American Street by Ibi Zoboi

Passing through customs in New York City’s JFK airport, teenage Fabiola and her mother are separated.  Not understanding her mother’s detainment, Fabiola is directed to proceed to Detroit where her three cousins and aunt Jo await her.  Fabiola has no choice but to continue her journey alone, and she is surprised and dismayed by the reception she receives among family in Detroit.  The title of the book will draw some readers looking for urban fiction, and expectations will be initially dashed as the exposition is slow to bring Fabiola into immediate danger.  Readers who persevere, however, will be hooked by page 157.  Some magical realism, literary language, perspective changes, and Haitian Kreyol make this a good selection for students who have already developed some confidence, and the 300+ page length requires a moderate amount of stamina--somewhat less than The Hate U Give’s 25% longer duration.  Highly recommended independent reading for teens.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Zoboi, Ibi.  American Street.  New York: HarperCollins, 2017.

Click here for discussion questions from Reading Group Choices’s website, and here for discussion questions from Maria Stuart at redblkgrl.com’s website.

Programming Spotlight: Dream Jordan Visits Horizon Juvenile Detention Center

Dream Jordan visits Passages Academy's school library at Horizon Juvenile Detention Center on May 10th, 2017.  Photo credit: Claudio Leon.

Author of YA novels Hot Girl and Bad Boy, Dream Jordan, visited the Horizon library on May 10th. She spoke with several students about her work and her life and gave students advice on how to stay above the problems they often face. Ms. Jordan was very inspiring to our students and they all loved getting to meet and speak with her. --Claudio Leon

Dime by E.R. Frank

Dime has nowhere to go on a bitterly cold day when a local prostitute offers her a warm and seemingly safe haven.  Feeling she has little choice, Dime is taken in by a pimp and made to feel loved, special, and like part of the family.  Playing with literary devices like personification, Dime narrates her story by imagining the voices of characters like Greed and Sex.  Older teens looking for gritty, urban, realistic fiction will read this suspenseful tale with interest.  Frank succeeds in creating complex characters readers will empathize with and painting a nuanced, disturbing portrait of a pimp who has mastered the psychology of manipulation in order to minimize his need to use drugs and physical violence to control the young women and children he sexually exploits. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Click here for a discussion guide from the publisher.

Frank, E. R.  Dime.  New York: Simon and Schuster, 2015.  Print.

16 On the Block by Babygirl Daniels

Pretty much every day I meet new students in the library at Bridges. It’s their second day of school and I am trying to get to know them as readers. Pretty much everyday two or more new students tell me that their favorite kinds of books to read are “urban” books or “street” books. So, after we run through the Passages’ student canon (another post for another time), I usually try to suggest books in other genres with crossover appeal. I appreciated 16 on the Block because, while I don’t anticipate it joining our canon anytime soon, it is there, for better or worse, for the student who is not ready to try another genre. For this I am grateful and will probably purchase the creatively named sequel, 16 and a Half On the Block.

The story opens with Summer awaiting her judge's decision: will she be released from group care custody and get to live with her only sister? Lots of exposition in the first chapter make this less suited to the less patient. Proofreading errors mar this reader's experience, and the ending was disappointing, but brand names, dramatic circumstances, and tighter pacing during the second half of the book make this a good choice for reluctant readers.

Daniels, Babygirl. 16 on the Block. New York: Kensington, 2009.