How I Resist

March 19, 2018
Candor and passion radiate from the 30 voices raised in this trenchant and timely compendium of interviews, essays, reflections, illustrations, and poems. Representing a range of ethnicities, sexual orientations, professional achievements, and—most intriguingly—personalities, the contributors share their own experiences encountering, and countering, various forms of injustice, and encourage readers to speak out and act against the same. The collection encompasses the contemplative (novelist Rebecca Roanhorse writes, “Live authentic to who you are.... Because you being you is the most powerful kind of resistance of all”) to the practical (Rock the Vote’s president Carolyn DeWitt pinpoints five ways that teens can engage in politics before they turn 18). Profound frustration with the Trump administration stokes the emotional quotient of numerous entries, including that of Javier Muñoz, who played the title role in Hamilton on Broadway. Readers will also hear notes of hope about their generation’s power to effect change, expressed eloquently, if conditionally, by author Jason Reynolds: “there’s a generational groundswell of young people who together are impenetrable—if all of us are doing our jobs by giving them the necessary legs.” This volume takes an assured step in that direction. Ages 12–up. Agent: Kate Testerman, KT Literary.

March 15, 2018
Grades 8-11 As America struggles with vast political, cultural, and social divides, Federle and Johnson pull together a wide variety of authors, artists, and activists to try to make anecdotal sense of it all. As Federle bluntly writes in an intro, Yes, so, like hundreds of billions of woke Americans (number not confirmed), I'd been feeling restless and helpless and confused after Hillary's loss. So what can teens do? Readers will find that resistance can take many different shapes and forms?and you don't even have to be old enough to vote. Jason Reynolds talks about how teens can unplug to prevent being inundated with information. Dana Schwartz touches on her own experiences growing up in a Jewish community. Interspersed within such essays are important poems, art, and music, from which readers can draw inspiration to make mistakes, start over, try something new, and keep a positive outlook on life no matter what harsh circumstances occur. This book will be a light in the darkness for some, and help guide them from despair.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)