The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White

THE GUINEVERE DECEPTION by Kiersten White is a young adult novel about the characters in the Arthurian legends. The beginning of the story was intriguing and I hoped to find out how the deception came to be.  That kept me reading, despite a pretty slow middle and too much emphasis on tying knots as a means of magic.  The end did get a bit more exciting and effort was clearly evident in including diverse characters and in creating strong, brave female ones, but this title did not “sing” for me.  I would instead recommend Graceling by Kristin Cashore or The Crystal Cave (and others) by Mary Stewart. In fairness, I should note that the public library placed THE GUINEVERE DECEPTION in the Junior High collection and Booklist recommends it for grades 7 to 10 so perhaps middle schoolers would be more enamored of this start to the Camelot Rising series, by a prolific and popular author.

We Are Indivisible by Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin

WE ARE INDIVISIBLE is written by former Congressional staffers Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin.  They are the co-founders and co-executive directors of Indivisible whose guide (“a short civic textbook with a snarky edge”) you have no doubt heard about, perhaps read or even acted upon.  According to the authors, this new book is “part movement memoir, part civics how-to guide, and part blueprint for doing away with Trump and building a real representative democracy after he’s gone.” Even if you do not agree with all of their views, you will likely still find WE ARE INDIVISIBLE to be a fascinating read.  It is basically split into three sections:

• the first discusses structural flaws (e.g., gerrymandering) and the growth of “dog whistle politics” as well as the need for building and harnessing constituent power;
• the second focuses on winning and includes nineteen Indivisible lessons (e.g., people have opinions, groups have power or mobilizing versus organizing); and
• the third section is called “A Blueprint for Democracy,” offering suggestions for a Day One Democracy Agenda. 

Greenberg and Levin include many, many details and real life examples of Indivisible activists around the country.  They also refer to historical figures and events. For example, did you know that more than 40 years ago, President Carter proposed political reforms to allow universal same-day voter registration, public financing of elections, election security provisions and a Constitutional Amendment to eliminate the Electoral College? And I loved the repeated references to Shirley Chisolm’s comment: “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” As the authors admit, “our focus is on federal-level reforms” and even though many policies could be adopted at a state or local level, there is not as much specific guidance for doing so.  They do include over twenty pages of notes and sprinkle numerous “conversational” footnotes throughout the book. There is much to think about here and perhaps perspective or facts which are new for you. Another example is that “in 2040, half the population will live in just eight states. That means half the population will have sixteen senators and the other half will have eighty-four senators.” Here’s another look and some graphics on those statistics from The Washington Post.  WE ARE INDIVISIBLE is an inspiring take on civic engagement.

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

AMERICAN DIRT by Jeanine Cummins is my favorite book of this young year. A harrowing story of flight that I could not put down, Cummins’ title has also received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly. Yet, this tale of a young Mexican mother, Lydia, trying to flee the cartel with her eight-year-old son, Luca, has also produced quite a bit of controversy.  One side (how can someone who is not Mexican tell this story?) appeared in The New York Times. Lauren Groff acknowledges feeling “deeply ambivalent” in her recent review.  Whereas Kathleen Parker (herself no stranger to controversy) argues that critics are censoring the author based on her background in today’s Washington Post.  I agree and wish that we were focused instead on Cummins’ beautiful writing and on the dangers and violence South of the US border. Interest in and requests for AMERICAN DIRT are high and we will need multiple copies, allowing our readers to make their own evaluations, and hopefully changing perspectives as Cummins wishes, saying, “We seldom think of them [migrants and refugees] as our fellow human beings. … people who can contribute to their own bright futures, and to ours, as so many generations of oft-reviled immigrants have done before them.”

AMERICAN DIRT should be considered as a possible addition to the curriculum (perhaps replacing La Linea or Enrique’s Journey for some classes), especially given our work on equity issues this year.  Cummins is relentless in describing the fear that Lydia and Luca experience: “Lydia’s worried about so many things she can’t pin one down to examine it.  She’s worried about being out in the open like this, about being recognized. Whenever someone looks at her and then looks at their cell phone, there’s a little racehorse of adrenaline that clobbers through her body.” Pairing this new work with novels by Latinx writers*, perhaps including the non-fiction text My Time Among The Whites by Jennine Capó Crucet, has the potential to build empathy and to generate some amazing conversations. In her author’s note, Cummins explains that she “hoped to present one of those unique personal stories – a work of fiction – as a way to honor the hundreds of thousands of stories we may never get to hear.”

*Cummins acknowledges and recommends reading the works of Luis Alberto Urrea, Oscar Martinez, Sonia Nazario, Jennifer Clement, Valeria Luiselli, and Reyna Grande, all of whom are in our collection.