So, has anyone read or reviewed any great books lately? I have to admit that I am so behind in my reading that I'm embarrassed to say what book I'm on within the Harry Potter series? Let's just say that I still have yet to see the second movie.

However, I have started reading Tayari Jones' THE UNTELLING. This is the writer's second novel. Jones' first novel, LEAVING ATLANTA was told in the voices of three African-American middle school children set at the height of the Atlanta Child Murders of 1978-79. When working as a teen librarian, I used this book to start a dialogue on personal safety among middle and high school students. I know that there are other books out there that provide information on keeping safe but I especially enjoyed LEAVING ATLANTA because it captured a very real concerns of a child. Fearful, naive, yet cautiously aware of the hushed whispers that adults sometimes engage in in the presence of children. The kids were of course drawn to the book mainly for two reasons; one, the fictionized events were real--long before they were born and two; the locations and landmarks, ie. schools, city parks, streets,etc, that were named were readily familiar. But I think the height of the discussion soared when kids wanted to offer ideas for keeping safe and (laughable) tactics for being smart and keeping themselves out of predator's way.

What about anyone else? Have you used a historical fiction title to talk about today's issues? What worked well with your audience?