What’s Your Brilliance? (Part 1)

The dust is settling on the book awards season, and winners’ covers proclaim their awards. I was fortunate to get my hands on two very popular titles for young people. While they are completely different, they have one theme in common—a young person’s discovering what’s special about  themselves. Here are my reflections on the first book:

brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson has been awarded the 2014 National Book Award—Young People’s Literature, the 2015 Newbery, a 2015 Coretta Scott King Honor, an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Work—Youth/Teens, and others. Why all the accolades? And what can I possibly add to the many more learned reviews that have already been written?

-brown girl dreaming has historical significance. It is a coming-of-age memoir written in free verse about growing up in the 1960s and ‘70s partly in the North and partly in the South. These were historic times in the Civil Rights Movement, and this book shows what a young girl thought about living in those times in those places. How to behave in certain places to avoid trouble—or should you go ahead and make trouble?

“At the fabric store, we are not Colored

or Negro. We are not thieves or shameful

or something to be hidden away.

At the fabric store, we’re just people.” (from “the fabric store,” p. 90-91)

By Unknown or not provided (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

 -It is a book about who we are as family, and the ways family influences our identity. Aunts, uncles, brothers, sister, mother, father, and grandparents all played a part in making Woodson who she is today. Especially poignant is Woodson’s love for her maternal grandfather, expressed throughout the book, as in “sometimes, no words are needed:”

 “…My head against/my grandfather’s arm,

a blanket around us as we sit on the front porch swing.

Its whine like a song.”

-It is a book about finding one’s unique gift and figuring out what to do with it. Woodson’s brother could sing. Woodson’s sister was brilliant. Fortunately for us, Woodson found her gift in writing.

“I want to catch words one day. I want to hold them

then blow gently, watch them float

right out of my hands” (from “gifted,” p. 169).

The free verse format makes for easy reading that I want to read over and over again. On learning to write her name at age 3:

“Will the words end, I ask

whenever I remember to.

Nope, my sister says, all of five years old now,

and promising me

infinity.” (from “the beginning,” p. 62-63)

By Biswarup Ganguly (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Like any life, there is stuggle and triumph, joy and sorrow.

“Maybe, I am thinking, there is something hidden

like this, in all of us. A small gift from the universe

waiting to be discovered” (from “hope onstage,” p. 233).

Woodson’s words are sure to help other young people—of any color—look for and find their own brilliance.

For more about Woodson, here's an NPR interview.

(Stay tuned for Part 2)

Write What You Know

S.T. Underdahl, author of young adult books, followed the maxim "Write what you know," and has two books published by Flux.



The Other Sister has a North Dakota connection, just as Underdahl does. Sixteen-year-old Josey learns that she has an older sister that her parents had put up for adoption years before they were married. Underdahl herself is an adoptee, so can accurately portray the upset family dynamics that accompany such a discovery. Josey, her brothers, and their parents are a caring family who communicate, unlike so many YA books where the parents are either absent or completely dysfunctional. Underdahl reveals Josey's feelings and maturation through Josey's thoughts, interactions with her school friends, talks with her mother, and finally, talks with her "other sister." An interesting, realistic novel, the ending holds a surprise for readers.



Remember This springs from Underdahl's experience as a clinical neuropsychologist who works with dementia patients. In this novel, Lucy learns about the joys and burdens of friendship and family. Lucy and her best friend have a falling out. Then something even worse happens. Lucy's grandmother, for whom she is named, is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Lucy's family brings Nana Lucy to live with them, but as Nana Lucy becomes less lucid, they grapple with possible solutions. Lucy grows from a child into a young adult during the course of the novel, while Nana moves in the opposite direction. Underdahl includes a couple pages of facts about Alzheimer's at the end of the book.

Underdahl continues her neuropsychology practice and her writing. I am eager to see what else she knows from her own life to create compelling fiction for her readers.

S.T. Underdahl will be a featured speaker at the SCBWI-Dakotas Conference in Sioux Falls, SD, April 4. Come and hear her talk about her creative process and how she intertwines her real life into her fiction.

Go Big or Go Home

Previous posts attest to my fondness for South Dakota's Black Hills. Young adult author Will Hobbs found it such a compelling place he set his latest novel, Go Big or Go Home, in Hill City. It's an exciting story about a teenage boy, Brady, who has a meteorite crash right into his bed! A consultation with a scientist at the Hill City museum reveals that the meteorite originated on Mars and may contain dormant life forms. The title is taken from extreme sports, and both of the main characters get into some extreme situations. I won't reveal more of the plot except to say that it is a fun read containing astrobiology, geology, astronomy, biology, family & friends, enemies, disease, history, recreation, teen scenes, humor, and more. As usual, Will jam-packs his books with facts in such a subtle way that readers don't know they are learning. Also as usual, he does extensive research, and South Dakota readers appreciate that he got the Black Hills exactly right.

Will and his wife, Jean, live in Durango, Colorado, and I was pleased to meet them several years ago. Our paths still cross from time to time, including this week in Chamberlain at the South Dakota Library Association Conference. It was a special audience for Will, as the librarian at Lead helped inspire the story.

Find out more about Will and his books here.