YA readers: Have you any recommendations for good urban lit? I've done the Bluford series with the juvie kids and they're looking for more urban fare. Any ideas?

Man, I saw Grace Paley speak once, too, and I remember being blown away by her passion and wit. She was a sharp observer of the human condition and a hell of a writer, but she must have been older than original sin by this point.

Very sad about Grace Paley.

Enormous Changes at the Last Minute is one of those books I pick up every few years and re-read and am continually blown away by. ETA:(That title is also the tagline for my LJ.)

Tangentially, (to another favourite author) the Broadway adaptation of Joan Didion's Year of Magical Thinking is closing this weekend. I know it got mixed reviews, but I really wish I had gotten a chance to go there an see it. I'm having a week of wishing I was in New York.

YA readers: Have you any recommendations for good urban lit?

Walter Dean Myers has a bunch of great urban YA books, like Monster and Street Love. Which reminds me of Janet McDonald's Harlem Hustle, which I haven't read yet but is supposed to be good. Coe Booth's Tyrell was one of the best-loved YA books of the last year and won a bunch of honors. Paul Volponi has several good urban YA books; I read Black and White and thought it was really interesting & thought-provoking.

Enormous Changes at the Last Minute is one of those books I pick up every few years and re-read and am continually blown away by.

I love that book. It has one of my favorite book titles of all time. Sad about Grace Paley.

Enormous Changes was also made into a little indie movie with a young Kevin Bacon and (I think) Ellen Barkin.

Thanks, Kate! I'm gonna check some of those out for the kids. They love Myers but I don't think we've brought any of the others you mention.

You're welcome! A great resource to check out is the New York Public Library's "Books for the Teen Age" list that they put out every year, with books selected by NY teens. There's some overlap from year to year, but lots of new books each year too. The list is huge and divided into a bunch of different sections, one of which is, I think, books about New York -- plus lots of other books on the list would probably fit your community too. You can download the lists from the last three years as .pdfs here: [link]

The Harry Potter thread was mentioning some British kids series, and made me think of what Brit books I was reading as a kid.

Remember the Noel Streatfeild "Shoes" books? I always loved Ballet Shoes, but don't remember the details of any of the other books.

That was the big British kids series I remember reading as a child, in addition to some translated Swedish books like Pippi Longstocking and a few others, and the American classics from Louisa May Alcott and Laura Ingalls Wilder.

The others were more individual titles, like Sara Crewe, Black Beauty, etc.

I have several Streatfeild books. Dancing Shoes is my fave, but Theatre Shoes is pretty good too.