Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith
This book was very consumable. It was a coming of age story about finding yourself while dealing with prejudice and deciding what you will deal with and what you won't. Louise is Native American and while she is proud of her heritage, she is also trying to figure out how she wants to share it with people. She is partnered with Joey on the school paper; he is Lebanese-American. He is also proud of his heritage and does not take kindly to the all Arab's are terrorists stereotype. They start falling for each other and she is trying figure out how to bring up her heritage and she makes a horrible blunder that causes him to stop talking to her. Meanwhile, her brother, Hughie, gets cast in The Wizard of Oz as the Tin Man. All of the ethnic members of the cast start receiving anonymous hate mail. Then, their house gets vandalized. Hughie decides to drop out of the play because of how Baum felt of Native Americans. On opening night the show is a huge success and his gives an interview to the school paper, talking about his decision and the hate mail. Lou figures out how to make up to Joey, but they get caught in a tornado and he saves them. The book ends with them celebrating Thanksgiving with her family. It was cute, but coming of age stories aren't my favorite. They seem to lack a plot, even though the self-discovery is the plot.
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