What was your worse fear as a teen? Mine was falling in front of crowds at school. I was/am so clumsy. In Marit Weisenberg’s This Golden State, 17-year-old Poppy has a lot of fears. The main one is her parents’ true identities being discovered. She has to constantly move schools when one of her parents gets worried they’ve been discovered. Poppy is an amazing, complex teen trying to discover who she is in so many ways. She fears mostly how she will care for her little sister when/if her parents are caught. Poppy’s mother is one of those you hate but have to know what the heck she did to be so dangerous. I hated her because she made her daughter live a half-life: one without friends, mentors, extended family, school activities, and even hope for her future. Poppy sees Hope when they move to the Golden State, California. It’s a place she knows her Mom has a connection to in some way. Things start to show a connection for Poppy too. Their new house is nicer than ever before and it has a room specially decorated for Poppy with a giant painting of poppies. There Poppy gets to take a special summer program in advanced mathematics where a teacher takes an interest in helping Poppy. Then a famous politician’s son, Harry takes an interest in Poppy. Things get hairy from there but oh so good. This was one of the best YA thrillers I’ve ever read. I was totally invested in Poppy and wanted so much for her to have the future she deserves. Loved all of it and its quick pace. I’m going to definitely read Marist’s three other books.
If you are looking for an indigenous author to support in November, then This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger has a great historical fiction read for you. Krueger is a member of the Anishinaabe ( Ojibwe ) tribe. This dialogue between a bit so likable character Jack and the teen narrator Odie will give you a good idea of the story. “Ask me, God’s right here. In the dirt, the rain, the sky, the trees, the apples, the stars in the cottonwoods. In you and me, too. It’s all connected and it’s all God. Sure this is hard work, but it’s good work because it’s a part of what connects us to this land, Buck. This beautiful, tender land.” Jack in Chapter 20. Odie then replies with his theory about how “God is a tornado.” which refers back to when a tornado killed a loving teacher, Mrs. Frost. The book was originally published in 2019 and is great as an audiobook coming in at 14 hours and 19 minutes on regular speed versus 464 pages of hard copy. ...
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