Many adults who work with teens, especially urban teens, are well aware
of the urban fiction dichotomy. Teens love it, devour it and previously
reluctant readers become avid readers if they discover it and love it.
However, the extremely frank use of language, depiction of sexual
situations, crime, and drug give many adults pause —is this what we should encourage teens to read?
That is up to the individual, but there are great
alternatives that are more teen friendly, as well as wonderfully
written. The most recent example is Kendra by Coe Booth.
Booth’s first novel, Tyrell, won the LA Times Book Prize for best
young adult novel, and was named a “Great
Story” by Oprah’s Angel Network for at-risk teens.
Kendra is 14-year old girl who lives with her grandmother, Nana. Kendra’s mother Renee was 14 herself when she had her daughter, and she gave Kendra to Nana while she continued with her education. When Renee returns to New York for a job as a college professor, Kendra assumes she and her mother will finally become a family, but that isn’t Renee’s plan.
Kendra’s confusion and fragile self esteem
manifest themselves in some risky behavior with the boy who has the
locker next to hers.
Kendra makes
some VERY bad decisions, but readers will empathize with her. Mother Renee could be
utterly distasteful, but somehow readers will feel for her, too.
Frank discussion of sexuality makes this book most suitable for older
teens,