Featuring: Hands

83 books. 20 donors. That's what came of a book drive I hosted for Kitenga Girls Secondary School in Tanzania. So many book lovers joined in to support these students—and the resulting book joy was beautiful to behold. You, too, can get a fresh stack of diverse and engaging books for your secondary classroom library. Let me help you do so through a customized registry on Bookshop.org.

If you join the registry fun and you teach middle school, you will likely see this week's book on your wishlist. It's a fast-paced, thoughtful, and relevant title that was written by a public school teacher who grew up in the Red Hook housing projects in Brooklyn. Read on for the impact this book will have on your students.

Title: Hands

Author: Torrey Maldonado

Genre: Realistic fiction

Age range: 10+

Summary: Trevor's step-dad is about to return home after two years in prison for hitting Trevor's mom. Trevor knows he won't let it happen again. What he doesn't know is why all his Uncles won't teach him to fight: to use his hands to protect his mom and sisters. Trevor starts to understand the consequences of cyclical violence—and must decide if he'll use his hands to punch or to pursue his artistic talent.

It's similar to:

Hands is a gentler version of Long Way Down. Both take a stark look at cyclical violence and both have young, Black, male protagonists who receive advice from older Black males—and have to decide how to proceed.
If a student loved Jason Reynolds' Ghost track series (who doesn't?), they'll probably also like the characters and conflicts in Hands.
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia is another story of a young, Black, male protagonist figuring out how to deal with the punches life throws at him.

How I'd teach it:

I see Hands as a must-have for 6th-9th grade classrooms for two reasons. First, it joins the Amulet graphic novel series and Touching Spirit Bear at the top of my "books for kids who hate reading" list. Clocking in at just 136 pages with short 2-3 page chapters, Hands has the potential to coax readers out of the "I hate reading" camp and into the "reading is OK" mindset.

Second, it's a vivid, compassionate, and relatable 1st person perspective on how to deal with cyclical violence. I often heard my 8th grade boys tout the heartbreaking attitude of "if they mess with me and mine, I'm fighting back." Trevor's story is a powerful (but not preachy) counter-narrative.

Depending on your students, consider adding it to your curriculum in one of these ways:

Whole class novel (5th-7th grades): 5th and 6th graders will benefit from lots of teacher support in processing the tough themes of domestic abuse and cyclical violence. Use it in 7th grade if your students collectively don't see themselves as readers because they're not used to having books that matter to them. (If you teach Long Way Down in 8th or 9th grade, read Hands, too, and invite students to compare and contrast Will, Trevor, and their communities.)
Book clubs (7th-8th grades): If you do a thematic book club on community support or cyclical violence, then this is a great option for a group of reluctant readers.
Buddy reads: Keep 2 copies on your bookshelf and during independent reading, invite a pair of friends to read it together. Let them know they can talk about it (maybe even let them sit in the hall to read) and use each other to make sense of the story. Show them that reading doesn't have to be a solitary event—social reading is huge for engagement and enjoyment.

Learn more:

You absolutely have to spend four minutes watching this video of Maldonado reflecting on the impact of representation in books for our students. My favorite line: "A large part of their disconnection with books is books' disconnection with them."

If you do First Chapter Fridays, use this video of Maldonado reading aloud the first chapter of Hands.

Perhaps the best part of reading Hands is discovering that Maldonado has written 3 other books—and each is "thin but thick with complexity."

Literacy Love Notes:

I'm on Pinterest! If that's where you turn for teacher inspiration, follow me (@middleschoolbooklife) for all things related to students' reading lives.
Pernille Ripp is a master at cultivating a vibrant reading culture and the 6 book recommendation ideas she outlines here are smart and easy.
For quick, easy, reading-focused classroom decor, check out these "Famous First Line" (free) posters.

Have a good one and learn everything you can,

Hannah

PS: Have you read El Deafo by Cece Bell?

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