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Book Reviewed by:A story of resilience and loss, love and family, testifying to the vulnerability and strength of a community living within a system of oppression.
Moss Jeffries is many things - considerate student, devoted son, loyal friend and affectionate boyfriend, enthusiastic nerd.
But sometimes Moss still wishes he could be someone else - someone without panic attacks, someone whose father was still alive, someone who hadn't become a rallying point for a community because of one horrible night.
And most of all, he wishes he didn't feel so stuck.
Moss can't even escape at school - he and his friends are subject to the lack of funds and crumbling infrastructure at West Oakland High, as well as constant intimidation by the resource officer stationed in their halls. That was even before the new regulations - it seems sometimes that the students are treated more like criminals.
Something will have to change -but who will listen to a group of teens?
When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes again, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift.
It is no secret that contemporary young adult literature has been becoming more political, addressing the real problems and challenges faced by teenagers in the United States today. Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro is a welcome addition to the contemporary YA oeuvre, taking readers inside a brutal reality that too many young people today know well. It is a narrative about intergenerational trauma, about hope, and about finding strength in one's family and community, executed in a way that will keep readers turning the page...continued
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(Reviewed by Michelle Anya Anjirbag).
Intersectionality is a term coined by Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw almost three decades ago to explain how the oppression of African-American women was compounded by both race and gender. Essentially, she described the intersection of identities as affecting how much or how little power someone has within a society. It is a once-primarily academic and legal term that has become ubiquitous in the current zeitgeist of identity politics and racial justice. However, when talking about different kinds of representation encoded within novels, especially young adult novels, it is a really useful tool with which to interrogate what kinds of diversity we are seeing, and to determine if it is done in a way that engages with the real aspects of those ...
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Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
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Adam Silvera, New York Times bestselling author of They Both Die at the End
Anger is a Gift is an explosion of fury and revolution. Mark Oshiro's beautiful and brutal debut proves that not only can anyone be a hero, but great change comes when the heroes work together.
