IraqiGirl: diary of a teenage girl in Iraq

The United States’ involvement in Iraq is regularly reported on the news. Lately the news has reported on the approaching elections, bombings and killings, and the United States’ exit strategy. For a young adult these matters may be of little interest, unless you have family and friends who are somehow involved or based in Iraq.
The United States’ occupation of Iraq began in 2003. In 2004 a 15 year-old girl, Hadiya, began blogging about her life in the city of Mosul, Iraq. Her blog was known as IraqiGirl. Recently a collection of her earlier blog posts were collected and published as IraqiGirl: diary of s teen age girl in Iraq (call number 956.704431 Iraqigir). Her firsthand accounts and reflection of the situation occurring in her country provides a unique perspective to everyone living outside this situation, especially young adults.
Hadiya is just like most teenagers. She worries about school, watches television when there is electricity, and discusses her relationships with family and friends. However, her experience is unique because she is constantly surrounded by war and the effects it has on her country. Her blog is an honest recollection of loss, grief, and a determined survival. She loses family members. Friends and family are forced to flee their homes. She is open about her choice to be a Muslim and responds to criticism from comments made by her readership. She also discusses U.S. and Iraqi military enforcements, such as curfew.
Hadiya is still contributing to the IraqiGirl blog. Once you finish this collection of earlier blog posts, I recommend continuing to read her unique firsthand account of the ever-changing political spectrum in Iraq.

The Photographer: into war-torn Afghanistan with Doctors without Borders by Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefevre, and Frederic Lemercier (Translated by

Graphic novels are a unique format of storytelling, where image and text are used to communicate. Often times mistaken for comic books featuring superheroes, graphic novels feature a variety of characters and portray fictional and real life situations. The Photographer: into war-torn Afghanistan with Doctors without Borders is based on the real life experiences of a team of mostly French doctors and journalists, who were on mission in 1986 in Northern Afghanistan. During this time Afghanistan was a hotbed of violence between the Soviet Union and the Afghan Mujahideen. Using illustrations drawn by Emmanuel Guibert and the photographs and text of international photojournalist Didier Lefevre, The Photographer demonstrates the hardships of the Afghani people and the doctors determined to help them.

This graphic novel is unlike the typical illustrated story because of its use of Lefevre’s raw photographs- many of which are viewed from their original contact sheets. The drawings and text expand upon the photos and provide the narrative of this difficult journey. At times graphic, the reader encounters the same victims as the doctors, including children with fatal injuries. The cultural differences and political turmoil of the area travelled by the doctors is also communicated. The graphic novel easily expresses the physical and mental exhaustion experienced by all of those involved and visualizes the hardships of war. The story also dispels certain myths about the Afghani people, who have been misrepresented in the media. This story is relevant today because of the current democratization of Afghanistan and United States’ military involvement.

Currently the book is located in the New Books section at the front of the library. Once the book is added to the regular collection it will not located in the Young Adult collection. Instead it will be located in the Non-fiction section toward the back of the library. The call number for the book is: 070.4909581 Guibert.

Chris Crutcher

Chris Crutcher has been on the YA radar since his first stories and novels came out in the late Seventies. Combining rigorous athletic scenarios with emotionally charged characters confronting real life issues, Crutcher's books are widely accessible to all readers even if a more immediate audience may be found among junior high and high schoolers. Any reader can't miss with these three sure-to-entertain books, some of his most vividly dramatic works.

Staying Fat for Sarah Barnes
A senior star on his high school's swim team, Eric Calhoune still carries around emotional scars from his days as the fat kid; 'morbidly obese' to be precise, which is why he's still called "Moby" by almost everyone. Even with all that's going for him now, the experiences of scorn and derision seem destined to abide within him, constantly reminding him of past abuse and perpetually taunting his still frail well-being. Eric's never had to bear it alone, though; his life-long friend Sarah Byrnes has her own scars, albeit of a more externalized nature. Burned in an accident years ago Sarah bears wounds that can never be hidden or removed, a condition making her and Eric virtual by-proxy soulmates from childhood on. Now with Sarah back in the hospital for what could be the last time, Eric is left to confront--alone--the issues within himself, his relationship with Sarah and the truth about the "accident" which stole their innocence so long ago.

Stotan!
Walker Dupree and three of his closest friends and teammates take up the challenge offered by their swim coach to undergo a week of extreme training in preparation for their upcoming season. By the end they're bodies, not to mention they're mental stamina, will have sustained the utmost in physical exertion, each worthy to assume the title of "Stotan"--cross between stoic and spartan. Candidly, Walker narrates not only the undeniably grueling workouts each day (full 24 hrs) entails, but the mutual camaraderie and loyalty achieved amidst the near-torture-level experience. More than just bodily limitations and a winning season are at stake, however, as the power of this friendship must endure not only a brutal training regimen, but the impending fate of one among them who's currently battling leukemia.

Chinese Handcuffs
Nearly a year after his brother Preston's suicide, eighteen-year-old Dillon still can't come to grips with the absence, not to mention the details surrounding the incident in question. To cope with his grief and outlet other frustrations, he trains year round for triathlons, periodically entering competitions held near his isolated home in the Pacific northwest. Sweat can only vanquish so much though, which is why its good that Dillon can rely on girlfriend Jennifer, herself a star on the basketball court, to stand beside him in spirit if not uphold him with attitude. Ultimately resolving to seek answers regarding his brother's death, Dillon must fight through the obstinacy of his parents and apathy of authorities in finding out the real reason for Preston's "suicide". Simultaneously, he must support Jennifer as she confronts her own repressed trauma in the form of her father's abuse.

Speak / by Laurie Halsie Anderson

.
Even if 15-year-old Melinda weren't socially quarantined, it still wouldn't matter. She's not saying much at the moment. All words have evidently been buried beneath an endless torrent of pain, despair and inner anguish at the precise time--start of 9th grade--when speech of some sort would seem relevant. Between her parents vicious bickering and the determination of her once-close-friends to ice her out, there's not only nothing to say, there's no one to say it to. Isolation seems to be her only companion ("a reliable anesthetic") as the days, then weeks and months whither away.

Anderson won the Printz Award for this stark depiction of one girl's emotional paralysis amid the suspended shock of an undisclosed trauma. Without knowing the plot synopsis, readers may initially misinterpret the reality of the situation; especially as the focus exclusively tracks Melinda's conscious at present, omitting all but the bare essentials. It's pretty late in the game that particulars resurrect themselves, ultimately exposing a justifiable reason for the silence.