Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the 1st Read Harder task.

Hi everyone! Our rec post for this task is now live: https://bookriot.com/2019/12/04/best-...

Another post here:

https://bookriot.com/2019/02/04/must-...

I’m reading The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia

I'm going to read more of the excellent Scientists in the Field series:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Maybe: Shark Lady: True Adventures of Eugenie Clark by Ann McGovern or Gorilla Doctors: Saving Endangered Great Apes by Pamela S. Turner

I'm interested in A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919, in part because I'm going to read 1919 for a different prompt.

Rapture Practice: A True Story About Growing Up Gay in an Evangelical Family or Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids. Maybe both!

Mine will be The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century

I second Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults): A True Story of the Fight for Justice but be aware it'll make you rage and be upset at how broken our justice system is.
I'm probably going t do The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives or #Notyourprincess: Voices of Native American Women

Hmmm, looking at above suggestions, I can't decide between The (Other) F Word: A Celebration of the Fat and Fierce and Rapture Practice: A True Story About Growing Up Gay in an Evangelical Family.

Maybe I'll do both?

Two good books that fit this are Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek and Girl Up. You could also include Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and books by Malala Yousafzai too. I'm not sure what book I'll pick yet

I genuinely love YA and MG nonfiction and I read a lot of it. I don't even know what I'm going to do for this task, but I'm excited for it.

Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad, by M.T. Anderson

Rock and Roll Songwriter's Handbook, by Larry Hutchinson

Alice Paul and the Fight for Women's Rights: From the Vote to the Equal Rights Amendment, by Deborah Kops

Would No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference by Greta Thunberg work for this? Would work for the book about climate change prompt obviously.

I'm thinking about either
Laughing at My Nightmare (double dipper with Task #21: Read a book with a main character or protagonist with a disability)
and/or
#Notyourprincess: Voices of Native American Women (double dipper with Task #24: Read a book in any genre by a Native, First Nations, or Indigenous author)

I found both of them from YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction (http://www.ala.org/yalsa/nonfiction-a...). YALSA has a great database of YA lit that I can't recommend highly enough: http://booklists.yalsa.net/

Not sure if it’s YA, but this is a story of Rob Rufus’s struggle with cancer in his teens: Die Young with Me: A Memoir.

Personally, I won’t be reading this, as cancer books are just too hard for me to read about, but at the moment I’m reading his The Vinyl Underground (fiction), which is a phenomenal YA book.

I chose Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen by Jazz Jennings. I'm limiting myself to only books from my library's collection as an added challenge!

I'm going with Rejected Princesses: Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics. I know lot of this is on tumblr, but I'm an old who doesn't particularly understand tumblr and would really rather read a book. I'm looking forward to learning about all sorts of women who were considered too badass for the princess treatment.

I really wasn't sure what to do for this prompt because I don't really know what would count as YA nonfiction, but they put How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child on their blog post and I've had that on my tbr for a while.

They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti was fascinating. Important history that I didn't know much about, and lots of archival sources.

Would Jacqueline Woodson’s “Brown Girl Dreaming,” work for this prompt?

ChezJulie wrote: "They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti was fascinating. Important history that I didn't know much about, and lots of..."

I've read that one too, and it was great. From the same author, Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow was also really good. I'm considering doing another from the author (currently still undecided), Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America.

Ilana wrote: "Would Jacqueline Woodson’s “Brown Girl Dreaming,” work for this prompt?"

Yes, and it is truly lovely.

Piper wrote: "Does anyone know a book that's similar to Queer, There, and Everywhere by Sarah Prager?"

I would say maybe People of Pride: 50 LGBTQ+ Americans who changed the world or Queer Heroes: Meet 53 LGBTQ Heroes From Past and Present! would be in the same vein, although both are much more illustrated than Prager's is.

I am considering A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

Would Stonewall: Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights by Ann Bausum work for this one?

Laura wrote: "Would Stonewall: Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights by Ann Bausum work for this one?"

I read it in 2017 (I think?) and it's definitely YA nonfiction, and it would work well for the task.

I am looking for recommendations for this category with Canadian cintent., since I am Canadian and would find it more relevant.

Would It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime work here?

Heather wrote: "Would It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime work here?"

I just read that recently. It’s a memoir. While it could be read by teens, it’s not aimed at younger audiences at all.

Edited to add: however I just looked at the book riot recommendations and some of the memoirs they suggest are fairly dark content, and only some of them appear to have been written with teenagers in mind, so who knows?

Aingeal wrote: "I am looking for recommendations for this category with Canadian cintent., since I am Canadian and would find it more relevant."


Aingeal, #Notyourprincess: Voices of Native American Women has content from quite a few Canadian artists and writers, as well as from the U.S.

Arlene wrote: "Would No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference by Greta Thunberg work for this? Would work for the book about climate change prompt obviously."

No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference sounds like an excellent choice. I didn’t know it existed. Thanks for the idea!

Here are titles shelved as YA nonfiction. Lots of interesting books!

https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

Heather wrote: "Would It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime work here?"

Aingeal wrote: "I am looking for recommendations for this category with Canadian cintent., since I am Canadian and would find it more relevant."

There IS a YA version of his Born a Crime book.

Thanks to Laura sharing that excellent YALSA database (thank you, Laura!) I’m leaning towards

Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans during World War II


and

This Strange Wilderness: The Life and Art of John James Audubon

Rachael wrote: "Mine will be The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century"


Reading this right now and I love it!

I'm going to read Brown Girl Dreaming... that book by Grwta Thunberg also looks so good

I wasn’t sure what to read here but after scanning others suggestions and my shelves I’ve discovered a copy of Rapture Practice: A True Story About Growing Up Gay in an Evangelical Family that I have yet to read so that’s going to be my dive for this one.

It's the 1st down in New Zealand, so I've already started. Actually, I've finished this task! I only meant to read a few chapters but it was so good I kept doing the "one more chapter" bit until it was done.

The book was A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School by Carlotta Walls LaNier. It's a memoir of her high school years, when she was one of the nine black students attending the Little Rock school in the immediate aftermath of desegregation. I saw it on one of the general Book Riot YA recommendation lists I think, and it was excellent.

I'm super excited to read A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II about the Night Witches. Also, They Called Us Enemy will work for both this and the graphic memoir prompt

I think I'll go with Jane Against the World: Roe v. Wade and the Fight for Reproductive Rights by Karen Blumenthal for this prompt—it will be out on February 25.

I'm going with Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers for this one!

Currently reading No One is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg. It's a short and easy read.

Breige wrote: "Two good books that fit this are Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek and Girl Up. You could also include Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl a..."

I just finished Popular- it was great! (yes I spent the last day of my Holiday reading on the couch, it was glorious) Thanks for the suggestion!

Just finished #NotYourPrincess for this and it's outstanding.

I've just started listening to How Dare the Sun Rise by Sandra Uwiringiyimana which will also count for #19(?) a book by a refugee. But I also have The Borden Murders and The 57 Bus qued up to read.

I'm trying to decide if the book I just started counts in this category. It's written in a very adult way, but by a teenager, about her rape, and the trial and fall out. I Have the Right To: A High School Survivor's Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope by Chessy Prout.

Mind you, I just checked the publisher, and Wikipedia calls the imprint "boutique imprint publisher of literary fiction and nonfiction for children and teens" so I guess it counts as a YA non-fiction book.

If it's written by a teenager, I'd say it definitely counts!

I am going to do two for this. Claudette Calvin: Twice toward Justice by Philip Hoose. I am also going to read (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start the Conversation about Mental Health.

I'm reading Unf*ck your Adulting, which I found in a humble bundle I bought a little while ago and hadn't read yet. It's about being newly adult/independent and looks like a fun read.

I feel uncertain with the YA category. Does anyone have thoughts on Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death? It is directed at children/youth but I don't know if it's middle grade or YA. TIA