Finding helpers and mentors in young adult literature
by Jan Johnson, Teen Librarian
We’ve all heard the often-quoted inspirational words of the beloved Mister Rogers “’When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping. ‘” When I’m feeling disheartened by the negativity that seems to be everywhere, it really does help to “look for the helpers”, in this case, read about them.
When we started the ReadMHK program, while we were deciding what to do for January, I remember typing “what month is January” into google and National Mentoring Month popped up. Yes! Perfect! What has always amazed me about Manhattan is that we have an incredible amount of people who are always willing and eager to offer help to those who might benefit from their support. Helping comes in so many different forms. Whether it’s a group of friends who rally around each other to drop off animal crackers or soup to one of them who is not having the greatest day, to a kind stranger buying someone’s groceries at Dillons, to an individual giving their time to help foster kids and their families. Helping others doesn’t have to be a grand gesture, as you’ll see in the books below, simply offer a kind word, inspiration, or just a listening ear. Young adult books are plentiful when it comes to looking for the helpers.
The Other Side of Lost by Jessi Kirby is a story about Mari, an Instagram star, who posts about her perfect life and boyfriend, and is an inspiration to her thousands of followers. We find Mari on her 18th birthday starting the day with a picture-perfect healthy smoothie, inspirational yoga session and surprise perfect present from her boyfriend. We end the day with her breaking down on her feed admitting that her life is not perfect and that feels like a fake. Mari shares a birthday with her cousin Bri. But Bri isn’t turning 18 this year. Bri died in a hiking accident while she was training for her dream trip of hiking the 221-mile John Muir Trail, which was supposed to start a few days after her 18th birthday. Mari gets a huge package from her aunt containing Bri’s backpack, hiking boots, and notebook with the information that she had put Mari on the hiking permit with her. Mari misses the closeness the two cousins had shared and sees this as a sign that she should go pick up the permit and hike to the first leg of the journey that Bri had planned. Along the trail Mari meets a girl who Bri helped overcome her self-doubt by offering the simple words “every day is a chance to be better than you were the day before”. Mari takes these words to continue hiking, meeting others along the way who help her. A simple “you got this” from a passing stranger fuels her desire to push on. As she navigates the challenging trail, she discovers that help comes when you least expect it from the people you meet along the trail and is the catalyst for how to find she finds her way back to herself.
Channel Kindness: Stories of Kindness and Community by Born This Way Foundation and Lady Gaga is a collection of inspirational stories from young people who turn everyday acts of kindness into encouragement for us all to do more where we can. Listening to the audiobook of this was an added treat of hearing some of the stories read by the changemakers who wrote the stories themselves. Within this book you will find stories that tell of everyday acts of kindness that show the priority of helping others reminding us what’s important offering a kind word to a stranger experiencing an anxiety episode, starting a mentorship program at schools to connect kids of differing abilities to encourage friendships, a transgender youth describing their transition online and in doing so helping others going through similar situations, and simple acts of everyday kindness.
You will find many more stories of inspiration, mentorship, helpers and kindness in our booklists on our site www.mhklibrary.org/catalog as well as displays in our young adult and children’s sections. If you would like to participate in our ReadMHK nine month long reading program, you can register on our website or come into the library.
Through the difficulties of the recent years, the shining stars of our society have been the helpers. Our healthcare workers and first responders have gone above and beyond to keep us safe in a world that sometimes feels chaotic. The January theme for the Manhattan Public Library reading program
The holidays have come around again, and for many people (myself included) that means baking. Due to busy schedules, my family’s holiday celebrations will be happening late this year, which gives me plenty of time to decide what I should bake for them. Should I bake my favorite chocolate cookies? Should I try a new cupcake recipe? Or should I go with a classic pie? Here are some of the cookbooks I’ll be perusing as I determine which desserts to bake for the holidays and into next year.
So many wonderful children’s picture books came out this year, some of them light-hearted, some serious, and some with amazing illustrations – all of them begging to be shared with a young person. Pre-readers depend on their grown-ups to spend time reading stories and delighting in them together, and reading aloud forms a strong bond as well. Here are some new books at the top of my list to share:
My life would be very different without young adult books. Starting in seventh grade, the stories I found in the teen area of my hometown public library shaped the remaining years of my childhood. From my cozy spot in the library’s bean bag chairs, I faced danger and made impossible choices with Katniss in “
I don’t know about you, but for me there is nothing like opening up a brand-new book for the first time. Not just a new book to me, but one that has barely been read before and has that hot of the presses shiny cover and the new book smell. I still prefer print books for this very reason; the tactile experience is part of what keeps me reading paper books. Join me and crack open a new and shiny book published in 2021 and read along with us for the 
With Thanksgiving coming up and the pandemic still affecting our family gatherings, I’ve started thinking about my plans. My partner and I decided that we’ll have a small dinner for us and our toddler and maybe video chat our families throughout the day. I don’t want to do the “traditional” Thanksgiving like I had growing up and I do not want to teach my child the schoolhouse story of the first Thanksgiving. I want him to celebrate Indigenous culture and learn the long history of what the United States, along with other countries, have done to Indigenous populations. The first step I want to take as a family is to learn and celebrate Indigenous food.
Camille Gardener lost control of her life five years ago. Heartbroken over the death of her 15-year-old daughter who attended a fraternity party, drank too much, was raped, and wound up freezing to death beyond the fraternity lawn, Camille has just made a terrible decision. Mixing medications with alcohol, she feels it is a reasonable decision for her to attend the alleged rapist’s award ceremony for exemplary service. Of course, this goes badly. She loudly accuses him of murder, and Camille is quickly arrested for the disruption. She is allowed a phone call that she places to her dear friend Luke, and she is released the next day.
November is Native American Heritage Month, a month dedicated to the history and current culture of the Indigenous peoples of this country. A great way to learn more about Indigenous cultures is to read books by and about Indigenous peoples. If you are participating in the Manhattan Public Library’s ReadMHK reading program, you can read a book by a Native American author and log it for this month’s theme of “Native Authors.” Looking for a young adult option to fulfill the prompt? I encourage you to check out “
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