. In fact, a couple of characters flat out tell her to lay off. In the end, of course, she ended up helping some of her friends and learning valuable lessons from the others. It was a nice transition and it made me like her more even though she had moments of supreme grating and annoying-ness.

So, my advice is don't let the Cheese factor keep you from reading this one of many vampire books- it was actually a pretty good one. If for no other reason than the fact that when a person undergoes a "turning" into a vampire, they have a 1/10 chance of dying, and worse, a 1/10 chance of becoming a zombie! And the Zombie Disposal Units can tell you the horrors of those transformations gone wrong! Oh, I almost forgot. Another reason to really like this story was Kit. Oh, laughing, fun, adorable, sometimes snarky Kit. FINALLY! A main character and/or love interest with a little bit of fight in him! I love it! I am going to vote here and now that we shall no longer have lead men who always wear the "broody face". I hate broody face. I want snarky guys with some saucy retorts that keep me laughing!

This is a very clean book for a variety of ages. It might look too young for older students, but the cover doesn't do the story justice. If you have read it and can speak from experience to recommend it to otherwise skeptical teens, you might find they will really enjoy it. I know I enjoyed it once I got past the cheese-tastic title and cover!