Read Around the Subject Art and Performing Arts Recommended Reading List The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo – Performing and Poetry A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother's religion and her own relationship to the world. Debut novel of renowned slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo. Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking. But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers, especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. With Mami's determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself. So, when she is invited to join her school' s slam poetry club, she doesn't know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out, much less speak her words out loud. But still, she can't stop thinking about performing her poems. Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent Slog's Dad by David Almond - Art Do you believe there's life after death? Slog does. He reckons that the scruffy bloke sitting outside the pork shop is his dad who has come back to visit him for one last time. Slog's mate Davie isn't convinced - but how does this man know everything Slog's dad would know? The Black Flamingo (14+) by Dean Atta - Performing and Poetry Michael is a mixed-race gay teen growing up in London. All his life, he's navigated what it means to be Greek-Cypriot and Jamaican, but never quite feeling Greek or Black enough. As he gets older, Michael' s coming out is only the start of learning who he is and where he fits in. When he discovers the Drag Society, he finally finds where he belongs, and the Black Flamingo is born. Told with raw honesty, insight, and lyricism, this debut explores the layers of identity that make us who we are and allow us to shine. Atta chronicles the growth and glory of Michael Angeli a mixed-race kid from London as he navigates his cultural identity as Cypriot and Jamaican as well as his emerging sexuality." (Publishers Weekly "An Anti-Racist Children's and YA Reading List")" In this uplifting coming-of-age novel told in accessible verse A Crime of Fashion #1 by Carina Axelsson - Fashion Introducing Axelle Anderson: fashion's most stylish detective. Despite her long legs and fashion-obsessed family, all Axelle wants to do is solve mysteries. So, when star designer Belle La Lune vanishes, Axelle seizes the chance to go undercover as a model to crack the case even if it means being tortured with eyelash-curlers and teetering on sky-high heels. Aided by the distractingly gorgeous Sebastian, Axelle races against the clock to solve the mystery at the heart of Paris Fashion Week... Keeping an Eye Open – Essays on Art by Julian Barnes – Art * The updated edition of Julian Barnes’ best-loved writing on art, with seven new exquisite illustrated essays. Julian Barnes began writing about art with a chapter on Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa in his 1989 novel A History of the World in 10½ Chapters. Since then he has written a series of remarkable essays, chiefly about French artists, which trace the story of how art made its way from Romanticism to Realism and into Modernism. Fully illustrated in colour throughout, Keeping an Eye Open contains Barnes’ essays on Géricault, Delacroix, Courbet, Manet, Morisot, Fantin-Latour, Cézanne, Degas, Cassatt, Redon, Van Gogh, the legendary critic Huysmans, Bonnard, Vuillard, Vallotton, Braque, Magritte, Oldenburg, Howard Hodgkin and Lucian Freud. Hollow Earth by John Barrowman - Art Lots of twins have a special connection - being able to finish each other's sentences; sensing what the other is thinking; perhaps even knowing when the other is in trouble or in pain - but for 12- year-old twins, Matt and Emily Calder, the connection is beyond special. Together, the twins have extraordinary powers. They are able to bring art to life or enter paintings at will. Their abilities are sought by villains trying to access the terrors of Hollow Earth - a place where all the demons, devils and creatures ever imagined lie trapped for eternity. The twins flee with their mother to the security of an island, off the west coast of Scotland, where their grandfather has certain protective powers of his own. But too much is at stake, and the twins aren't safe there either. The villains will stop at nothing to find Hollow Earth and harness the powers within... Pablo Picasso by John Beardsley – Art * In the “First Impressions” series, an intelligent overview of the 20th-century giant's life as it relates to the evolution of his many innovative styles. Beardsley explains what was unique about Picasso's art at each stage, setting him in the context of other artists, such major political events as the Spanish Civil War, and the sources of his powerful images, especially the bulls and matadors of his native Spain. The beautifully reproduced art (50 or so items, mostly—except the sculpture—in colour, including several foldouts) is well chosen to illustrate the author's presentation; a series of early self-portraits (1896- 1907) in characteristic, rapidly evolving, sharply contrasting but fascinatingly related styles is especially illuminating. Illustrations are not always adjacent to the relevant text, a problem that could have been alleviated by citing their location at the appropriate point—especially since Beardsley mentions several important works that, frustratingly, don't appear at all. Still, as intended, a good introduction to the man and his extraordinary output. Full citations for the art; index. National Geographic. The photographs by Leah Bendavid-Val – Photography * The Photographs offers readers an inside look at National Geographic and a sharp-eyed view of the world. The book showcases the skill and imagination of such notable Geographic photographers as David Doubilet, William Albert Allard, Sam Abell, Jim Stanfield, Jodi Cobb, Jim Brandenburg, David Alan Harvey, and many more. They share their techniques, as well as personal and colorful anecdotes about individual images and their adventures in the field—sometimes humorous, sometimes terrifying, always vividly compelling. Author Leah Bendavid-Val writes about the photographers’ achievements from technical, journalistic, and artistic perspectives. Look, The by Sophia Bennett - Fashion When Ted is spotted by a model agency, she can't believe it. At the same time, her gorgeous sister, Ava, is diagnosed with cancer. With her world turned upside down, Ted has a lot of growing up to do, some of it in five-inch platforms. Can she be a supermodel and a super sister? Or will she have to choose between fame and family? Henri Cartier Bresson (New Horizons) by Clément Chéroux - Photography * A concise introduction to the life and work of one of the greatest photographers of the 20th century. Henri Cartier-Bresson’s photography came to define the 20th century. This book tells his life story through his images: all the major events from his youth to his death in 2004 are described, contextualized, and analysed in the light of his photographic work. From his early encounters with the Surrealists, his film work and his experiences in the Second World War, to the development of his own personal aesthetic, the concept of the ‘decisive moment’, and the foundation of Magnum Photos, his influence on the world has been profound and unforgettable. The Mind’s eye. Writings on Photography and Photographers by Henri Cartier-Bresson – Phoitography * The first compilation of writings by a Master of Photography. One of the leading lights in photography of the twentieth century, Henri Cartier-Bresson is also a shrewd observer and critic. His writings on photography and photographers, which have appeared sporadically over the past forty-five years, are gathered here for the first time. Several have never before appeared in English. The Mind's Eye features Cartier- Bresson's famous text on "the decisive moment" as well as his observations on Moscow, Cuba, and China during turbulent times, which ring with the same immediacy and visual intensity that he brings to his photography. Cartier-Bresson remains as direct and insightful as ever in his writings. His commentary on photographer friends he has known-including Robert Capa, André Kertész, Ernst Haas, and Sarah Moon-reveal the impassioned and compassionate vision for which Cartier-Bresson is beloved. Voices In The Park by Anthony Browne - Art Picture Book Four different voices tell their own versions of the same walk in the park. There's a bossy woman, a sad man, a lonely boy and a young girl whose warmth touches those she meets. As the story moves from one voice to another, it seeks to reflect their perspectives in the landscape and seasons. Secrets, Schemes and Sewing Machines by Katy Cannon - Sewing Secrets, Schemes and Sewing Machines is the companion novel to Katy Cannon's delicious teen read, Love, Lies and Lemon Pies. Grace had a plan for this year - and it didn't involve learning to sew. But when her world is turned upside down by a family secret, everything changes. Grace's family is in need of patching up and she's trying to focus on what really matters.