Long ago, I studied to become a youth services librarian. The class "Literature for Young Adults" was an eye-opener. It started with S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders and continued as I read YA classics such as Jacqueline Woodson's Miracle's Boys, J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, and Gary Paulsen's Hatchet. I came to the startling conclusion that many of the protagonists in these stories were orphans. Writers chose to kill off the parents to focus on the teen's coming-of-age struggle. This is not a new device. Consider orphans Anne of Green Gables and Tom Sawyer. If the parents were not dead, they often were removed in other ways. Current YA lit offerings such as Sara Zarr's Gem and Dixie and Dee Ellis' You May Already Be a Winner center on mothers who are either emotionally absent or unaware of the realities that their children face.

Literature, and especially literature for teens is constantly evolving.  

Recently I have noticed several books which run counter to the "absent parent" trope. These novels are about a different sort of dilemma.  In these recently published books, teens aren't trying to negotiate a world without parents. Instead they live in a world of overly concerned, constantly interfering, zealously protective parents. Meet four young people who discover ways to assert themselves and move out into the world while recognizing and respecting their parents. This can be a difficult tightrope to walk.

​Pub date: May 30, 2017       Publisher: ​Simon Pulse    ISBN: 978-1481478687

​Pub date: February 13, 2018       Publisher: ​Barefoot Books   ISBN: 978-1250159854

Background: Danny Cheng lives with his parents in Cupertino, California. It’s senior year and his group of Asian American friends are in the throes of post high school planning. Danny is thrilled. He been accepted to RISD and dreams of pursuing his passion for art. Then he discovers a box, hidden in a closet at home, which contains a sheaf of documents relating to a mysterious individual. The narrative explores Danny’s search to uncover the identity of this person and to learn why his parents are so secretive about the box and its contents.

​This is a book of secrets, of secrets wrapped inside secrets. Important plots points are revealed as Danny learns more about the box of papers. Most of these discoveries took me by surprise. But the story also reveals secrets of the heart. I was able to identify some of those secrets early on. Gilbert offers enough clues to help readers understand what is buried deep inside the hearts of her main characters. I found myself rooting for them, hoping that these young people would recognize and respond to their innermost longings.

Most of the narrative is Danny’s first-person account. Woven throughout his story are brief chapters written by another individual who describes a series of personal life events. Eventually the two stories come together, leading to an emotion-filled conclusion.

You’ll get no spoilers from me. I will say that as I reached the final pages, I found it hard to read as my vision became blurred due to a copious quantity of tears. Read it for the mystery. Read it for the portraits of young Asian Americans. Read it to view the complications brought on by a family in crisis and the extent of a family’s love. Read it for the vivid portrayal of coming-of-age. But most of all, read it so that you and I can talk about it!

​Pub date: April 10 2018       Publisher: ​Disney-Hyperion    ISBN: 978-1484726020

Lola fulfills the assignment, creating a pastiche of images incorporating joyous memories with painful ones. The finished product is evidence her of understanding of the past, appreciation for the present, and hope for the future of her homeland.The evil that once threatened this island will not destroy the life and love and hope of its people. ​

Without mentioning a specific individual, Díaz uses the imagery of a monster to explain the cruelties of life under a ruthless dictator. He handles this difficult topic with a sensitivity and understanding appropriate for young readers.

Espinosa's vibrant illustrations capture the wonder and vitality of the island. Pages brimming with details of island life invite exploration. The full-page spread depicting the monster attacking the island is frightful. However, the overall tone of the images throughout the book, especially facial expressions and body language, depicts a family that offers reassurance and security in times of distress.

Islandborn is the English edition and  Lola, the Spanish edition of this picture book from 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz.

The beauty of this book is the acknowledgement of this universal truth: often children do not remember events from early childhood. They rely on family and others within their circle to help them construct a sense of identity, history, and heritage.

After reading Islandborn, youngsters can be encouraged to search for information about their own family history and heritage. Research may take the form of interviews, family stories, music, recipes, artifacts, and more. Many years ago, I attended a workshop presented by Alma Flor Ada. She suggested that schools can help children discover and appreciate their identity and heritage. I was inspired by her presentation and decided to implement a few of her suggestions with a group of eight-year-old youngsters. Here's what we did:
Each student interviewed a family member, organized the results of individual research into a biography, and published the personal narrative as a book. Text was enhanced with copies of family photographs and student-created illustrations. We also (a suggestion from Dr. Ada) solicited recipes from families and compiled a cookbook of family recipes. A copy of the cookbook was prepared for the family of each student.
Then came the celebration! Families were invited to school to read the amazing family stories and to sample the delicious dishes from a variety of cultures. This became an annual event, shared with extended families.

It begins with the cover.  A young child, sporting a pair of spiffy yellow rain boots and a bright yellow umbrella is perched on the shoulders of a man, both gazing ahead to the golden glow of a sunrise. ​

There are picture books which seem to be the result of a thoughtful collaboration and shared vision between the author and the illustrator. Love written by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Loren Long is one such book.  The mastery of imagery created by text and art is seamless.  They blend together to create a whole cloth that elicits deep emotions.  The power of the book is the way that these two masters of their craft unite.  It is pure gold.

The pages go dark. Literally go dark: black paper with the white italicized text. But it's not just the visual change that is immediately apparent. The narration moves from Lucia’s engaging first person voice to a strangely detached almost other-worldly third person view when she is goes to sleep.

These dark pages are interspersed throughout Lucia's story of her contentious connection with Velvet, her developing friendship with two classmates, and her strained relationship with neighbor Will. She is also dealing with the fallout from her parent's broken marriage: mom moves away to Sweden with a new partner, older sister remains aloof, and dad seems to be paralyzed by this divorce. Now she's thirteen and trying to figure it all out.

Lucia tries to puzzle out what is happening when she appears to be asleep and yet another part of her begins to act out her subconscious desires.  What causes these episodes?  These strange interludes are forcing her to see another side of herself. Does she like who she becomes during her sleep-induced experiences? Who is in control here and what does she really want?  
Magic, shadows, dreams, and desires all come together in this spell-binding middle grade novel.  

From day one, Impy is constantly aware that middle school has transported her into an entirely new enviornment. Unlike the familiarity of the festival community, the halls of middle school are fraught with terrors at every turn. She must navigate the complex maze of classrooms, negotiate seating in the cafeteria, and meet the demands of a regimented assignment schedule. She is immediately the subject of curiosity. Some express honest interest while others resort to ridicule. For Imply trying to fit in, trying to discover who she is, trying to keep up with the demands of teachers becomes very...well, trying.
She makes two fatale mistakes: one with her younger brother and one with a classmate. From her perspective, it appears that each one is impossible to completely recover from.
This book is honest, so painfully honest. No one is perfect: not Imogene, not the kids at school, not her family. They all make mistakes and struggle to learn, live, and forgive. The characters are spot on and Jamieson imbues each with a distinctive personality.
It is impossible for me to express how much I adore this book. Both the images and text work together to create storytelling magic. Copies of the book should be given as a gift to every youngster about to enter middle school. Not only will tweens learn about the Middle Ages and life in middle school, but they will also gain important insights into self acceptance.

I have always been fascinated by illuminated manuscripts and was delighted to note that Jamieson chooses to begin each chapter with an introduction featuring some gorgeous illumination.  Why not encourage young readers to try this intricate art?  Instead of illuminating an entire page, why not try illuminating a letter? Here is my attempt to illuminate the first letter of my last name. It's not nearly as intricate and the gold pigment ink is missing. But I had fun with a fine point black sharpie and a fistful of colored pencils. 

Several years ago I worked at a school in Manhattan's Lower East Side. I loved that neighborhood, filled with mamas and papas walking their little ones to school. I loved the rich diversity of cultures. I loved the strong family ethic. This is a community of people who live and work together. I loved the feeling of neighborhood and connection that I experienced whenever I stepped off the F Train at Delancey and Essex Streets.
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My memories of that place awakened in me a sense of nostalgia as I savored McGhee's simple text and Lamaître muted color palette. It's a story filled with warmth and compassion. Each page provides plenty of white space, allowing time to appreciate the softly rendered drawings. While my time in the Lower East Side enriched my appreciation for the story, this picture book also rekindled memories of my time with that community. I compared photos of New York City life with Lamaître's illustrations. Each representation, regardless of the medium, portrays a strong sense of home, community, and interconnection.

Now I live on the coast in South Texas, an environment that is both different and the same when compared to the neighborhoods I knew in Manhattan.  The temperatures and coastal waters are much warmer. There are many more open and undeveloped land areas as well as some very distinctive types of vegetation. But in both New York and South Texas I can experience everyday encounters with kindness and courage.

Discover life in the city with these books.

Enjoy these time-honored classics. They have captivated generations of listeners and performers. They inspired Williams-Garcia, Hess, and Alexander as they wrote.  Can you hear the echoes of the music in their books?

Your book covers a lot of territory: from impoverished neighborhoods in the Dominican Republic to middle class privilege in Minneapolis.  It also shifts between the present and the past. How did you plan the composition of your book? Did you use some type of visual organizer?
Yep, my most important project management tool is a good ol’ calendar. I write down what happens each day for a character over the span of a story. In this case I also needed to include a real baseball schedule for the teams Rafael is playing on. I feel it adds verisimilitude if I’m working from a real schedule.
This was more complicated for Rafael’s half of the story because it takes place over years, but I had to think about the DR baseball season, major holidays, school year, and even the sugar season. And I had to think about his age and where a boy would be in the process, coming up as a baseball player.
In terms of plot I use a skeletal outline for each character, showing their setbacks and successes. It is a zigzag, not an arc… ups and downs.

How did Rafael and Maya develop? Was each character’s story initially created separately or did they evolve together during the writing process?
I went back and forth between the two as I wrote, but was usually immersed in one or the other. I knew from the start it was a dual narrative, and where they would first intersect, but bringing them back together in an interesting way took some creativity.

I was intrigued with the first sentence in your acknowledgments: “It is audacious to write outside one’s own cultural experience.”  I have listened to several authors speak on this topic and they mentioned that in addition to the extensive research  that is required when writing about other cultures,  the “devil is in the details.” Each noted specific changes that were made to the manuscript after it was read and vetted by those with first-hand knowledge of the culture.  Were there elements which required modifying after others read drafts of your book? 
Yes, I got feedback from several readers from the DR and am very grateful for their input. 
One of the early “oops” moments was that I kept having Rafael’s family sitting down for supper at the end of the day, before being reminded that the big meal of the day in the D.R. is lunch and that was when they would have their family talks.
Another change was, it is very easy for North Americans to fall back on nuclear family as the basic unit for writing about family, and that’s not true for most of the world… the DR has a much more expansive idea of family, where uncles and aunts and grandparents and cousins are part of your daily life. It’s hard to manage a large cast of characters, but realizing that helped me shape the character of Rafael’s family and contrast him more with his friends.

I notice that you infuse the text with Spanish words and phrases, often in italics, which are not translated into English. What influenced your decision to include Spanish words and phrases? 
I wanted a sprinkling of Spanish to add color and remind readers that these characters are actually not speaking English; I especially used words that show a little slang and baseball terminology. That was a lot of fun to do. I spent pretty much the whole time I was writing it actively learning Spanish.

Sideline Observation: There seems to be an abundance of children’s authors living in Minnesota. Is there something in the water? Do the long winters provide ample writing time?  Is it the state’s vibrant literary community? What is it about Minnesota?
It’s a great state to be a writer in any genre, and I think it’s also a great state to be a visual artist, filmmaker, musician, actor… anyone connected to the arts. There’s a lot of support for the arts here, from the community and from the state government. I want to mention that specifically because the Minnesota State Arts Board helped fund the writing of this book, through an artist initiative grant.
But it’s also a great culture for the arts, and I think it’s one where people lift each other up and support each other. We turn out for each other’s events, talk up each other’s books, read each other’s drafts… it’s a wonderful community and I don’t think I’d have done much without them.

Sal has two friends who figure predominantly in his life: Samantha (Sam) and Fito. The backgrounds for both of these teens contrast sharply with the warm and stable home life Sal knows. He sees the pain which his friends constantly experience and reflects "I guess life hurts everybody. I didn't understand the logic of this thing we call living. Maybe I wasn't supposed to."
Both Sam and Fito cope with emotional abandonment and rejection. All three friends must come to terms with complicated and conflicting emotions with respect to adults in their lives. "just because my love isn't perfect doesn't mean i don't love you"  
The specter of death permeates each of their young lives. Each experiences loss and learns what it is to grieve.
"Life had its seasons, and the season of letting go would always come, but there was something very beautiful in that, in the letting go."

The story opening makes it clear that the act of remembering is an essential component of identity.  “We are what we remember.”
​“I had a picture of my dad teaching me how to tie a tie, taken the morning before my First Communion…I had a picture of Mima holding me in her arms when I was four. She had all this love in her eyes, and I swear I could drown in all that love.”

The endearing appellation “Oh mijito” and other Spanish phrases radiate family warmth and connection. From the fresh tortillas slathered with butter to the kitchen filled with traditional tamale-making, readers feel a strong sense of home and family.
A story of beginnings and endings, life and death, confliction and resolution, faith and doubt; Saenz has created a tale of “Life (that) had a logic all its own."

Gracias Benjamin Alire Sáenz, for this luminous literary gift.