High School Pick: Here To Stay

Here To Stay
by Sara Farizan
Algonquin Young Readers
2018
204 pages
ISBN: 9781616208721

Shy teen Bijan Mijadi  loves basketball and plays on his school's JV squad. When he's called up to the varsity squad and sinks  with the winning basket, he's his school's new  hero. Students congratulate him and the coach even asks Bijan to join the varsity squad for the rest of the season. Not everyone is happy to see Bijan join the team. Some people want him to fail.

When a photo of Bijan is photoshopped  to make him look like a terrorist, the school administrator is outraged and vows to find the culprit and punish him or her. Some students rally  together to champion Bijan, but he just wants the incident to go away. Islamophobia and hate speech does not just "go away" his mother insists. She and other parents meet and pass out flyers to rally the community. Bijan is now poster boy for a movement he wants no part of. Can't he just play basketball and crush on cute girl Elle in peace?

Play by play announcers,real-life basketball announcers Kevin and Reggie (Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller),  provide narration for some of Bijan's inner thoughts and epic fails. Their tongue-in-cheek banter makes this novel special. Basketball terminology and the mention of game legends like Bill Laimbeer (legendary bad boy player fans loved to hate) make Here To Stay a smart addition to sports fiction. It's obvious that Farizan knows a thing or two about the sport.

This timely topic will resonate with readers of all backgrounds. Bijan is a character they'll fall in love with. Here To Stay will be on the top of all awards lists this season! Can you say TAYSHAS?

Highly, highly recommended grade 8-up. A MUST READ.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Middle Grades Pick: The Night Diary

The Night Diary
by Verra Hirandani
2019
Dial Books for Young Readers
258 pages
 glossary of terms

A compelling read for middle grades, The Night Diary is a series of letters (diary entries) written by twelve-year old Nisha to her mother who died in childbirth.

The year is 1947 and India is facing freedom from British rule. As the British move out, India struggles with religious upheaval and in-fighting. India splits into two countries with two religious groups. Pakistan becomes mostly Muslim and India mostly Hindu. The split causes millions of refugees to flee their homes.

Nisha's parents come from two religious backgrounds. Her doctor father is Hindu and married her Muslim mother (now deceased). The family  lives in what becomes Pakistan. Violence erupts around them, the kids are forced to leave their school. It is no longer safe for the family to stay in their home. Nisha is forced to say goodbye to the beloved family cook Kazi who is Muslim. Leaving under cover of  the night, her father, Nisha, her twin brother Amil and their paternal grandmother flee and attempt to cross the border into what they hope is a safer life. Along the way, Nisha witnesses violence and murder as overloaded trains carry the refugees across the border. They stay with Nisha's uncle (her mother's brother)  who keeps them safe until the children make friends with a neighbor girl which could put them all in danger. Uncle also tells Nisha about her mother and what kind of a person she was.

Nisha questions why all this fighting is happening. Why are people fighting and getting killed just because of their religion? Throughout the book, her father is closed off from the children. Nisha and Amil are rarely shown attention and never love from him. Nisha turns to her diary where she finds solace from the world around her and love from a mother she never knew.

The Night Diary tells a story probably unfamiliar to most western children. Even in history books, classes rarely get beyond World War I. More recent history, even American history, is never touched upon. The Korean War, Vietnam, the Gulf War may not even be mentioned.

The book is marketed for an older audience: grade 8 and up, but I question using a twelve year old narrator. I would place this book middle grades and important for its historical perspective.

Grade 5 and up.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Thriller Pick: Cold Calls

Cold Calls
by Charles Benoit
Clarion Books
2014
288 pages
ISBN: 9780544239500



A late night phone call, a disguised voice, a threat. The caller knows him and has been in his room. Eric is afraid to trust the caller, but he's more afraid of what the caller will do if he doesn't do what is expected of him. The caller has ammunition and is willing to use it if Eric doesn't do his bidding. Eric follows through with the prank and finds himself in a detention class at the community center  for bullies.

Fatima and Shelly are in the class with Eric. They discover that each of them has had a threat from an unknown caller who directed them to pull similar pranks at their schools. Suddenly, it becomes clear that the caller is the same person for each of them. How does the caller know them and how are they tied together? They were all threatened and blackmailed by the same caller but now the kids join forces to try and discover  who is threatening them. The more they discover, the tighter they each hold their own secret.

The book is marketed as "Pretty Little Liars meets The Breakfast Club," but fans of the Liars series may be left wanting more as far as fashion and love interests. The main characters are likeable enough but a bit one-sided. Maybe not enough time passes in the book for the characters to fully develop and experience change. Although the kids  learn to work together, their  "friendship" appears fleeting. The cell phone/cyber bully is an interesting addition to YA lit but not a welcome one. The fact that Cold Calls seems like familiar territory  makes this book real for readers.

Recommended grade 9-up. Mature subject matter and cyber bullying and talk of explicit cell phone photos.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)