Golden Boy by A. J. Symon

GOLDEN BOY by A. J. Symon is a young adult novel with a strange supposition. It has a wonderful cover which mirrors the story of a dog (Hudson) being turned into a high school boy (Bud Golden). Emma Branch is a lonely high school student who ended up taking care of her brothers (Chip and Buckhead – who act like their names) and her rather obnoxious, opinionated, and prejudiced father, Wayman, after her mother dies. Emma’s dream is to study science, and she has developed an injection to prolong the life of fruit flies. No one is really interested, though, until in desperation she injects her dog. Suddenly there’s a star player for the football team that Wayman coaches, and the adventure (filled with deception) begins. There is some suspense and high school relationship drama which could appeal to readers. As all gets resolved, the author is not afraid of explicitly highlighting the value of scientific experimentation (“Flying machines. The telephone. Landing on the moon. All crazy ideas until they weren't. Magic is just science no one can explain yet.”) and quality parenting (“It's amazing what a kind word from a parent will do.”). Thankfully, the father character does mature, but it’s not a subtle transformation. School Library Journal (starred review) and Booklist suggest GOLDEN BOY for grades 6 thru 10, and these less mature students may appreciate the hijinks, although the animal experimentation could be triggering for some. I am more apt to agree with Kirkus: “An interesting premise that suffers from clumsy execution.”

Beyond the Big Lie by Bill Adair

BEYOND THE BIG LIE is a new book by Bill Adair, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, creator of PolitiFact, and professor at Duke University. He subtitles the text: “The Epidemic of Political Lying, Why Republicans Do It More, and How It Could Burn Down Our Democracy.” Although Publishers Weekly referred to some content as “overly partisan,” Adair clearly believes in the importance of being truthful with the electorate and outlines numerous examples of being less than truthful in a dozen chapters. The text is very accessible, and he frequently refers to input from his college students. One example is in the chapter called “Lying Hall of Fame” where students nominated candidates like Big Tobacco, Exxon, Rupert Murdoch, Roger Ailes, and numerous politicians from both parties as part of a research project. Adair points out that political lying “crippled our discourse and made it impossible for us to have a serious discussion on the vital issues of our day -- the climate crisis, public health, or the future of Social Security and Medicare.” Adair also chronicles the evolution of Mike Pence, a personal friend and neighbor of his when Pence first served in Congress. In that chapter, Adair notes that “attitudes have changed” and also quotes from an interview with Anthony Fauci: “there is no shame in lying now. There is no shame in developing your own alternative facts -- untruth, conspiracy, lies have become normalized.” A final chapter explores “How Can We Stop the Lying?” and Adair argues “research suggests there is fertile ground for a citizen movement to hold politicians accountable for lying, …. I believe politicians will respond if enough people speak up.” Sigh, people need models – AARP has published candidate responses to their questions with no fact-checking at all (“We allowed the candidates to present their views and positions without commenting on the accuracy of their claims.”) BEYOND THE BIG LIE is an intriguing, if disturbing, read. Roughly twenty percent is devoted to Notes, a list of Sources (from over four years of interviews), a Selected Bibliography, and an Index.  

Accountable by Dashka Slater

ACCOUNTABLE by Dashka Slater (The 57 Bus) is subtitled “The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed” and relates events that occurred in 2017 in Albany, California (liberal Bay Area) when a Korean American high school junior posted racist and misogynist memes on Instagram. Even though he initially had only 13 followers, many of the posts dealt with classmates and people they knew, especially Black and biracial girls. The New York Times recently published a lengthy article written by Slater who described, “competing narratives about how exactly the events should be interpreted, with some seeing them as a calamity that occurred despite Albany’s particular virtues (small, liberal, educated, interconnected) and others as a consequence of Albany’s particular shortcomings (too white, too insular, too wealthy, too obsessed with academic achievement).” Clearly, there is MUCH opportunity for teaching, for reflection (e.g., Am I racist? What makes someone racist? Why had no-one said anything earlier?) and for discussion (e.g., Does not taking action imply approval of content? How could the account followers and its subjects attend school together? Do the statistics Slater share correspond to our school? Are these events about race, gender or both?) with adolescent students. ACCOUNTABLE received a starred review from Booklist which says in part that this text “should be required reading for any teen before they create, comment, or even like a media post.”