Kate Mester
Appreciated a book about an intersex character that makes clear the difference between sex, gender identity, and sexuality. Good diversity of secondary characters and glad that all the characters made responsible choices in their teen decisions (sex with condoms and drinking with DDs and parental consequences). However, the writing was just so/so, the running was ok but not super realistic to track athletes, and there was too much of a “marriage plot” with the book ending only when the female-identifying main character received positive affirmation of desire from her male object of interest. Had a chance to really make this book super affirming and kind of blew it with such a stereotypical ending and lack of attention to details. 3/5
I'm so excited that we're going to be formally implementing these practices at my school this year. Many of these ideas I've been practicing in small ways with students, so putting some sustainable and systemic practices in place is huge! I like how this book distilled the essenence of these practices in an easily digestible way. My big problem with this, however, is knowing audience/tone. 7/8 of the examples given were from private and/or small schools. These examples don't equate and aren't applicable to large public schools and districts and that alone will cause many people to check out instead of thinking on how this information could apply to their own school/students/practice.
Incredibly dry and hard to follow, with more names than narrative. Even my kids who really love history or war stories didn't like this book. This one's going to be a hard sell.
After 2 books, I will continue to listen to anything with the Ben Philippe/James Fouhey combo. SO funny & Fouhey captures Philippe's intent & humor so well. You can see direct lines from Norris to Henri, both likely with little bits of Ben imbued in them. I really enjoyed Norris's arc and the meta-commentary on what life is supposed to be like (the idealized movie versions sold to us) vs what's actually real. Madison & Liam & Aarti are great characters as well.
2.5 stars. Discussing this with my ELL book circles this week (title was their choice). Lots to unpack, and there have been multiple tragic stories like this in the years since the book was published. Not particularly well written or researched, especially for nonfiction, but much to think about and relate to.
I've recommended this book to my 8th grade and high school football boys, but I think the technical football passages are too detailed for a lay reader. I skimmed the football plays, but I was interested in Mick's journey. I still feel that Runner has a wider audience.
Great collection of romantic short stories by 6 true superstars of YA - all Black women. There's a connecting thread woven through each story but they're all distinct and you can clearly tell who wrote each one. The audio was excellent, Dion Graham especially (of course). My favorite was Tiffany D. Jackson's because it was broken up in multiple parts between the other stories and that space really gave it room to breathe and build. Also exciting to see a lighter side from her! This will be an easy sell to teens 8th and up.
The audiobook was excellent, as the different readers made sense when the narrators shifted, and heightened my appreciation for Mbue's structure that I don't think I would have liked if reading it on the page. This is a departure from Behold the Dreamers and shows real range. I prefer a more linear story, but in audio form I liked hearing more details from each narrator and didn't mind that that took away from the pacing and meandered around in time. The subject is really emotional but I didn't feel emotionally connected, even by the tragedies building to the end, and part of that is the structure forced the reader to be at a remove. I think I appreciated this book more than I enjoyed it, but I'll definitely continue to read what Mbue publishes.
So well done. Her performance on the audio was intimate and compelling. I bet these pieces are mesmerizing in person.
An emotionally satisfying conclusion for each of the characters, even if there's not much in the way of plot here. I absolutely adore the audio for this series, read by Euan Morton, so I was happy to listen even though most of what's happening is navigating emotionally complicated romantic relationships through trauma (which is not a bad lesson for teens!). Only the most die-hard fans will make it this far, but the series does have a lot of die hard fans.
I will listen to these audiobooks for as long as Bailey Carr & cast narrate them. There's something so soothing yet compelling about Carr's voice and the interview formast for the rest of the cast really works. As for writing, Jackson really elevated her world and character building this time. I wonder if she either wrote out this series all together or mapped out all of the characters/plots for each book before completely writing, because some minor characters from book 1 now feature prominently and have important callbacks to the central mystery. Jackson also really grows Pip up in this book and she'll have to work through some real trauma, which feels right to the series. A well baked layer cake, I look forward to reading the 3rd book!
4.5 so rounding up. Tess Sharpe read her own book and it worked. TW: this is about surviving some really severe (though not graphically detailed) physical and sexual abuse. You will be strapped in to this rollercoaster right until the end, which fell a tiny bit flat, but still felt earned. I very much appreciated Sharpe's notes at the end about endometrisis and crisis help references and that therapy is normalized. This book will be a quick sell to teens, especially with a movie/show already planned for it.
Cute, queer, prom story. WillowDean and the crew from Dumplin' are tertiary characters, so you get a few updates on their stories. Everyone gets their romantic happy ending, there's a little intro to drag, and the hardship stakes are very low, so read if you want a sweet little teen uplift.
So many great elements here (Lipan Apache culture and history, a well realized magical world, a platonic central friendship, close family relationships and history) but it definitely needed to be edited and marketed for MG because this is not a YA book. Elly reads like she's 12 and the action is very Zoinks/Jinkies/Get ‘Em, Scoob. The dialogue is also sometimes very awkward and weirdly inserted to make plot points - like another character saying Elly is asexual - the only mention of that and a weird way to introduce a pretty major identifier for a character. Elly and Jay are also supposed to be long term best friends that, at times in the dialogue, appear to know very little about each other? The art also contributes to the childlike feel of the book. A ProjectLit selection that I'm not quite sure how to sell to teens.
An excellent audio read by Pinoe herself. Not a slight to her, but she's not a writer by trade, so I was expecting to like this but I was not expecting to be blown away by the book overall. Joke's on me because this was such an impressive piece of writing. Liz and I listened to it together and had to keep pausing to talk about events we remembered but also about how good the writing was or how she perfectly grew the story from the seeds she had been planting. The whole thing is structurally impressive. She also does a great job conveying her advocacy and activism points in a way that acknowledges and works through her privilege but also weaves these ideas organically into her stories without feeling like they're didactic lessons to the audience or lowering the complexity of the ideas for readers newer to this work. Perfect tone and balance, one of my favorite reads this year and one that should have a massively wide audience.
Good foundation but was pretty repetitive. Dion Graham gives a great audio performance, as always. Interested in listening to the sequel.
Glad this was a duology. Audio was well done, but ran it at 1.4 speed for slow talking and pretty glacial pacing. In this book the zumra works to bring magic back but really it's a showcase for the slow burn of the Zafira/Nasir romance. I wasn't heavily invested in any characters in this set but I appreciated the world building and storytelling and fantasy readers who are good with slow moving stories will be all over them.
4.5 A fully realized world, complex characters, great writing, and even included a list of character name pronunciations and a glossary of in-world terms for readers. I appreciated the themes of toppling patriarchy and the freedom/power of finding your purpose and using your voice. Really great first book, will definitely be looking out for more from Ifueko. This book is fully contained, but I can definitely see her building this world out in sequels. The audio by Joniece Abbott-Pratt was very well down (she also killed it reading Grown). A strong recommend if you like fantasy that rises about clichés!
Listened to this thanks to the ALC program from LibroFM. I haven't read the adult version, so I don't know how much was changed, but she has solidly written/edited this for 5th - 9th grade readers and it's excellently done for the intended audience. Strong organization around her uplifting and powerful advice and themes, this would make a great gift for pre/young teens or a family read/listen aloud.
4.5 round to 5 for LIVING UP to it's title and cover! Clearly now I need to go back and put Ben Philippe's first book higher up on myTBR list. The audio was great, felt so right for the story and character. The only false step was that his major climatic decision didn't feel 100% in character for Henri, but the rest was such a delight that that feels small. Strong and nuanced primary and secondary characters, great dialogue and overall tone with some genuine laugh lines, and every bit (with the one exception) of the plot and setting felt super realistic and earned. Will definitely be recommending and could see this on the BOB list.
First time narrator Avi Roque, a Latinx/Trans/Non-Binary artist, does a great job differentiating the voices and emobdying the 2 main characters, Yadriel (Yads) and Julian (Jules). I went into this book expecting more of a supernatural thriller, but the supernatural element, though grounding and well-explained, is more of a device to propel the burgeoning romance of the leads. As their relationship gets stronger, so does the book. A great job by debut author Aiden Thomas (also queer, trans, & Latinx) bringing so much representation and their love and joy into this work. I know what kids I'll be handing this to immediately and I will be booktalking this for sure.