The Hate U Give is an enticing novel about a young African American girl finding her voice. Starr Park is a girl living in a predominantly black community, although she goes to a richer school in a different community. One day, she is in the car with her friend Khalil when a white police officer comes and shoots and kills him for no proper reason. The news coverage says that Khalil was killed because he had done something to provoke the police officer.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a historical fiction book by Harper Lee. The book takes place in Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression. The book is from the perspective of Scout as she and her older brother Jem learn about racism and prejudice through their father's defense of a black man accused of rape. They witness the injustice of the legal system and the racism of their community.
Won, the first Asian American basketball player in the NBA, rose to stardom as one of the best players on the team as he filled in after “Powerball!” got injured. A Korean American TV producer, Carrie is working to get K-dramas onto the American stage. Won wants to be a basketball star and renew his temporary contract with the New York Knicks, while Carrie wants to bring representative Korean shows to America.
A valuable, necessary, and accessible book. Kiely has an easy-going manner and presents ideas that could be abstract, academic theory through relatable anecdotes and stories, more often than not about himself when he was a teenager. It reads quickly and directly addresses young white readers without confrontation or shaming, encouraging listening, empathy, and a sense of responsibility (instead of guilt). Highly recommended.
In If You Come Softly, Jeremiah and Ellie are seen by society to be on opposite poles, however through clashing events, their worlds collide. Ellie, a Jewish American girl is learning of Jeremiah’s African American culture. During that time, they are faced with backlash from others that continuously attempt to separate them. Despite this, the pair manages to fall in love and become an interracial couple. Across many obstacles, the pair still believes that they fit perfectly in each other’s worlds.
