La historia de mi furia

Gr 6 Up–In this novel in verse (a translation of The Story of My Anger), Yulieta Lopez, a Dominican American high schooler in Texas, has once again been passed over for the lead role in the school theater club’s play. Yulieta knows why: the drama teacher thinks her dark skin just isn’t “right” for the part. Yulieta finds a safe place to share her disappointment in the classroom of another teacher, Mr. González, where shelves of books line the walls and students can see themselves reflected in his estudios étnicos curriculum. When Yulieta and her friends discover that the school board is forcing Mr. G to remove certain books from his classroom and syllabus, they try to find a way to stop it. Encouraged by her loving activist family, Yulieta and her friends found a new guerilla theater club called A.C.T., through which they aim to stir up conversation about the school board’s censorship. In addition to offering a window into the current climate of book bans in Texas and other states, Mendez’s novel also shares a view of the racism that affects the everyday lives of many young people. The characters are fully developed, with backstories and struggles that will resonate with teens. This novel in verse also features poems and is scattered with excerpts from the script for the school play. Like the books in Mr. G’s classroom, this novel will allow readers to see themselves and affirms that their stories are important.