Red Hats by Damon Wayans

“Alma opened the box and pulled out a beautiful, large brimmed, red-feathered hat accented with gorgeous strawberry-red brocade.”

Alma is a bitter, sharp-tongued woman who refers to her husband, Harold, as her “has been”. She has a hard time showing him any affection, even though she misses what they once had. One afternoon, angry at Harold for something trivial, Alma mutters under her breath that she wishes he would die. To her shock and disbelief, he succumbs that evening to a heart attack leaving Alma all alone and guilt -ridden. She is about to commit suicide when ladies from the Red Hat Society intervene and help her get back on her feet. She enjoys spending time with them, but becomes angry when they present her with her very own red hat and ask her to join them. She calls them a cult and shuts them out of her life. But, when tragedy strikes, Alma finally learns about the power of friendship, love and forgiveness. This touching tale is one that stays with you long after you’ve finished reading it. What impresses me even more is the author, comedian Damon Wayans of “In Living Color” fame. Who knew that such a raucously funny man could write such an intimately moving book?

Dirty Little Secrets by C. J. Omololu

Everyone has secrets. Some are just bigger and dirtier than others.

When sixteen-year-old Lucy was in elementary school one of her friends found out her family’s secret and told the entire class. Lucy was humiliated and suffered the taunts and name calling by her classmates until her mother agreed to send her to a new school. Ever since then, Lucy has fought hard to keep anyone from finding out about her mother’s extreme hoarding. She never invites friends over for fear that will not want to be her friend anymore for living in a house that is cluttered from floor to ceiling with junk. She can barley move around due to the tall stacks of newspapers, piles of clothes and garbage strewn about. When her mother dies unexpectedly, Lucy must figure out a way to keep her living conditions private. There is no way she wants her friends, neighbors and especially the media to know her dirty little secret.

This is a timely book about a subject that is getting a lot of attention due the popular reality television shows “Hoarders” and ”Hoarding.” Readers will be immediately drawn into this story as they sympathize with Lucy and her drastic efforts to keep others from seeing how horrible her house is. Omololu’s descriptive writing helps you to easily imagine how awful the house must smell and how horrific the sight of mold and mountains of junk would look like. Dirty Little Secrets provides great insight into the issue of hoarding and how it affects families and is not one to be missed.

Party by Tom Leveen

What’s the go?

It’s Saturday night and the big end of the school year party is going down. Everyone will be there and each of them has different expectations for the night. Some want to spend one last night of fun with classmates before summer vacation, while others just want to get drunk. A few more just want to get noticed while some just want to make a friend. Party focuses on eleven different teens at the party and each chapter is written from one of their points of view. Their stories connect and intersect as we read about their problems, fears and dreams. Leveen effectively explores loss, friendship, dating, sex and racism in this compelling read that will appeal to both boys and girls alike. Adults will even appreciate this one as it will remind them of classic teen cinema such as “The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles.”

Liar by Justine Larbalestier

I will not tell a lie. I will not tell a lie. I will not tell a lie. I will not tell a lie.

Seventeen-year-old Micah readily admits that she is a liar. She explains that she lies to hide the family secret (which I will not divulge so as to not give away too much of the story). So, when she is a freshman at a private New York high school and everyone thinks she is a boy because of her name and short hairstyle, she goes along with it. When questioned on that fib, she leads her classmates into thinking she was born a hermaphrodite. She also lies that her father is an arms dealer. Micah’s lies come back to haunt her when popular student, Zack is murdered. When everyone finds out that Micah and Zack had a secret relationship the whispers and gossip begins. Could she be Zack’s killer? After finishing this book, the ending is so ambiguous that I’m not sure that she did or didn’t. For those who desire an original premise and like speculative fiction, this one is definitely for you. Because of language and mild sexual situations, I recommend this one to older teens.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

If you want to make it, all you have to do is try.

When William Kamkwamba was fourteen he had to leave school after his parents could no longer afford to pay his tuition. To help his family earn money, he assisted with the planting and harvesting of their crops of corn and tobacco. All the while, Kamkwamba remained hopeful that he would return to school and took it upon himself to visit the his local library every day so that he could continue to study. During one visit he discovered a book on electricity and became inspired to learn all that he could. In no time he was building and repairing radios for his neighbors. With this success, he was encouraged to build a windmill, something that would be of great help to his family. He envisioned having light and being able to listen to the radio after dark. He also was eager to set up a pump that would bring clean water to his family from a nearby river. Although many in his village thought him to be a mad man and he faced many obstacles, Kamkwamba never gave up.

One of the strengths of this book for me is the description of the flood, drought and famine that plagued Malawi in 2002 and how desperate everyone felt as their food supply dwindled. I was also fascinated with Kamkwamba’s description of Malawian social life and customs. This book was about so much more than windmills and I loved it.

A Girl Named Mister by Nikki Grimes

First it was Mary, then it was M.R. Mister is all anybody calls me now.

Mary Rudine, nicknamed Mister because of her initials, has always been a “good girl.” She attends church every Sunday, sings in the choir, and does well in school. When she meets Trey the feelings she has for him throw her for a loop and she forgets the promise she made to God to save herself for marriage. She thinks she loves Trey and has sex with him. After she ends up pregnant, he abandons her. Feeling all alone, she begins to question whether God still loves her. She discovers a book of poetry about the Virgin Mary which helps her to truly discover the depth of God’s love. This quick and easy read is a novel written in verse and is sure to be inspirational to its intended audience.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Mia comes from a very tight-knit, fun loving family which consists of her ex-punk rocker turned teacher father, travel agent mother and charismatic younger brother, Teddy.  One fateful morning when school is canceled because of snow, they all decide to take advantage of the day off and visit their grandparents.  While traveling along a wet Oregon highway the unthinkable happens – the family is involved in a horrific car accident.  Before Mia knows it, she is floating above the scene of the accident and witnessing her rescue from their mangled car.  Mia is the only survivor.  This touching book shifts between the past and present while Mia struggles with deciding whether to fight to live or give up and join her family in death.  This is one heart wrenching story I highly recommend to teens and adults alike. 

A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott

Be careful what you wish for, it just might come true.

Fifteen-year-old Genna shares a tiny, cramped apartment in Brooklyn, New York with her mother and three siblings. Her family has been steadily falling apart ever since her father left and returned to his native Panama. Genna especially has a hard time since she has a sense she doesn’t belong. She feels like an outsider at school and she has a hard time connecting with her teenage brother and sister. She is also sad that her mother has to work so hard to support the family. Genna does her best to ease her mother’s burden by not giving her anything to worry about. She gets good grades in school and cares for her infant brother. When Genna wants to escape her worries and problems she visits a neighborhood park where there is a fountain. While there, Genna always makes it a point to toss coins into the fountain and make wishes. One night, after an uncharacteristic fight with her mother, Genna is desperate to find solace at the fountain. While there, she finds a coin, tosses it in and makes a wish to leave Brooklyn and her miserable home life. To her surprise she wakes up in Civil War era Brooklyn. Genna has no choice but to adapt to her new environment and soon finds herself working for a doctor and his wife as a nanny. You cannot help but to be enthralled by this story. Elliott does a fine job of intermingling speculative with historical fiction. I highly recommend this one to teens and adults alike.

Killing Willis: From Diff'rent Strokes to the Mean Streets to the Life I Always Wanted by Todd Bridges with Sarah Tomlinson

When he was younger, Todd Bridges was the “go to” African American child actor of his time.  He was the first African American to have a recurring role on “The Waltons” and he appeared in “Little House on the Prairie” and the epic television mini-series “Roots”.  He starred in “Fish” alongside Abe Vigoda before landing his best known role as Willis Jackson in “Diff’rent Strokes”.  In this candid autobiography, Bridges opens up about his past which includes drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, run-ins with the law and time spent in jail.  He also details how racism affected his life.  Bridges takes full responsibility for his decisions and actions, while acknowledging the pain he felt growing up because of his relationship with his father, a man he perceived as uncaring and who was physically abusive towards him.  Bridges was particularly devastated when his father sided with the man who sexually molested him as a child.  After reading this book, I cannot help but to root for Bridges and hope that he is able to get another break-out acting role.   Todd Bridges fans from back in the day will not be disappointed with this one.