Some Good Recent Reads

A dangerous legacy by Elizabeth Camden, delightful and scary adventure, above and underground, New York City, 1903.

 

Unspoken by Dee Henderson. I recently reread another story by one of my favorite authors. A fascinating, heart-grabbing story that includes likeable well-developed characters and a detailed look into the scandalous grace of Jesus.

 

Always remember your name: a true story of family and survival in Auschwitz by Andra Bucci,; Tatiana Bucci,; Umberto Gentiloni Silveri; Ann Goldstein. A story of two women, sisters, who, as young children, survived this famous death camp.

 

Just like us: the true story of four Mexican girls coming of age in America by Helen Thorpe. Four girls from the same background, living in similar communities, friends at school. Shows the difference in opportunities for them depending on their status as citizens, residents, or not legal.

 

American whitelash: a changing nation and the cost of progress by Wesley Lowery. On the day Barack Obama was elected president, there was hope for racial change. But the change that has happened since then has been horrific. Lowery discussed personal stories of violence since 2008. He says he does not claim to be encyclopedic or comprehensive, but, he gives history from the 1600s to the 2020s of opposition and violence in America because of racial, immigration, religious and other differences.

 

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton; I probably first read this book in high school. It was published in 1967. It is one of my favorite books. I read it again recently, and I asked Sarah if she’d ever read it. She said she thought so, but “I think it was upsetting.” It is surely upsetting, but it touches me still. The copy I read recently was an audio book, and S.E. Hinton spoke before the book was read. She said she wrote it when she was sixteen, partly because she couldn’t find other books that talked about the reality of being a teenager.