Pink

Pink by Lili Wilkerson
320 pages
Publisher:  Harper Teen; March, 2010
ISBN: 0061926531
Level/Lexile:  9th grade and up/NA

Annotation/Teaser:  Sixteen year old, Ava is confused.  when she tries out a new personality and sexual orientation, others are hurt because she is not completely honest. 

Plot Summary:  Transferring to a new school, Billy Hughes School for Academic Excellence, is the perfect time for Ava to try on a new identity and start a new life.  But just in case she doesn't like the new, she keeps everything a secret from her parents and her girlfriend from her old school.  After failing to make it through the try outs for the school musical, Ava joins the stage crew.  This group of misfits doesn't care what others think and are just happy to be themselves.   After falling for one of the stage crew guys, Sam, Ava is torn between Sam and her relationship with her girlfriend.  But Ava must be honest with herself and those around her about the kind of person she really is.

About the Author:  Born in Melbourne, Australia, Lili Wilkinson was first published when she was twelve, in Voiceworks magazine. After studying creative arts at Melbourne University, Ms. Wilkinson began working for the Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library of Victoria, where she managed a website for teens about books and reading. She spends most of her time reading and writing books for teens, but when she's not doing that, she's usually hanging out with friends, watching DVDs, and making monsters out of wool. Pink is her U.S. debut.
She is currently the writer in residence at ibrary, Brisbane's City Council Library website.  Lili says, "I write books, eat cheese and read a lot. I am terrified of vomit and ferris-wheels, but not spiders. I have a blog. I think that the phrase ‘setting the bar too high’ is not very useful if you’re into limbo." 
Lili Wilkerson Bio (n.d.) Retrieved from www.liliwilkerson.com.au

Critical Evaluation:  The strongest element in this book is conflict.  Ava has a conflict within herself because she feels she is not who she is supposed to be or that she really doesn't know who she is supposed to be.  She thinks that maybe she is who she is because her parents have expectations for her to be a certain way and her girlfriend Chloe has expectations for her to be a certain way.  Then, when she is trying to become a different person, she is influenced by her new friends to become what they want.  While Ava is torn between being a lesbian who wears black, she has a secret desire to be the popular girl who dates the popular guy and wears pink.  Ava has to make a choice about who she wants to be and while the way she does it is deceitful, it all works out in the end. 
I think the conflict is the strongest but the characters are developed beautifully in this story.  Each character is unique.  I did not like the main character, Ava because I thought she was a whiny brat.  Most teens would kill to have the kind of life she has but she did exhibit typical teenager behaviors.  

Curriculum Ties:  N/A

Book Talk Ideas:  Use a catchy quote from the book.  "This episode of my life is brought to you by the letters, W, T and F.  I do not understand."
  
Controversial Issues:  Gay/Lesbian

Defense: 

*I will keep the library's selection policy on hand and memorized with a good understanding  of the standards and policies to show that the selection meets the standards. 

*I will keep good and bad reviews (both electronic and print) and make sure they are from reliable and respected sources such as School of Library Journal, Booklist, and YALSA. I will have copies of these reviews to give away. 

*I will confirm the library's position to provide intellectual freedom as stated in the Library Bill of Rights and keep a copy of this.

*I will keep a written rationale to justify the reasons this material is included in the collection, such as educational significance and curriculum ties.

*I will be respectful and calm and practice "active listening".

*I will make sure I read the material and are very familiar with it.

* I will keep a reconsideration form on file in the event that my other strategies don't work. 

Why I Chose This Book?  I thought this was a great depiction of the way young adults think and react with others.  Some young adults would definitely see themselves in Ava and how she struggles to find out who she really is.