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All books posted on this page are highly recommended by ASTAL. Visit this page often as we will be
updating frequently. Share your teaching ideas for these books by clicking on the Contact ASTAL button. Hiroshima Dreams
Kelly Easton
Dutton, 2007  In a story that weaves together tales of multiple generations, continents,
and lives, we meet Lin, a young Japanese-American/Irish-American girl, a gifted cellist, a prized daughter, a bright student, and a keeper of the gift of sight, given to her by her grandmother the day she arrives from Japan.
Obaachan, meeting Lin for the first time, takes one look at her and knows she is the one to whom the gift must be bestowed. As Lin grows, so does her bond with Obaachan and her talent. While her painfully shy
temperament keeps her from forming connections with her peers, she understands much more than she lets on and they realize. Through Obaachan's guidance and Lin's own development, she begins to carve out
her own little niche in the world, unencumbered by space or time, and perfectly suited to her.Mirroring the fluidity of space and time apparent in Obaachan's gift of sight,
this story follows several different paths at once. We follow Lin from the age of five to her graduation from high school. We see Lin and Obaachan's relationship blossom and evolve. We hear the story of a defining moment in
Japan's history and how it shaped the woman Obaachan is now. We travel the path of various immigrants as they make the journey to the United States. Lin is the constant in all of them, keeping them all on a parallel plane. Filled with lyrical language and beautiful imagery, Hiroshima Dreams is certainly too good to miss and highly recommended for grades 7 and above. ASTAL selected as the 2008 Book of the Year (for Middle Grades).
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Ringside 1925
Jen Bryant
Knopf, 2008 In her third YA novel, Jen Bryant weaves historic events with fiction to produce a wonderfully ironic tale. She transports readers to rural Tennessee
for the infamous Scopes "Monkey" Trial in 1925 where the ACLU orchestrated a test case against Butler Act of Tennessee that banned the teaching of any theory that did not support creationism. She creates nine,
distinctly individual voices to tell the story of the inaugural chapter of the continuing battle between evolution and creationism, science and religion, theory and faith that continues to resonate even today. Two of the most
famous men in the country were recruited to try the case: William Jennings Bryan, a highly regarded minister, argued the state's case while the nation's most highly regarded attorney, Clarence Darrow defended high school
science teacher John Scopes.
By using multiple narrators in this novel-in-poems, Bryant effectively presents a range of issues and concerns as well as the emotions that
divided the community and reflect the national spectrum of thought and belief. Her four youthful narrators, present both sides of the issue as they ponder their own beliefs. The three community members address the issue
while illustrating its impact on the community. The two remaining narrators are observers who come to the trial and report the action and nuances of it.
With her characteristic attention to detail, Bryant captures the tenor of the community as it is transformed by the influx of media and the curious. Its circus-like atmosphere injects life and cash into the quiet town.
The ongoing debate about the teaching of evolution makes the book particularly relevant to today students. ASTAL highly recommends Ringside 1925 for grades 7 and above. The book could be used in
English language arts, social studies, or even in science classes to provide a context for the debate about science versus religion. Teachers might also use it as a bridge to the play Inherit the Wind by
Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee that focuses on the courtroom battle between Darrow and Bryan.
What Happened
Peter Johnson
Front Street, 2007 In his striking and highly acclaimed debut novel,
What Happened, award-winning poet Peter Johnson creates an unnamed protagonist/poet who struggles with losses: his mother's death, his father's abandonment of
both him and his brother Kyle, and his personal sense of loss and direction.
On a snowy night after a party celebrating their basketball team's important
victory, the brothers are passengers in car that hits a pedestrian. Duane, the driver, is a drunken bully who flees the scene, leaving the brothers and opening a door on the long standing antagonism and dislike between not
only Kyle and Duane but also their families. Duane's father was in love with Kyle's mother, but she rejected him and his wealth and married Kyle's father.
Duane's wealthy, arrogant father is a man who needs to feel his is in control first by trying to keep Kyle from dating his daughter Emily and then by planning to cover-up the truth of the accident. His idea is to make the
damaged car and the events of that winter night just go away, but the brothers challenge his plan. The 16-year-old narrator struggles with all these events and fabricates a series of lyrically crafted
scenarios to explain and resolve the circumstances of his life and to reset his moral compass. While the resolution is never as satisfactory in reality as it is in imagination, the narrator manages his fears and
begins to heed Emily's advice: "Believe. Believe." In this 133-page volume, Peter Johnson has created a remarkably complex and appealing protagonist. His
fluid shifts between the retelling of the events and his speculative endings are seamless, but do demand a thoughtful and relatively sophisticated reader. ASTAL highly recommends What Happened for grades 9 and above.
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