Low-Key Kinda Smart

  "We began to see that there was something stronger than starvation, fear and death —the will to stay human." Symphony for the City of the Dead M. T. Anderson   Year Published: 2015 Pages: 379 (plus 85 pages of source notes and indices) Genres: YA nonfiction, WWII history, biography, music history Topics: World War II, Russian Revolution, Dmitri Shostakovich, classical music, Soviet history Recognition     YALSA Nonfiction Honor Book, 2016     Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, 2015      Wall Street Journal Best Books of the Year, 2015     NPR Best Books of the Year, 2015 Summary Born to a middle-class St. Petersburg family in the last years of the Russian czars, Dmitri Shostakovich showed little interest in music until he began piano lessons at age nine, when his talent became apparent. At the same time, though, Russia was in upheaval, and by the time he was 11, Czar Nicholas II h...

 I want to immortalize this narrative of joy and pain, this narrative of triumph and tragedy, this narrative of the Black queer experience that has been erased from the history books. An existence that has been here forever. All Boys Aren't Blue George M. Johnson   Year Published: 2020 Pages: 297 Genres: YA nonfiction, memoir, LGBTQ+ literature Topics: Sexuality, race, identity, gender norms, race/gender intersectionality Recognition      New York Times Bestseller     ALA Top 5 Most Challenged Books, 2021-2024     ALA Rainbow Book List, 2021     Goodreads Choice Nominee for Readers' Favorite Memoir and Autobiography, 2020 Summary Note: Since the publication of All Boys Aren't Blue , Johnson has adopted they/them pronouns. However, since they use he/him pronouns in the memoir itself, I have maintained them only in this summary for the purpose of continuity. George Matthew Johnson —"Matt" to his family —was born in 198...