Tag: social problem

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson

- Stephanie Leave a comment

“Comprehension is key, and that hasn’t exactly been mastered by the citizens of this country.”
― Tiffany D. Jackson, The Weight of Blood

Tiffany D. Jackson is a young adult writer who writes with gusto and anger. Her books always stick with me for long periods of time and relate to stories in the news. My latest read, The Weight of Blood, was one I went into blind. The Weight of Blood is a retelling of Carrie by Stephen King, telling the story of a Georgia high school hosting its first integrated prom and a biracial teenager navigating a small town’s legacy of racism. This book is heavy and disastrous and necessary to read. Highly recommend.

Maddy Washington is an outcast in her small town of Springville, Georgia. She has always been the target of bullies. Having been homeschooled until her early teenage years, Maddie has never quite fit in. The school bullies are the least of her problems though. She has more serious problems to deal with. The precarious life she has made for herself is destroyed one day with the arrival of a surprise rainstorm. Her secret: Maddy is biracial. Her father Thomas has required Maddy to pass as white for her entire life due to his fanatical beliefs.

The students and some staff at Maddy’s school react badly to Maddy’s news. When a video goes viral showing students bulling Maddy, the school’s racist beliefs and history become news across the country. Things come even more to a head when the news discovers that Springville High holds two separate proms every year: a white prom and a black prom. In order to improve their image, students and administration decide to host their first integrated prom. This doesn’t go over well, especially when the white class president asks her Black quarterback boyfriend to take Maddy as his date to the integrated prom.

Maddy starts to hope that maybe a normal life is possible for her. The closer prom gets, the more excited she becomes. Some of her classmates are angry though, deciding that she needs to be taught a lesson. Flashing back and forth from 2014 and to present day, readers learn more about what happened leading up to prom in 2014 and how the Springville residents left alive after prom night are dealing with the shock of what happened that night.

This title is also available in large print and audiobook.

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

- Stephanie Leave a comment

‘And a man without dreams is just a meaty machine with a broken gauge.’ – Cherie Dimaline, The Marrow Thieves

Are you looking for book recommendations? Ask a librarian! My latest read came courtesy of one of our Youth Services Librarians. The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline tells the story of the indigenous people of North America and their struggle to survive in a futuristic climate-change ravaged world.

People on Earth have lost the ability to dream, sending them all to madness. Desperate to find a solution, the government looks into who is still able to dream. They discover that the only people who can dream are North America’s Indigenous people. Wanting to understand why, the government looks for a cure, finding that the Indigenous people’s bone marrow holds the ability to save the dreamless. In order to get the marrow though, the donors must die. Schools are established across the country with recruiters sent out to round up the Indigenous people to harvest their marrow. This has far-reaching repercussions for all Indigenous people. On the run, Frenchie yearns to find his family, even though he fears they are lost to him. He and his travel family spend years struggling to survive as they make their way up north, looking for friends and family. Their search for refuge is dangerous, but may lead to joyous reunions.

I was left wanting more from this book. I wanted more history of the character, of the government, what exactly is happening to the people that are taken, and how/why the lands were so ravaged and destroyed. Luckily, The Marrow Thieves is the first in a series AND the second book, Hunting by Stars, is out! I’m hoping this second book will give me the answers to my questions from the first book. Nevertheless, I’m glad I decided to read The Marrow Thieves – it feels like a book that should be required reading.

‘Sometimes you risk everything for a life worth living, even if you’re not the one that’ll be alive to live it.’ – Cherie Dimaline, The Marrow Thieves

Reese Witherspoon October pick – His Only Wife

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Reese Witherspoon has selected His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie for the Reese’s Book Club x Hello Sunshine October pick.

Check out the following description provided by the publisher for more information about this book:

An intelligent and funny debut about a relatable, indomitable heroine: a young seamstress in Ghana who agrees to an arranged marriage, only to realize that some compromises are too extreme to accept, illuminating what it means to be a woman in a rapidly changing world.

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