Flux

The Latte Rebellion

brittany — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Asha Jamison’s classmates are quick to categorize her. She is called both a “towelhead” and “barely Asian.” Asha and her best friend Carey have a harder time describing their own ethnicities. Asha is part Indian, part Mexican, and part Irish, while Carey is half Chinese and half Caucasian. When they begin describing themselves as lattes—a mix of coffee and milk—they start brainstorming ways to distribute their idea to other multiethnic teens and coffee lovers. The Latte Rebellion is born, first only through t-shirt sales that Asha and Carey hope to use for a post-graduation trip but spiraling quickly into a viral social movement.

Things get out of hand, though, when other chapters of the movement take the message too far. Asha promotes peaceful rallies, but others resort to hate speech and violence. The Latte Rebellion becomes targeted as a terrorist group, and Asha is forced to go before the school board for a disciplinary hearing as a result of her involvement. Now more than ever, Asha must find her voice and speak out for what The Latte Rebellion is truly about: empowerment, belonging, and identity.

Sarah Jamila Stevenson’s The Latte Rebellion sports a gorgeously textured cover, and it was the side-by-side glossy and matte finishes that lured me into the book initially. I can’t help but be tempted by a delicious-looking cup of coffee. While I couldn’t always identify with Asha’s struggle, I admired the book’s promotion of mixed-ethnicity understanding and acceptance. I was rooting for Asha, though after reading a book about advocacy—albeit a fictional one—I would have liked to have gotten more riled up. Throughout much of the novel, it was hard to accept that these teens cared about much more than their t-shirt sales, vacation plans, and cute guys. They are teenagers, after all.

The Latte Rebellion is founded on a solid premise, but its message is one that can be grasped quickly from the first few chapters. Much of the remainder dragged on and on. Unfortunately, I found this book to be short on substance, too much milk and not enough coffee. (If you are not a fan of the latte metaphor, this book is most certainly not for you, as they are used in abundance.) Perhaps teens who can relate better to Asha’s quest will find more meaning behind The Latte Rebellion’s manifesto and pursue their own journey toward social change. As for me, I’ll stick with the coffee and the cool t-shirt.

Written by: Melanie Goodman, April 9th 2011

Chasing Alliecat

barbara — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 08:00:00 +0000

By Rebecca Fjelland Davis

Flux

In this action-packed thriller written for a young adult audience, author Rebecca Fjelland Davis brings multiple themes to the forefront, places them on the table and gets dirty—dirty as in riding mountain bikes in the woods of a small town and scarily getting involved with some unsavory characters in the wilds of northern Minnesota. With a plot interwoven with themes of death, friendship, family, and abuse, this novel provokes your senses and makes it all worthwhile. At the end of the novel, you hope for a sequel, because you want to know what is going to happen next for the well-drawn characters.

Sixteen-year old protagonist Sadie Lester arrives to stay with her aunt and uncle's home in the woods for the summer and expects the worst. Hoping to escape from her eternally fretting aunt and her wacky uncle, Sadie takes her bike out for a spin and meets Allison Baker (known as Alliecat). Alliecat appears a bit rough around the edges, but she eagerly invites Sadie to ride with her and to enter a mountain bike competition upcoming in the area. She also keeps her life mysteriously guarded; this curious character keeps the the story flowing. Soon after becoming friends the two girls, along with Sadie's cousin Joe, come upon a nearly dead body in the woods. Uncharacteristically, Alliecat disappears, leaving both Sadie and Joe to face new worries.

Along with her complex handling of the plot, Davis also lends her experience as a serious bicyclist to the novel. References to contemporary cyclists and technical bicycle machinery dot the surface of the novel as the story unfolds. The camaraderie of the bicycling community offers a support system for the main characters as they experience fear in dealing with difficult situations.

This story keeps the reader guessing. The mystery unfolds as the characters mindfully try to figure out what is going on and how to protect themselves. Multiple themes, many of them somewhat mature (including death, relationships, and abuse), become a little overwhelming, but the author delivers enough information to tie up loose ends as well as to insert her ideas of the young peoples' thoughts and needs to make the story complete.

Winner of the honorable mention in the Loft Award for Children's Literature/Older Children, Chasing Alliecat is quite an accomplishment. Davis opens up an amazing door of adventure.

Written by: Carolyn Espe, March 23rd 2011

How to Ruin Your Boyfriend's Reputation

admin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:55:00 +0000

By Simone Elkeles

Flux

The world of young adult books never ceases to be amazing. With a range of topics reminding us of our stressful adolescent selves, young adult books hold a set amount of information about friendships with other girls, jealousy, boyfriends, questions about sex, and overall embarrassing experiences that the characters will laugh about when they look back on their lives.

How to Ruin Your Boyfrend's Reputation fits perfectly into this mold. The third in a series by Simone Elkeles, this specific work explores a young woman's issues of sex, commitment to boyfriends, and the pettiness of some relationships with other girls. If we remember our younger attitudes of what is "cool" and important, we can easily identify with protagonist Amy Nelson-Bakar.

Amy signs up with her friends for a youth "bootcamp" in Israel. Although Amy’s friends join for more giving reasons, like learning about their Jewish culture, her ulterior motive is to see a boyfriend stationed at this specific base. She chooses to surprise him, and in doing so, he surprises her with his seriousness and responsibility as a slightly older man. The trials of the bootcamp wear on Amy, and as she begins to understand the commitment of her boyfriend and perseveres in difficult situations not unlike real military training, Amy learns to be a little more faithful and develops a tougher skin. She definitely learns some lessons by the end of the book, yet she maintains her teenage ideals, and as readers, we know she will continue to be challenged.

What is interesting about this novel is how the author brings her own Jewish background to her main character Amy. Elkeles explains Jewish terms for those who are not familiar with the words or traditions, and readers of all faiths can appreciate the quirky character of Amy. In addition, Elkeles captures a youthful attitude in her writing, and attributes her young adult books to maintaining this spirit. Growing up in the 1980s, Elkeles brings out struggles from her youth.

A delightful page turner, How to Ruin Your Boyfrend's Reputation proves that we, as young adults, face conflicts of all sizes, and we make choices to either persevere or give up. Reminding us of our childhoods, this book proves that we may make assumptions about life, but once we experience a little more, we can succeed and move on.

Written by: Carolyn Espe, January 17th 2010