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Background Information for Library Materials in Review
Book Title:
Almost Perfect
Synopsis
With his mother working long hours and in pain from a romantic break-up,
eighteen-year-old Logan feels alone and unloved until a zany new student
arrives at his small-town Missouri high school, keeping a big secret.
Source: Novelist Plus - accessed via SCDiscus
Book Author
Katcher, Brian
Copyright Year:
2009
Professional Reviews of Almost Perfect
Source: Follett Titlewave
Booklist (December 15, 2009 (Online))
Grades 9-12. Transsexuality is the issue in this candid novel told from the viewpoint of Logan, a high-school
senior in a small Missouri town. The story quickly moves from Logan’s attraction to Sage, a cute, strange new
girl at school, to his shock at the discovery that Sage was born male and is in transition to become a female.
More than anything, Logan worries that once Sage’s identity is revealed, people will think that he is gay for
being attracted to a boy. Then Sage attempts suicide, and Logan feels guilty about failing her. Unlike Sage’s
brutal father, though, Logan never denies that Sage is a “she.” The story is long and repetitive, and the
messages are overt, but many teens—both those familiar with transgender issues and those who are not—will
welcome the honest take on a rarely explored subject. The biological facts about hormones and Sage’s
changing body are woven in, and Katcher clearly dramatizes the characters’ secrets, lies, shame, and
denial, as well as the cruel prejudice they experience with family and friends.
Kirkus Reviews starred (September 1, 2009)
Katcher flawlessly channels the worried and confused voice of a straight teenage boy in this honest and
uncompromising take on transgender love. High-school senior Logan is stunned when outgoing new girl Sage
reveals she is biologically a boy after they kiss for the first time. Logan realistically cycles through denial, anger
and anxiety, finally reaching acceptance but constantly wondering whether he is brave enough to shrug off
the deeply ingrained conventions of his rural upbringing. Sage is just as candidly drawn, struggling to balance
her fear of being found out with her need to be seen as a "normal" girl. Domestic drama and personal
tragedy ensue, and while the ending is not necessarily a happy one, both characters come full circle and
begin to better understand both themselves and each other. The author tackles issues of homophobia, hate
crimes and stereotyping with humor and grace in an accessible tone that will resonate with teens who may
not have encountered the issue of transgender identity before. An excellent companion piece to Ellen
Wittlinger's Parrotfish (2007) and Jean Ferris's Eight Seconds (2000). (Fiction. 14 & up)
Horn Book Guide (Spring 2010)
Logan falls for Sage, the new girl at his small-town Missouri school--until the discovery that Sage is biologically
male derails their fledgling romance. Sage is an intriguing, charismatic character. However, she gets short
shrift in a narration that focuses more on Logan's flip-flopping reactions (attraction, disgust, friendship, anger)
than on authentic emotional connections between the characters.
School Library Journal (December 1, 2009)
Gr 8 Up-A small-town Missouri boy's world is rocked when he falls for the new girl at school, and she eventually
confesses that she is a biological male. Logan's world is small, as is his mind at first, but throughout the book
he grows to accept and love Sage for who-not what-she is. This remarkable book takes a hard look at the
difficulties and pain experienced by young male-to-female transsexuals from an easily relatable perspective,
as Julie Ann Peters did in Luna (Little, Brown, 2004). Logan is a conservative 18-year-old Everyman whose
generic voice isn't-and doesn't need to be-anything special; although readers follow his growth, it is Sage's
story that is truly important. A remarkably "clean" book dealing with sexuality and identity, this is neither
preachy nor didactic while directly challenging prejudice and intolerance. With realistic characters and
situations, it is a first purchase for all high school collections, and could easily be given to middle school
readers who are undaunted by its length.-Rhona Campbell, Washington, DC Public Library Copyright 2009
Reed Business Information.
Awards/Distinctions Awarded to Almost Perfect
Source: NovelistPlus
American Library Association Rainbow Book List - Fiction: 2010
Stonewall Book Award Winner - Children's and Young Adult Literature: 2011
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults: 2010
Background Information for Library Materials in Review
Book Title:
Fade
Synopsis
For Janie and Cabel, real life is getting tougher than the dreams. They're just
trying to carve out a little (secret) time together, but no such luck. Disturbing
things are happening at Fieldridge High, yet nobody's talking. When Janie taps
into a classmate's violent nightmares, the case finally breaks open--but nothing
goes as planned. Not even close. Janie's in way over her head, and Cabe's
shocking behavior has grave consequences for them both.
Worse yet, Janie learns the truth about herself and her ability. And it's bleak.
Seriously, brutally bleak. Not only is her fate as a Dream Catcher sealed, but
what's to come is way darker than she'd even feared...
Source: Author Website
Book Author
McMann, Lisa
Copyright Year:
2009
Professional Reviews of Fade
Source: Follett Titlewave
Booklist (December 1, 2008 (Vol. 105, No. 7))
Grades 8-11. This sequel to Wake (2008) follows dream-catcher Janie as she navigates the treacherous world
of dreaming the dreams of others. Janie and her boyfriend, Cabel, use their skills to work undercover
investigating teachers suspected of drugging and abusing students at class parties. Janie takes on more than
she can handle in cracking the case, and Cabel is unable to intervene to his satisfaction, which strains their
relationship. Janie also comes to understand more about her dream-catching ability and the consequences
in store for her, most notably a heavy, irreversible physical toll. The series is moving in a darker, more dramatic
direction, with Janie facing evil and needing to decide if she can sacrifice her own health for the greater
good. Series of sentence fragments (“She scratches her head. Looks around. Laughs”) take some getting
used to but keep the action firmly in the present tense and build suspense. A great blend of mystery,
romance, and supernatural elements, and featuring a strong but vulnerable female protagonist, this episode
ends with an irresistible hook for the final installment.
Kirkus Reviews (January 1, 2009)
On the heels of assisting the police in a cocaine bust in 2008's Wake, senior Janie Hannagan, a dream
catcher--she is involuntarily pulled into other people's dreams--is now working directly for the local police,
alongside her narc boyfriend, Cabel, in this tension-filled sequel. This time the pair must identify and catch a
sexual predator working as a teacher in their school. Although their romance has moved to a new level, their
love is tested by Janie's risky new role and deteriorating health. Through Janie's dreams and a journal left
behind, the deceased Miss Stubin, a former dream catcher, teaches the teen how to control dreams. In a
bittersweet ending, she also reveals the incredible power of dream catching and the toll it will ultimately take
on Janie. The quick-paced, present-tense narration and realistic dialogue that gripped readers in the first
book resume here. While the wild events at a teacher's party may seem exaggerated, the effects of GHB,
the "date rape" drug, on both females and males will both frighten and enlighten. Fans will clamor for a third
title. (Fiction. YA)
School Library Journal (May 1, 2009)
Gr 9 Up-This intriguing, if not quite stand-alone, sequel to Wake (S & S, 2008) follows undercover investigators
and high school seniors Janie Hannagan and her partner/boyfriend Cabel as they attempt to unmask and
trap a sexual predator teaching at Fieldridge High. Janie is a dream catcher-she has the ability to be sucked
into another person's dreams-and her job is to glean clues to the culprit's identity from her classmates and to
act as bait. The latter task annoys protective Cabe, and their relationship, already strained by a scarcity of
alone time and the need for secrecy (their last case might be jeopardized if they are seen together), is
further stressed. Furthermore, Janie receives documents from her now-deceased dream-catcher mentor
promising to detail the fate in store for her, and she's not sure she wants to know the truth. While there are few
surprises in the main plot arc, the spare but effective narrative holds readers' attention, especially when Janie
delves into the chilling truth of her ability. Teens who like the supernatural-tinged drama of shows like Ghost
Whisperer and Medium may be tempted by this series.-Christi Esterle, Parker Library, CO Copyright 2009 Reed
Business Information
Horn Book Guide (Fall 2009)
"Dream catcher" Janie and her boyfriend Cabel (Wake) take on another stealth assignment: busting a sexual
predator among their high school's faculty. The pair deals with unexpected consequences as the dreams
take an increasing toll on Janie and the mission strains their relationship. Taut accounts of the danger they
face alternate with surreal descriptions of dreams, heightening the already intense suspense.
Awards/Distinctions Awarded to Fade
Source: n/a
Background Information for Library Materials in Review
Book Title:
Fallout
Synopsis
Written in free verse, explores how three teenagers try to
cope with the consequences of their mother's addiction to
crystal meth and its effects on their lives.
Source: Novelist Plus - accessed via SCDiscus
Book Author
Hopkins, Ellen
Copyright Year:
2010
Professional Reviews of Fallout
Source: Follett Titlewave
Booklist (July 2010 (Online))
Grades 10-12. Simply put: if you liked Crank (2004) and Glass (2007), this trilogy finale will not disappoint.
Hopkins shifts the point of view from meth-user Kristina to her three teenage kids; it’s a brilliant tactic that
shows just how deeply others are affected by a single person’s addiction. Before it’s over, the three
kids—Hunter, Autumn, and Summer—will experience anger, longing, loneliness, drugs, pregnancy,
homelessness, and even, believe it or not, hope. Hopkins’ free-verse stanzas are as engaging as always,
though prose this observant and strong would be powerful even if arranged in standard paragraphs. An
emotional, satisfying end (and a new beginning, in a way) to Kristina’s story.
Kirkus Reviews (August 1, 2010)
Crank (2004) and Glass (2007) readers will relish this look at Kristina's three oldest children, now teenagers, all
conceived in the chaos of crystal-meth addiction. Hunter, 19, lives with Kristina's parents, who adopted him
years ago; Autumn, 17, lives with an aunt, ignorant of any extended family; Summer, 15, bounces between
her father's trailer and unsafe foster homes. Their legacy is not only drug addiction but also the underlying
malaise-half unhappiness, half boredom-that set up Kristina for addiction years ago. Parched for connection
and excitement, these teens turn to love and sex, and sometimes booze and drugs, because their lives offer
no other interests (though a convergence at their grandparents' house offers a faint whiff of hope). The
clipped free verse sharply conveys fragmented and dissociated emotions. Autumn and Summer are
completely believable characters, Hunter less so. This loosely reality-based conclusion (Hopkins's daughter is
the real "Kristina," but her actual kids are much younger) will heartily satisfy series fans despite gratuitous
emphasis on the bestseller-driven fame of the author's fictionalized alter ego. (author's note) (Fiction. YA)
Publishers Weekly (August 16, 2010)
The final installment of the trilogy that began with Crank and Glass examines the impact of Kristina's
methamphetamine addiction on three of her children, now teens. Though not raised by their mother, they
are still "dealing with the fallout of choices" she made, beginning in her own teenage years, as the narrative
shifts among them. Hunter is quick to anger and experiments with substances, too; Autumn suffers from OCD
and panic attacks because "things happened" when she was little; and Summer bounces around to different
foster homes before running away with her boyfriend. Fans will recognize the author's trademark style: this is a
gritty, gripping collection of free verse and concrete poems. Hopkins neatly creates news articles attributed
to Associated Press, Variety, and other sources, clueing readers in to the fates of other characters from the
first two books. In the end, readers will be drawn into the lives of each of these struggling teens as they deal
with complicated home lives, first loves, and a mostly absent mother who "wants to love them," but is too
damaged to do so. Ages 14-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal (September 1, 2010)
Gr 9 Up-Kristina, the meth-addicted antiheroine of Crank (2004) and Glass (2007), has five children by four
different men. Fallout is about the lives of her three oldest children. Hunter lives with his grandmother in
Nevada. He cheats on his girlfriend and smokes a lot of dope. Autumn lives with her sweet aunt and gruff
granddad in Texas. She has OCD and knows little about her mother. Summer lives in a trailer in California with
her father and a string of abusive/slutty/stupid girlfriends. She hates pretty much everyone. Hopkins's
not-quite poetry is as solid as ever, though her use of visual formations gets more mystifying and extraneous
with each novel. Unfortunately, it's unlikely that Glass is fresh in the minds of most readers. As such, the Venn
diagram of Kristina's baby-daddies, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and drug buddies -is impossible to
follow, and may frustrate even the most interested readers. So much deciphering cripples the pace of
Fallout. The plot is choked with the perpetual damage of meth addiction-there's too much message and not
enough action. Hopkins spreads the narration too thin between three unlikable narrators, and none is ever
fully realized. The mood here is just as depressing and cautionary as Glass, and Hopkins's presentation is even
more self-indulgent.-Johanna Lewis, New York Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly
owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Guide (Spring 2011)
Three of Kristina Snow's children, Hunter, Autumn, and Summer--all raised in different families--alternate the
narration in this novel told through Hopkins's trademark poems. Although each struggles against the legacy
of Kristina's meth addiction, a sense of support as the siblings find each other provides hopeful opportunities.
Somewhat less melodramatic than Crank and Glass, this third volume ties the trilogy up satisfactorily.
Library Media Connection (November/December 2010)
Using the concrete poetic verse and gritty subject matter that drew readers to Crank (Simon & Schuster,
2004) and Glass (Simon & Schuster, 2007), Hopkins continues the saga of Kristina, the young crystal meth
addict, through her children. Growing up separately, they are all struggling with their genetic predisposition
to addiction. She left them with lives filled with abusive relationships, sexual promiscuity, foster care, and drug
use. Told from their point of view, Hopkins gives a raw and authentic voice to each child. Hunter, raised by
Kristina's mother and stepfather, battles his temper and his curiosity to meet his rapist father. Summer bounces
between foster homes and her alcoholic father's trailer, grasping for affection in an abusive relationship.
Autumn was sheltered by her aunt and grandfather, but when the only family she knows disintegrates, she
goes down a path that leads very near Kristina's footsteps as a teenage mother. We see their lives collide on
an explosive Christmas night with a stirring conclusion. Hopkins' text is gripping, leaving the reader yearning
for more as she jumps from one child in peril to another. Fans of the series will devour this story. Highly
Recommended. Melissa Santacrose, Library Media Specialist, Chenango Forks High School, Binghamton,
New York
Awards/Distinctions Awarded to Fallout
Source: n/a
n/a
Background Information for Library Materials in Review
Book Title:
Foul is Fair
Synopsis
After being drugged and gang-raped while crashing a St. Andrew's Prep party
on her sixteenth birthday, Jade leads her friends in exacting a horrific revenge
on the golden boys who attacked her.
*This book was re-released under a new title, "Golden Boys Beware," in 2021
Source: Novelist Plus - accessed via SCDiscus
Book Author
Capin, Hannah
Copyright Year:
2020
Professional Reviews of Foul is Fair
Source: Follett Titlewave
Booklist starred (January 1, 2020 (Vol. 116, No. 9))
Grades 10-12. Violent Delights When we think of violence and women, most of us probably tend to think of
violence against women. This is the pairing that’s given the most attention: it’s what’s in the headlines, what’s
in our entertainment. In crime fiction, women are, most often, the victims; in superhero stories, they’re fridged.
Slasher movies of the 1970s reacted to a growing cultural acceptance of women’s sexuality and autonomy
by violently ripping apart female bodies onscreen. When women are given the opportunity to be violent, it’s
often sexualized and on behalf of the male gaze (Nikita, Black Widow, the femme fatale—all play to the
camera) or they’re monsters, and punishment is inevitable (Medusa, Lilith, Lady Macbeth).The conversation
grows more complex when race enters in—men of color, and especially black men, are often victims of
violence, and face much higher consequences for perpetrating it than white men. But for men of a certain
background, with certain privileges, violence has no consequence. Violence makes them kings.
Shakespeare knew it, and Hannah Capin does, too. In her slick, divisive sophomore novel, she revamps
Macbeth as the contemporary scorched-earth story of Jade Khanjara, who is gang-raped by a group of St.
Andrew’s Prep lacrosse players at a party on her sixteenth birthday. But violence, as they say, begets
violence; afterward, Jade cuts her hair and dyes it black, and she and her three best friends—her
coven—vow revenge. And because the boys who tried to destroy her—prep school elites—are untouchable
by the law or the justice system, Jade knows that revenge means murdering them herself. There are those
who may be disturbed by this sort of mutually assured destruction. Surely, they might say, the answer is not to
kill off the men. But here Capin raises an interesting, if extreme, counterpoint. Why not, she asks, when
women have been dying violently for centuries? In a different sort of novel, Jade wouldn’t follow through
with her plan. She would lose her nerve as she infiltrates St. Andrew’s as a new student, or she would bond
with the boy who is the key to her plan—Mack, the golden boy, the lacrosse player who was uninvolved with
her rape, but whom she needs in order to murder the others. She would, like Lady Macbeth, falter at the sight
of blood on her hands. She would feel the sting of consequence as her plot unwound and the bodies began
to fall. But Capin isn’t writing that kind of story. Vicious, manipulative Jade will have her critics, but she’s
unconcerned with likability. Men have been rampaging across Tarantino films for years—hell, any kid who’s
read a Shakespeare play in an English class has been privy to unchecked male violence. It is jarring to see a
16-year-old girl commit (or conspire to commit) the acts of violence that Jade makes happen, if only
because it is so far outside of what we have come to expect. But this isn’t a how-to-murder-your-classmates
manual; it’s a ferocious, frenzied reaction to a world that has, for too long, treated women as collateral
damage in stories that have been deemed more important than theirs. Through Jade and her coven—a
group that, despite its brutal mission, is fiercely loyal, open to all different ideas of what a woman can be,
and not so close that it can’t accept someone new — Capin bulldozes through Macbeth, tackling rape
culture and those who benefit from it with the claws-out, take-no-prisoners approach of someone who is
done with being afraid. Jade’s first-person narrative, steeped in rage and drenched, unapologetically, with
gore, moves at a relentless pace. The plot is not rooted in any sort of reality; it is a fever dream, a vicious
fantasy, an allegory with bloody teeth. It will not be a book for everyone. There is no moral, no debate. This is
about vengeance in its most biblical sense. If you need a story about a teenage girl to be rooted in ethics
when boys and men are allowed moral ambiguity in theirs, then this is not the book for you. But for those
who, like Jade, have witnessed and experienced violence against women in its many forms, who are tired of
taking the high road, who are seeking catharsis, this book may be exactly what is needed. We’ve been hurt
enough, it whispers. Your turn. -- Maggie Reagan (Reviewed 1 /1 /2020) (Booklist, vol 116, number 9, p84)
Kirkus Reviews (December 1, 2019)
A teen and her best friends exact revenge on the prep school boys who raped her. Elle, Mads, Jenny, and
Summer are wealthy Los Angeles teens who crash a prep school party on Elle’s 16th birthday. After four boys
spike Elle’s drink and rape her, the girls decide to kill them. Using her middle name, Jade, Elle enrolls in the
boys’ private school and launches an elaborate scheme of manipulation and retaliation, choosing golden
boy Mack, who is in their friend group, as her scapegoat for murder. But when Jade falls for Mack, her friends
start to question her loyalties, and she must decide how far she’ll go. Rhythmic, propulsive prose drives this
bloody retelling of Macbeth at a relentless pace all the way to its violent end. Readers will find little moral or
emotional complexity in these pages and hardly any character development or examination of the
self-destructive power of vengeance. What they will find, after they leave their disbelief at the door, is a
steadfast sisterhood repaying heedless assault with red-hot rage; and perhaps, in the age of #MeToo, that is
enough to begin with. Jade’s father is an Indian immigrant (her mother’s ethnicity is not mentioned),
dark-skinned transgender Mads has a Latinx name, Jenny is implied Korean, and Summer is bisexual. Besides
a backstory involving transphobic bullying, none of these identities go much beyond name and
appearance. Other key characters are white. Intense, implausible, and impossible to put down. (Fiction.
14-18)
Publishers Weekly (December 16, 2019)
A young woman chooses "avenger" over "victim" or "survivor" in this take on Macbeth for the #MeToo era by
Capin (The Dead Queens Club). After 16-year-old narrator Elle Khanjara is drugged and raped by a group of
prep school boys at an L.A. party, she determines to handle the situation herself. Requesting that her parents
not contact the authorities, she asks her father, a connected plastic surgeon, to facilitate her transfer to St.
Andrew's Prep, the boys' school. Taking the entitled young men out herself would be too easy. Elle, now
going by her middle name, Jade, plans to bring them down from within, and she launches a scheme devised
with her "coven," close friends Mads, Jenny, and Summer. Nothing short of murder will do, but falling for the
boy she's set up to take the fall isn't part of the plan. Elements of the coven's elaborately staged scheme are
hard to swallow, and a lack of character depth may blunt the impact for some, despite intersectional
inclusivity across secondary characters. Still, Capin's twisty, blood-soaked take on Shakespeare's play is a
propulsive, white-hot juggernaut of vengeance that packs a viscerally satisfying punch. Ages 14-up. Agent:
Sarah Burnes, the Gernert Co. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal (November 1, 2019)
Gr 10 Up-Kids are on their own in the world of the wealthy in Southern California; their posses are tight, and
"get even" is their code. Elle's "coven"-Mads, Summer, and Jenny-have been bullies and vigilantes since
eighth grade. On her 16th birthday, Elle decides it would be fun to crash a prep school party with the coven
where they know no one. She's drugged and raped by four football players who've done this before and
whose dominance among peers, and loyalty to each other, makes them feel invincible. The author uses the
culture of denial surrounding sexual assault effectively: despite a mounting body count, no one figures Elle,
Jenny, Summer, and Mads to be the killers because they're girls and, it's assumed, incapable of such pitiless
revenge. Gory scenes of death and dying are the norm here, although the rape scene itself is not explicit.
The author offers a helpful "content advisory" on her website for more details about potentially sensitive
material. The book is laced with profanity, too. VERDICT This revenge fantasy told from the point of view of a
rape survivor will shock and awe some readers. Suitable for mature audiences.-Georgia Christgau,
LaGuardia Community College, Long Island City, NY © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Awards/Distinctions Awarded to Foul is Fair
Source: n/a
n/a
Background Information for Library Materials in Review
Book Title:
Gabi, A Girl in Pieces
Synopsis
Sixteen-year-old Gabi Hernandez chronicles her senior year in high school as
she copes with her friend Cindy's pregnancy, friend Sebastian's coming out, her
father's meth habit, her own cravings for food and cute boys, and especially,
the poetry that helps forge her identity.
Source: Novelist Plus - accessed via SCDiscus
Book Author
Quintero, Isabel
Copyright Year:
2014
Professional Reviews of Gabi, A Girl in Pieces
Source: Follett Titlewave
Booklist starred (September 15, 2014 (Vol. 111, No. 2))
Grades 9-12. Reading Quintero’s debut is like attending a large family fiesta: it’s overpopulated with people,
noise, and emotion, but the overall effect is joyous. Presented as the diary of 17-year-old Mexican American
Gabi, it covers a senior year ostensibly filled with travail, from a first kiss to first sex; from dealing with a
meth-head father to a constantly shaming mother; from the pregnancies of two classmates to Gabi’s own
fear of becoming “Hispanic Teen Mom #3,789,258.” But that makes the book sound pedantic, and it’s
anything but. Unlike most diary-format novels, this truly feels like the product of a teenager used to dealing
with a lot of life’s b.s. Sure, she is depressed at times, but just as often she is giddy with excitement about her
new boyfriend (and then the one after that), or shrugging at the weight she just doesn’t feel like losing. If
there is a structuring element, it’s the confidence-building poems Gabi writes for composition class, which
read just like the uncertain early work of a nonetheless talented fledgling writer. Quintero, on the other hand,
is utterly confident, gifting us with a messy, complicated protagonist who isn’t defined by ethnicity, class,
weight, or lifestyle. Gabi is purely herself—and that’s what makes her universal.
Kirkus Reviews starred (August 1, 2014)
Struggles with body image, teen pregnancy, drug addiction, rape, coming out, first love and death are all
experiences that touch Gabi's life in some way during her senior year, and she processes her raw and honest
feelings in her journal as these events unfold. Gabi's family life is unbalanced. Her father is a drug addict who
comes in and out of her life sporadically. Her mother tries desperately to keep her tethered to the values of
her traditional Mexican heritage. Gabi's weight, her desire to go away to college and her blossoming
sexuality are all at odds with what she feels are expected from her as a young Mexican-American woman.
The teen is deeply bonded with her two best friends, Cindy and Sebastian, who each struggle themselves
with the tension between sexuality and culture. Through poetry, Gabi finds her voice and develops the
confidence to be true to herself. With this first novel, Quintero excels at presenting a life that is simultaneously
messy and hopeful. Readers won't soon forget Gabi, a young woman coming into her own in the face of
intense pressure from her family, culture and society to fit someone else's idea of what it means to be a
"good" girl. A fresh, authentic and honest exploration of contemporary Latina identity. (Fiction. 14 & up)
Publishers Weekly (September 29, 2014)
Quintero's first novel quickly establishes a strong voice and Mexican-American cultural perspective through
the journal of intelligent, self-deprecating, and funny Gabi. The 17-year-old is navigating considerable
conflict both at home and in her social life: her father is addicted to meth, while Gabi's strict mother pressures
her to conform to her own views of their heritage and values. Gabi, who seeks comfort through binge eating,
wants to grow up on her own terms, and she explores her awakening romantic and sexual feelings by writing
poetry. Quintero unsentimentally confronts a gay teenager's coming out, teen pregnancy, date rape,
abortion, addiction, and other topics while sketching the contradictory pressures facing Gabi, who feels
caught between two worlds ("Being Mexican-American is tough sometimes. Your allegiance is always
questioned"). Gabi's letters to her father are particularly moving, and her narration is fresh, self-aware, and
reflective. The intimate journal structure of the novel is especially revealing as Gabi gains confidence in her
own integrity and complexity: "I guess there is more to this fat girl than even this fat girl ever knew." Ages
14-up. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal (August 1, 2014)
Gr 9 Up-Sixteen-year-old Gabi Hernandez has a lot to deal with during her senior year. Her best friend Cindy is
pregnant; her other best friend Sebastian just got kicked out of his house for coming out to his strict parents;
her meth addict dad is trying to quit, again; and her super religious Tia Bertha is constantly putting a damper
on Gabi's love life. In lyrical diary entries peppered with the burgeoning poet's writing, Spanglish, and phone
conversations, Quintero gives voice to a complex, not always likable but totally believable teen who
struggles to figure out her own place in the world. Believing she's not Mexican enough for her family and not
white enough for Berkeley, Gabi still meets every challenge head-on with vulgar humor and raw honesty. In
moments, the diary format may come across as clunky, but the choppy delivery feels purposeful. While the
narrative is chock-full of issues, they never bog down the story, interwoven with the usual teen trials, from
underwhelming first dates to an unabashed treatment of sex, religion, and family strife. The teen isn't all snark;
there's still a naivete about whether her father will ever kick his addiction to meth, especially evident in her
heartfelt letters to him. When tragedy strikes, readers will mourn with Gabi and connect with her fears about
college acceptance and her first sexual experience. A refreshing take on slut- and fat-shaming, Quintero's
work ranks with Meg Medina's Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass (Candlewick, 2013) and Junot Diaz's
Drown (Riverhead, 1996) as a coming-of-age novel with Latino protagonists.-Shelley Diaz, School Library
Journal (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
Library Media Connection (March/April 2015)
Gabi, a self-described "fat girl," is the strong Latina narrator in this novel describing her senior year of high
school. Her best friend, Cindy, is pregnant; her other best friend, Sebastian, is kicked out of his house for being
gay. Her father is a meth addict; her mother nearly suffocates Gabi in her efforts to keep her from making
mistakes. The use of Spanish expressions, defined or understood in context, add flavor to this realistic,
poignant, at times irreverent, story of a young woman on the cusp of adulthood. Gabi is thoughtful and
intelligent; when faced with whether or not to have sex, she decides intelligently. When faced with the boy
who raped Cindy, she makes a bad decision and has to live with the consequences. Readers will be hooked
from the first page and will root for Gabi as she navigates her last year of high school. Cynthia Ortiz, School
Librarian, Hackensack (New Jersey) High School. RECOMMENDED
Horn Book Guide (Spring 2015)
Gabi, a light-skinned Hispanic girl who is maybe a little bit too curvy, is no stranger to trouble. Her father is a
meth addict, her brother's a budding graffiti artist, her best friend's pregnant, and another friend is homeless
after coming out to his father. Blisteringly honest diary entries mix with poetry to create a beautifully distinct
and powerful voice.
Awards/Distinctions Awarded to Gabi, A Girl in Pieces
Source: NovelistPlus
Amelia Bloomer Lists - Young Adult Fiction: 2015
Booklist Editors' Choice - Books for Youth - Older Readers Category: 2014
School Library Journal Best Books: 2014
Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award: 2015
William C. Morris YA Debut Award Winner: 2015
YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2015
YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: Fiction: 2015
YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: Top Ten: 2015
Background Information for Library Materials in Review
Book Title:
Identical
Synopsis
Sixteen-year-old identical twin daughters of a district court judge and a
candidate for the United States House of Representatives, Kaeleigh and
Raeanne Gardella desperately struggle with secrets that have already torn
them and their family apart.
Source: Follett Titlewave
Book Author
Hopkins, Ellen
Copyright Year:
2008
Professional Reviews of Identical
Source: Follett Titlewave
Booklist (September 1, 2008 (Online))
Grades 9-12. Since the car accident eight years earlier, identical twins Kaeleigh and Raeanne have
struggled with dark secrets. Their politician mother is both physically and emotionally absent, and their father,
a district court judge, sexually abuses Kaeleigh. The girls struggle with an encyclopedic array of problems that
include promiscuity, alcohol and drug abuse, binging, purging, and cutting. Hopkins’ trademark free verse
carries the sometimes explicit narrative in the girls’ alternating, authentic voices as their self-destructive
behaviors accelerate. Especially effective are the poems positioned on facing pages that build on identical
phrases in mirror imagery. Unfortunately, the book is overly long, stalling the pace in the last third and
lessening the impact before powering through to the climax. Adult characters are undeveloped, but the
legion of Hopkins’ teen fans will be mesmerized by the emotional portrayal of the twins. A plot twist at the
end will send readers immediately back to the beginning to track the clues.
Kirkus Reviews starred (July 1, 2008)
Hopkins's gift with free verse reaches new heights in this portrait of splintered identical twins. Sexual abuse, a
fatal car accident and violent alcoholism have wrecked their family. Mom disappears by running for
Congress. Daddy drinks Wild Turkey and pops painkillers--and molests Kaeleigh. Raeanne acts out with
bulimia and rough sex, willingly trading sex for drugs. Kaeleigh shuts down, throws up and withdraws from
everyone, even steady Ian, her best friend, who's in love with her. Ian offers the first healthy love Kaeleigh's
ever known, but too many secrets lurk under her surface. Masterful shards of verse convey the fragmented
emotions: Falling for Ian, Kaeleigh feels, "Fire. Ice. Honey. Salt. Eiderdown. / Iron. Every fiber of me twitches /
confusion." Some facing pages reveal additional mirror-poems along the gutter, each identical poem
holding a very different meaning for each sister. Kaeleigh and Raeanne maintain distinct voices throughout
as they wrestle with psychic damage and an astonishing, devastating realization. Sharp and stunning, with a
brilliant final page. (Fiction. YA)
Publishers Weekly (July 7, 2008)
Using free verse as her vehicle, Hopkins (Crank, Glass) takes readers on a harrowing ride into the psyches of
16-year-old identical twins Kaeleigh and Raeanne, both of whom are racing toward self-destruction. The girls'
family appears picture-perfect. Their father is a prominent judge, their mother is running for Congress, and
both girls do well in school. But ever since an accident, "Mom doesn't love anyone./ She is marble. Beautiful./
Frigid. Easily stained/ by her family. What's left/ of us, anyway. We are corpses." Raeanne seeks escape in sex
and drugs; Kaileigh binges and cuts herself. Brief, gutsy confessions reveal a history of sexual abuse and
emotional neglect, and it's not clear that both girls will survive it. Hopkins's verse is not only lean and sinuous, it
also demonstrates a mastery of technique. Strategically placed concrete verse includes a poem about
revenge shaped like a double-edged sword; in another, about jealousy, the lines form one heart reflecting
another, until a rupture breaks the symmetry at the bottom. Often, the twins' entries mirror each other, on
facing pages: although used differently in the two poems, the same key words are set off in corresponding
stanzas ("think./ How/ different/ life./ could be" reads one set of key words). Those for whom Uncle Vampire
means something will anticipate the still-breathless climax; all others, including most of the target audience,
will be shocked. Ages 14-up. (Aug.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal (August 1, 2008)
Gr 9 Up-Identical teen twins Kaeleigh and Raeanne share a picture-perfect California life that is rank with
dark, dangerous secrets under its surface. Their mother, who is running for Congress, leaves them at home
with their father, a district court judge who is addicted to liquor and OxyContin. Daddy regularly molests
Kaeleigh, using her as a stand-in for his absentee wife, and controls every aspect of her life. Raeanne sees
every detail and reacts to her father's favoritism by acting out sexually and getting high on pot whenever
possible. Written in free verse from alternating viewpoints, Identical tells the twins' story in intimate and
often-graphic detail. Hopkins packs in multiple issues including eating disorders, drug abuse, date rape,
alcoholism, sexual abuse, and self-mutilation as she examines a family that "puts the dys in dysfunction." The
tension builds slowly and subtly, erupting in a shattering climax of psychological disintegration and
breakthrough that reveals the truth about the twins and their father's own childhood secrets. Gritty and
compelling, this is not a comfortable read, but its keen insights make it hard to put down.-Joyce Adams
Burner, Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KS Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
Horn Book Guide (Spring 2009)
Identical twins Raeanne and Kaeleigh alternate first-person accounts of life in an abusive household.
Hopkins's verse-novel style effectively showcases her talent for word choice and form. However, the plot's
melodrama verges on exploitation as the girls experience explicitly described incest, drug abuse, alcoholism,
bulimia, promiscuity, S&M, cutting, suicide, and mental illness. Surprise revelations in the final episodes
complicate the conclusion.
Library Media Connection (November/December 2008)
Like Hopkins's other books, this book is shocking. It is the story of a family--an alcoholic father, an absent
mother, and identical twins. The narration alternates between Kaeleigh, the passive twin, and Raeanne, the
rebel. It is eventually revealed that Kaeleigh is being molested by her father and Raeanne is jealous that
Kaeleigh gets all of the attention. Raeanne gets involved with drugs and bad boys, and Kaeleigh is just going
through the motions. Although the molestation was hard to read about, the book itself has a message to
which teens will relate. This is a very raw book with cursing and drug use, full of disturbing events, but a book
you can't put down. Additional Selection. Tricia Grady, Media Specialist, Franklin (Indiana) Community
Middle School
Awards/Distinctions Awarded to Identical
Source: n/a
Background Information for Library Materials in Review
Book Title:
Push
Synopsis
Precious Jones, an illiterate sixteen-year-old, has up until now been invisible to
the father who rapes her and the mother who batters her and to the authorities
who dismiss her as just one more of Harlem's casualties. But when Precious,
pregnant with a second child by her father, meets a determined and radical
teacher, we follow her on a journey of education and enlightenment as she
learns not only how to write about her life, but how to make it truly her own for
the first time.
Source: Follett Titlewave
Book Author
Sapphire
Copyright Year:
1996
Professional Reviews of Push
Source: Follett Titlewave
Booklist (Vol. 92, No. 17 (May 1, 1996))
Sapphire returns to the themes of incest and child abuse that were a part of her daring American Dreams
(1984) but with a starkness that is truly horrifying and unforgettable, perhaps because of the horror. Precious
Jones lives in a world worse than the one inhabited by the character Celie in The Color Purple. She, too, is a
victim of abuse. At 16, Precious finds herself pregnant again by her father, untrained, uneducated, and
unable to care for herself or her baby. She is astute enough to know that there is a better way to live but is
clueless as to how to get there. Fortunately for Precious, she meets a black teacher, Ms. Blue Rain, who
pushes her to change with encouragement and inspiration. Ms. Rain challenges Precious to learn to read
and write and improve her way of life. In her literacy class, Miss Rain instructs all of her students to maintain a
journal; readers experience Precious' transformation in her journal entries. Her development and growth are
astonishing in the short period of time we share her writings. Push is an intense work, both heartbreaking and
frightening. The work is slated for a 150,000-copy first printing, excerpted in the New Yorker, and will also be
published in England, France, Germany, and other countries.
Kirkus Reviews (1996)
Poet Sapphire's slim first novel draws on her experience as a performance artist and literacy teacher: She tells
her sad but sentimentally uplifting story in the voice of a 17-year-old illiterate from Harlem, and the result is
more sociological (in the Ricki Lake mold) than literary. Clareece Precious Jones is a study in abuse.
Continually raped by her father since the age of five, she's now pregnant for the second time with his baby,
the first having been born with Down's syndrome when Precious was 12. Meantime, her mother is no help,
calling the overweight girl a "fat cunt bucket slut," beating her at will, and satisfying her own bizarre sexual
needs from her daughter. Schools have also all failed her; teachers find her "uncooperative," and she
considers her last a "retarded hoe." Finally, Precious enrolls in a Harlem alternative school where she begins
the tough climb out of illiteracy. No longer dreaming impossible ideas about rappers and movie star fame,
she joins six others in a basic-skills class run by Blue Rain, a self-proclaimed lesbian who isn't afraid to
editorialize in class. In short order, Precious discovers the joys of the alphabet and journal-writing, the
pleasures of owning books and composing poetry. Although she raises herself to a seventh-grade level by
narrative's end, she also finds out she's HIV positive. All of this is transcribed in a phonetic spelling that's
supposed to reflect Precious's actual abilities, but seems condescending--and woefully unauthentic--since
Sapphire often loses control of the voice. The homage to The Color Purple ("One thing I say about Farrakhan
and Alice Walker they help me like being black") highlights Sapphire's commercial aspirations, as well as, by
contrast, her technical inadequacies. A maudlin (at times pornographic) advertisement for the power of
literacy and the value of recovery groups.
Publishers Weekly (April 22, 1996)
With this much anticipated first novel, told from the point of view of an illiterate, brutalized Harlem teenager,
Sapphire (American Dreams), a writer affiliated with the Nuyorican poets, charts the psychic damage of the
most ghettoized of inner-city inhabitants. Obese, dark-skinned, HIV-positive, bullied by her sexually abusive
mother, Clareece, Precious Jones is, at the novel's outset, pregnant for the second time with her father's
child. (Precious had her first daughter at 12, named Little Mongo, "short for Mongoloid Down Sinder, which is
what she is; sometimes what I feel I is. I feel so stupid sometimes. So ugly, worth nuffin.") Referred to a pilot
program by an unusually solicitous principal, Precious comes under the experimental pedagogy of a lesbian
miracle worker named, implausibly enough, Blue Rain. Under her angelic mentorship, Precious, who has
never before experienced real nurturing, learns to voice her long suppressed feelings in a journal. As her
language skills improve, she finds sustenance in writing poetry, in friendships and in support groups-one for
"insect" survivors and one for HIV-positive teens. It is here that Sapphire falters, as her slim and harrowing
novel, with its references to Harriet Tubman, Langston Hughes and The Color Purple (a parallel the author
hints at again and again), becomes a conventional, albeit dark and unresolved, allegory about redemption.
The ending, composed of excerpts from the journals of Precious's classmates, lends heightened realism and a
wider scope to the narrative, but also gives it a quality of incompleteness. Sapphire has created a
remarkable heroine in Precious, whose first-person street talk is by turns blisteringly savvy, rawly lyrical,
hilariously pig-headed and wrenchingly vulnerable. Yet that voice begs to be heard in a larger novel of more
depth and complexity. 150,000 first printing; first serial to the New Yorker; audio rights to Random; foreign
rights sold to England, France, Germany, Holland, Portugal and Brazil. (June)
Library Journal (June 1, 1996)
Performance poet Sapphire unflinchingly probes the consciousness of an all-too-real teenager from a
severely abusive household. Push opens to find Precious--fat, unloved, illiterate, deeply confused, routinely
raped by her father, and physically and emotionally molested by her mother--enduring her second
incestuous pregnancy. Crawling from self-hatred and violent loneliness to determination and, occasionally,
hope, Precious enters a pre-GED program, learns to read, bears her second child, and breaks from her
parents, all under the inspiration of Blue Rain, her steadfastly encouraging and apparently tireless new
teacher. Precious's name loses its irony but soon takes on a dark new meaning as she learns the extent of her
father's abuse. Written as an internal monolog and journal entries by Precious, with her rudimentary spelling
skills and abrupt transitions, Push is compelling, graphic, and occasionally facile but disturbing and not soon
forgotten. Recommended. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/96.]--Janet Ingraham, Worthington P.L., Ohio
Awards/Distinctions Awarded to Push
Source: https://www.sapphiretheauthor.com/push
Black Caucus of the American Library Association's First Novelist Award
Mind Book of the Year Award
NAACP Image Award Nominee - Outstanding Literary Work of Fiction
Stephen Crane Award for First Fiction
Background Information for Library Materials in Review
Book Title:
Tricks
Synopsis
Five troubled teenagers fall into prostitution as they search
for freedom, safety, community, family, and love.
Source: Library of Congress Catalog
Book Author
Hopkins, Ellen
Copyright Year:
2009
Professional Reviews of Tricks
Source: Follett Titlewave
Booklist (August 2009 (Vol. 105, No. 22))
Grades 10-12. Five teenagers from all over the U.S.—three girls, two boys, some straight, some gay—end up
as prostitutes in Las Vegas in this multiple-voiced novel in verse. Among the different stories are a preacher’s
daughter breaking free from abuse, a closeted gay young man who hides his love life from his widowed and
homophobic father, and the lesbian daughter of a prostitute. Hopkins has never shied away from tough
subjects; descriptions of sex, while not overly graphic, are realistic and will likely provoke controversy. A
master of storytelling through free verse, she uses multiple poetic devices to construct well-defined, distinctive
voices for the five teens. Like E. R. Frank’s Life Is Funny (2000), the multiple protagonists are easy to identify
and their stories compelling, especially when they begin to intersect. Teens will queue up for this one—some,
admittedly, for the sensational subject matter—and find Hopkins’ trademark empathy for teens in rough
situations.
Kirkus Reviews (July 1, 2009)
Hopkins sharply portrays extreme adolescent turbulence with her biggest cast yet, as five disparate,
desperate teens are sucked into the Las Vegas world of selling sex. Indiana farm boy Seth is kicked off his
family's farm for being gay; optionless, he follows a controlling sugar daddy to Vegas. In Boise, Eden's first
romantic relationship spurs her "hellfire-and-brimstone-preaching" Pentecostal parents to declare, "You are
obviously possessed by demons," and send her to Tears of Zion reform camp, where unwilling sex is her only
hope for escape. In California, Whitney craves male attention, while Ginger realizes that the rapes she's
endured throughout childhood were orchestrated by her mother for cash. Cody's in Vegas, already drugging
and gambling but crushed when his stepfather dies. All five are "spinning. Spiraling. Clinging to / the eye of
the tornado." Hopkins's pithy free verse reveals shards of emotion and quick glimpses of physical detail. It
doesn't matter that the first-person voices blur, because the stories are distinct and unmistakable. Graphic
sex, rape, drugs, bitter loneliness, despair--and eventually, blessedly, glimmers of hope. (Fiction. YA)
Publishers Weekly (July 20, 2009)
Hopkins again tackles a serious societal problem, this time focusing on teen prostitution. Fans of her work will
recognize both her signature free verses and the gritty details she weaves within them. Newcomers, however,
may be shocked by the graphic depictions of five struggling teens who find themselves turning tricks (one
realizes her mother has sold her "for a good time" with a stranger, while another recounts "pretending to
enjoy... deviant sex" to earn the trust of a guard at an ultra-strict religious rehabilitation camp). Some plotting
seems cliched, such as the story of a preacher's daughter from Idaho, whose mother banishes her to the
Tears of Zion camp after catching her with her boyfriend. While each story unfolds slowly, readers will
understand the protagonists' desperation as well as their complete powerlessness once their descents have
begun. Each story is unique (one teen needs money, another was thrown out because of his sexuality, still
another was simply looking for love from the wrong person); while readers may connect with some
characters more than others, they will long remember each painful story. Ages 14-up. (Aug.) Copyright 2009
Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal (October 1, 2009)
Gr 9 Up-Five teens desperately seek to find their way through the darkness in Hopkins's latest epic novel in
verse. Eden flees an evangelical household; Cody blocks out a family illness with gambling and sex; Whitney
gives up her body in exchange for the love she finds so elusive; Seth struggles to define himself as a
homosexual; and Ginger comes to terms with an awful truth about her neglectful mother. Burden after
burden piles on the teens' shoulders until they resort to the unthinkable in order to survive. As they near rock
bottom, their narratives begin to intersect. It is only when their paths converge that a glimmer of redemption
appears out of the hopelessness. From the punch delivered by the title, to the teens' raw voices, to the visual
impact of the free verse, Hopkins once again produces a graphic, intense tale that will speak to mature
teens.-Jill Heritage Maza, Greenwich High School, CT Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
Awards/Distinctions Awarded to Tricks
Source: https://glbtrt.ala.org/rainbowbooks/
American Library Association Rainbow List Selection for Fiction: 2010
