Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh

I was very excited to see the announcement from the National Book Foundation on nominees for the National Book Award; here is the short list across several categories and the long list for Young People’s literature is here. I have not yet read many of the nominees, but in addition to the one here, I will be reviewing others in future posts.

EVERY BODY LOOKING by Candice Iloh is an impressive coming of age debut novel told in verse.  The main character, Ada, is off to a historically black college and facing all of those important life moments about learning who she really is. Ada explains, “you start growing / further away from / what used to be home // you go looking for somewhere / that lets you be / what’s inside your head // you go find a way to get back / to your own history lesson / to your own way of being alive.” One key aspect to which students will relate is whether (and how) her interest in dance should be pursued. Another is her sexuality, with echoes of the consequences of childhood trauma. Through flash backs to first, second, sixth grade and high school, readers cannot help but feel strong emotions related to Ada and her life experience: “Crying is stupid when it is over a boy or the group of girls who you just wanted to like you enough to make you their friend.” There is the culture shock related to her peers at college “I know nothing / but this city // but my father / but these schools / where I’ve always // been one of few specks / of dingy brown / in a sea of perfect white” and to their family life (“fussin / over homework they need to do”) versus her own dealing with her mother’s addiction, an domineering father and an aunt who does not respect her privacy. Given its format, one can read this book relatively quickly, but savor it - there is much to contemplate and discuss. EVERY BODY LOOKING received starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus.

Turtle Under Ice by Juleah del Rosario

TURTLE UNDER ICE by Juleah del Rosario (500 Words or Less) is a young adult novel which deals with grief, sisterhood and questions of identity. Rowena and Ariana tell the story in verse. Their mother died a few years ago and a fresh tragedy brings their grief and insecurity to the surface. Ariana, the elder sister, muses “But when your mother dies, what happens / to your own destiny? / Who are you supposed to be? /What role are you to assume / if your mother isn’t there to guide you?”  She has turned inward and is in danger of not passing high school – and I was surprised at the limited support she is receiving from her school and her parents.  Are she and Row (a state soccer champion) so practiced at camouflaging grief and pushing others away that no one is reaching out to support them?

I recommend this novel for both independent reads and class discussion. Students will readily relate to these characters and their feelings, as when Ariana says: “… I hadn’t figured out / who I was, and it scared me. Because someday / I need to leave, and what was I supposed to do / with an entire future?” Row also reflects on the tension teens often feel about opening up to others: “It’s a serious contradiction, / to want to be heard, to want to be listened to, / to want to feel what I feel without clothing it / in unruffled indifference // and then not letting / Kennedy [her friend] in.” With a rather melancholy tone and mystery aspect, TURTLE UNDER ICE is a relatively quick read with appeal for all teen readers, including the reluctant ones.