Language: R (34 swears 13 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (girl fight)
BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
High school junior Yulieta wants to be the first black girl at her school to get a lead in her school play. She's been practicing all summer with her best friend Aleeya - the two make up the only black girls in the drama club. But when the cast list for Our Town is posted, the part is given to someone else, and Yuli is angry. When she asks her teacher, Mrs. Hoffman says "Lana was a better fit, you were not quite right for the part". Yuli knows that means "You aren't white enough." In the meantime, her favorite teacher Mr. G is in trouble with the school board - a parent group doesn't like his Ethnic Studies class and gets all the books he uses removed from his classroom. One of them is the play "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf" by Ntozake Shange. This was the first play Yuli could identify with, the first time she saw a cast of people who looked like her. Yuli is mad, and is ready to organize a protest.
Racism, book bans, guerilla theater, a Texas high school and Our Town. This novel in verse should be so much more complicated than it is, but I found it to be an engaging read with good poetry and a timely message. I loved the sprinkling of Spanish throughout, her text interactions with her college age brother (also an activist) and the slow reveal of her mother's story. This would be a great book to teach to the right class. Yuli is Afro-Dominican.
Lisa Librarian
No comments:
Post a Comment