There is still seating available at the Teen Author Series event with Philadelphian Allison Whittenberg for her new book Tutored. Your class can meet Whittenberg on Wednesday, February 22 at the Frankford Branch Library, 4634 Frankford Ave. Please click on the link to find an excerpt of Tutored and read the School Library Journal’s enthusiastic review below. Feel free to share this with your colleagues. As always, participating students and teachers will receive FREE books, in addition to meeting the author. In order to reserve seats at this event, send me the time preference (11AM or 1PM), the number of students that you believe will commit to attending, their grade level(s), the number of teachers and the number of chaperones. Please remember participation is by reservation only.
Regards,
Aurora Sanchez
Teen Author Series Outreach Coordinator
Free Library of Philadelphia
Office of Public Service Support
1901 Vine St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215.686.5372 (p)
215.686.5374 (f)
Allison Whittenberg | Tutored (10-12th grade)
Wednesday, February 22 at 11AM and 1PM – Frankford Branch, 4634 Frankford Ave
Philadelphian Allison Whittenberg is a writer, poet, playwright, and professor. She is the author of the young adult novels Sweet Thang, a New York Library Best Book for the Teen Age and a CCBC Choices Book; Life is Fine; and Hollywood and Maine. In her new book Tutored, “issues of prejudice, socioeconomic disparities, and family conflict are presented in [an] engaging story,” writes one School Library Journal reviewer. The product of a privileged upbringing, Wendy Anderson tutors at an inner-city community center, where she meets Hakiam Powell, a teen from the ghetto charged with raising his cousin’s baby. Despite a rocky beginning, the two navigate their differences to begin an ultimately enlightening romance.
School Library Journal
Gr 7-10–College-bound Wendy Anderson, 16, and GED-seeking Hakiam Powell, 17, both African Americans, meet at an inner-city Philadelphia community center where Wendy volunteers as a tutor. Living and going to school in an upscale white suburb, she has felt the sting of prejudice and challenges her condescending father's attitude toward his past and his race. Hakiam has drifted from foster care in Cincinnati to his cousin's apartment where he is stuck taking care of her baby. Despite the teens' vastly different backgrounds and aspirations, a tentative romance begins. Wendy's intelligence, personal goals, persistence, and genuine concern for the baby's welfare ultimately motivate Hakiam to find a job, a safe home, and the willpower to study for his GED. Issues of prejudice, socioeconomic disparities, and family conflict are presented in this engaging story. Wendy's biased father and Hakiam's negligent cousin offer provocative profiles in parenting. Although the teens glide a bit too confidently in and out of each other's homes and neighborhoods, readers will savor the saucy verbal sparring between them, the star-crossed contrast in their backgrounds, and the upbeat ending.–Gerry Larson, Durham School of the Arts, NC
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