ALAN Picks: Addressing Relationships Through Fiction
In this month’s ALAN Picks we feature a mix of young adult and middle grade books that deal with mental health issues, the experiences of children with undocumented family and fantasy folklore. Stuck in Her Head by Kylie Wang and Liana Tang is a contemporary YA graphic novel about intense expectations for a child prodigy and the relationships she is trying to navigate. The Girl in the Walls by Meg Eden Kuyatt is a novel in verse that examines neurodivergence, generational trauma, and the lingering legacy of institutionalization. Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer De Leon is contemporary YA novel about a girl integrating a Boston school while dealing with the loss of her father due to deportation. The Enchanted Life of Valentina Mejia by Alexandra Alessandri a middle grade fantasy that is framed in Colombian folklore.
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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
A Prodigy, Intense Expectations and Navigating Relationships
Stuck in Her Head by Kylie Wang and Liana Tang
Publisher: Earnshaw Books
Publish Date: October 24, 2023
Page Count: 218
ISBN: 9888769987
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Synopsis: Stuck in Her Head follows the story of two friends, Naomi and Emma, who were brought together as children through a common thread – music. However, that common thread seems to fray every passing day, and music is pushed to the back of their minds. Naomi struggles with feelings of anxiety and hatred towards the career she’s always thought to pursue while attempting to find a label that fits her feelings. Meanwhile, Emma must overcome a dark depressive state that’s been accompanied by the divorce of her parents, her struggle to express her sexual identity, and her fear of having to move away from the city and friends she calls home. Lying to protect Emma’s feelings, Naomi pushes the friendship to a breaking point, during which Naomi must focus on healing herself and Emma must seek professional help with her mental health. The story follows the two friends finding their way back to each other in a healthier, more stable friendship than ever before.
Review: While I am glad to have read Stuck in Her Head, I will say that its representation of mental illness and the possible causes of mental illness is very shallow, and will likely come across as slightly unrealistic and shallow to readers with a basic understanding of mental health. Aside from that, however, I really enjoyed the novel and its interesting storyline of two friends brought together and torn apart by the same common interest. I also appreciate the hopeful ending that shows that there is light at the end of the road for those who may have faced the struggles that Naomi and Emma did throughout this story.
Suggestions for Curriculum & Classroom Use
Thematic Elements: This graphic novel features many thematic elements that students could further analyze and relate to other works and media, as well as their own experiences and lives.
- Parent/Child Relationships
- Sexuality
- Unrequited/Impossible Love
- Anxiety
- Depression
Essential Questions:
- Should someone stop pursuing a talent that they are very skilled at if it meant they would be happier?
- Why is there so much unease and discomfort surrounding change?
- Do the decisions we make as teenagers really have that much of an impact on the rest of our lives?
- Is lying ever okay, even if we’re doing so to protect a friend? Think as though you were the one being lied to, would you want to know the truth?
- Are the depictions of mental health in this novel accurate in your opinion? Why or why not? How could the authors have addressed the issue more appropriately?
- Is distance between friends always a bad thing?
- Did the friendship displayed in this novel make you think of your own friendships? Are there any insights into your friendships that you may have gathered from reading?
Teaching Strategies and Activities:
- As a class, look up real-life statistics revolving around teen mental health.
- Ask students how this research compares to the representation of mental health in the novel.
- Ask students why an accurate depiction of mental health may be important.
- Jigsaw Activity
- As tables of four, students will be counted off into groups that they will separate into. With their group members, they will read an article/story regarding teen mental health, resources, etc. Then, students will return to their original tables, where they will go around and share what their article was about with their table mates.
- Compare and contrast the stories/articles.
- Instruct students to write about a moment in the novel they found relatable (they may write about personal experiences, stories they’ve heard, etc.). DO NOT label papers with names, but instead with some other non-identifiable mark.
- The instructor will collect these papers, and then randomly distribute the papers back to the class.
- Students will write on each other’s papers, reflecting and relating to each other’s experiences.
- At the end of class, students will find their original paper and review the comments left on it.
Formative/Summative Assessments
Formative Assessments:
- Students will engage in a classroom discussion regarding issues and events that teenagers are likely to face during their time as high schoolers that may negatively impact their mental health. Students are welcome to share their own experiences during this discussion, but may also participate in other ways like discussing the possible consequences of these issues and how they may be addressed at a teenager’s level. Students will be graded on participation.
Summative Assessments:
- Students are asked to consider how moments in this novel reminded them of their relationships; this reflection should prompt them to think about what facilitates healthy, stable relationships, but also how problems revolving around their own relationships were solved in the past. Then, students will write a letter from the perspective of Naomi and Emma apologizing for their actions and explaining what may have prompted them to be upset (letters by “Naomi” should be addressed to Emma, and vice versa). Students will be graded on their analyses of each character’s emotions and motivations leading up to the friends’ blow-up, as well as incorporating their own problem-solving ideas into the letter as if presenting possible solutions to mend the relationship with the other friend.
- Students are tasked with creating a Public Service Announcement poster regarding mental health, incorporating real-life statistics and resources, but also quotes from the novel that may reflect the feelings surrounding mental illness and seeking help.
Reviewed by Lillian Mantooth, a student at the University of South Florida
Learning to Listen to our Ghosts
The Girl in the Walls by Meg Eden Kuyatt
Publication Date: May 20, 2025
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pages: 288
ISBN: 9781546110538
Genre: middle grade/novel-in-verse
Synopsis: V is used to being different from her friends. She has an entire dresser drawer stuffed full of colorful cartoon socks to prove it. However, following an unfortunate altercation with her middle school art teacher, her mother sends her to spend the summer with her grandmother. Grandma Jojo hates her colorful socks. In fact, Jojo believes that it is high time for her granddaughter to abandon such childish interests. Resigned to the fact that her grandmother will never understand her, V begins to explore the hidden spaces in her grandmother’s home. When she meets a ghost-girl living in the walls, it soon becomes apparent that her grandmother has secrets of her own. In this haunting novel-in-verse, The Girl in the Walls turns the traditional ghost story on its head to examine neurodivergence, generational trauma, and the lingering legacy of institutionalization.
Review: The Girl in the Wall is a hauntingly beautiful middle-grade novel-in-verse that examines the lasting impact of generational trauma—as well as the painful history of institutionalization—through its unfolding paranormal mystery. When the girl in the walls suggests initiating a series of seemingly harmless pranks, the main character is delighted to have discovered a kindred spirit. However, as these pranks grow more and more sinister in nature, it soon becomes clear to the reader that there is more to the girl in the wall than meets the eye. Indeed, the ghost in this story functions as a means for the protagonist—and the author—to confront past wrongs. In the end, Kuyatt leans into the paranormal genre to ask what it takes to right those wrongs, inviting the reader to imagine a more hopeful future for the neurodivergent community.
Suggestions for Curriculum & Classroom Use
Thematic Connections: The Girl in the Wall introduces themes that are certain to make it an important addition to any text-set related to neurodivergent representation:
- Generational Trauma and Healing
- Neurodivergence and Autism
- Masking and Social Camouflaging
- The History of Institutionalization
Essential Questions:
- Why do individuals wear masks, both literal and metaphorical, to conceal their identities?
- How does the history of institutionalization continue to shape social perceptions of neurodivergence?
- What steps can individuals take to begin to heal from generational trauma?
Teaching Strategies and Activities:
- Artful Assemblages: In this multimodal assignment, students will explore the concept of assemblage as an art form. Early in the novel, Cat describes assemblage as an artform where discarded items are transformed into something beautiful. Using recycled household items, students will create an assemblage that represents one of the main characters in the novel: V, Jojo, or Cat. Their assemblage should use found objects to represent various character traits. Alongside their assemblage, students will write a reflective paragraph to explain their choices and how their work connects to key passages from the novel.
- Poetry for Multiple Voices: This creative writing assignment invites students to explore the use of poetic form, specifically focusing on two-voice poetry. Throughout the novel, Kuyatt uses distinct formatting to create poems with multiple voices. After studying these poems, students will analyze additional works, including selections from Joyful Noise by Paul Fleishman. Students will then interview someone from a different generation—such as a parent, guardian, or community member—to learn about their childhood. Using this information, students will craft their own two-voice poem that enters into dialogue with the person they interviewed.
- We Wear the Mask: In this assignment, students will explore the concept of masking, or social camouflaging. Begin by reading “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar. The lesson should foreground the poem’s historical context, before explaining how masking extends to neurodivergence. While everyone masks at times, neurodivergent individuals often mask more frequently in social situations to avoid judgement. Invite students to consider the metaphorical masks that various characters wear throughout The Girl in the Walls. Then invite students to craft poetry about their own metaphorical masks. Teachers might encourage students to experiment with pastiche, an approach that invites students to imitate the style, tone, and techniques found in “We Wear the Mask.”
- Hidden Histories: In this activity, students will research the history of public psychiatric hospitals using teacher-curated informational texts. Given the sensitivity of the topic, teachers should take great care to ensure that these articles are grounded in research that avoids reproducing ableist assumptions. Instead, the purpose of this assignment is to help students better understand how the history of institutionalization continues to shape social perceptions of neurodivergent individuals. The Girl in the Walls includes an important character who was institutionalized prior to the start of the novel. Through their research into these hidden histories, students will be able to better understand Grandma Jojo and her motivations throughout much of the narrative.
Formative/Summative Assessments
Formative Assessment: The Girl in the Walls withholds a considerable amount of information from the reader at first. Since the mystery in the novel unfolds gradually, teachers might encourage students to track potential clues as they read through double-entry journal entries. The double-entry journal method gives students the opportunity to enter into a dialogue with the text: the left side of the double-entry journal includes quoted passages from the text, while the right side includes student commentary on those passages. This active reading strategy can be used to encourage cognitive reading skills, including asking questions, making predictions, and drawing inferences. These skills are particularly important when reading narratives that require a high tolerance for ambiguity, including many novels-in-verse.
Summative Assessment: There are multiple directions that a teacher could take in terms of a summative assessment for this novel, including the traditional literary analysis essay. Teachers might leverage traditional approaches to invite students to analyze the intersections between poetic form and character development. For those interested in a more creative approach to assessment, students could also produce their own illustrated poetry chapbooks in response to themes found in the novel. The chapbook approach merges the creative and the critical, giving students the opportunity to engage in multimodal writing practices as they work to produce their own published poetry collections.
Reviewed by Ashlynn Wittchow, Assistant Professor of English Education, Louisiana State University
Navigating a New School and Family Loss
Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer De Leon
Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Publish Date: August 18, 2020
Page Count: 336
ISBN: 978-1534438248
Genre: YA Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
Synopsis: Liliana is a 15-year-old girl who just started a new school, in suburban Boston. Liliana has to travel every day from the city of Boston to the suburb of Westburg, she is part of a school desegregation program called METCO and Liliana only agrees to go because she knows it is what her father would want her to do because she knows the education and opportunities in Westburg could help her get into college. Liliana knows that METCO is a great opportunity but fitting in and being accepted even by her fellow METCO peers is more difficult than she anticipated. While Lilana is learning how to navigate a new school, she learns that the reason why her dad has been gone for so long, he was deported back to Guatemala. Liliana juggles the new school, family responsibilities, new and old friendships while trying to figure out who she is and how she fits in at school along with how well she wants her new friends to really know who she is and where she is from.
Review: Don’t Ask Me Where does well at showing representation on children of immigrant parents, specifically parents from Central America. The additional difficulties and worries of having undocumented parents while still trying to balance everyday life and appear like a normal American teen is shown through Liliana and her experiences at her new school. The everyday microaggression that people of color often experience are as subtle as they are in real life but through Liliana it can be seen how impactful, hurtful and othering they can feel.
Essential Questions for Teaching
- How can I promote a sense of belonging for marginalized individuals?
- How can we understand perspectives and identities that are different from our own?
Culturally Responsive Strategies
Do the activity found in chapter 31 and ask students the following questions:
- What is it you want us to know about you in terms of race and culture?
- What is something you never want to hear again?
- How can we be allies and assist you?
Formative/Summative Assessments
Summative Assessments
Write a letter, speech, or article that answers the following question:
How will I promote a sense of belonging for marginalized individuals within my community?_________________________________________________
In your research and writing, choose some of the following supporting questions to answer.
- What is my community like now? What are some of the experiences of marginalized people in my community that show your community’s overall sense of belonging (or lack thereof)?
- What do I hope for my community in the future? What would a community with a stronger sense of belonging look like? How can I contribute and make that possible?
- What is my call to action to other community members? What do I hope they also do to improve sense of belonging?
- What organizations can I contribute to in order to improve sense of belonging in my community? What can I do to support these organizations?
The audience for work should be a specific person or group of people you want to encourage to take action and that will hold you accountable to your planned actions. Choose who this will be and plan to share your polished final product with them at the end of the project.
Reviewed by Alicia Lawson
A Middle Grade Fantastical Journey Through Colombian Folklore
The Enchanted Life of Valentina Mejia by Alexandra Alessandri
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publish Date: Feb. 21, 2023
Page Count: 213
ISBN: 978-1-6659-1705-6
Genre: Fantasy
Synopsis: Twelve-year-old aspiring artist Valentina Mejia has grown up listening to her father’s stories of Colombian folklore: tales of magic and monsters that once roamed the Colombian lands many years ago. Her father believes such creatures still exist and wishes to find them with Valentina and her kid brother Julian, much to Valentina’s dismay. One day, during an expedition in the mountains, a terrible earthquake strikes, hurting Valentina’s father and trapping both her and Julian in a dark cave. With no other options, the duo travels deeper underground and discovers that the mythical beings of Colombia are, in fact, real. With no other way to return home and aid their father, Valentina and Julian must travel across a forgotten land of magic to seek an audience with the only person who can help: Madremonte’, Mother Mountain, protector of the Earth. The novel within itself is a great starter for students who love reading, who love the idea of understanding that it is ok to write about their life via using the mythology of their countries and integrating it within their made-up characters. Which is a lovely novel as I myself love to read and write but not to use my real name or others in my life as a form to keep a bit more privacy.
Review: Alessandri uses Colombian mythos in this middle-grade fantasy novel to challenge and critique the causes of violence and environmental destruction in South America. By situating the magical causes and effects of these themes alongside the real-world issues, Alessandri opens the door for middle-grade readers to be able to compare and contrast the fantastical elements with their reality, becoming aware of how they might fit into a world where violence and the environment are increasingly important parts of their lived-in experiences.
Thematic Connections:
- Guerrilla
- Warfare
- Paramilitaries
- Drug Lords
- Government
- Terrorism
- Deforestation and Climate Change’s Effects on Wildlife
- Plastic Pollution’s Effect on Ocean Wildlife
Essential Questions:
- Why should the United States be more accepting of immigrants at our Southern border?
- What effects can macro-level government policies have on micro-level people like Valentina’s father?
- Why should we care about what happens to the Amazon rainforest?
- Why should we care about plastic pollution?
Culturally responsive and sustaining teaching strategies
Allow students to critique and analyze societal inequities by drawing a Venn diagram to compare and contrast things in the real world and things that happened in the book. However, students can also be a bit argumentative so they could also do a Socratic seminar.
- Socratic Seminar Questions:
- What lessons have you learned from the main character? How and why are they important?
- What do you think the main character(s) should have done?
- Can you think of ways the main character(s) should react to certain situations that happen?
Formative/Summative Assessments
Formative: Students can create maps of Tierra de los Olvidados, Land of the Forgotten, in their writer’s notebooks. They can track Valentina’s and Julian’s progress as they read chapters each week, noting where the characters are and what happens in the novel when violence and the environment are mentioned.
- First, students will gather all materials needed (writer’s notebook, pencil/pen, highlighter, and book
- Read the chapter assigned for the week and highlight important key details as you follow along the main charters adventure.
- Draw a map to point out where they end up in and small details to who they meet or what they do.
- Lastly, students can share their completed maps, comparing what they each noted about violence and the environment as they read. As a class, they can compile everything they learned onto an anchor chart, which can remain on the classroom wall as a reference to these themes in this unit and others.
Summative: Depending on the unit or how the book is taught to the student, they could have a quiz/test about the book where it concludes everything they have learned. Optional: write an essay about personal experiences or how they relate to the character in the novel which will be as heavily weighted as the quiz/test.
Reviewed by Ximena Rangel