I put off all of my required reading until my flight home in order to properly enjoy my favorite spring break pastime: reading purely for fun. The life of an English major is one of novel and play reading, but a Shakespeare play a week greatly limits my time for recreational reading. I attempt to get through as many books as possible, typically sticking to new releases since Christmas break, but occasionally bringing in older works. I made it through five books this break, and here are my opinions on the works.
1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
This book is part of a recent and necessary trend in Young Adult fiction of directly engaging with topics of police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement. Nothing creates empathy quite like getting in a character’s head, and experiencing Starr’s life and the consequences of being the only witness to a cop shooting her peer broke my heart. It has comedic moments, but Angie Thomas created a nuanced, complex story, particularly through Starr’s uncle’s position as a detective and coworker of the shooter. It pulls no punches as it covers a range of issues in Starr’s life, from being one of two black kids at a private school but living in a majority black neighborhood, to secretly dating a white classmate, and ultimately confronting the system of injustice faced by people of color in the U.S. today.
More like this: All American Boys, for a look at two students, one white and one black, and their reactions the week after being involved in an incident of police brutality.
2. The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
I picked up this book based on author alone, as Sáenz’s unique writing of interiority is engaging and fascinating. He creates protagonists who, like most actual people, are not able to completely understand or express their inner thoughts. The lives of three friends as shaped by loss in their senior year of high school is so engaging, and the forging and reshaping of connections rings true to life.
More like this: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, because Sáenz is brilliant and this book won four literature awards.
3. Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen
I was hooked as soon as this book mentioned Diocesan sports teams. The book was clearly written by someone who understood the reality of Catholic high school, the good and bad of making faith such a prominent part of education and teenage life. The conflict exists in the space of the protagonist’s crush on her (female) best friend, and the secrecy and ultimate confrontation with her classmates and the school administration, who are not about to start a group like PRISM at their high school. It isn’t all happy, but it legitimately engages with questions of faith, community support, and loss of relationships.
More like this: Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farsid, which is a great look at Iranian Muslim student’s perspective on her sexuality and her U.S. high school.
4. Who Tells Your Story?: History, Pop Culture, and Hidden Meanings in the Musical Phenomenon by Valerie Estelle Frankel
This was a fun, lighthearted read about the history and impact of the musical Hamilton. It served as the perfect beach read, and was a great resource to pull together a lot of the dialogue surrounding the musical. I was only really surprised by one or two facts, but I think that is just a testament to my love of the musical. Regardless, the book was a quick, enjoyable read.
More like this: Hamilton: The Revolution. It’s fantastic and oft-quoted in the aforementioned book.
5. And I Darken by Kirsten White
I don’t read a ton of historical fiction, but the description of this book as a ‘gender-swapped Vlad the Impaler’ drew me in. I don’t know a ton about the Ottoman Empire, yet White laid out clearly the context for the story by following the childhoods and teenage life of Lada and her brother in this first in the trilogy. It blends politics, war (the Crusades), and a conversion story seamlessly, and the integration of the perspective of both the siblings, Lada and her brother Radu, and their differing specialties is phenomenal. I was so disappointed when I hit the end, and realized I needed to wait for the next book. Thankfully, because I took so long to get to this book, the sequel, Now I Rise, comes out on June 27th.
More like this: A Thousand Pieces of You, a multiverse-hopping novel that exists in a variety of universes and sometimes in places like 19th century Russia.
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