ALAN Picks (March 2024)

ALAN Picks: Women’s History Month-Past to Present

This month’s ALAN Picks features books that focus on the experience of teenage girls coming of age in different time periods. Beginning in the 1930s, For Lamb by Lesa Cline-Ransome shares the experiences of a Black family in Jackson, Mississippi. Set in the 1950s, Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo tells the story of a Chinese-American girl navigating her sexuality. In a contemporary setting, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson is about one summer in the life of a Métis girl living on the Canadian prairies dealing with race, trauma and coming of age. 

Looking For Teen Reviewers: If you know students who are interested in writing book reviews of recently published young adult and middle grade books, let them know they can write for ALAN Picks too! 

ALAN Picks Book Selections: ALAN Picks accepts reviews of books published from spring 2020 to present-day, including soon-to-be-released books. This gives ALAN members who are interested in reviewing books more great titles to choose from, as well as accommodate some great books released during the beginning of the pandemic that still deserve highlighting. If you have some books in mind that you would like to review, please reach out to me!

Let Us Know How You Use ALAN Picks! If you read an ALAN Picks review and end up using the book with your students, let us know! We want to hear all of your great stories and engaging ways you are using young adult and middle grades literature in your classrooms. Remember, ALAN Picks are book reviews by educators for educators! Click on the archives to see previous editions.

Submit a Review: Would you like to submit a review? Check out ALAN Picks for submission guidelines and email ALAN Picks Editor, Richetta Tooley at richetta.tooley@gmail.com with the book title you are interested in reviewing. Rolling deadline.

–  Richetta Tooley, ALAN Picks Editor

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Synopsis: For Lamb takes place in the 1930s in Jackson Mississippi. Told primarily from the perspective of a brother and sister, Lamb and Simeon, with excerpts from their mother Marion. Simeon is the ambitious older brother with big dreams determined to leave the South and attend college. Lamb, as her name entails, is quiet as a lamb and a bit naive. The novel also follows Marion’s attempts to navigate her lesbian sexuality. Their lives will change drastically when Lamb takes part in a biracial friendship that leads to horror and obstacles in the Jim Crow South.  

Review:

Lesa Cline-Ransome’s, For Lamb, highlights the many injustices and trauma of a Black family living in the Jim Crow South. Ransome’s writing makes it an emotional and intriguing read. The motivations and perspectives of the different family members invite an intriguing reading experience. While Simeon fights against white supremacy, Marion finds it best to avoid conflict and be submissive. Although there is mention of sexual assault and lynching the book has a much-needed mix of sensitivity.

Suggestions for Curriculum & Classroom Use

Character Analysis

For Lamb has a rich display of characters and their development. Allow students to engage in a deeper look at characters through the use of diagrams. There are two examples provided above because students should have a choice in how they display their creative knowledge. With the text being told through different lenses we get a deeper look into who each character is and how they think. We then allow students to keep track of these perceptions to consider how this functions with their own identities.

Essential Questions

• For teachers: How can we approach topics such as lynching with young adults?
• How does this text create a conversation about racial bias?
• How do the differing lenses in the text cosign with how you read it? Who do you relate to most?

Formative/Summative Assessments

Formative:
Since the story is told through different lenses, I would have students make a diagram, as displayed above, that displays the similarities and differences between characters as they read. This can pertain to physical attributes, opinions on controversial topics, personality traits, etc. These diagrams can be checked at certain points throughout the reading of the novel to ensure progress. This will set the framework for the summative assessment.

Summative:
Now that students have been analyzing how the characters in For Lamb function within each other, I want to encourage students to consider how their racial identity fits into their reading of this novel. Students will first examine their characteristics, identities, physical attributes, etc. Looking at the diagram they have made through the reading they will write a paper responding to how their similarities and differences with the characters impacted how they read the text.

Reviewed by: Cayden Clark-Johnson & Maddison Rumrey

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Synopsis: Lily Hu is a seventeen year old girl in 1950’s San Francisco. Coming from the cultural background of a Chinese-American girl and growing up in the 1950’s being gay or showing support for the LGTBQ+ was something that was not only frowned upon, it was practically illegal to be gay. This was not a problem until Lily Hu met Kathleen Miller and developed feelings for her, a relationship that only fueled the public perspective of the ‘lavender scare.’

Review

Last Night at the Telegraph Club focuses on the journey of Lily Hu. It delves into love, career, family and cultural environment and looks at how those are all drastically impacted by the time and setting of being Chinese-American in San Francisco in the 1950’s. Historically the Red Scare and the Lavender Scare are happening around them. This leads to everyone who is not ‘white’, ‘heterosexual’ or ‘normal, to be considered ‘other’. ‘Others’ are considered to be high risk in terms of being Communists. Now while Lily’s parents were regarded very highly in the community prior to the increase of the ‘Red Scare’, now they are seen as high risk. Lily Hu has dreams of being a rocket scientist. Lily and her friend Kathleen develop a common interest in STEM and ‘flying’ to an extent. Kathleen wants to be a pilot, another career of which there are very few women. The two grow close to one another and after a few instances where Lily feels as though this is a little more than just friendship. This book develops a sense of what Lily is going through in terms of seeking education, shelter, and representation after finding out about what it means to be queer. From sneaking around and being confused to cultivating a new part of herself, the book encapsulates a lot of growth and historical meaning to what it is like to be a queer woman of color during a tumultuous time in history. 

Suggestions for Curriculum & Classroom Use

Thematic Connections and Essential Questions

• The connection between Lily and Kathleen wanting to be involved in the sciences that both require elevation-  a rocket scientist and a pilot, going up and into the sky. What does this mean and how can it connect to the time frame and cultural implication?
• The Telegraph Club is a safe haven for the two young women. What aspects can we see besides providing a safe space for Lily can we see the Telegraph having? What does this say about the community and the implications it might have for both queer people and people of color?

Teaching Strategies and Activities to Use:
I am a big fan of storyboarding or scene scaffolding. Taking out a scene from the novel and picking parts of the scene to discuss the significance of a character or environment within the novel. Like taking the first introduction of the telegraph club and drawing it and providing a paragraph or maybe a scene of Lily and Kathleen meeting and dissecting their first conversation to hunt for allusions or foreshadowing.

Formative and Summative Assessment Suggestions:

For an assessment I would recommend a written response, short answer essay. I have written the following prompts:

• What voices does this text include?
• Are certain people or groups glaringly absent or given an insubstantial role?
• Does the text include stereotypes or misrepresentations of people? How are those stereotypes or misrepresentations treated?
• Does the text accurately reflect lived experiences and cultures? If so, please explain. 
• Are certain questions or issues related to the topic left out/glossed over? If not explain how they are supported or promoted main-stream?
• Does this text promote a healthy self-concept?
• Does this text foster intergroup understanding?

Reviewed by: Kathryn Zahnke-Gant, Student, West Lafayette, IN

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Synopsis: The Summer of Bitter and Sweet is a realistic fiction young adult novel that covers topics such as coming of age, sexuality, race, and family life. The story centers on the life of Lou, an aspiring academic who hides her ethnic identity to fit in socially. Lou and her family are the proud owners of the local ice cream shop in town. The story tells all about Lou’s summer, her friendships, and her struggle with sexuality and life as a teenage girl.

Review

Jen Furguson created a story that displays adolescent adversity with respect and maturity that is often lacking. What we appreciated about her storytelling is that there was little bluffing and an accurate representation of the teenage mind. Ferguson highlights reality by adding the sort of struggles Lou faces with the potential reappearance of her father, financial issues in the family, and difficulty in her relationships. The story maintained a sense of realness because it was not trying to hide struggles or romanticize them. Despite this, there were moments throughout the text that felt quite chaotic. There was a point where as a reader it felt as though the author had introduced conflict in too many aspects of Lou’s life that the reader felt overwhelmed just as much as Lou was. In some fashion that may be an effective use of theauthor’s story, but it forces the reader to have to take a step back in multiple instances. Nevertheless, the text overall accurately represented the adversity that is being an adolescent which could be appreciated more from an adolescent perspective rather than that of a college student.

Suggestions for Curriculum & Classroom Use

Activity: Draw a diagram with different ice cream bins on it and let the flavors represent different themes. Then have an ingredient list where the students can write in different ways the theme is shown. Students can incorporate textual evidence in order to create rigor, then have a group discussion after. Example: An ice cream bin labeled “race” and on the ingredient list they would write down for example the convenience store scene where Lou’s ID gets taken and include page numbers.  

Formative and Summative Assessments:
Students can be formally assessed on the components of this novel by creating a visual poster showing how the different parts of Lou’s life intertwine. There are a few significant parts to this novel which are Lou’s battle with being both Métis and white, Lou’s relationship with both of her parents and other members of her family and Lou’s internal struggles with her romantic interests and friendships. To effectively gauge whether students understand all the different concepts presented in the novel as well as test their ability to process what these ideas could mean further regarding concepts such as race and different cultures.

Reviewed by: Cailyn Davis, Student, Lafayette, IN and Lauren Crisci, Student, Carmel, IN