The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee

THE DOWNSTAIRS GIRL by Stacey Lee (Under a Painted Sky and Outrun the Moon) is a work of historical fiction in which readers definitely will experience 1890 Atlanta with all of its gender, race, and social class biases. The main character is Jo Kuan, a seventeen-year-old Chinese orphan who lives with her guardian, Old Gin, in a basement hideout formerly on the underground railroad. She wants to be a milliner and has obvious skills until she is abruptly dismissed for making some of the white patrons “uncomfortable.” Next, it is on to being a lady’s maid for a rather spoiled young woman at an estate where Old Gin helps to care for the horses. In an effort to save a local newspaper, she also starts writing an advice column, signing her letters as Miss Sweetie and cleverly tackling questions related to beauty, social mores and "newfangled machinery" like bicycles. Even though THE DOWNSTAIRS GIRL is set in a time and place with which our students will have little affinity, I think they will readily relate to Jo’s spirit – she is optimistic, resourceful and daring – a real “saucebox” with an independent streak. And the cover is beautiful and eye catching!  

THE DOWNSTAIRS GIRL received multiple starred reviews (Booklist, Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal) – expect this title to appear on award lists, too.

New YA titles and Diversity

Like many school librarians, we have been working to increase the diversity of titles in our collection.  Here are two young adult novels which seem written with that goal in mind, but which, sadly, failed to live up to their initial promise. 

MEET ME IN OUTER SPACE by Melinda Grace starts out as a particularly strong example of an #OwnVoices type of book. The main character is Edie Kits, a college student with an auditory processing issue who encounters a less than helpful French professor as she struggles to qualify for time abroad in pursuit of her fashion-related degree. 

Initially, Melinda Grace does build empathy for Edie and her situation, as in this conversation between Edie and her roommate, Serena: “I shouldn’t have had to do extra just to get what I needed to learn, but I did and I wasn’t about to complain. Complaining wasn’t action. I recited the words I’d heard my whole life. ‘Fair doesn’t mean equal.  It doesn’t mean everyone should be treated the same, because what is fair to you isn’t fair to me.  Fair is getting what I need, and if that means I have to show up ten minutes early to class, then that’s what I am going to do.’ ‘I guess I never thought of it that way,’ Serena said, her forehead scrunching. ‘Well, right. You’ve never had to.’”

Instead of continuing to portray Edie as a strong self-advocate, she is somehow morphed into an immature girl who refuses to honestly talk about feelings because she is overly (and unrealistically) concerned about starting a relationship before traveling abroad for an extended period.  Of course, her crush is on her French Teaching Assistant and his actions (generally ignoring her attempts at keeping the relationship on a more platonic level) further reinforce the lack of control Edie has over her situation.  Overall, MEET ME IN OUTER SPACE begins with a unique premise, but the potential is not fully realized. 

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF TRUE by Susan Kaplan Carlton takes place primarily in Atlanta in 1958 and offers an opportunity to explore what it might have been like to move there from the North while a teenager and after the unexpected death of one’s father.  Further complicating the efforts at adapting to a new Southern culture and the strong set of regional traditions is the fact that the main character, Ruth, has few traits in common with her new classmates. Or, as she muses to herself: “I’m a Yankee, a brunette, an Adlai Stevenson Democrat, an aspiring journalist, and Jewish.”

Ruth has to learn to say ma’am when addressing her elders as well as hide her religion, and begin to understand that in the neighborhood of true is what Southerners say “when something’s close enough.” Rather self-centered and superficial, Ruth develops a crush on a boy (Davis Jefferson), deals with some mean girls and struggles with her mother’s push for activism. It seems to take roughly half the book to set up this scenario at which point many students will have lost interest or still strain to appreciate the historical period. It is important to recognize that IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF TRUE was inspired by the 1958 bombing of an Atlanta synagogue and if that was an earlier and bigger part of the book, it could spark some important discussions, especially in light of the attacks on synagogues and other places of worship in recent news events.  

More YA debut fiction ...

OUT OF THE BLUE by Sophie Cameron is an emotional coming of age story.  The main character in this debut novel is 16 year-old Jaya. She recently lost her Mom in a freak accident, feels abandoned by her first girlfriend, and is angry with her father. He has quit his job and temporarily uprooted the family including her younger sister in order to pursue a quest to find a Being. Yes, Beings (or angels) have been falling from the sky and no one knows why. 

Sounds strange, right? But I really liked OUT OF THE BLUE much more than I thought I would.  Jaya is an appealing character and her adventures in Edinburgh somehow felt plausible despite the idea that she is the one to find a Being who is the first to miraculously survive the fall to Earth. Jaya enlists new activist friends Allie and Calum to protect and hide the Being from fanatic cults and exploitation. Cameron provides a very read-able (790 lexile) exploration of mortality and grief, while also probing the consequences of good intentions and their impact on both friends and family relationships. OUT OF THE BLUE credibly reflects a diverse society (including biracial, lesbian and disabled characters) and received starred reviews from Kirkus and School Library Journal (grades 9 and up).  Look for it on our shelves.

THEY COME IN ALL COLORS by Malcolm Hansen is another debut novel that features a biracial character, Huey Fairchild.  The story begins in early 1960s rural Georgia when Huey is a child and the local pool is closed rather than being opened to Black swimmers. He and his Mom move to New York where he is given a scholarship to a private school; the only other person of color there is the janitor. I was intrigued by the time period and premise; plus, Malcolm Hansen has some first-hand experience on which to draw since he, too, is biracial and moved quite a bit as a child. Hansen is a talented writer; for example, he memorably describes how young Huey met his Mom at a diner and “jumped into a booth beside her and squeezed her like she was the very last of the toothpaste.” However, THEY COME IN ALL COLORS seemed very disjointed with the story moving back and forth between Huey (age 8) in Georgia and New York (as a teenager). Like many young people, Huey is uncomfortable with being different, but he is very naïve about it, too, and that stretches believability. I found it difficult to develop empathy for Huey and this feeling was reinforced as he frequently acts out and invites trouble for himself and his Mom.

Hansen does prompt readers to think about important points like the assumptions we make.  Here, Huey describes a baseball error where one outfielder was not able to avoid another: “[I] explained to Suzie that Chacon was from Puerto Rico, which is why he wasn’t able to call off Thomas in English.  She asked if that was where my family was from. I’m from Georgia, I answered. I couldn’t believe what came out her mouth next. Oh. So-you’re American?”

Sadly, THEY COME IN ALL COLORS, like in the above passage, was made much more difficult to follow because of the absence of any quotation marks and overall I would have preferred a more linear, traditional telling.