A Million Holds

There are a million holds on Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, so I just bought the audio and wow, wow, it was so worth it!  What a book.  I just couldn't wait any longer after hearing him talk about his book on Mashreads this morning.  (this is where I want David "I Hate Fat People" Levithan to know that I was running (albeit slowly) while listening.  Oh yeah, also, Mr. Levithan, I am 123lbs now.  Down 215lbs.  Do you like me now?  
Oh my gosh, I digress!
So sorry.  Anyway...
Long Way Down really, really is Printz worthy.  It has bumped The Hate U Give, maybe.  Or maybe it has tied with it.  (But still, Auma's Long Run is my favorite for both Printz and Newbery.)

Twiggy

Twiggy has NOTHING to do with Darius and Twig.  This is another well deserved award-winning book from the late, great WDM, one of the great authors ever!

Masquerade

I don't know why, but I don't like the word masquerade.  I did like the book Bronx Masquerade very much though.  I love Nikki Grimes and so I am always opening one of her books with the expectation that I will love it.  And I always do.  This book is another multi-POV story.  Eighteen students in an urban school, a class in which the teacher has started a poetry unit.  On Fridays the students are invited to share their original work with the class.
Each chapter is first a student sharing their thoughts and that is followed by their poem.  Excellent and realistic.  As always.  

Queens and Kings

I think this is the second time I have linked to this great song by NAS.  I was reminded of this song all the way through The Broken Bike Boy and the Queen of 33rd Street.  This is another great offering from Sharon G. Flake, who really knows what it is like to be a kid and to right so real that you forget that Queen and Broken Bike Boy are ficticious characters.  Queen isn't very likable, but you understand her.  Great story on how to be a friend and have a friend.  How to be yourself but not be too full of yourself.  And to remember always, that you, indeed, royal and precious. 

HarperTeen Impulse

Another short story from Harper Teen Impulse, this one by Walter Dean Myers, who as you know, can do no wrong in my eyes.  Tags was very short, but compeling.  It's set in the next life-- but not a next life like the one that we'll all be in when we get to Heaven!  It kinda reminded me of Dope Sick a little.  Good stuff.  Man.  He is good. 

The only bad thing about reading a Langdon Prep book

Is that when you are done with it, you have to wait so long for the next one!!! It seems like it took forever for Sweet 16 to Life to come out! As I have mentioned, Chanti Evans is one of my most favorite detectives, and the only female one, now that I think about it. This one takes place totally on the Ave, and features MJ heavily. Marco is back and Bethanie is still gone. I miss her. I hope that she isn't gone for good, but it seems likely. I missed the surroundings of the school, but the mystery was good and the books was suspenseful, well written and funny, like always! Keep em coming!

Things I Haven't Thought about in Awhile

When was the last time you thought about Hobbes or Rousseau and Social Contract Theory?  For me it was YEARS ago, when I was back there in seminary school at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.  All the Right Stuff by Walter Dean Myers didn't disappoint.  And it could have, because I have very high standards for Mr. Myers, because he is a truly masterful writer.
Like a lot of his books, this one is set in Harlem, with a male, teen main character.  Paul didn't know his dad very well.  His father had some serious problems with drugs.  As the summer begins Paul and his mother learn that his father is dead.  He was accidentally shot, an innocent bystander, victim of street violence.  Paul has a lot to think about and he ends up having a lot to think about when he spends his summer volunteering at Elijah's Soup Emporium.  Elijah is an old man who makes soup and serves it to senior citizens in the neighborhood.  Elijah is also a brilliant philosopher and historian and introduces Paul to social contract theory, asking him how it might work for him, why it is necessary, and what happens when people don't use the social contract theory and work within it, to make the most of their lives.  On the other side of the argument is Sly, a young man who has returned home to his Harlem neighborhood after college to start a business that he believes will help people rise up out of poverty.  Sly doesn't buy social contract theory at all.  He thinks social contract theory is kept around by the privileged to keep the poor and minorities in poverty.
There is great deal for Paul to think about and thus, for the reader to contemplate as well. And any book that makes me think is a great one.  Great stuff, Mr. Myers.  Thank you again.

On the Street Where You Live

Wouldn't it be neat to have one person from every neighborhood in the country write a short story about the folks and events in that neighborhood?  A little profile (from one person's POV, anyway) of everyday life and everyday people.  Think of all of the neat stories that would be told.
I have a Will Rogers tude toward Walter Dean Myers, never read a WDM book I didn't like.  145th Street is a collection of short stories, some heart-breaking, some funny, some that leave you saying, "wow" or "I hope the world is like that" or "I hope the world won't be like that forever."
Great stuff.
Song link!

A sower went out to sow...

Thus starts a wonderful parable.  I've preached on it several times and so I've looked at if from many angles.  It's one of those passages from the Bible that at first, when you first realize you have to preach on it, you panic or roll your eyes because you think "Oh man, how can I look at this in a new way?  Everyone knows this already! There's nothing new to say!"  But then, like all of the rich texts of the Bible, once you get into it, you find things that you never saw before.  I won't keep on preaching here, but this book reminded me of that parable, not just because of the seeds themselves.
Seedfolks is lovely story about a garden in a transitional neighborhood in Cleveland.  The garden beings as a dumping ground, it's an empty lot where people just dump their garbage.  A little Vietnamese girl, grieving on the anniversary of her father's death, decides to plant some bean seeds in this vacant, ugly lot, to honor his memory.
People start noticing.  And helping.  And planting their own flowers or vegetables.  And something beautiful starts to grow, in the ground and in the neighborhood.
The story is told in many voices, each chapter is a different gardener.  Their stories are as diverse as their backgrounds, as diverse as what they choose to plant.  Some of their stories are heart-breaking, some are funny.  I loved listening to this on cd because the readers are fantastic.  Great stories, great book.