I was looking at the Farrar, Straus and Giroux fall catalog yesterday and was happy to see a new book by Janet McDonald coming out. I love her books and am looking forward to getting a copy of Off-Color due out in October. Then I read today that she has passed away. I am very sad to hear this. We have lost a unique voice in YA literature.
The first book of her's that I read was Twists and Turns.
Teesha and Keeba have finally graduated from high school. Well, it took them a few extra years to do it but they did it. Now what? A few of their friends from the projects have gone on to college. One even hit it big doing television commercials. But the Washington sisters have no direction. No idea what will happen to them. But when the local librarian gives them an idea, things begin to change. At first, the girls just laugh at the idea. When they really think about it, hope sets in. Can they really pull it off? Can two teens from the projects open their own business?
OK, so I am a sucker for any book that has a wise librarian in it but I liked this book because I liked the pluck of the girls.
In Brother Hood, the setting is Harlem and we have another teen trying to beat the odds but stay true to himself.
It's hard enough being from the hood but when you are leading a double life,things get really crazy. Nate is an academically gifted 16-year-old who lives in Harlem but attends school at an exclusive private boarding school. When he is at school, the girls think he is cute and the boys want to shoot hoops with him. But when he comes home for visits, he stops into the boys' room at Grand Central Station to change out ofhis school clothes and steps into his low-riding jeans, do-rag and his shades. Now he fits into his neighborhood and can hang with his friends and his girlfriend. But it isn't a smooth transition. Different places require different personas. And what will happen when his two separate worlds collide?
I am looking forward to Janet McDonalds's new book and sad that it is her last. Rest well, Janet.
technorati tags:McDonald, author, death
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