Latino Books Month/The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano

Did you know that May is Latino Books Month?  Throughout the month, booksellers, librarians, and teachers are encouraged to promote reading among Latinos in their communities, and to raise awareness of the rich variety of books by Latinos available in both English and Spanish.

It is 1969 in Spanish Harlem and 14-year-old Evelyn Serrano is trying hard to break free from her conservative Puerto Rican surroundings while keeping two secrets from her Mami and Papo: her true feelings about growing up in her neighborhood, and her attitude about Abuela, her sassy grandmother who's come from Puerto Rico to live with them.  Then, like an urgent ticking clock, events erupt that change everything.  The Young Lords, a Puerto Rican activist group, dump garbage in the street and set it on fire, igniting a powerful protest. When Abuela steps in to take charge, Evelyn is thrust into the action.  Tempers flare, loyalties are tested.   Through it all, Evelyn learns important truths about her Latino heritage and the history-makers who shaped a nation.  Infused with actual news accounts from the time period, Sonia Manzano has crafted a gripping work of fiction based on her own life growing up during a fiery, unforgettable time in America, when young Latinos took control of their destinies.

To request The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano, click here.

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Top Ten Historical Fiction for Teens

Love reading about the past?  Here are the top ten historical fiction books for teens, from Booklist.

Sophia's War: A Tale of Revolution by Avi: In Avi's intriguing novel based closely on historical events, 12-year-old Sophia, who is living in British-occupied New York City in 1776, becomes a spy who helps alert American forces to Benedict Arnold's treachery.  Juvenile Fiction Avi
 
The Diviners by Libba Bray:  Bray dives into the Roaring Twenties and mixes a little bit of murder, a little bit of the occult, and a whole lot of fun in this novel that's focused on a 17-year-old New York City flapper.  New Teen Fiction Bray

The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba's Greatest Abolitionist by Margarita Engle: Told in multiple voices, Engle's richly metaphorical novel-in-verse is a fictionalized biography of the 19th-century Cuban abolitionst poet Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, known as Tula.  Available through interlibraryloan

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen: Debut author Gaughen offers an affecting take on an old tale in this rip-roaring adventure narrated by Scarlet, who has joined Robin Hood's gang disguised as a boy.  Available through interlibraryloan

The Fire Horse Girl by Kay Honeyman: When Jade Moon is born in 1906---the year of the Fire Horse, an ominous sign for Chinese girls--her father ships the stubborn teenager off to California where danger waits at every turn.  Available through interlibraryloan

Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl: In Yorkshire, England, 17-year-old Althea Crawley is on a quest to marry rich so that she may secure the family's only inheritance, a dilapidated castle. This witty take on classic Regency offers frothy fun for Jane Austen fans.  Available through interlibraryloan
  
The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano by Sonia Manzano: When Evelyn's activist grandmother arrives from Puerto Rico in 1969, the 14-year-old is inspired to join the Young Lords, who are working closely with the Black Panthers. Manzano based this honest novel on real-life political events.  Available through interlibraryloan

Jump into the Sky by Shelley Pearsall: After young Levi travels to North Carolina to meet his father, an elite paratropper in WWII, he experiences Jim Crow-era racism for the first time, as well as poignant emotions as he gets to know his dad.  Available through interlibraryloan

Dodger by Terry Pratchett:  Rich language, sharp characters, and a well-realized Victorian setting combine this story of a trickster hero who expertly navigates the underbelly of London in search of justice and love.  New Teen Fiction Pratchett

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein: In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and great courage as she relates what she must to survive while keeping secret all that she can.  Teen Fiction Wein

YALSA Teens' Top Ten

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) just announced their Teens' Top Ten, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year.  Nominators are members of teen book groups in sixteen school and public libraries around the country.



Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews:  Seventeen-year-old Greg has managed to become part of every social group at his Pittsburgh high school without having any friends, but his life changes when his mother forces him to befriend Rachel, a girl he once knew in Hebrew school who has leukemia.  Available through interlibrary loan





The Diviners by Libba Bray:  Seventeen-year-old Evie O'Neill is thrilled when she is exiled from small-town Ohio to New York City in 1926, even when a rash of occult-based murders thrusts Evie and her uncle, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult, into the thick of the investigation.  New Teen Fiction Bray





Seraphina by Rachel Hartman:  In a world where dragons and humans coexist in an uneasy truce and dragons can assume human form, Seraphina, whose mother died giving birth to her, grapples with her own identity amid magical secrets and royal scandals, while she struggles to accept and develop her extraordinary musical talents. New Teen Fiction Hartman





Enchanted by Alethea Kontis:  When Sunday Woodcutter, the youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week, kisses an enchanted frog, he transforms back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland--a man Sunday's family despises.  Available through interlibrary loan






Every Day by David Levithan:  Every morning A wakes in a different person's body, in a different person's life, learning over the years to never get too attached, until he wakes up in the body of Justin and falls in love with Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon.  New Teen Fiction Levithan





Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick:  Cambodian child soldier Arn Chorn-Pond defied the odds and used all of his courage and wits to survive the murderous regime of the Khmer Rouge.  Available through interlibrary loan






Boy21 by Matthew Quick:  Finley, an unnaturally quiet boy who is the only white player on his high school's varsity basketball team, lives in a dismal Pennsylvania town that is ruled by the Irish mob, and when his coach asks him to mentor a troubled African-American student who has transferred there from an elite private school in California, he finds that they have a lot in common in spite of their apparent differences.  Teen Fiction Quick





Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz:  Fifteen-year-old Ari Mendoza is an angry loner with a brother in prison, but when he meets Dante and they become friends, Ari starts to ask questions about himself, his parents, and his family that he has never asked before.  Teen Fiction Saenz





The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater:  Though she is from a family of clairvoyants, Blue Sargent's only gift seems to be that she makes other people's talents stronger, and when she meets Gansey, one of the Raven Boys from the expensive Aglionby Academy, she discovers that he has talents of his own--and that together their talents are a dangerous mix.  New Teen Fiction Stiefvater





Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein:  In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and great courage as she relates what she must to survive while keeping secret all that she can.  Teen Fiction Wein

New Books for November!

Look for these new teen reads coming soon to Riverdale Public Library!


Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall:  When Odilia and her four sisters find a dead body in the swimming hole, they embark on a hero’s journey to return the dead man to his family in Mexico.  But returning home to Texas turns into an incredible.  With the supernatural aid of ghostly La Llorona via a magical earring, Odilia and her little sisters travel a tough road to their long-lost grandmother’s house. Along the way, they must outsmart a witch and her Evil Trinity: a wily warlock, a coven of vicious half-human barn owls, and bloodthirsty livestock-hunting chupacabras. Can these fantastic trials prepare Odilia and her sisters for what happens when they face their final test, returning home to the real world, where goddesses and ghosts can no longer help them?

Eighth Grade is Making Me Sick:  Ginny Davis's Year in Stuff: by Jennifer L. Holm:  Ginny has big plans for eighth grade. She's going to try out for cheerleading, join Virtual Vampire Vixens, and maybe even fall in love. But middle school is more of a roller-coaster ride than Ginny could have ever predicted. Her family has just moved into a fancy new house when Ginny's stepdad loses his job. (Can worrying about money make you sick?) Ginny's big brother keeps getting into trouble. And there's a new baby on the way. (Living proof that Ginny's mom and stepdad are having sex. Just what she needs.) Filled with Post-its, journal entries, grocery lists, hand-drawn comic strips, report cards, IMs, notes, and more, Eighth Grade Is Making Me Sick is the sometimes poignant, often hilarious, always relatable look at a year in the life of one girl, told entirely through her stuff. Part graphic novel, part scrapbook and altogether original.


Drama by Raina Telgemeier:  Callie loves theater.  And while she would totally try out for her middle school's production of "Moon Over Mississippi," she's a terrible singer. Instead she's the set designer for the stage crew, and this year she's determined to create a set worthy of Broadway on a middle-school budget.  But how can she, when she doesn't know much about carpentry, ticket sales are down, and the crew members are having trouble working together? Not to mention the onstage AND offstage drama that occurs once the actors are chosen and two cute brothers enter the picture.  Featuring a diverse set of characters, this graphic novel humorously explores friendship, crushes, and all-around drama!


Look for these books or put them on hold here.