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List: 2023 Teen Reading Challenge: Interesting Lives


A photo of Black Ballerinas : My Journey to our Legacy

Black Ballerinas : My Journey to our Legacy

"As a young girl living in a motel with her mother and her five siblings, Misty Copeland didn't have a lot of exposure to ballet or prominent dancers. She was sixteen when she saw a black ballerina on a magazine cover for the first time. The experience emboldened Misty and told her that she wasn't alone--and her dream wasn't impossible. In the years since, Misty has only learned more about the trailblazing women who made her own success possible by pushing back against repression and racism with their talent and tenacity. Misty brings these women's stories to a new generation of readers and gives them the recognition they deserve. With an introduction from Misty about the legacy these women have had on dance and on her career itself, this book delves into the lives and careers of women of color who fundamentally changed the landscape of American ballet from the early 20th century to today."--

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A photo of Alma Presses Play

Alma Presses Play

Alma's life is a constant of halfways: She's half-Chinese, half-Jewish; her parents spend half the time fighting, and the other half silent; and, at thirteen, she's halfway through becoming a woman. Then comes the year when everything changes, and her life is overtaken by constant endings: friends move away, romances bloom and wither, her parents file for divorce, and just like that her childhood seems to be over. Among this world of confusing beginnings, middles, and endings, could there be a roadmap for Alma to truly find herself?

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A photo of A Million to One

A Million to One

Josefa is an unapologetic and charismatic thief, who loves the thrill of the chase. She has her eye on her biggest mark yet--the RMS Titanic, the most luxurious ship in the world. But she isn't interested in stealing from wealthy first-class passengers onboard. No, she's out for the ultimate prize: the Rubiyat, a one of a kind book encrusted with gems that's worth millions. Josefa can't score it alone, so she enlists a team of girls with unique talents: Hinnah, a daring acrobat and contortionist; Violet, an actress and expert dissembler; and Emilie, an artist who can replicate any drawing by hand. They couldn't be more different and yet they have one very important thing in common: their lives depend on breaking into the vault and capturing the Rubiyat. But careless mistakes, old grudges, and new romance threaten to jeopardize everything they've worked for and put them in incredible danger when tragedy strikes. While the odds of pulling off the heist are slim, the odds of survival are even slimmer...

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A photo of As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. She had a normal teenager's life. Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf, who haunts her every move in an effort to keep her safe. But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. Salama must contend with bullets and bombs, military assaults, and her shifting sense of morality before she might finally breathe free. And when she crosses paths with the boy she was supposed to meet one fateful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all. Soon, Salama must learn to see the events around her for what they truly are--not a war, but a revolution--and decide how she, too, will cry for Syria's freedom.

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A photo of The Woman Who Split the Atom : Lise Meitner

The Woman Who Split the Atom : Lise Meitner

"As a female Jewish physicist in Berlin during the early 20th century, Lise Meitner had to fight for an education, a job, and equal treatment in her field, like having her name listed on her own research papers. Meitner made groundbreaking strides in the study of radiation, but when Hitler came to power in Germany, she suddenly had to face not only sexism, but also life-threatening anti-Semitism as well. Nevertheless, she persevered and one day made a discovery that rocked the world: the splitting of the atom. While her male lab partner was awarded a Nobel Prize for the achievement, the committee refused to give her any credit. Suddenly, the race to build the atomic bomb was on-although Meitner was horrified to be associated with such a weapon. "A physicist who never lost her humanity," Meitner wanted only to figure out how the world works, and advocated for pacifism while others called for war. The book includes an afterword, author's note, timeline, select terms of physics, glossary of scientists mentioned, endnotes, select bibliography, index, and Marissa Moss' celebrated drawings throughout. The Woman Who Split the Atom is a fascinating look at Meitner's fierce passion, integrity, and her life-long struggle to have her contributions to physics recognized"--

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A photo of Big Boned

Big Boned

"Lori Palmer is the new girl at Bay Water High, where students prize glossy hair, "beach' bodies, and thigh gaps above all else, which is so not her. She misses her old school, where her artistic talent was more important to her peers than a chia smoothie recipe ever was. Uncomfortable in her own size-sixteen skin, Lori decides to survive senior year as best she can by blending into the background while she melts in the summer heat. But her plans go completely awry when she discovers popular jock Jake volunteering at her brother Zac's school. When her brother befriends Jake's sister, Lori is suddenly thrust into Jake's unfamiliar world of water polo, parties, and stargazing. As she grows closer to Jake, and her relationship with her mother starts to deteriorate, Lori's old anxieties resurface and she throws herself into her art. It's a wildly new direction for Lori, and through it she realizes that finding her voice might get her into a world of trouble, but standing up for what she believes in is as important as standing up for herself"--

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A photo of Discover Her Art : Women Artists and Their Masterpieces

Discover Her Art : Women Artists and Their Masterpieces

"Discover her art invites young art lovers and artists to learn about painting through the lives and masterpieces of 24 women from the 16th to the 20th century. In each chapter, readers arrive at a masterwork, explore it with an artist's eye, and learn about the painter's remarkable life and the inspirations behind her work. Young artists will discover how these 24 amazing women used composition, color, value, shape, and line in paintings that range from highly realistic to fully abstract. Hands-on exercises encourage readers to create their own art!" --

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A photo of High Flyers : 15 Inspiring Women Aviators and Astronauts

High Flyers : 15 Inspiring Women Aviators and Astronauts

"These 15 women fly outside the lines. Soar beside Black Hawk helicopter pilot turned politician Tammy Duckworth, hot air balloonist Edgora McEwan, or medevac pilot Dede Murawsky. Higher up, meet commercial and military aviators such as the Coast Guard's Ronaqua Russell, the first African American female to receive the prestigious Air Medal for her rescue efforts during Hurricane Harvey. Next, ride along with Tammie Jo Shults, whose story includes a harrowing catastrophic engine failure while in command of 148 people aboard Southwest's Flight 1380. Others share their experiences in military high-performance jets, the Stratotanker, or while flying for the Blue Angels. Reaching past the bounds of Earth are astronauts who have launched in the cramped Russian rocket, the Soyuz, orbited Earth while conducting critical science experiments, or lived aboard the International Space Station."

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A photo of All Out : The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages

All Out : The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages

Take a journey through time and genres and discover a past where queer figures live, love and shape the world around them. Seventeen of the best young adult authors across the queer spectrum have come together to create a collection of beautifully written diverse historical fiction for teens. From a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood set in war-torn 1870s Mexico featuring a transgender soldier, to an asexual girl discovering her identity amid the 1970s roller-disco scene, this collection of short stories crosses cultures and time periods to shed light on an area of history often ignored or forgotten.

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A photo of Like a Love Story

Like a Love Story

It's 1989 in New York City, and for three teens, the world is changing. Reza is an Iranian boy who has just moved to the city with his mother to live with his stepfather and stepbrother. He's terrified that someone will guess the truth he can barely acknowledge about himself. Reza knows he's gay, but all he knows of gay life are the media's images of men dying of AIDS. Judy is an aspiring fashion designer who worships her uncle Stephen, a gay man with AIDS who devotes his time to activism as a member of ACT UP. Judy has never imagined finding romance... until she falls for Reza and they start dating. Art is Judy's best friend, their school's only out and proud teen. He'll never be who his conservative parents want him to be, so he rebels by documenting the AIDS crisis through his photographs. As Reza and Art grow closer, Reza struggles to find a way out of his deception that won't break Judy's heart -- and destroy the most meaningful friendship he's ever known. This is a bighearted, sprawling epic about friendship and love and the revolutionary act of living life to the fullest in the face of impossible odds.

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A photo of Maybe an Artist

Maybe an Artist

"A heartfelt and funny graphic novel memoir by one of the first Black female cartoonists to be published in the New Yorker, at the age of 22"--

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A photo of Meet Me in Mumbai

Meet Me in Mumbai

""Ayesha is a world away from home when she meets the boy of her dreams. Like her, Suresh is from India but going to high school in Illinois. Once they get together, they are inseparable... until a twist of fate takes Suresh back to India right when Ayesha discovers she's pregnant. Suddenly she feels she's on her own, navigating the biggest decision she'll ever make. Seventeen years later, Ayesha's daughter Mira finds an old box with letters addressed to her from her birth mother. Although Mira loves the moms who adopted her, she's intrigued to discover something more about her history. In one letter, Ayesha writes that if Mira can forgive her for what she had to do, she should find a way to travel to India for her eighteenth birthday and meet her. Mira knows she'll always regret it if she doesn't go. But is she actually ready for what she will learn?"--!c Provided by publisher.

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A photo of My Imaginary Mary

My Imaginary Mary

When two masterminds--Mary, the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, and Ada, the daughter of Lord Byron--are brought together by fate, they make a shocking--and magical--discovery that draws the attention of a mad scientist.

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A photo of My Name is Jason. Mine Too : Our Story, Our Way

My Name is Jason. Mine Too : Our Story, Our Way

"Jason Reynold. Jason Griffin. One a poet. One an artist. One Black. One white. Two voices. One journey. To move to New York, and make it in New York. Best friends willing to have a hard life if it meant a happy life. All they needed was a chance. A reissue of a memoir of a moment in time within a lifetime of friendship"--

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A photo of My Name is Victoria

My Name is Victoria

"'You are my sister now,' Victoria said, quietly and solemnly. 'Never forget it. I love you like a sister, and you are my only friend in all the world.' Miss V. Conroy is good at keeping secrets. She likes to sit as quiet as a mouse, neat and discreet. But when her father sends her to Kensington Palace to become the companion to Princess Victoria, Miss V soon finds that she can no longer remain in the shadows. Miss V's father has devised a strict set of rules for the young princess, which he calls the Kensington System. It governs her behavior and keeps her locked away from the world. He says it is for the princess's safety, but Victoria herself is convinced that it is to keep her lonely, and unhappy. Torn between loyalty to her father and her growing friendship with the willful and passionate Victoria, Miss V has a decision to make: to continue in silence, or to speak out. By turns thrilling, dramatic and touching, this is the story of Queen Victoria's childhood as you've never heard it before." -- Jacket

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A photo of Quiet Fire : Emily Dickinson's Life and Poetry

Quiet Fire : Emily Dickinson's Life and Poetry

"Emily Dickinson is revered as one of America's greatest and most original poets. Quiet Fire presents the life and art of Dickinson through the poet's own letters and poems"--

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A photo of Pre-Raphaelite Girl Gang : Fifty makers, Shakers and Heartbreakers from the Victorian Era

Pre-Raphaelite Girl Gang : Fifty makers, Shakers and Heartbreakers from the Victorian Era

"Tapping into the Rebel Girl and Bad Girl publishing trend, this is the first book to cover the female role within art. A fabulous introduction to the Pre-Raphaelite movement, through the muses and artists that helped shape the era. Kirsty Stonell Walker has a large following for her blog, The Kissed Mouth (20,000 people) - with readers in the UK and the US. Major exhibitions of Pre-Raphaelite Art are set to take place in Autumn 2018: Burne-Jones at Tate Britain and Christina Rossetti at the Watts Gallery, Compton. Published to coincide with World Pre-Raphaelite Day on 16th September 2018"--Provided by publisher.

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A photo of Passport

Passport

"Young Sophia has lived in so many different countries, she can barely keep count. Stationed now with her family in Central America because of her parents' work, Sophia feels displaced as an American living abroad, when she has hardly spent any of her life in America. Everything changes when she reads a letter she was never meant to see and uncovers her parents' secret. They are not who they say they are. They are working for the CIA. As Sophia tries to make sense of this news, and the web of lies surrounding her, she begins to question everything. The impact that this has on Sophia's emerging sense of self and understanding of the world makes for a page-turning exploration of lies and double lives." --

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A photo of Play Like a Girl

Play Like a Girl

"Debut author Misty Wilson chronicles her seventh-grade experience as the only girl on her town's football team in this empowering graphic memoir about teamwork, friendship, crushes, and touchdowns"--

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A photo of Required Reading for the Disenfranchised Freshman

Required Reading for the Disenfranchised Freshman

Savannah Howard sacrificed her high school social life to make sure she got into a top college. When she is accepted to the ivy-covered walls of Wooddale University on a full ride, how can she say no? But she discovers Wooddale is far from the perfectly manicured community it sells on its brochures. Savannah comes face-to-face with microagressions stemming from racism and elitism. When the statue of Clive Wilmington, Wooddale's first Black president, is vandalized with blackface, the prime suspect is Lucas Cunningham, Wooddale's most popular student and son to a local prominent family. When she discovers the truth about Wooddale's past, will it cost Savannah her own future? --

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A photo of Rolling Warrior

Rolling Warrior

Heumann was only five years old when she was first denied her right to attend school. Paralyzed from polio and raised by her Holocaust-surviving parents in New York City, she had a drive for equality that was instilled early in life. In this young readers' edition of her memoir, she tells her personal story of fighting to belong in a world that wasn't built for all of us. Heumann recounts her lifelong battle to achieve respect, acceptance , and inclusion in society. --

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A photo of The Awakening of Malcolm X

The Awakening of Malcolm X

While in Charlestown Prison in the 1940s, young Malcolm Little reads all the books in the library, joins the debate team and the Nation of Islam, and emerges as Malcolm X.

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A photo of The Poetry of Secrets

The Poetry of Secrets

Isabel Perez is a sixteen-year-old who dreams of writing poetry, love, and being with the young nobleman Diego Altamirano; but in Trujillo, Spain in 1481 such a love is forbidden by the boy's family because Isabel's families are conversos, new Christians, but in the privacy of their home they still practice Judaism--a secret that could destroy them all when the Inquisition reaches Trujillo and they are forced to flee to the uncertain safety of Portugal, and beyond.

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A photo of Tokyo Rose -- Zero hour

Tokyo Rose -- Zero hour

"Tells the true story of Iva Toguri, a Japanese American woman who was visiting relatives in Tokyo shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Trapped in Japan, Iva was pressed to renounce her American citizenship, but refused. As war raged across the Pacific, she took a job with Radio Tokyo-where she was forced to host "Zero Hour," a propaganda show aimed at demoralizing American troops-in the role of Tokyo Rose, the "Siren of the Pacific.""--Publisher's description.

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A photo of Watch Us Rise

Watch Us Rise

Jasmine and Chelsea are best friends on a mission--they're sick of the way women are treated even at their progressive NYC high school, so they decide to start a Women's Rights Club. They post their work online--poems, essays, videos of Chelsea performing her poetry, and Jasmine's response to the racial microaggressions she experiences--and soon they go viral. But with such positive support, the club is also targeted by trolls. When things escalate in real life, the principal shuts the club down. Not willing to be silenced, Jasmine and Chelsea will risk everything for their voices--and those of other young women--to be heard. These two dynamic, creative young women stand up and speak out in a novel that features their compelling art and poetry along with powerful personal journeys that will inspire readers and budding poets, feminists, and activists.

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A photo of When the Angels Left the Old Country

When the Angels Left the Old Country

"Uriel the angel and Little Ash (short for Ashmedai) are the only two supernatural creatures in their shtetl (which is so tiny, it doesn't have a name other than Shetl). The angel and the demon have been studying together for centuries, but pogroms and the search for a new life have drawn all the young people from their village to America. When one of those young people, Essie, goes missing. Uriel and Little Ash set off to find her. Along the way the angel and demon encounter humans in need of their help, including Rose Cohen, whose best friend (and the love of her life) has abandoned her to marry a man, and Malke Shulman, whose father died mysteriously on his way to America. But there are obstacles ahead of them as difficult as what they've left behind. Medical exams (and demons) at Ellis Island. Corrupt officials, cruel mob bosses, murderers, poverty. The streets are far from paved with gold. With cinematic sweep and tender observation, Sacha Lamb presents a totally original drama about individual purpose, the fluid nature of identity, and the power of love to change and endure."--

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A photo of This is Not a Personal Statement

This is Not a Personal Statement

"After getting rejected from her dream college, sixteen-year-old Filipino American Perla Perez forges her own acceptance and commits to living a lie at university"--

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