The Ink-Keeper's Apprentice by Allen Say

Not a lot of kids can say they were living on their own by age 13.

As a boy, author Allen Say found himself navigating the urban jungle of Tokyo by himself. His parents had divorced and sent him to live with his grandmother. But that relationship, too, proved flammable, and it was decided what was best for everyone involved was to allow Say to live by himself. He took residence in a shabby 12 by 12-foot room with little more than a light bulb and a toilet in the way of amenities.

I lit a candle and turned on the overhead light, and thought about the day. Often I read the books I liked by candlelight. Grandmother would never have allowed it. Also she never let me stay up late. It was good to live alone.

Say decided to take his extraordinary circumstances one step further by seeking out the famous cartoonist Noro Shinpei as his mentor. In The Ink-Keeper's Apprentice, he shares the autobiographical story of that apprenticeship, which paved the way for his later career as an author and illustrator.

Shinpei proceeds to train Say in art and illustration. But more than that, the cartoonist serves as a father figure for the boy over the next three years, serving as a grounding influence as the boy navigates the vicissitudes of friends, female classmates, family tensions and the real world without the protective buffer that parents typically provide.

We learn that his mother was disowned by her family when she married Say's father, a Korean. But war has changed everything. Say comes from an old samurai family but World War II left his grandparents impoverished; his mother, who owns a small cosmetic shop in nearby Yokohama, must now support his grandmother.

Say paints his life in clear, undiluted strokes. He doesn't soften his experiences — such as an almost casual act of self-mutilation by Say's friend and fellow apprentice, the fiery Tokida, or the sad, remote relationship that Say has with his parents — nor does he thrust them upon us. He simply lays them out for us to absorb with his thoughtful, measured writing style.

In the process, we, as readers, get a glimpse of what life was like in post-World War II-Japan: the bombed out building scattered throughout the city, the encroaching influence of Western culture, the constant smoking, the bustling train stations.

This is a lovely, understated story of a Say's early experiences, many of which have gone on to greatly influence him as a person and artist. In one interview, Say said:

I was incredibly lucky, because Noro Shinpei recognized I was searching for a father and he adopted me. To this day, I am still his child. He is still living and is eighty-five years old. We continue to communicate. I send him all the books I do and he still critiques my work. He was only thirty-five years old when I met him.

Say speaks more on the topic in this video:

King of the Screwups: A Novel by K.L. Going

Ever feel like you are suffering an identity crisis? Liam Geller, the main character in K.L. Going’s King of the Screwups: a Novel might be able to relate. Liam is incredibly popular at high school. He excels in sports, the girls adore him, and he dresses incredibly well. There is one little problem, though. Although he is adored by all, he can and often is an incredible screw-up. This ability regularly enrages his father and eventually leads him to kick Liam out of the house right before the start of senior year. With nowhere to go, Liam ends up living with his gay uncle, who he calls Aunt Pete. His uncle lives a bit of a glam-rock lifestyle as a DJ in upstate New York, lives in a trailer, and has many colorful friends. Hoping to earn his father’s acceptance, Liam uses this new environment and school to become a model student. However, Liam is torn between being who he really is and living up to his father’s expectations. King of the Screwups takes the reader on Liam’s adventure to find his true self.

Other books in the Moore Young Adult collection by K.L. Going include: Fat Kid Rules the World, which won a Printz Award Honor, and Saint Iggy, an American Library association Best Book for Young Adults.

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Beloved young adult author, Sarah Dessen, recently published her ninth book, Along for the Ride. This story focuses on recent high school graduate, Auden, who slowly begins to realize all the things she missed out on during high school because she chose to focus on her education. Spending the summer with her father, step-mother, and newborn baby sister, in the remote cottage, beach-side community of Colby, only furthers this realization. During her last summer before going off to attend university, Auden, works at her step-mother’s boutique, which exposes her to a whole new world of “girl”: gossip, boys, and friendship.

Auden, in addition to having missed out on many social forays of teen-dom, also suffers from insomnia. She hasn’t slept normally for years, and she spends her night driving around the small cottage town drinking coffee. These all-night adventures eventually lead to a friendship with Eli, a local loner, who also seems to also suffer from insomnia. Both have emotional obstacles they need to overcome, and during the summer they learn to rely on one another and face the many things that may hold them back from living the lives they desire.

Similarly to other Dessen works, this story is character driven. Readers will find themselves attached to the characters and the world in which they live. Other books in the Moore Young Adult collection by Dessen are: That Summer, Lock & Key, Just Listen, The Truth about Forever, This Lullaby, Dreamland, Keeping the Moon, and Someone like You.

Derby Girl by Shauna Cross

Bliss Cavendar cannot wait to finish high school so she can get out of Bodeen, Texas as soon as possible. The small town only seems to offer her misery with its Miss Bluebonnet pageant, lack of hot, cool guys, and cowboy mentality. If it weren’t for her best friend, Pash, and a mutual love of all things indie rock there would be little happiness in the world that imprisons them. That is until Bliss discovers the extreme excitement of roller derby, which takes place an hour away in her cool, indie-dream capital, Austin.

According to Bliss roller derby is her ticket out of small town, narrow-minded living and an escape from her reality of having to soon compete in the Miss Bluebonnet pageant. She leads a double life, high school attending teenager by day/ 18-yr-old heartbreaker roller derby babe by night, which bring her both happiness and pain. She meets and dates the hottest band guy and becomes a roller queen. However, this new life comes with sacrifices, like best friendship, which Bliss discovers is more important that making out with a boy.

The author Shauna Cross is from Austin, which is apparent by her description of the city and hipster hot spots. For those high schoolers who feel stuck and out of place in the typical high school setting, Bliss’ story will make you wish you could transport yourself to Austin’s Lamar Street or South Congress to do some vintage clothes or record shopping. Bliss’ journey around the rink is full of hilarity and growing pains, but it is also dressed in fish nets and roller skates.