Kelly Jensen's Blog, page 53

This Week at Book Riot

 

I totally spaced in putting up a round-up last week, so this week’s is pretty packed. Dig in!

A friend asked if there have been any funny YA books recently, and I rattled off way more than I thought I could. So I made a post of recent funny YA books.

 

Excellent vintage and antique animal bookends.

 

A look at some of the girls in YA who are angry.

 

Can you figure out which are YA book quotes and which ones are lyrics from late 90s/early 00s radio hits?

 

Even more teens of color on YA book covers in 2018.

 

I may have shared this already but just incase, here are some cozy bookish sweaters to read in.

 

This weekend is my last weekend of yoga teacher training. Though I’ve been teaching my own class for almost a month now, I’ll be done-done, with certificate in hand. Well. Certificate-in-hand will come on the 18th, when I will be home between the NCTE conference and ALAN conference in St. Louis — I’m making that drive round-trip twice within a short time frame so I can attend.

Will you be at NCTE/ALAN? Here’s where you’ll be able to find me!

 

A Few Cybils Reads – Part I

The Adjustment by Suzanne Young

The Program, the government’s attempt to end the suicide epidemic among teenagers by forcibly wiping the memories of depressed or suicidal teens, has been exposed and ended. Teens who went through it are being reintegrated into society. One of these returners is Tatum’s boyfriend, Weston. He doesn’t remember her at all, but Tatum is sure that their connection can be rekindled. When she hears about the Adjustment, a system that uses donor memories to help bring back erased memories in Returners, she’s skeptical but optimistic. Of course, because this is a Program novel, nothing about the Adjustment is what it seems.

Suzanne Young knows how to write teens that act and speak like teens. At this point, her series has grown a bit stale for me (this is the fifth book in the series, which consists of three sets of duologies), but readers who love her style of writing and love the conceit behind this series (which has always felt a bit thin to me) will enjoy this installment. Familiar characters from the other duologies make important appearances, which is always fun for series regulars. I appreciated the direction Young ultimately took Tatum and West’s relationship, and a twist ending will spur readers to grab the next volume in their story as soon as possible.

 

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

I love a good fairy tale retelling, and this is a really good one. It’s a take on Snow White that divides its time equally between Lynet, the Snow White character, and Mina, the stepmother character. Lynet is the girl made of snow – she was crafted by a magician from snow and the magician’s blood in the dead queen’s image at the behest of the king. Mina is the girl made of glass – she was ill as a child and her father, the same magician who created Lynet years later, crafted her a glass heart to save her life. When Mina marries Lynet’s father, the two (woman and girl) become close. But the machinations of the men in their lives – the king and the magician – eventually pit them against each other.

This is an explicitly feminist reimagining of the classic story, with the men in power doing their best – both actively and passively – to prevent girls and women from realizing and acting upon their own power, even from forming deep and lasting friendships with other women. Both Mina and Lynet are told from an early age that if anyone ever loves them, it will be for their beauty. They internalize this message, and their actions are based alternately on accepting it and lashing out against it. Bashardoust’s writing is really beautiful, and she adds layers to each of her characters slowly and deliberately. Mina is no villain, and readers will desperately wish for a happy ending for both leads, even when it looks like one’s happiness can only be secured with the demise of the other.

On The Radar: November 2017 YA Books to Know

 

 

“On The Radar” is a monthly series meant to highlight between 9 and 12 books per month to fit a budget of roughly $300 or less. These lists are curated from a larger spreadsheet I keep with a running list of titles hitting shelves and are meant to reflect not only the big books coming out from authors readers know and love, but it’s also meant to showcase some of the titles that have hit my radar through review copies, publicity blasts, or because they’re titles that might otherwise not be readily seen or picked up through those traditional avenues. It’s part science and part art.

This month’s selection reflects the slowdown in publishing after the speed of September and October. These are all YA books with great buzz, great reviews, and/or are by tried-and-true authors that will always be shelf staples. I’ve kept it short purposefully, but I recommend for those with budget remaining to check out new and additional entries into series that may be popular in your collection, including The Devil’s Engine by Alexander Gordon Smith, War of the Cards by Colleen Oakes, Siege of Shadows by Sarah Raughley, and Final Fall by Heather W. Petty.

Book descriptions come from Goodreads. Titles are alphabetical, with pub dates beside them. Titles with a * in front of them are books that are starting or a continuation of a series. I did not include the reasons why these books are on the radar list this month, in part because they’re all either from well-known authors or have recently been in the news for earning various award/honor distinctions.

 

*The Amateurs: Follow Me by Sara Shepard (11/7)

It was the perfect night for a party.

That is, until twenty-one-year-old Chelsea Dawson disappeared. The social media star was last seen enjoying a beautiful summer night at the Jersey Shore with her friends. But after an explosive fight with her ex-boyfriend, she vanished without a trace.

When Seneca, Maddox, Aerin, and Madison hear about the suspected kidnapping, they notice a jarring detail about the victim: she looks exactly like Aerin’s sister, Helena, who was killed five years earlier. Seneca is convinced she knows who killed Helena, and she can’t shake the feeling that the same person has taken Chelsea.

Desperate for answers about the two girls, and the truth behind her mother’s murder, Seneca will stop at nothing to find out if the cases are linked. So when Maddox receives an invitation to the Shore from none other than their primary suspect, the Amateurs begin an intense new investigation.

 

Why it should be on your radar: The second book in a new series from Sara Shepard, and if I’m remembering correctly, this one is currently in development for a TV series that I suspect will be as popular as Pretty Little Liars.

 

 

*The Becoming of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin (11/7)

Everyone thinks seventeen-year-old Noah Shaw has the world on a string.

They’re wrong.

Mara Dyer is the only one he trusts with his secrets and his future.

He shouldn’t.

And both are scared that uncovering the truth about themselves will force them apart.

They’re right.

 

Why it should be on your radar: I’m not sure if today’s teens are still eating up the Mara Dyer series, but I suspect those who are will be eager for the companion series about Noah Shaw. If it’s not teens, it’ll be the adults who enjoyed the original series itching for this one.

 

*City of Sand by Tianxia Bachang (11/21)

THE QUEST: To find the lost city of Jingjue, a once-glorious kingdom, along with the burial chamber of its mysterious queen. Both lie buried under the golden dunes of the desert, where fierce sandstorms and blazing heat show no mercy.

THE TEAM: Teenagers Tianyi, who has the ability read the earth and sky through feng shui, and Kai, Tianyi’s best friend and confidant; Julie, a wealthy American whose father vanished on the same trek a year ago; Professor Chen, who wants to fulfill a lifelong dream; and Asat Amat, a local guide gifted in desert survival.

THE OBSTACLES: Lethal creatures of the desert and an evil force that wants to entomb the explorers under the unforgiving sands of China’s Taklimakan Desert forever.

 

Why it should be on your radar: This is one of the few books out in translation this year, and it was a huge bestseller in its native China. I have no idea how it’ll translate here, but if you’re looking to bulk up your books in translation — as well as fantasy adventure series — this would be a solid addition.

 

*Renegades by Marissa Meyer (11/7)

Secret Identities.

Extraordinary Powers.

She wants vengeance. He wants justice.

The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies—humans with extraordinary abilities—who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone…except the villains they once overthrew.

Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice—and in Nova. But Nova’s allegiance is to a villain who has the power to end them both.

 

Why it should be on your radar: It’s a new Marissa Meyer series.

 

*The Speaker by Traci Chee (11/7)

Having barely escaped the clutches of the Guard, Sefia and Archer are back on the run, slipping into the safety of the forest to tend to their wounds and plan their next move. Haunted by painful memories, Archer struggles to overcome the trauma of his past with the impressors, whose cruelty plagues him whenever he closes his eyes. But when Sefia and Archer happen upon a crew of impressors in the wilderness, Archer finally finds a way to combat his nightmares: by hunting impressors and freeing the boys they hold captive.

With Sefia’s help, Archer travels across the kingdom of Deliene rescuing boys while she continues to investigate the mysterious Book and secrets it contains. But the more battles they fight, the more fights Archer craves, until his thirst for violence threatens to transform him from the gentle boy Sefia knows to a grim warrior with a cruel destiny. As Sefia begins to unravel the threads that connect Archer’s fate to her parents’ betrayal of the Guard so long ago, she and Archer must figure out a way to subvert the Guard’s plans before they are ensnared in a war that will pit kingdom against kingdom, leaving their future and the safety of the entire world hanging in the balance.

 

Why it should be on your radar: Last year’s debut into this series, The Reader, had a massive marketing effort behind it and got on a lot of reader radars. I suspect the second entry will be highly sought.

 

*This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada (11/7)

Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash through firewalls, but that’s not what makes her special. In Cat’s world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius.

That’s no surprise, since Cat’s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. But during the outbreak, Lachlan was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus, leaving Cat to survive the last two years on her own.

When a Cartaxus soldier, Cole, arrives with news that her father has been killed, Cat’s instincts tell her it’s just another Cartaxus lie. But Cole also brings a message: before Lachlan died, he managed to create a vaccine, and Cole needs Cat’s help to release it and save the human race.

Now Cat must decide who she can trust: The soldier with secrets of his own? The father who made her promise to hide from Cartaxus at all costs? In a world where nature itself can be rewritten, how much can she even trust herself?

 

Why it should be on your radar: Tons of marketing and publicity for this one, and it’s the first in what sounds like will be a popular series. Technology? Hacking? A female main character? I’d pick it up.

 

 

 

 

A Year of Giving

It’s been just about a year since I started regularly giving money to charities. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m going to start repeating some of them, and I think the usefulness of documenting it here at the blog is coming to an end. I hope I’ve helped persuade some of our readers to start giving regularly to organizations that do good work. I’m glad I’ve gotten into the habit of giving myself – it’s a concrete way to make a difference and it also helps me stay informed about the issues that matter to me.

This past year has been a roller coaster, to say the least. As I’m not a fan of literal roller coasters, the metaphor is pretty apt. We likely have at least three more years of what we’ve experienced so far, and the need to DO something about it has only grown. So I know that I’ll continue to give financially where I can. I’ll also continue to show up at rallies and marches, to attend local, state, and federal candidate forums and town halls, and be as informed as possible about the big stuff (I’m currently working my way through the text of the indictment against Paul Manafort). I’m also looking for ways to be more involved by volunteering my time, which has always been the most challenging for me. And of course, I continue to do my job to the best of my ability, which is a social justice act in itself.

In the list below are the organizations I’ve donated to in the past year. Underneath I’ve listed some other worthy organizations that I’ll be giving to at some point in the near future.

November – Trans Lifeline

December – Planned Parenthood

January – Natural Resources Defense Council

February – Council on American-Islamic Relations

March – International Refugee Assistance Project

April – ProPublica

May – The Innocence Project

June – The American Civil Liberties Union

July – EMILY’s List/Annie’s List

August – Houston Food Bank for Hurricane Harvey

September – Hurricane Maria Relief through Global Giving

October – NAACP Legal Defense Fund

 

Other organizations worth your donations:

Trevor Project

Southern Poverty Law Center

Lilith Fund

Jane’s Due Process

Center for Reproductive Rights

NARAL Pro-Choice America

MALDEF

Anti-Defamation League

 

Please add other worthy organizations in the comments.

 

Grave YA: Book Covers In The Graveyard

Happy Halloween week, friends. Let’s take today as an opportunity to round up some of the creepy and delicious YA book covers featuring graveyards and headstones. I find these covers to be the perfect blend of creepy and evocative, even when some of them become a little repetitive. Imagine a book display of just books with these covers!

Descriptions all from Goodreads.

 

 

Dead Connection by Charlie Price

Murray, a loner who communes with the dead in the town cemetery, hears the voice of a murdered cheerleader and tries to convince the adults that he knows what happened to her. But who believes him? He’s a loser. Can he even believe in himself? Also comes Pearl, the daughter of the cemetery caretaker, who befriends Murray and tries to enter his world. Together they may prove the astonishing possibility that Nikki is closer than anyone thinks.

 

 

 

 

Gathering Deep by Lisa Maxwell

When Chloe Sabourin wakes in a dark, New Orleans cemetery with no memory of the previous days, she can hardly believe the story her friends tell her. They say Chloe was possessed by a witch named Thisbe, who had used the darkest magic to keep herself alive for over a century. They tell her that the witch is the one responsible for the unspeakable murders that nearly claimed the life of Chloe’s friend, Lucy. Most unbelievable of all, they say that Thisbe is Chloe’s own mother. As she struggles with this devastating revelation and tries to rebuilt her life, Chloe wants nothing to do with the magic that corrupted her mother…especially since she feels drawn to it.

Now, a new series of ritualistic killings suggests that Thisbe is plotting again, and Chloe is drawn unwillingly back into the mystical underworld of the French Quarter. To stop Thisbe before she kills again, Chloe and her friends must learn what they can from the mysterious Mama Legba. But when her boyfriend Piers vanishes, Chloe will have to risk everything and embrace her own power to save the one person she has left… even if that means bringing down her mother.

 

Going Underground by Susan Vaught

Del’s not a bad guy. He’s just a misunderstood criminal.

Seventeen-year-old Del is a good kid, but one mimro mistake three years ago was all it took to turn him into a social outcast. Now, with a criminal record, the only job he can get is digging graves-not exactly your typical after-school gig. But it’s in the graveyard that Del meets the beautiful yet sad Livia, who doesn’t know anything about him. She gives him reason to be hopeful again. Except that Del’s crush comes with a sea of complications and he’s not sure he is ready to reveal his past. Will the truth set him free..or will it dig him in even deeper?

 

 

 

 

The Grave Keepers by Elizabeth Byrne

Lately, Athena Windham has been spending all her spare time in her grave.

Her parents—owners of a cemetery in Upstate New York—are proud of her devoutness, but her younger sister, Laurel, would rather spend her time exploring the forest that surrounds the Windham’s’ property than in her own grave.

The Windham girls lead secluded lives—their older sister died in a tragic accident and their parents’ protectiveness has made the family semi-infamous.

As the new school year begins, the outside world comes creeping in through encounters with mean girls, a new friend, and a runaway boy hiding out in the cemetery. Meanwhile, a ghost hangs around the Windham property—the only grave keeper never to cross over—plotting how to keep the sisters close to home and close to her . . . forever.

 

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family.

 

 

 

Just Kill Me by Adam Selzer

Megan Henske isn’t one to heed warnings…

When the last letters in her alphabet cereal are D, I, and E, she doesn’t crawl right back into bed. When her online girlfriend won’t text a photo, she just sends more of herself.

And when she realizes that Cynthia, her boss at a Chicago ghost tour company, isn’t joking about making stops more haunted by killing people there, she doesn’t quit her job—she may even help.

But who is responsible for the deaths of prominent figures in the murdermonger industry? Could it be the head of the rival tour company? Or could it be someone near and dear to Megan?

Soon after she learns that she has an uncanny resemblance to a flapper who disappeared in 1922, Megan receives a warning she can’t ignore: the next ghost on the tour might be her.

 

 

One Death, Nine Stories edited by Marc Aronson

Nicholas, Kevin. Age 19. Died at York Hospital, July 19, 2012. Kev’s the first kid their age to die. And now, even though he’s dead, he’s not really gone. Even now his choices are touching the people he left behind. Rita Williams-Garcia follows one aimless teen as he finds a new life in his new job-at the mortuary. Ellen Hopkins reveals what two altar boys (and one altar girl) might get up to at the cemetery at night. Will Weaver turns a lens on Kevin’s sister as she collects his surprising effects-and makes good use of them. Here, in nine stories, we meet people who didn’t know Kevin, friends from his childhood, his ex-girlfriend, his best friend, all dealing with the fallout of his death. Being a teenager is a time for all kinds of firsts-first jobs, first loves, first good-byes, firsts that break your heart and awaken your soul. It’s an initiation of sorts, and it can be brutal. But on the other side of it is the rest of your life.

 

 

 

Rotters by Daniel Kraus

Grave-robbing. What kind of monster would do such a thing? It’s true that Leonardo da Vinci did it, Shakespeare wrote about it, and the resurrection men of nineteenth-century Scotland practically made it an art. But none of this matters to Joey Crouch, a sixteen-year-old straight-A student living in Chicago with his single mom. For the most part, Joey’s life is about playing the trumpet and avoiding the daily humiliations of high school.

Everything changes when Joey’s mother dies in a tragic accident and he is sent to rural Iowa to live with the father he has never known, a strange, solitary man with unimaginable secrets. At first, Joey’s father wants nothing to do with him, but once father and son come to terms with each other, Joey’s life takes a turn both macabre and exhilarating.

 

 

 

Ruined by Paula Morris

Rebecca couldn’t feel more out of place in New Orleans, where she comes to spend the year while her dad is traveling. She’s staying in a creepy old house with her Aunt Claudia, who reads Tarot cards for a living. And at the snooty prep school, a pack of filthy-rich girls treat Rebecca like she’s invisible. Only gorgeous, unavailable Anton Grey seems to give Rebecca the time of day, but she wonders if he’s got a hidden agenda. Then one night, in Lafayette Cemetery, Rebecca makes a friend. Sweet, mysterious Lisette is eager to talk to Rebecca, and to show her the nooks and crannies of the city.

 

 

 

 

 

Shadowed Summer by Saundra Miller

Iris is ready for another hot, routine summer in her small Louisiana town, hanging around the Red Stripe grocery with her best friend, Collette, and traipsing through the cemetery telling each other spooky stories and pretending to cast spells. Except this summer, Iris doesn’t have to make up a story. This summer, one falls right in her lap.

Years ago, before Iris was born, a local boy named Elijah Landry disappeared. All that remained of him were whispers and hushed gossip in the church pews. Until this summer. A ghost begins to haunt Iris, and she’s certain it’s the ghost of Elijah. What really happened to him? And why, of all people, has he chosen Iris to come back to?

 

 

 

Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace

Breezy remembers leaving the party: the warm, wet grass under her feet, her cheek still stinging from a slap to her face. But when she wakes up, scared and pulling dirt from her mouth, a year has passed and she can’t explain how.

Nor can she explain the man lying at her grave, dead from her touch, or why her heartbeat comes and goes. She doesn’t remember who killed her or why. All she knows is that she’s somehow conscious—and not only that, she’s able to sense who around her is hiding a murderous past.

Haunted by happy memories from her life, Breezy sets out to find answers in the gritty, threatening world to which she now belongs—where killers hide in plain sight, and a sinister cult is hunting for strange creatures like her. What she discovers is at once empowering, redemptive, and dangerous.

 

 

Six Feet Over It by Jennifer Longo

No one is more surprised than Leigh when her father buys a graveyard. Less shocking is the fact that he’s too lazy to look farther than the dinner table for employees. Working the literal graveyard shift, she becomes great at predicting headstone choice (mostly granite) and taking notes with one hand while offering Kleenex with the other.

Sarcastic and smart, Leigh should be able to quit this stupid after-school job. But her world’s been turned upside down by the sudden loss of her best friend and the appearance of Dario, the slightly-too-old-for-her gravedigger. Can Leigh move on, if moving on means it’s time to get a life?

 

 

 

A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge

Sometimes, when a person dies, their spirit goes looking for somewhere to hide.

Some people have space within them, perfect for hiding.

Twelve-year-old Makepeace has learned to defend herself from the ghosts which try to possess her in the night, desperate for refuge, but one day a dreadful event causes her to drop her guard.

And now there’s a spirit inside her.

The spirit is wild, brutish and strong, and it may be her only defence when she is sent to live with her father’s rich and powerful ancestors. There is talk of civil war, and they need people like her to protect their dark and terrible family secret.

But as she plans her escape and heads out into a country torn apart by war, Makepeace must decide which is worse: possession – or death.

 

Very Bad Things by Susan McBride

Katie never thought she’d be the girl with the popular boyfriend. She also never thought he would cheat on her – but the proof is in the photo that people at their boarding school can’t stop talking about. Mark swears he doesn’t remember anything. But Rose, the girl in the photo, is missing, and Mark is in big trouble. Because it looks like Rose isn’t just gone… she’s dead.

Maybe Mark was stupid, but that doesn’t mean he’s a killer.

Katie needs to find out what really happened, and her digging turns up more than she bargained for, not just about Mark but about someone she loves like a sister: Tessa, her best friend. At Whitney Prep, it’s easy to keep secrets… especially the cold-blooded kind.

 

 

This Week at Book Riot

 

Over on Book Riot this week…

 

One of the hardest and most essential pieces I think I’ve ever written about the state of sexual harassment in libraries. Read it. Share it. Do something about it.

 

A round-up of bookish sweatshirts as we finally find fall upon us.

 

YA riffs on Snow White.

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

Hello, fair Stacked readers! I bring you this special Thursday post as part of the Choose a Side: Renegades Blog Tour for Marissa Meyer’s new book Renegades, which publishes November 7. I don’t do a whole lot of blog tours (I mostly find them boring), but I make an exception for an author whose books I really love, and Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles fall into that category. (You can read my very enthusiastic review of Cinder from 2012 over here. Possibly the cheesiest line from this review is the one that gets quoted on the paperback copies.)

In Renegades, the first of two books (at least so far), Meyer leaves fairy tales behind and shifts gears to superheroes. These aren’t terribly different topics, really – my favorite fairy tale characters are mostly superheroes in some way anyway. In Gatlon City, a special group of prodigies (humans with superpowers) called Renegades protect everyone – or they’re supposed to. When Nova, a prodigy herself, was a small child, the Renegades didn’t show up when it mattered most, and people she loved died. Now that Nova is almost an adult, she’s determined to infiltrate the Renegades and take revenge. Nova is one of the Anarchists, the supervillains of Gatlon City and the foil to the Renegades. The story alternates in third person between Nova and Adrian, a true Renegade who has secrets of his own.

I love a good revenge story, and Meyer does a great job here, even though I wasn’t entirely sold on Nova’s motivation at the beginning. Her own superpower – the ability to induce sleep – is an interesting one, and the way the Anarchists have helped her hone it and actually put it to practical use is clever. Meyer is very good at multiple points of view (she introduced a new character in each of her four Lunar Chronicles books and managed to keep each POV different and interesting), and Nova and Adrian are no exception. They both have rich backstories, well-developed voices, and distinct personalities.

The story itself is interesting, as is the world in which Meyer has placed her characters. While the easy thing is to label the Renegades the good guys and the Anarchists the bad guys, that’s not the story Meyer is trying to tell. Instead, she explores the gray areas between the good and the bad – and the ways in which the good and bad coexist within a single group and a single person. The plot is suspenseful throughout and there’s a whopper of a twist ending (I’m such a sucker for those).

Part of the conceit for this blog tour was that we were supposed to choose a side: Renegade or Anarchist? Without having read the novel, I picked the Renegades, which is actually off-brand for me (I’ve been embracing my Slytherin side lately). But I figured the Renegades were probably the winners, and I like winning too. (Hello yes, I am a Slytherin.) After reading the book…well, I’ll let you read and decide which side you would choose.

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles will definitely eat this up, as will those who can’t get enough of the superhero tie-in novels being published lately. There’s a lot of tropey superhero goodness that Meyer pulls from, but she also throws in her own touches, and it feels fully like a Marissa Meyer book. It’s really solid and a ton of fun.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Monthly Giving: NAACP Legal Defense Fund

This month, I donated to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. In their own words, this 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization “seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans.” As the name implies, they focus on achieving justice and equality for African Americans, in the four key areas of criminal justice, economic justice, education, and political participation. However, their model has been an inspiration for other marginalized groups as well, and their successes help all Americans in the quest for justice and equality.

While they began as an arm of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, they became independent of the NAACP in 1957. They are perhaps best known for helping achieve the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that outlawed racial segregation in public schools in 1954.

I chose to donate to the NAACP LDF this month for a number of reasons. While the current administration is a disaster for most Americans, Black Americans are more adversely affected than most, most visibly in the area of criminal justice, but insidiously in the other areas of focus as well (funding for public schools in largely Black neighborhoods and the school voucher fight, the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, which helped usher in our current situation, and so on). Our country has never been a fair and just one for Black Americans, so the LDF’s work has been (and will likely always be) necessary and ongoing.

The booklist for this month features YA titles published within the last year with Black teens as protagonists. I’ve focused on own voices titles, and they’re all vetted by librarians and critics I trust. My library has all of these books or will very soon; I hope yours does too.

Fiction

Solo by Kwame Alexander

Solo, a YA novel in poetic verse, tells the story of seventeen-year-old Blade Morrison, whose life is bombarded with scathing tabloids and a father struggling with just about every addiction under the sun—including a desperate desire to make a comeback. Haunted by memories of his mother and his family’s ruin, Blade’s only hope is in the forbidden love of his girlfriend. But when he discovers a deeply protected family secret, Blade sets out on a journey across the globe that will change everything he thought to be true.

 

Crossing Ebenezer Creek by Tonya Bolden

Freedom. Mariah has barely dared to dream of it her entire life. When General Sherman’s march through Georgia during the Civil War passes the plantation where she is enslaved, her life changes instantly. Joining the march for protection, Mariah heads into the unknown, wondering if she can ever feel safe, if she will ever be able to put the brutalities of slavery behind her.

On the march Mariah meets a young man named Caleb, and a new dream takes root—one of a future with a home of her own and a true love by her side. But hope often comes at a cost. As the treacherous march continues toward the churning waters of Ebenezer Creek, Mariah sees that the harsh realities of her and her peoples’ lives will always haunt them.

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton (Feb. 20)

Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.

But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite—the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orléans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie—that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined. And when the queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision.

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert

When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she isn’t sure if she’ll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family are (along with her crush, Emil). And her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support.

But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new…the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel’s disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself–or worse.

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

Mary B. Addison killed a baby.

Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: A white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it? She wouldn’t say.

Mary survived six years in baby jail before being dumped in a group home. The house isn’t really “home”—no place where you fear for your life can be considered a home. Home is Ted, who she meets on assignment at a nursing home.

There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary must find the voice to fight her past. And her fate lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But who really knows the real Mary?

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann

Alice had her whole summer planned. Non-stop all-you-can-eat buffets while marathoning her favorite TV shows (best friends totally included) with the smallest dash of adulting–working at the library to pay her share of the rent. The only thing missing from her perfect plan? Her girlfriend (who ended things when Alice confessed she’s asexual). Alice is done with dating–no thank you, do not pass go, stick a fork in her, done.

But then Alice meets Takumi and she can’t stop thinking about him or the rom com-grade romance feels she did not ask for (uncertainty, butterflies, and swoons, oh my!).

When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn, and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library employee badge (close enough), Alice has to decide if she’s willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated—or understood.

Ahgottahandleonit by Donovan Mixon

What is innocence? Where does it go? Tim doesn’t read as well as his classmates in an inner-city Newark high school. He’s got good street creds, though, riffing strange rap-rhymes and running like the wind. He’s packed into a three-flat with his mother, sister and Uncle Gentrale. His father, a drunk, recently walked out on the family, wanting some “freedom.” He says, “Ahgottahandleonit, son.” He doesn’t. Nor does Tim. He’s a sophomore, already two years behind in school. He’ll be a sophomore again if he doesn’t pass his proficiency exam. He wants to do what is right, but anger boils deep inside him.

The last day of school before summer, Tim slaps Mr. Jones, the one teacher who has wanted to help. He doesn’t know why. It was just there, a rage born of some dark history. Uncle Gentrale tries to explain, some crazy shit about living back down south. Marie reaches out to him for love, but that doesn’t work either. In a fight with some gangbangers, the rage boils over and Tim slams Chucky in the head with a rock. Chucky dies. Tim steals his phone. He carries it, like an albatross, throughout the summer—wanting to run, to hide, to speak truth, to be free. Maybe Mr. Jones will understand. Tim wants his life to matter.

Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor

A year ago, Sunny Nwazue, an American-born girl Nigerian girl, was inducted into the secret Leopard Society. As she began to develop her magical powers, Sunny learned that she had been chosen to lead a dangerous mission to avert an apocalypse, brought about by the terrifying masquerade, Ekwensu. Now, stronger, feistier, and a bit older, Sunny is studying with her mentor Sugar Cream and struggling to unlock the secrets in her strange Nsibidi book.

Eventually, Sunny knows she must confront her destiny. With the support of her Leopard Society friends, Orlu, Chichi, and Sasha, and of her spirit face, Anyanwu, she will travel through worlds both visible and invisible to the mysteries town of Osisi, where she will fight a climactic battle to save humanity.

Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi (Oct. 31)

In the walled city of Kos, corrupt mages can magically call forth sin from a sinner in the form of sin-beasts – lethal creatures spawned from feelings of guilt.

Taj is the most talented of the aki, young sin-eaters indentured by the mages to slay the sin-beasts. But Taj’s livelihood comes at a terrible cost. When he kills a sin-beast, a tattoo of the beast appears on his skin while the guilt of committing the sin appears on his mind. Most aki are driven mad by the process, but 17-year-old Taj is cocky and desperate to provide for his family.

When Taj is called to eat a sin of a royal, he’s suddenly thrust into the center of a dark conspiracy to destroy Kos. Now Taj must fight to save the princess that he loves – and his own life.

Loving vs. Virginia by Patricia Hruby Powell

From acclaimed author Patricia Hruby Powell comes the story of a landmark civil rights case, told in spare and gorgeous verse. In 1955, in Caroline County, Virginia, amidst segregation and prejudice, injustice and cruelty, two teenagers fell in love. Their life together broke the law, but their determination would change it. Richard and Mildred Loving were at the heart of a Supreme Court case that legalized marriage between races, and a story of the devoted couple who faced discrimination, fought it, and won.

 

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

A cannon. A strap.

A piece. A biscuit.

A burner. A heater.

A chopper. A gat.

A hammer

A tool

for RULE

Or, you can call it a gun. That’s what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge. That’s where Will’s now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brother’s gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who he’s after. Or does he?

As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Buck, Will finds out, is who gave Shawn the gun before Will took the gun. Buck tells Will to check that the gun is even loaded. And that’s when Will sees that one bullet is missing. And the only one who could have fired Shawn’s gun was Shawn. Huh. Will didn’t know that Shawn had ever actually USED his gun. Bigger huh. BUCK IS DEAD. But Buck’s in the elevator? Just as Will’s trying to think this through, the door to the next floor opens. A teenage girl gets on, waves away the smoke from Dead Buck’s cigarette. Will doesn’t know her, but she knew him. Knew. When they were eight. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES.

And so it goes, the whole long way down, as the elevator stops on each floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows. A story that might never know an END…if WILL gets off that elevator.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds

Miles Morales is just your average teenager. Dinner every Sunday with his parents, chilling out playing old-school video games with his best friend, Ganke, crushing on brainy, beautiful poet Alicia. He’s even got a scholarship spot at the prestigious Brooklyn Visions Academy. Oh yeah, and he’s Spider Man.

But lately, Miles’s spidey-sense has been on the fritz. When a misunderstanding leads to his suspension from school, Miles begins to question his abilities. After all, his dad and uncle were Brooklyn jack-boys with criminal records. Maybe kids like Miles aren’t meant to be superheroes. Maybe Miles should take his dad’s advice and focus on saving himself.

As Miles tries to get his school life back on track, he can’t shake the vivid nightmares that continue to haunt him. Nor can he avoid the relentless buzz of his spidey-sense every day in history class, amidst his teacher’s lectures on the historical “benefits” of slavery and the importance of the modern-day prison system. But after his scholarship is threatened, Miles uncovers a chilling plot, one that puts his friends, his neighborhood, and himself at risk.

It’s time for Miles to suit up.

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Justyce McAllister is top of his class and set for the Ivy League—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. And despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can’t escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates.

Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.

Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up—way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it’s Justyce who is under attack.

by Liara Tamani

Taja Brown lives with her parents and older brother and younger sister, in Houston, Texas. Taja has always known what the expectations of her conservative and tightly-knit African American family are—do well in school, go to church every Sunday, no intimacy before marriage.

But Taja is trying to keep up with friends as they get their first kisses, first boyfriends, first everythings. And she’s tired of cheering for her athletic younger sister and an older brother who has more freedom just because he’s a boy. Taja dreams of going to college and forging her own relationship with the world and with God, but when she falls in love for the first time, those dreams are suddenly in danger of evaporating.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson

Jade believes she must get out of her neighborhood if she’s ever going to succeed. Her mother says she has to take every opportunity. She has. She accepted a scholarship to a mostly-white private school and even Saturday morning test prep opportunities. But some opportunities feel more demeaning than helpful. Like an invitation to join Women to Women, a mentorship program for “at-risk” girls. Except really, it’s for black girls. From “bad” neighborhoods.

But Jade doesn’t need support. And just because her mentor is black doesn’t mean she understands Jade. And maybe there are some things Jade could show these successful women about the real world and finding ways to make a real difference.

Nonfiction

Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld (Nov. 21)

At one time, Lew Alcindor was just another kid from New York City with all the usual problems: He struggled with fitting in, with pleasing a strict father, and with overcoming shyness that made him feel socially awkward. But with a talent for basketball, and an unmatched team of supporters, Lew Alcindor was able to transform and to become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

From a childhood made difficult by racism and prejudice to a record-smashing career on the basketball court as an adult, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s life was packed with “coaches” who taught him right from wrong and led him on the path to greatness. His parents, coaches Jack Donahue and John Wooden, Muhammad Ali, Bruce Lee, and many others played important roles in Abdul-Jabbar’s life and sparked him to become an activist for social change and advancement. The inspiration from those around him, and his drive to find his own path in life, are highlighted in this personal and awe-inspiriting journey.

Written especially for young readers, Becoming Kareem chronicles how Kareem Abdul-Jabbar become the icon and legend he is today, both on and off the court.

Strong Inside: The True Story of How Perry Wallace Broke College Basketball’s Color Line by Andrew Maraniss

Perry Wallace was born at an historic crossroads in U.S. history. He entered kindergarten the year that the Brown v. Board of Education decision led to integrated schools, allowing blacks and whites to learn side by side. A week after Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Wallace enrolled in high school and his sensational jumping, dunking, and rebounding abilities quickly earned him the attention of college basketball recruiters from top schools across the nation. In his senior year his Pearl High School basketball team won Tennessee’s first racially-integrated state tournament.

The world seemed to be opening up at just the right time, and when Vanderbilt University recruited Wallace to play basketball, he courageously accepted the assignment to desegregate the Southeastern Conference. The hateful experiences he would endure on campus and in the hostile gymnasiums of the Deep South turned out to be the stuff of nightmares. Yet Wallace persisted, endured, and met this unthinkable challenge head on. This insightful biography digs deep beneath the surface to reveal a complicated, profound, and inspiring story of an athlete turned civil rights trailblazer.

Chasing Space: Young Readers’ Edition by Leland Melvin

In this inspiring memoir, adapted from the simultaneous version for adults, young readers will get to learn about Leland Melvin’s remarkable life story, from being drafted by the Detroit Lions to bravely orbiting our planet in the International Space Station to writing songs with will.i.am, working with Serena Williams, and starring in top-rated television shows like The Dog Whisperer, Top Chef, and Child Genius.

When the former Detroit Lion’s football career was cut short by an injury, Leland didn’t waste time mourning his broken dream. Instead, he found a new one—something that was completely out of this world.

He joined NASA, braved an injury that nearly left him permanently deaf, and still managed to muster the courage and resolve to travel to space on the shuttle Atlantis to help build the International Space Station. Leland’s problem-solving methods and can-do attitude turned his impossible-seeming dream into reality.

How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child by Sandra Uwiringiyimana with Abigail Pesta

This profoundly moving memoir is the remarkable and inspiring true story of Sandra Uwiringyimana, a girl from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who tells the tale of how she survived a massacre, immigrated to America, and overcame her trauma through art and activism.

Sandra was just ten years old when she found herself with a gun pointed at her head. She had watched as rebels gunned down her mother and six-year-old sister in a refugee camp. Remarkably, the rebel didn’t pull the trigger, and Sandra escaped.

Thus began a new life for her and her surviving family members. With no home and no money, they struggled to stay alive. Eventually, through a United Nations refugee program, they moved to America, only to face yet another ethnic disconnect. Sandra may have crossed an ocean, but there was now a much wider divide she had to overcome. And it started with middle school in New York.

In this memoir, Sandra tells the story of her survival, of finding her place in a new country, of her hope for the future, and how she found a way to give voice to her people.

Graphic Novels

Black Panther by Ta-Nehisi Coates

A new era begins for the Black Panther! MacArthur Genius and National Book Award winner Ta-Nehisi Coates (Between the World and Me) takes the helm, confronting T’Challa with a dramatic upheaval in Wakanda that will make leading the African nation tougher than ever before.

When a superhuman terrorist group that calls itself The People sparks a violent uprising, the land famed for its incredible technology and proud warrior traditions will be thrown into turmoil. If Wakanda is to survive, it must adapt–but can its monarch, one in a long line of Black Panthers, survive the necessary change? Heavy lies the head that wears the cowl!

Afar by Leila del Duca and Kit Seaton

Boetema suddenly develops the ability to astrally project to other worlds, unintentionally possessing the bodies of people light years away.

Inotu, her inquisitive brother with a penchant for trouble, finds himself on the run after he’s caught eavesdropping on an illegal business deal between small town business tycoons and their cyborg bodyguard. When Boetema accidentally gets someone hurt while in another girl’s body, the siblings are forced to work together to solve the problems they’ve created on their planet and others.

Niobe: She is Life by Sebastian Jones, Amandla Stenberg, Ashley A. Woods, and Darrell May

Niobe Ayutami. Half human, half elf. Half Ujoan, half Isintarrian. Half goddess, half devil. Niobe is a child of prophecy. Destined to be a queen and on the run since birth, Niobe was first introduced in The Untamed: A Sinner’s Prayer. Now a teenager and out on her own for the first time, Niobe must find her way in a world that wants her dead. After fleeing the vampire lord, Essessa, Niobe arrives at the sacred elven grounds of her ancestors, but she finds no welcome from her kind. She does, however, meet a fellow outcast in a half orc boy who is accused of murder. But Niobe’s quest to prove his innocence may expose her own past sins. Niobe: She is Life is a beauty and the beast love story threaded with murder and mystery that leads to all out war with the fate of Asunda hanging in the balance.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur by Amy Reeder

Lunella Lafayette is an Inhuman preteen genius who wants to change the world!

That job would be a lot easier if she wasn’t living in mortal fear of her latent Inhuman gene. There’s no telling what she’ll turn into – but Luna’s got a plan. All she needs is an Omni-Wave Projector. Easy, right? That is, until a red-scaled beast is teleported from the prehistoric past to a far-flung future we call…today! Together they’re the most Marvelous Team-Up of all – the Inhuman Moon Girl and time-tossed Devil Dinosaur! But will they be BFFs forever, or just until DD’s dinner time?

And Lunella soon learns that there are other problems with a having a titanic T. Rex as a pet in the modern-day Marvel Universe. School, for one. Monster hunters are another – especially when they’re the Totally Awesome Hulk! Then there’s the fact that everyone’s favorite dino didn’t journey through time alone. Beware the prehistoric savages known as the Killer-Folk – New York City’s deadliest tourists! Can Lunella handle all this turmoil… and keep herself from transforming into an Inhuman monster?

Yoga Books For Practitioners and/or Teachers In Training

Last week, I wrapped up the final assignments of my yoga teacher training program. I didn’t write about this much, if at all, here on STACKED, in part because yoga has been such an intensely personal part of my life and keeping it as something almost entirely offline has been really important to me. But after a year of giving up a weekend every month to learn how to deepen my practice, as well as how to teach, I wanted to not only talk a bit about it, but also highlight some of the books I read along the way I think might be valuable for those who practice yoga and those who are thinking about or beginning a teacher training program.

My 200-hour training program had three required books, all of which were read in part or in whole:

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali with commentary and translation from Sri Swami Satchidananda

Light on Yoga by BKS Iyengar

 

The Key Muscles of Yoga by Ray Long

 

The sutras, I think, should be required reading for those with a long, dedicated yoga practice who want to go beyond the asana (pose) level. It’s the philosophy and system of beliefs underpinning yogic studies, and while it looks intimidating, it’s actually a good read. There are parts which are surprisingly funny, as some of the examples given about ideas are meant to encourage a little laughter for them to settle in. We spent a weekend reading this aloud and discussing it, and I found myself taking a lot from it for my own personal life, both on and off the mat.

The Iyengar book I didn’t really read. I browsed it and used it as a reference book, but one of the problems is that the plates and descriptions are useful from that sort of reference standpoint only. Iyengar is a tiny, muscular man, so there aren’t modifications offered for any of the asanas, and more, there are examples in there where he’s hyperextending which can be dangerous (especially for people like me who have are hypermobile and can hang out in the joints if we aren’t being conscious of engaging muscles — that can do some serious damage down the line).

Without question, Long’s reference on muscles was a necessary read. I didn’t quite “get” everything at first read, but I’ve read it a few times now, and each time, I gain a little bit more understanding of how the various muscle groups in the body work with one another. It’s really fascinating stuff once you have a baseline knowledge, and I know this is a book I’ll come back to again and again. Long has another book, The Key Poses of Yoga, which I’ve had sitting on my shelf for a while, and though I’ve heard it’s not as great as Muscles, I think I’ll spend some time with it to get a sense of how he approaches different asanas.

And that was it for program reading. I liked having a light reading list, in part because we had a nice, extensive manual from the teacher who’d provided a lot of information on asanas, on sequencing, and on other teacher-side things. Having little required reading meant that I had some time to explore other books, and more, that my teacher and fellow students in the program had an opportunity to explore what else was out there and share our hits and our misses.

Some of the books I found to be worthwhile reads:

Yoga Sequencing by Mark Stevens

This one was recommended by fellow classmates pretty early on into the training, and I picked it up immediately. I didn’t read it, though, until we were deep into talking about sequencing and how to build a coherent, logical, injury-free, and fun class. I read through it, cover to cover, and I made a lot of notes, but the most valuable part of the entire book is the reference guide in the back. There, Stevens has not only listed some of the most common asanas, but he talks about what muscles and joints need to be open and fired up in order to properly transition into the pose, and then he talks about appropriate counterposes for them.

We focused a lot of training on injury prevention, and having this guide has been so helpful. Why is it that it’s not necessarily great to transition from half moon to warrior 3? It has to do with the rotation of the hip joints — and the Stevens guide does a great job of offering what might make for better transitions instead.

This wouldn’t be a book I’d recommend to those looking to begin a yoga practice, but it might be one for those who have a regular practice looking to deepen it at home and/or for those planning to go through a teacher training.

 

Teaching Yoga by Mark Stevens

Another Stevens book, but this one was one I didn’t buy. I borrowed it from my teacher and read through it one morning while working the desk at the yoga studio. This is a really basic overview of how to teach, how to give solid cues, and some of the dos and don’ts to prevent injury and ensure solid alignment in asanas. One of the things Stevens really harped on in this particular guide was something I really appreciated, which was why it’s not a good idea to pull the flesh out from beneath your sitz bones in poses like dandasana.

The biggest takeaway for me in this particular book, though, was something we ended up discussing a LOT, which was the precision of words we use while curing. Stevens talks specifically about words ending in “ing” and how they should be used as deepening cues, rather than as a means of communicating to students what they’re to do. So, if you’re going to cue something like baddha konasana (butterfly legs, as many know it), you would say “bring the soles of your feet together and let your knees drop out to the side,” as opposed to “bringing the soles of your feet together and letting your knees drop out to the side.” The “ing” cues are better served as means of deepening. In the same pose, an “ing” cue would work better if you added “bringing your feet closer to your perineum may bring a stronger stretch.” In other words, the “ing” of cues are options, rather than the cue itself.

As a language nerd, this has been something I know has been committed to memory.

This, like the sequencing book, isn’t one I’d pass along to a beginning yoga student, and it likely isn’t one I’d recommend unless teaching is something you plan on pursuing. It covers a lot of basic concepts any teacher would learn in training, but it was a nice refresher and offered those small bits of wisdom for me to think about as I begin my teaching.

 

Every Body Yoga by Jessamyn Stanley

If there were a yoga book I’d recommend to everyone interested in beginning a practice, deepening a practice, or teaching yoga, it would be this one. I talked at length with Stanley about her book when it released earlier this year and I’ve yet to stop thinking about it. It’s part memoir, part guide to beginning a practice, but what makes this book stand out is that Stanley doesn’t look like your stereotypical western yoga practitioner. She has a larger body, she’s black, and she’s proudly queer. These are all part of her story, of course, but the part which really makes it stand out is how, when offering poses and sequences for readers to try, there are a variety of bodies modeling the asanas, as well as plenty of options to make the practice your own. Meaning there are prop options, that there are modifications, and there’s a general sense of welcoming anyone into the practice.

Stanley’s story is one that isn’t atypical of those I’ve met through yoga. She was going through hard shit in her life, and she found yoga to be a way to connect with herself and manage her life better. This was what turned me onto the practice, and it’s been a tremendous means of my learning how to manage my mental health and love and honor what my body can do right here and right now. It’s a story I’ve heard from other teacher trainees and from those who walk through the door itching to learn and practice.

One reason I think this should be required reading is that it’s a reminder that any body is a yoga body. That it’s essential to know that part of the job of teaching is reminding people to honor where they are right now, and to listen to the cues their bodies and breath are giving them every single day. My experience in yoga at my studio hasn’t been what is so frequently seen in the media. There are very few willowy, young, blonde women with fancy clothes and equipment. It’s a wide range of ages, of fitness levels, of bodies, of experiences, and that’s part of what makes yoga what it is — anyone can do it and take something powerful away from it.

 

 

Ayurveda was another huge component of my teacher training. It’s the sister science to yoga and focuses on eating and lifestyle choices to help keep the body and mind health and well. Ayurveda, like yoga, is a set of practices and tools, some of which will work for you and some of which won’t. But for me, it’s been really valuable in better understanding why some people act the way they do when they are acting out of line with their normal character. There’s simply an imbalance somewhere. An easy example: people become a little weird and spacey sometimes at the beginning of fall, and that’s simply because there’s a higher concentration of vata in the air (vata is the principle of movement). So it simply needs to be decreased by focusing on things which are grounding and slower paced to help balance that out.

We didn’t have any required reading for Ayurveda, but I read a few books the weekend we did the unit on it because I wanted to learn as much as possible. And I’ve found integrating some of these things to be valuable in my diet and wellness. Both of the books below would be accessible for the general reader.

 

Ayurveda and Panchakarma by Sunil Joshi

Written for Westerners, this was a really quick and clear guide to the basics of Ayurveda. It includes what to eat for your dosha, what to avoid, and how to find balance in any situation.

I ended up not reading the second half of the book on panchakarma, though it’s there for anyone who’s interested in the practice (which is, in basic terms, akin to doctors who practice western medicine but for doctors who practice ayurveda).

What I especially appreciated about this book was that it’s written by a practitioner in a way that explains how logical and intuitive ayurveda is. It makes sense of a lot of the new and emerging research that western science has found about the best ways, times, and foods for eating, except it’s based in a 5000 year old practice. I loved finding those connections and ah ha moments, and I’ve been able to implement a lot of ayurveda practices into my own diet.

 

 

The Ayurveda Way by Ananta Ripa Ajmera

I bought this one because it was inexpensive and looked really pretty. This is definitely a book that would work well for those new or interested in ayurveda but who might be skeptical about the reality of incorporating it into their lives. Ajmera has put together short ways to live in tune with ayurveda, along with the whys and hows, and a variety of recipes and gorgeous images. It’s a very pretty book, as well as one that’s practical.

What I appreciated is that because of the shortness of the tips and ideas, I could bypass what I knew what wouldn’t work for me. And rather than write it off as something weird or strange, I could literally see how Ajmera found the practices useful and powerful and accept that just because it doesn’t sound realistic for me, that doesn’t mean it’s not realistic for others (there are, I should mention, certain ideas about how tasks and activities should happen in the morning and in what order, which for me, are totally out of the question but for many others, might be perfectly workable and life-changing).

I would peruse this one at a library and then decide whether it’s worth the cash unless it’s on sale. I think I got it for under $10, which was worth it to me. And if this book piques your interests, the one above certainly will take you even further in depth.

 

On My To-Read

A few books that I’m itching to read post-training to help deepen my understanding and education include the following. I’ve pulled descriptions from Goodreads.

 

Curvy Yoga by Anna Guest-Jelley

Have you wanted to try yoga but wondered if it was for you? Or perhaps you were uncertain whether you could carry out the poses? As the creator of a body-affirming yoga phenomenon that embraces people of all shapes and sizes, Anna Guest-Jelley has written an encouraging book that is about to become your go-to resource. In Curvy Yoga®, she shares stories about body shaming with poignancy and even sometimes with humor. Guest-Jelley also reveals how things started to change once she found yoga—the last thing the self-declared non-athlete ever thought was possible. In addition, Guest-Jelley shares how yoga can help you connect with your body and why accepting your body doesn’t mean giving up on it. Finally, in the appendix, she presents a series of pose instructions and options to make yoga work for your body—not the other way around.

I listened to Guest-Jelley on the Creative Super Powers podcast and not only did I love her story and background with yoga, she talked about how teachers might consider beginning their asana cues with the most supportive version before moving deeper. Though I learned a lot about modifications and prop use and believe in them, the idea of starting there never occurred to me, and it’s given me a lot to chew over, especially as I want to create a space welcoming to all bodies.  

 

Yoga Bodies by Lauren Lipton

Artfully capturing yoga’s vibrant spirit, Yoga Bodies presents full-color yoga-pose portraits of more than 80 practitioners of all ages, shapes, sizes, backgrounds, and skill levels–real people with real stories to share about how yoga has changed their lives for the better. Some humorous, some heartfelt, others profound, the stories entertain as they enlighten, while the portraits–which joyously challenge the “yoga body” stereotype–celebrate the glorious diversity of the human form. Handsomely jacketed and richly visual inside and out, Yoga Bodies is a coffee table-worthy contemplation, a meaningful gift, and a source of endless inspiration for anyone seeking fresh perspectives on how to live well.

I’ve had this sitting on my shelf and really need to take an afternoon to peruse it because I know it’ll be a gorgeous reminder of how yoga is for every body. 

 

The Secret Power of Yoga by Nischala Joy Devi

Yoga is well known for its power to create a healthy body, but few realize the emotional and spiritual benefits. In The Secret Power of Yoga, world-renowned Yoga expert Nischala Joy Devi interprets Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the principles at the basis of Yoga practice, from a heart-centered, intuitive, feminine perspective, resulting in the first translation intended for women.

Devi’s simple, elegant, and deeply personal interpretations capture the spirit of each sutra, and her suggested practices offer numerous ways to embrace the spirituality of Yoga throughout your day.

This book was sitting in the waiting area at one of the studios I visited during my teacher training (because I did try out some other local studios to explore other teaching styles and methods) and it immediately caught my eye. I bought it but haven’t looked at it yet. As I itch to learn more about the power of the Sutras, this sounds like a perfect companion for doing just that. 

 

The Goddess Pose: The Audacious Life of Indra Devi, The Woman Who Helped Bring Yoga To The West by Michelle Goldberg

Born into the minor aristocracy (as Eugenia Peterson), Devi grew up in the midst of one of the most turbulent times in human history. Forced to flee the Russian Revolution as a teenager, she joined a famous Berlin cabaret troupe, dove into the vibrant prewar spiritualist movement, and, at a time when it was nearly unthinkable for a young European woman to travel alone, followed the charismatic Theosophical leader Jiddu Krishnamurti to India.

Once on the subcontinent, she performed in Indian silent cinema and hobnobbed with the leaders of the independence movement. But her greatest coup was convincing a recalcitrant master yogi to train her in the secrets of his art.

Devi would go on to share what she learned with people around the world, teaching in Shanghai during World War II, then in Hollywood, where her students included Gloria Swanson and Greta Garbo. She ran a yoga school in Mexico during the height of the counterculture, served as spiritual adviser to the colonel who tried to overthrow Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, and, in her eighties, moved to Buenos Aires at the invitation of a besotted rock star.

Everywhere she went, Indra Devi evangelized for yoga, ushering in a global craze that continues unabated. Written with vivid clarity, The Goddess Pose brings her remarkable story—as an actress, yogi, and globetrotting adventuress—to life.

I’ve checked this book out from the library approximately ten times but haven’t yet found the time to dig in. I am so curious about the woman who brought yoga west, in part because yoga was a practice by men for men at its roots, so any of the feminist history is something I will be enjoying.

 

The Wisdom of Yoga by Stephen Cope

While many Westerners still think of yoga as an invigorating series of postures and breathing exercises, these physical practices are only part of a vast and ancient spiritual science. For more than three millennia, yoga sages systematically explored the essential questions of our human existence: What are the root causes of suffering, and how can we achieve freedom and happiness? What would it be like to function at the maximum potential of our minds, bodies, and spirits? What is an optimal human life?

Nowhere have their discoveries been more brilliantly distilled than in a short–but famously difficult–treatise called the Yogasutra. This revered text lays out the entire path of inner development in remarkable detail–ranging from practices that build character and mental power to the highest reaches of spiritual realization.

Now Stephen Cope unlocks the teachings of the Yogasutra by showing them at work in the lives of a group of friends and fellow yoga students who are confronting the full modern catastrophe of careers, relationships, and dysfunctional family dynamics. Interweaving their daily dilemmas with insights from modern psychology, neuroscience, religion, and philosophy, he shows the astonishing relevance and practicality of this timeless psychology of awakening.

More info on the sutras and the philosophy behind yoga beyond the asanas is going to continue to be an interest of mine. 

This Week at Book Riot

I’ve been taking care of a ton of business off the internet the last couple of weeks, and one of the consequences of that was forgetting to do a Book Riot round-up here last week. But never fear — it just means a bigger round-up this week:

 

YA novels in verse written by black authors.

 

Bookish gifts for those who love foxes.

 

This year’s .

 

A rainbow stack of queer YA.

 

20 great YA reads for older teens who are reluctant readers.

 

This week brought a new episode of the Hey YA! podcast. Eric and I talked about how we talk about reading YA books, about good and not-so-good “meets” pitches, and we wrap up the show recommending a bunch of horror reads. Listen in!