Let Me Hear a Rhyme: Audiobook

 

From the Publisher:

Brooklyn, 1998. Biggie Smalls was right: Things done changed. But that doesn’t mean that Quadir and Jarrell are cool letting their best friend Steph’s music lie forgotten under his bed after he’s murdered—not when his rhymes could turn any Bed Stuy corner into a party.

With the help of Steph’s younger sister Jasmine, they come up with a plan to promote Steph’s music under a new rap name: the Architect. Soon, everyone wants a piece of him. When his demo catches the attention of a hotheaded music label rep, the trio must prove Steph’s talent from beyond the grave.

As the pressure of keeping their secret grows, Quadir, Jarrell, and Jasmine are forced to confront the truth about what happened to Steph. Only, each has something to hide. And with everything riding on Steph’s fame, they need to decide what they stand for or lose all that they’ve worked so hard to hold on to—including each other.

My Thoughts:

This book needs to be listened to. It is written in the rhythm of the streets. It is about a sister's sorrow and the loss of an up and coming rap star. Steph could have been a star and two friends and a little sister use Steph's voice to solve a mystery and go through their grief. Ms. Jackson has an ear for the streets. 

Publication information:

Author: Tiffany D. Jackson

Narrators: Korey Jackson, Nile Bullock, Adenrele Ojo, Adam Lazarre-White

Publisher: Harper Audio (May 21, 2019)

Listening length: 9 hours 21 minutes

Girl on Fire (Graphic Novel)

 My Thoughts:

I admit I picked this graphic novel up because it's Alicia Keys and "Girl on Fire" is my anthem "she's living in a world and it's on fire/filled with catastrophe, but she knows she can fly away/ oh. . . She got both feet on the ground/and she's burning it down" When life gets chaotic, and I just have to dig in and hold steady rather than back down, this is the song I go to for inspiration. 

I thought maybe this was a memoir in graphic form on the artist Alicia Keys. Obviously I didn't look at the cover well, although I would love to read a graphic novel memoir of Alicia Keys (like March by John Lewis). This is a comic style superhero story about 14-year old Lolo. She is a good girl. Conscientious, skipped a grade smart, loving towards her family, including her dad, her maternal grandmother and her older brother. Her mother has been out of the picture since Lolo was a toddler, but although they live in the projects, Lolo's dad is doing his best to get them out. 

Seemingly out of the blue two things happen to her - she has some kind of physical connection with another boy from the projects and when her brother is mistaken for a robber at the bodega and smashed into the ground with a gun pointed at him, Lolo finds that she has superpowers. 

Although they try to keep it under wraps, Lolo is still connected to Mike and tries to keep him from going down a bad path as he deals with his frustration of being too short for football. In addition, the drug dealer that Mike ends up working for wants Lolo's to work with him and will hurt her family to get her. 

Lolo's bravery and kindness, characteristics that she had even before she had super powers help to ground her to the values she holds dear even in the face of bullies and criminals. That, I think is what makes Lolo the Girl on Fire. She stays grounded and she can burn it down. Great for middle grades but older teens and adults will also enjoy this. 

From the Publisher:

Lolo Wright always thought she was just a regular fourteen-year-old dealing with regular family drama: her brother, James, is struggling with his studies; her dad’s business constantly teeters on the edge of trouble; and her mother . . . she left long ago. But then Lolo’s world explodes when a cop pulls a gun on James in a dangerous case of mistaken identities. Staring down the barrel, with no one else to help, Lolo discovers powers she never knew she had. Using only her mind, she literally throws the cop out of the way.

Problem is that secrets like Lolo’s don’t stay a secret for long. Skin, a dangerous dealer with designs on taking over the neighborhood, hears of Lolo’s telekinetic abilities and decides that he needs her in his crew. Skin might not have Lolo’s powers, but he’s got nothing to lose and is willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants. And what he wants is Lolo.

Lolo’s not willing to let Skin use her to hurt the people—and neighborhood—that she loves. But it’s going to take a whole different kind of bravery to stand-up for what’s right, especially after Lolo’s mom returns suddenly and turns Lolo’s whole world upside-down. For too long, it’s true, Lolo’s had her head in the clouds, but this time, it’s on her . . . and she’s not backing down.

Girl on Fire is a young adult graphic novel about a girl who’s a flame. It’s the first-ever graphic novel from beloved GRAMMY® Award-winning artist Alicia Keys, co-written by Andrew Weiner and illustrated by Brittney Williams.  

Dear Martin

This has been on my TBR list for winter break and I just finished it now because sometimes, work, school observations, commissioner duties, and watching grandkids gets in my way of reading, but I am glad I finally carved out time to read this, it is fabulous and wrenching, hopeful and sorrowful - - the whole package.

Description:

Justyce McAllister is a good kid, an honor student, and always there to help a friend—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. Despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can't escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates.

Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.

Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up—way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it's Justyce who is under attack.

My Thoughts:

Teri Lesesne wrote a book called Reading Ladders  that basically talks about a way to start with what students are interested in and "rung by rung" connect students from their preference to more complex reading. I would like to say the Dear Martin is a rung to lead to The Hate U Give, however, I don't think it is a rung, I think it is a parallel scaffold to talk about social injustice, racism, finding a voice and literature as a catalyst for social activism.

Dear Martin, with the male protagonist is more in tune with the struggling male reader that I try to reach. I know that some classrooms are already using THUG as a class novel, but one of the reasons why I do not believe in the class novel is that for struggling readers, it just teaches them how to "not read" and still get the work done. For readers that devour the book, the pace of doing one book, chapter by chapter over a month just kills the aesthetic enjoyment of the book. Martin should sit next to a book like THUG as an alternative reading, an excerpted mentor text, and a way to talk about similar issues through different voices. 

The Disturbed Girl's Dictionary

Description
Macy's school officially classifies her as "disturbed," but Macy isn't interested in how others define her. She's got more pressing problems: her mom can't move off the couch, her dad's in prison, her brother's been kidnapped by Child Protective Services, and now her best friend isn't speaking to her. Writing in a dictionary format, Macy explains the world in her own terms—complete with gritty characters and outrageous endeavors. With an honesty that's both hilarious and fearsome, slowly Macy reveals why she acts out, why she can't tell her incarcerated father that her mom's cheating on him, and why her best friend needs protection . . . the kind of protection that involves Macy's machete. 

Reflection
Disturbed is the right word. Macy. . .George. . .Alma. . .Yasmin. . .Zach. . .  Even the fact that this is a personal "dictionary" that is sometimes sort of in alphabetical order and sometimes not is disturbing. The overwhelming need that these characters have for stability, compassion, love, clothing, shelter, food, sleep. . .disturbing ("see I for I don't want to talk about it).

Like Melinda in Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak, and Samoana in Sia Figiel's Girl in the Moon Circle, Macy as the narrator is both too young for her age "cooties," and much too old. At some points, her street smarts and survival instincts show up as clarified rage, and at other times she is very naive, broken down, and pieced back together.

In some ways I had a difficult time justifying her age to her actions, but I think that is what makes Macy believable as a character who hearts George and loves Alma and is unable to save anyone at the end, including herself.

What is not disturbing is the very powerful cover. Since I read books on my reader, I do not often even see the cover until I am writing about the book, but this cover, with the tub that is both the safe space for Zach and Macy as well as their pirate ship with the broken part of the wall that looks like a sail actually makes a powerful last word to this book. I somehow feel lighter by looking at it, although I could not really say why.