Bounce Back: How to thrive in the face of adversity, setbacks, and losses by Karen Salmansohn

Strength in the face of adversity.  Author Salmansohn explains that this is what she needed to find after she was sexually assaulted.  It was hard.  This book is a result of her efforts to collect tools for her “resiliency toolbox”.  Among the 75 tips offered to the reader in brief (1-3 page) chapters are the obvious (tip #2 What you are going through right now is normal” and tip #3 “There is no such thing as normal.”) as well as the metaphorical (tip #51 "Anger is a boomerang.”)  Some, like #51, are followed by an assignment-- actionable steps the reader can take to implement the advice offered.  While students do not gravitate toward this title, social workers and librarians may want to have it on hand as a quick how-to.  Adults who work with incarcerated and detained youth may be interested in checking this book out for themselves.  Readers will note that while much of the advice is relevant to teens of both sexes, Salmansohn’s intended audience is adult women like herself.
 
Salmansohn, Karen.  Bounce Back:  How to thrive in the face of adversity, setbacks, and losses.  New York:  Workman Publishing Company, 2008. Print.

Yuck! the things people eat by Neil Setchfield

Have you ever eaten kangaroo tail?  Snake on a stick?  Setchfield’s detailed photographs don’t seek to expand reader’s culinary horizons as much as they intend to “demonstrate that, when it comes to food, palatability is highly subjective.”  This concept can spark deep conversations and exploratory arguments leading to greater appreciation for cultural perspectives and global variety.  To be honest, though, this book usually grabs readers’ attention because of the visceral reactions and ensuing debates of readers.  Yuck!’s brief introduction is followed by chapters featuring bugs, sea creatures, four-legged animals, reptiles and amphibians, fowl, and processed foods/remains.  Back matter consists of one page of additional foods omitted and a short bibliography for further reading. This small 240 page volume is in frequent circulation among readers and non-readers alike.  Each double page spread includes a full color photograph faced by a square of text with a paragraph or two describing the delicacy and its context.  Recommended for independent reading, paired readings, and as a conversation starter on taste, preference, and cultural perspective.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Setchfield, Neil.  Yuck!  the things people eat.  London:  Merrell, 2010.  Print.

Fresh for '01...You Suckas: A Boondocks Collection by Aaron McGruder

If you enjoyed watching The Boondocks on television; or the daily, though sometimes censored, comic strip published in the newspaper; and have missed Huey, Riley and the rest of the residents of Woodcrest, this book might be a good fit for you. The black and white cartoon illustrations compiled from the daily comic strip feature the residents of Woodcrest as Huey and Riley attempt to maintain their cultural identity in their suburban surroundings. Caesar, from Brooklyn, is a welcome addition to Woodcrest, and brings his own humor to the small suburban community. Students enjoy the comic strip format of the book as well as the humor of the characters and their antics. The political commentary is still surprisingly relevant more than a decade after the publication date and can serve as a springboard for discussions about current race relations and politics in America. --Bernardine Lowery-Crute

McGruder, Aaron. Fresh for ‘01...You Suckas. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, 2001. Print.

Spotlight Interview: Bernardine Lowery-Crute

The Passages Academy Libraries team is thrilled to introduce Bernardine Lowery-Crute, Bronx Hope's new librarian.  Bernardine is an accomplished school librarian who will be providing library services to Bronx Hope's students and staff for the remainder of the school year.  Please join us in giving her a warm Passages Academy welcome. --Regan Schwartz 

RS: Can you tell our readers a little bit about your background in teaching and what you were doing before coming aboard the Passages Academy Library team?

BLC: I have worked as a teacher for the Department of Education since 1988. During that time I spent 14 years at the elementary level and taught 1^st grade, kindergarten, third grade and library to grades K – 4. I then spent 10 years at the middle school level where I taught 6^th and 8^th grade English for one year and then library to grades 6 – 8.  Just before becoming a part of the Passages Library team the library in my middle school was closed and I was excessed.

RS: What is your favorite thing to read and your favorite place to read?

BLC: My taste in reading, like my taste in most things, tends to be very eclectic. I seem to go through phases where I just read one genre or another. Almost anything from suspense to mystery to romance to urban fiction can be my favorite for the moment. If I had to pick one favorite above all I would probably say crime drama/mystery. My favorite place to read is lying on the beach but since I only get to do that on vacation, I’d have to say lying in bed.
 
RS: What was your favorite book when you were a teenager?

BLC: When I was a teenager my favorite author would have been Donald Goines. I just could not get enough of him. His writing was real to me in that it reflected what I knew existed in my surroundings even if I led a life that was sheltered enough that it did not exist in my immediate presence.

RS: What do you like to do for fun when you're not reading?

BLC: When I’m not reading I love to lose myself in a movie. I go to the movies probably at least once every week. I love to sit in the dark with a bucket of popcorn and some Goobers and be entertained by the stories being told on the big screen.

Hubble: Imaging Space and Time by David Devorkin and Robert W. Smith

This large-format, stunning collection of full-color enhanced images from the Hubble telescope is perfect for those students who are fascinated by the natural world.  When my inquisitive students turn their wondering gaze to the sky, I’m ready with Hubble: Imaging Space and Time.  While the text is dense and somewhat inaccessible, it does not affect the book’s appeal.  Nearly every page contains large, detailed photos captured by the Hubble telescope, including planets, stars, nebulae, star clusters, galaxies, black holes, and galaxy clusters - rendered in fascinating detail with informative captions.  There are billions of galaxies in the universe, each with billions of stars - and Hubble: Imaging Space and Time is a fantastic introduction to them. Front matter includes a table of contents and foreword by Neil deGrasse Tyson and John Grunsfeld and back matter includes an index, endnotes, suggested reading, and about the authors. --Regan Schwartz

Devorkin, David and Robert W. Smith. Hubble: Imaging Space and Time. Washington D.C.: National Geographic, 2011. Print.

NBA Champions: New York Knicks by Aaron Frisch

Don’t like to read?  This book, and others in the NBA Champions series, have become some of the more heavily-relied upon go-to books.  Go-to, that is,  for students who tell me the first time I meet them in Belmont’s library that they “hate to read and don’t want to see nothing.”  If, in response to my questioning about other interests, they mention basketball, I can usually solicit the name of their favorite team, go to our sports section, and return, handily, with a title from this series.  Silent perusal of the book is most often what I observe next.  What’s inside?  Twenty-four full-color pages with historical pictures and one or two sentences per page.  The captions for the photos are short and accessible.  This book is perfect for the emergent reader who is a Knicks fan and struggling in an independent reading situation.  The text, while unthrilling, does a serviceable job of engaging the reader’s attention in a few facts about the Knicks.  Did you know they formed in 1946?  Or what “Knicks” is short for?  I didn’t either--until now.  A table of contents, an index and glossary make this a suitable pick for reading specialists introducing non-fiction.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Frisch, Aaron.  NBA Champions: The New York Knicks.  Mankato:  Creative Paperbacks, 2012.

Guest Post: Words Unlocked

I began following What’s Good? in the Library several years ago, when I was helping to run a book club with youth charged and incarcerated as adults at DC Jail and searching desperately for new titles for our monthly “book ballot.” I found What’s Good? to be a resource in a way that standard curricula and book lists were not- the librarians posting reviews understood the unique circumstances of working in a detention setting, and embraced the challenge!

April is National Poetry Month, but it can be difficult to tie poetry into programming in a way that is real and relevant. When I heard about the Words Unlocked initiative from the Center for Educational Excellence in Alternative Settings, I felt the same feeling of thankful recognition as when I discovered “What’s Good?” Designed specifically for educators working with youth in detention, the Words Unlocked wiki is loaded with free resources- downloadable lesson plans, worksheets, poem links and more. It also offers a great opportunity to engage nationwide- for educators through the online teacher community, and for youth by entering a national Poetry Contest, to be judged by esteemed authors Jimmy Santiago Baca and R. Dwayne Betts.

Last night, in a writing workshop at a youth detention center, one longtime participant remarked that poetry had changed his life. “Sometimes you have to write things into existence,” he told me.  “If I hadn’t written those poems, I wouldn’t have decided to make new choices.” To get involved, visit Words Unlocked today!

Check out:  http://wordsunlocked.wikispaces.com/  --Juliana Ratner

Juliana Martin Ratner has been writing with incarcerated youth since 2008. She currently facilitates a poetry workshop at New Beginnings Youth Development Center in Washington, DC through a collaboration between Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop and The Beat Within. She also assists the Center for Educational Excellence in Alternative Settings with outreach and special projects.

We Skate Hardcore: Photographs from Brooklyn’s Southside by Vincent Cianni

This popular and evocative collection of mostly black and white photographs documents the vibrant inline skating culture that was thriving in the south side of Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood in the 1990s.  Part photo-journalism and part personal history, We Skate Hardcore weaves the author’s narrative together with photographs (often accompanied by handwritten descriptions by subjects) and interviews.  Southside Williamsburg in the nineties was a neighborhood suffering from high crime and poverty rates.  This book is an homage to these young skaters’ passion and determination to build (sometimes literally!) a better future for themselves.  Additionally, We Skate Hardcore is a window into New York City’s recent history and a very interesting form of memoir, which Social Studies and English teachers may find useful in the classroom.  While the collection is almost entirely school-appropriate, librarians may hope that a vandal takes a scissor to the corner of a page of grainy color photos about fourteen pages from the book’s end. --Regan Schwartz

Cianni, V.  We Skate Hardcore: Photographs from Brooklyn’s Southside.  New York: New York University Press, 2004.  Print.

Hip-Hop Rhyming Dictionary by Kevin M. Mitchell

If you like to write rap lyrics and could only pick one book to be stranded on a desert island (or locked in a small institutional room) with every night for a week, you would likely want to consider Mitchell’s reference work as you make your careful selection.  This pocket-sized paperback was designed for writers on the go, weighing in at a lightweight 180 pages.  One of my favorite lines from the intro reads “Words found offensive are … left out because there are only so many trees we can slay to make this book...”  The slim profile is part of the appeal for the reluctant readers and would-be prolific writer of rhymes.  In addition to the simple-to-use format we couldn’t get enough of in Scholastic’s now out-of-print rhyming dictionary, Mitchell includes accessible and engaging front matter.  These first fifteen pages feature an intro, an explanation of how the book works, five tips for writing, a brief history of rap, and a short bibliography of recommended reading.  Teachers of literacy, ELA and creative writing will find this essential and many a Passages student has articulated a desire not to return a borrowed copy to the library.  Multiple copies strongly recommended. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Mitchell, Kevin M.  Hip-Hop Rhyming Dictionary.  Los Angeles: Firebrand Music, 2003.

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon

“All art is theft.” - Pablo Picasso

This provocative quote opens this intriguing tome of creative advice, wherein Kleon goes on to  expound on his ten essential secrets to unleashing your creative potential in whatever way you can.  Organized like an exploded PowerPoint presentation, each tip is scrawled across a two-page spread, and then elucidated via cartoons, photos, graphic organizers, black-out poetry, and quotes from creative types ranging from John Cleese to Gustave Flaubert.  With advice like, “quit picking fights and go make something,” and “start copying,” Steal Like an Artist is sure to stoke the creative fires in many a frustrated creator.  Included are a list of next steps to take, recommended reading, and deleted scenes of advice that did not make the cut. --Regan Schwartz

Kleon, Austin.  Steal Like an Artist:10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative.  New York: Workman Publishing, 2012.  Print.

Burning Blue by Paul Griffin

Mix top-notch YA writing with tight plotting, suspense, and a mystery to be solved and you have Paul Griffin’s latest.  A gorgeous girl takes a shot of acid to the face and the narrator, a teen hacker who can flip over the wrestling team but is rendered helpless by a seizure disorder every so often, is on the case.  While there’s nothing urban about the book, Passages' students are reading it on the strength of Griffin’s sterling reputation with them.  One student who told me she has spent most of her life in institutions of one kind or another recently stated to me that this book is her current favorite.  A crossover hit with independent urban readers!--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Griffin, Paul.  Burning Blue.  New York: Penguin, 2012.

Megaman Megamix by Hitoshi Ariga

Like classics?  Well Megaman Megamix takes it back to the good ol’ days.  This is the original Megaman we all fell in love with and he’s joined by the rest of the original crew, Roll, Rover, Dr. Light and of course Dr. Wily - they’re all here.  In the future, Dr. Light creates a multitude of robots to help humanity.  Megaman (or Rockman as he is called in the series) is Dr. Light’s robot helper.  Dr. Wily, an evil scientist and old acquaintance of Dr. Light, reprograms all of the robots via computer virus (except for Megaman!) to become destructive.  With Megaman being one of the only robots not affected by Dr. Wily’s virus, Dr. Light is forced to change Megaman from a helper robot to a combat robot.  Megaman receives his very famous Mega-Buster, an arm-mounted energy cannon, along with the ability to steal his adversary's abilities.

In each chapter Megaman will battle it out with different robots all while trying to figure out Dr. Wily’s base of operation.  The series is only three volumes long, but it has all the great things that make Megaman such a great read.  Students who enjoy Pluto or Megaman NT Warrior will likely enjoy reading this series.--Claudio Leon

Ariga, Hitoshi.  Megaman Megamix. Tokyo: Enterbrain INC, 2003. Print.

Pull by B.A. Binns

David Albacore’s proverbial plate is overburdened and beginning to crack under the weight.  The tragic murder of his mother by his estranged father has him questioning his identity and desperate to hold his shattered family together.  He managed to finagle his and his sisters’ way into their aunt Edith’s tiny apartment - a situation he is sure will end the second he’s not bringing home enough money from his second shift construction job.  As if the universe intends to bury him, he is immediately on the wrong side of Malik, the volatile star of his new school’s basketball team, and falling hard for Yolanda Dare, Malik’s gorgeous girlfriend.  Will David be able to hold it all together long enough to graduate?  And if he does, then what?

Fans of Simone Elkeles’ Perfect Chemistry will enjoy this dramatic boy meets girl tale.  With a straightforward narrative, less sophisticated sentence structure, and a very readable mixture of basic language and slang, Pull is accessible to older, less sophisticated readers.  I can’t wait to read the recently released sequel. --Regan Schwartz

Edited to add that a teacher's guide is available here.

Binns, B.A. Pull.  Arlington Heights, IL: All the Color of Love Books, 2010. Print.

Arrest-proof Yourself by Dale Carson and Wes Denham

Want to “stay free?”  Carson and Denham acknowledge that “racism is a problem for society.”  Cluelessness, however, is the reader’s problem, and it’s one that the authors believe the reader can address and control through the study of this self-help volume.  The density of information on the close to 300 pages that follow will overwhelm most developing readers.  The content, however, is so extraordinarily useful to urban teens that educators may consider offering selections and encouraging the reading of the introduction and reader-driven use of the index.  While Carson calls himself out on his own political incorrectness, this does not lessen the value of his perspective and generous information.  Carson is a retired Miami city cop and FBI agent, currently employed as a criminal defense lawyer.  This book remains among the most popular non-fiction titles in our libraries.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber


Carson, Dale C.  and Wes Denham.  Arrest-proof Yourself.  Chicago:  Chicago Review Press, 2007.

The UnConference is Nearly Here!

The 2013 School Libraries Serving Incarcerated and Detained Youth Unconference is a week and a half away!  Join Passages Academy Libraries next Friday, March 22nd for an exciting day of  presentations, workshops, and discussion.  Sign up here.

Pavement Chalk Artist: The three dimensional drawings of Julian Beever by Julian Beever

There is nothing quite like 3D pavement art - those mind bending works of street art that, from just the right perspective, appear to leap off the sidewalk.  In Pavement Chalk Artist, Julian Beever showcases over fifty of his own creations - often including himself and passersby in a creative, and often very amusing, tableau.  Each photograph is accompanied by a brief description of the project, often including a bit of art instruction.  In addition to the luscious, full-color photographs, the book contains a biographical introduction and a brief description of Beever’s anamorphic drawing technique.  This is a captivating book of creative art, as well an in-depth look at one man’s artistic journey.  Students pore over the pictures, often expressing disbelief at what they are seeing and eagerness to try it for themselves.  Pavement Chalk Artist is would make excellent supplementary non-fiction reading for a unit on perspective or for a unit on media and advertising, as that is how Beever generates much of his sidewalk art income.--Regan Schwartz

Beever, Julian.  Pavement Chalk Artist: The three dimensional drawings of Julian Beever. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2010. Print

Programming Spotlight: Alex Simmons visits Crossroads

On Friday, February 22nd, students at Passages Academy-Crossroads were treated to a visit from Alex Simmons, author of Archie Comics: Clash of the New Kids, and organizer of the Kids Comic Con.  He spoke with three classes about his life and career, did some quick drawing instruction, and signed their gift copies of Clash of the New Kids. --Regan Schwartz

Programming Spotlight: Bonnie Erickson visits Crossroads

On Friday, February 8th, Bonnie Erickson, Executive Director of the Jim Henson Legacy, visited with three classes at Passages Academy-Crossroads.  Students were treated to a presentation on the history of the Muppets, including the pitch video for Sesame Street, as well as on Ms. Erickson’s work in advertising around the world.  I’m sure we have some students now contemplating a career with furry monsters!  Thank you, Ms. Erickson! --Regan Schwartz

So Cute You Could Die!: puppies, kitties, bunnies galore! by Jennie Summers

Life can be stressful and unpleasant and sometimes you need to take a moment to relax and remember the wonder of the world around you.  So Cute You Could Die seems tailor-made to the task.  It is 256 wordless pages of adorable, cuddly animals mugging for the camera.  The ultimate stress-free read, So Cute You Could Die is an absorbing book, sure to spark interest and conversation and almost guaranteed to turn bad moods around.  

So Cute You Could Die is a great book for engaging reluctant readers in the library.  It has proven popular with boys and girls alike, and has prompted some serious discussions, from dog breeding and fighting, to wildlife conservation and general wonderings about the intricacies of the animal kingdom. --Regan Schwartz

Summers, Jennie. So Cute You Could Die!: Puppies, Kitties, Bunnies Galore! Philadelphia: Quirk Books, 2007. Print.

The Cartoon History of the United States By Larry Gonick

Looking for history with comic relief? The Cartoon History of the United States is one of the most entertaining history books I’ve ever read.  The book delivers hundreds of years of history about the United States while keeping it all light with witty humor.  The drawings are simple, entertaining and accompanied by large quantities of text, allowing the book to deliver an ample amount of information disguised as a graphic novel. The caricatures are often entertaining and provide the much needed breaks between all the chunks of text.  It feels as if the book is flying through the years, providing just enough information about events to whet students’ appetites.

The Cartoon History of the United States would make an excellent place to start an inquiry project. This text could be used to introduce students to U.S History or as a companion to the course textbook.  Students who enjoy comedy, history and other non-fiction graphic novels might enjoy this selection. --Claudio Leon


Gonick, Larry. The Cartoon History of the United States. HarperCollins, 1991. Print.