Let’s BookTalk: Guitar Notes by Mary Amato

from Goodreads.com

“It’s as if there are six strings inside him, tuned to the same pitches, and when the guitar is strummed it cause his sting to ring out, too” (p. 22).

Tripp is a loner type, who loves to play the guitar. He is an odd character and very often speaks his mind. Lyla is the first chair cellist in the school’s orchestra. She is Lyla Marks, who has perfect grades, perfect friends and everyone adores her; however, Lyla is keeping a deep secret that she feels she cannot share with anyone.

The story mainly takes place at Rockland school. The characters Tripp and Lyla are both going through communication issues with their parent. Both are feeling pressured by their parents to be involved in activities they do not want to do.

Is there ever a time when you “thrum?”

Written by Amanda Baca

Library Educational Assitant

Let's BookTalk: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

from Goodreads.com

“Once upon a time there was a hazel-eyed boy with dimples. I called him Khalil. The world called him a thug. He lived, but no nearly long enough, and for the rest of my life I’ll remember how he died” (p. 442-443).

Starr is a teenager caught between two worlds. One world is where she lives with her family and helps them with their store in Garden Heights; a low income, hardworking neighborhood, facing violence in the streets due to the competing gangs in the area. The other worlds is where she goes to school, Williamson. In this world there are gated communities, suburbs, and what some would call “champagne problems.”

Both her worlds are shattered, when a police officer guns down a childhood friend in her neighborhood during a “routine traffic” stop and all she could do was watch from the passenger side of her friend’s car.

Now, she must make a choice. Silence or Speak Out?

“I always said that if I saw it happen to somebody, I would have the loudest voice, making sure the world know what went down. Now I am that person, and I’m too afraid to speak” (p. 35).

Let's BookTalk: Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

from Goodreads.com

There is power in a name, his momma taught him that much before she died. His name is Bud, not Buddy. If she had wanted him to be called Buddy, she would have named him Buddy.

Bud learned many things from his momma, except who his father was, she only left a flyer for a band as a clue. Now Bud is a runaway orphan in Flint, MI on a mission to get out of town before he is the most wanted boy in town. Life isn’t easy for Bud and with a depression going on across the country things can easily go from bad to worse.

Yet, Bud has these rules that help him stay alive and out of trouble, almost. With only an old card board suitcase to carry his few prized possessions in the world, Bud goes on a journey to find his father and maybe the allusive dream of a home.

Let’s Booktalk: Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner

Growing up can be tough. Graduating high school can seem like the perfect escape. But, there is no real escape when your name is Shakespeare.

“It’s hard to imagine what my parents were thinking when they decided to name me Shakespeare. They were probably drunk…”

Shakespeare is a senior in high school, and like most high school seniors he is marking off the days until graduation. “Even though we don’t graduate until the middle of June, the sense of impending freedom has begun to sweep through the ranks of the senior class.” Between his parents, who are arguing with one another or criticizing his life choices, his violent younger brother Ghandi, and navigating the social scene that is high school; Shakespeare finds escape in his writing, much like his namesake.

So, you tell me, what’s in a name?

Let's Booktalk--Pregnant Pause by Han Nolan

Courtesy of Goodreads

El is sixteen, daughter of two missionaries trying to save the AIDS babies of Kenya, little sister to the perfect Sarah who wants nothing more than to be a mother. El though is stubborn, gets into trouble, and she always has to do things the hard way. Pause…and she’s pregnant.

“Here’s what I hate about all the pregnancy books I’ve been reading. They’re meant for perfect people who are going to have perfect babies and live perfect lives with their perfect husbands” (16). But, as El finds out, pregnancy is anything but perfect. Married at sixteen, living in a cabin as a camp counselor at her in-laws’ summer “fat camp”, El will face more challenges in her near 9 months pregnancy than she has in her 16 years of life.

“Then I see my baby, wow, my baby, born from me—a miracle. She’s all covered in crud, and the umbilical cord is hanging out of her belly. I see arms and legs moving, and the doctor does something to suck out fluid from her mouth and nose, and the baby cries and I cry and I can’t believe it—I have a baby, a baby girl, a baby girl named Emma Rose” (243).

No, one seems to want her to keep the baby, and when Emma Rose is born with Down Syndrome, everyone wants one thing—for El to give up. But, El wants to be a mom and wants HER baby. Pause…so, how can she be 16 and a mom?