Urban+Lit

//  John Mendel is the perfect student: straight A’s since elementary school; math whiz waiting for responses from the best colleges (Stanford, MIT, Yale); best baseball in the school. However, Josh has a secret, but everyone knows what it is. His history teacher, Evelyn Sherman, sexually abused him at the age of 12. Josh’s responses are so keyed into what happened with Eve, that he almost abused his friend Rachel.
 * Ur ban lit is fiction that takes place in a city landscape, in an urban setting. The tone for urban lit can be dark and the author may use explicit language. For these reasons, urban lit may not be for the faint of heart. **
 * Boy Toy** // by Barry Lyga (located @ LYG in the East High Library Fiction Collection)

Five years later, Josh is still going to therapy after the trial sent Eve to jail. He is still having “flickers” of his past, and his personal life is almost nonexistent. When Eve gets out of jail early, Josh becomes an emotional wreck. He lives in fear that Eve will pop up at any moment. He also has to deal with his parents’ deteriorating relationship, college, and Rachel. Rachel is determined to be back in his life and to make him realize what exactly he feels about Eve and himself.


 * //Boy Toy//** is painful to read as one goes through Josh’s past and interactions with Eve. One can feel what Josh feels and can understand his confusion. You will not be able to put this book down! MC (4-6-10)

// **God Don’t Like Ugly** // by Mary Monroe (located @ MON in the East High Library Fiction Collection) Do you know what it is like to grow up being called fat and ugly most of your life? Or having your dad walk out on you and your mom when you’re only three years old, and remembering it like it happened yesterday? How about having a pedophile move in with you at age seven, changing your life forever? Well Annette knows exactly how all this feels. As if being colored in the sixties isn’t bad enough… Annette faces some of the hardest things one person can experience throughout his life, black or white. She finally catches a break when the most beautiful girl she’s ever seen becomes her best friend. But what she doesn’t know is that her new friend has some secrets of her own that will burden Annette for the rest of her life.

This book is full of surprises; the first one is not to judge this book by its cover. I highly recommend this book. SB (4-6-10)

 What would you do if you lived in public housing, had no skills, the phone is disconnected so your social worker can’t get to you, your dad’s stoned on your couch, your mom’s left to “visit” someone, and you just got kicked out of school? Maybe make a plan… A plan to change everyone’s mind about you. After all, you’re not a bad kid once people get to know you. In **//Saint Iggy//**, Iggy Corso tries to turn his life around and gets caught in the good, bad, and very, very ugly. Torn physically and spiritually, Iggy gets out on an adventure to try to do something great. He goes from the highest of highs to his own front door in this irreverent, heart-wrenching tale. A good book; something a little different; you won’t want to put it down. AC (4-6-10) //**
 * //Saint Iggy//** by K.L. Going (located @GOI in the East High Library Fiction Collection)

After a drug deal goes wrong, Jeremy “Lil J” Dance meets a strange man who tries to convince him that he can change his life.
 * //Dope Sick// by Walter Dean Myers (located @ MYE in the East Library Fiction Collection) **

I would recommend //**Dope Sick**// by Walter Dean Myers to a friend because it shows an interesting point of view and Lil J’s transformation and journey through a hard life is moving and well-written. HD (2-16-10)