Kate Mester
I half read/half listened - because the audio is read by Sandra herself but the book contains the pictures and notes. I learned from her story and her co-author helped her structure her narrative in a compelling way. I particularly appreciated her honesty and analysis on attempting to understand being black through the lens of American racism/classim/colorism. Her story is inspiring and ongoing. Have an ELL group reading this story for lit circles now and it's generating amazing conversation and connections. Powerful stuff.
3.5 Definitely wish this book had existed when I was younger. Written by a young activist who started an NGO at 16 (!!!!) in a Tumbler/talky/social media style with research all done from internet surfing, this is so accessible to teens. It started strong though got too repetitive by the end, but it offers great advice and actionable items for activism and inclusivity (like language about people who menstruate vs saying women). Will definitely be talking this one up.
Man, Mendez really guts you with the ending that you hope isn't coming. A lot of this felt spot-on to teen behavior and mentality, but I will be curious about how readers will react to Fabi (the mom's) chapters. I appreciated them as an adult, but don't know that I would have at that age. Certainly a lot to recommend here, look forward to book talking this to students.
Liked Hermione's clear eyed pragmatism mixed with hopefulness. Very much liked that Johnston didn't have her waddling about her choice for abortion after her rape. Forced chooses aren't reflected enough in teen books. Loved normalized gay secondary characters. Canadian setting will be slightly unfamiliar to teens, but not jarringly so.
Beautifully written with enough magical realism to be interesting but not overwhelming. I liked the art/colors/synethesia elements and that the bulk of the story took place in Taiwan (and the audiobook gave me all the real Chinese). The friendship/romantic elements dragged and the book as a whole didn't need to be 450 pages. Definitely deserving of the APALA Honor recognition but at that length and with a slow burning plot I'm going to have a hard time finding an audience for this book.
I don't love stream-of-consciousness narration, so this took a while to settle in for me, but I understand and appreciate why Hammonds Reed chose that structure. Ashley's self & family discoveries and growth arc are set against the backdrop of the ‘92 LA uprisings stemming from the police acquittals in the Rodent King case and Latasha Harlins' murder. I was just starting HS then and remember talking about what was happening in LA at home and at school, but it will likely be newer information for current teen readers. Choosing that setting with a main character who is snobby and spoiled is a clash that helps make her arc more earned and also leaves the ending realistic, without trying the story into an everything-perfectly-works-out bow. There were a few plot threads (what happened with Michael?!) but well done and very deserving of the Project Lit selection. Kiersey Clemons nailed the exact right tone for Ashley in the audiobook (she's grown since Slay, I can see her nareating more books). I'll definitely be booktalking this and look forward to conversations with kids about all the modern day parallels.
I cried, I laughed, I really appreciated the vulnerability and accessibility. I think there are many high school students that would appreciate this book.
3.5 If you're reading this as her fan, I recommend the audio because you're getting a full Broadway musical number that can't possibly translate in the book. Not every piece was vital but I enjoyed her company for a few hours.
Told in an accessible and linear way and framed by Imani's own family history, this would be a good supplement to SS and APUSH classes. The drawings were really great and there's an almost overly exhaustive glossary of terms at the end. Also, one of the most succinct/easiest to understand explanations of redlining I've seen. Just that passage alone would be worthwhile in a class.
Interesting female-empowerment dystopian premise that's both Latinx and queer, so I had some high hopes here. Unfortunately, the labored, repetitive writing, the by-the-numbers plot, and the characters who never become nuanced humans but rather remain lame archetypes all combined to really let me down. Sigh.
So sweet with lovely, warm art! The story is so heartwarming (and for sure I'm the target audience) but I can't give it a full 5 because the writing was pretty clunky and more message than authentic words. But so worth the 30 minutes to be in this story!
The art is lovely and the world-building is pretty good but the story is rather weak and the ending is unfinished.
More intersectional genderqueer characters in YA, please! I have not read this character before, so 4 stars for a voice that needs to be more represented. The supporting characters were well written, but there wasn't much of a plot.
READ THIS BOOK! Glad it won YALSA's Nonfic award. The audio was done in the exact right skeptical but informational tone. The physical book includes pictures, a massive index and her primary sources/research notes - all dialog is taken directly from primary sources. Very modern parallels to 2020/2021 and such a good reminder that history is not past and always has current implications. I knew only the most cursory facts about Lindbergh's life and my mind was blown repeatedly at the reveals and twists and contradictions of his life. Definitely one of my top books of the year already!
3 for 3: Ben Philippe writing + James Fouhey reading = magic. This is Phillipe's first nonfiction and not specifically YA. I went back to the book to read the end matter, because unfortunately the audiobook didn't include his list of terms, which were definitely additive. I especially liked his chapter about a male friend break-up, because that's a perspective I don't see often enough. This book is honest and snarky and really funny and a little meta, recommended for HS to adult. 3 books in and I say with confidence that if he's writing it, I'm reading it, especially if Fouhey reads the audio!
Thanks #NetGalley for the eAudio ARC. Whew, prepare yourself for this. Even knowing what it was about, as an adult reader I felt physically queasy, especially in the first third as you see all the grooming taking place and you know where's it leading and that it can only get worse. Jackson has said that she loosely based this on the R Kelly story (every trigger warning here) but it's truly about misogynoir and how we as a society don't believe, trust, and protect Black girls. As is expected in her books, the twists keep coming right up to the very end. I liked that she told some of the story through outside perspectives, like a group chat and police interviews. The audio was well read and compelling to the last sentence. I will be stocking up on copies because this one is going to fly.
Author-performed audiobook. Thanks to LibroFM for the eALC! Really strong novel-in-verse about a dissolution of a friendship and a teen girl coming into her own self of positive self-worth and independence. Explores themes of gender experience (the main character can't say what the boys say on the basketball court, for example), colorism, featurism, body-image, consent, and self-value. This felt very authentic and so many teen readers will connect to this. Will definitely be booktalking.
The audiobook was an impressive full cast, songs and special sound effects, theatrical performance. Incredibly timely parallels to current protests. Appreciated the telling through multiple voices and perspectives and the focus on the youth audience and the importance of youth activism.
I appreciated the research done here to tell the stories of these 5 women who have been historically written off as prostitutes or less than deserving of humanity. Rubenhold's introduction and conclusion draw parallels from Victorian values to modern misogyny in law cases, (e.g. Brock Turner), where men are centered as if they're the victim in their own crimes and women are thus further harmed. However, because of all the research, it felt like a number by number accounting of facts about these women's lives rather than a compelling narrative, so it wasn't a particularly gripping read.
Not one I would have read without a recommendation, but glad I did. Not a murder mystery in the sense that you pretty clearly know who is killing the women early on, and can sense the why, but that's really just the mechanism to talk about “these women's” stories and show the story weaving through each of their perspectives on their own life and same strip of LA (6 in total). I was partial to Feelia's framing story because Queen Bahni Turpin performed the hell out of it, but the main narrator did well. I was more compelled by the story as it went on and each woman's interconnection was revealed. This is a book I won't forget.
Characters never rise beyond their tropes, which is disappointing because his character work was SO strong in the Nyxia trilogy. Not quite enough building with the gods plotline/worldview, but maybe that'll come through more in the second one. Think students will be interested in the action once they get to the races, but beyond a great premise, this felt by-the-numbers. Will definitely booktalk and hope kids dig it, he has a strong audience in my kids.
4.5 Really enjoyed this one more than I thought I would. The writing is excellent, clever and humorous, and the message of using your voice and fighting against injustice is clear but not didactically hammering readers. The characters are complex and realistic and you really care about them. You also learn more about what it was like to be Chinese in the south during Reconstruction and right before Jim Crow, which not a lot of books cover. Will definitely booktalk this and try to find this book an audience.
6 stars for the audiobook, which was exactly the hilarity I needed right now. You NEED Lindy's own delivery of these film reviews, the jokes, the asides, the references. The Face-Off commentary had me pausing the book I was laughing so hard. A delightful way to re-experience the peaks (or arguably valleys) of 90s/00s cinema!
Glad this wrapped in a duology and didn't drag to a trilogy - kept the energy, plot, and characters compelling. As always, Bahni Turpin's audio narrative was WONDERFUL and Jordan Cobb as Katherine really held her own. I really liked the dual perspectives and giving both Jane and Katherine their own intertwined plots. A very satisfying ending to such an enjoyable series. Badass feminist action with some grey area morals, serious fighting, & modern-paralleled race/class nuance. Now that it's not a BOB book, can't wait to booktalk our copies!