Kate Mester
A sci-fi cross between Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz. Younger readers (5th-7th) could really get into the world DiTerlizzi has built, but older readers would probably find Eva 9 too young and whiny. All of the add-ons to the book also really fun. My kids thought WondLa vision was particularly impressive.
Also, though I never thought I'd say this, Teri Hatcher gave an amazing performance voicing the characters for the audio book!
I just found out that a childhood friend's wife wrote this book! I'm so excited for her, I'm really looking forward to reading it.
I was glad in reading this book that it is also appropriate for junior high girls. Too often, the content of older YA books is just too much to give to a 6th grader, but Christine keeps the material interesting without being too graphic. I also really enjoyed the strong female character. Claire doesn't need her boy crush to fix her or save her or rescue her (I'm looking at you, Twilight) but instead makes her own decisions and is praised for her strengh and uniqueness. A great message for teen girls to absorb, coupled with the fact that the story moves quickly and keeps your interest throughout.
Pretty nuanced for a comic book that by structural nature has to be formulaic. Really appreciated the addendum explaining the creation of Superman and the original Superman vs KKK story, as always intermingled with Yang's own story. Would be a great starter for discussions with 5th grade and up.
Wow, a Printz winner for a reason. Felt like the exact right amount of surrealism here to get her points across but not be overly didactic. Metaphorical and twisty and smart and emotional, a meditation on a family's original sins and how they pass from one generation to the next, with the current generation finally working to make changes together. This will probably be in my top 5 reads this year.
This book seemed fun, and the cover is gorgeous and an EASY sell to teens, but unfortunately it was a mess. The overall teen speak was mostly believable, but nothing else was. The main plot was an unintentional fantasy, where everyone male character falls for the main character, Liv, despite her not having a discernable personality other than being obsessed with her attraction to her two best friends (the romantic love triangle trope) and having no confidence until those males (or other females that she was awful towards but only exist to bouy her up) tell her she's actually worthy. She's shown to be horrible to other people, says some really misogynistic things, and by the end of the book, is unrealistically forgiven by everyone, as none of her hurtful actions seem to have consequnces, and the people that she harmed are all - oh, don't worry about it, I'm still obsesed with you, we're good now! There are major plot threads/holes - like Dre's nonsensical arrest that's never talked about? And the sort of parental affair that is used to create false boy drama? But most problematically, characters make incredibly harmful and stereotypical jokes about Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and there are two really disgusting lines that I can't believe made it past editors - “Exotic Mulatto” and “I'd let him holy war up in me anytime” - both in reference to a character who is Israeli/Palestinian - and put into the mouth of the character the book goes out of the way to tell you is “blackity-black,” “THAT kind of black,” and “not ghetto but rachet.” Truly, truly bad. Will definiltey not be recommending this book.
Goldstone picked out enough personal stories from each chapter's time period to make the book interesting and each chapter narrative driven. The focus is the 13 - 15th amendemnts and the 19th century history of court cases and rulings by states and the nation to intentionally keep African Americans from voting. The timeline is 1787 to 1903, with an epilogue comparing what's happened to what's currently happening with voter supression and disenfranchisement. Includes an excellent glossary and primary source pictures. Not sure classes would be compelled by the whole book but pull out chapters/pieces would be really great additions to APUSH & AmHist I
Solid 3. The audiobook maybe took away from my experience because both of the actors weren't believable as teenagers. Wallace's voice was particularly awful. The story wasn't super unique and it was a really slow build to the dramatic ending. I'm not sure it's got enough quick-grab appeal for my sports readers, but will booktalk it and see.
Super adorable fall goodness that's sweet and funny and with super charming color illustrations by FEH, featuring a bi main character. Kids will love this.
Brynne was a hilarious and realistic narrator to a relatively engaging story. The small town descriptions and characters felt true and I loved the non-heroic normalcy of the queer and disabled charcters. Framing the story through email meant I had to skip a lot of the audiobook when she read every single letter of the Mailer Daemon failure notices ..that's too much.
Moving and well-paced bio for upper elem/middle grade. Liked that Fannie Lou's direct quotes within the poems were set off by italics, helps as a visualization for students to understand sourcing in nonfiction. The collage illustrations helped to give texture and detail to the poems.
Good start to this new run. The catch-up from the previous series mostly worked. I look forward to them all being back in Jersey City as the space stuff was just ok.
4.5 Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC! A beautifully written way to introduce Black Wall Street/Greenwood/the Tulsa Race Massacre to teens (think 7th grade up). Angel & Isaiah's love story is elegant and honest throughout. Pink has Angel arguing for Booker T. Washington and Isaiah obsessed with W.E.B. DuBois, a smartly nuanced way to introduce these writer/thinkers and their opposition and influence. Greenwood itself is the 3rd major character, and the chapters are set as a countdown to the night of the massacre. Pink doesn't shy away from the realistic horrors and also uses a few scenes from that night to complete redemptive character arcs. The writing was occasionally a little repetitive but that's a tiny quibble in a mostly flawless book. Emotional and necessary, this should definitely find readers!
Got this as a small book set based on reviews and teacher interest and now wish I had read it first. Great premise (and it did have good reviews) but the writing is pretty bad and though it attempts to build tension it really goes nowhere. The characters are both overwritten and underdeveloped and there's some weird anachronistic and awkward writing choices: mentions of chat rooms (this was written in 2016!) and a character at one point “lit some weed” (lol, what?!). Maybe an editor would help but Budhos says this was revised and workshopped with teen readers. Not what I hoped for and I'm not sure how successful it will be as a book group text.
Not sure the teen audience for this is huge, but it will certainly resonate with the right kids. Interesting realistic fiction from the 70s. Lewis feels so real. The drama is born from the day to day of being a teen, compounded by military families and poverty, but it's all very authentic drama. Really enjoyed the portrayal of secondary characters, especially how Albert was voices on audio (read by author).
Illustrations were't great, struggled to be narrative nonfiction without being too didactic (didn't land gracefully), and the recipes at the end seemed like an afterthought (a dip recipe with 2 ingredients: a can of salsa & cream cheese - ??? how does that relate to making fresh food from a garden?). Did like that prominent shout out to students from 2 DCPS schools (they're pictured on the back cover), so how very local value, but not beyond that.
Really resonated as we're isolating as a community during a pandemic that everything can always be so much worse. I liked that everything took place on one night, adding even more tension and helping the reader understand the realities of living in a city in civil war. The only problem with this concept is that we don't learn much about the community other than quick snapshots. The art is gorgeous, intricate and expressive. Would be a good jumping off place for teens/adults learning about this conflict/living in war times in general.
I'd like to read his original book for adults, but I think this is such a great bio for middle school kids. He works with a great balance of his story and the lessons learned, until the very end when he finally veers towards slightly over-preachy and didactic. But his message is good, and one that is helpful to hear from adults other than teachers.
Inspirational wirh illustrations that serve the uplifting story. Author's note fleshes out the details. Reading through YMA winners now, and this one was a beautiful starting point.
A good continuation of Darius's story. This chapter see Darius as a little more confident, and focuses more on his relationship with his family and burgeoning romantic interests. Like the first, Khorram's writing is quietly lovely. It's queer and sensitive and real and focuses on finding identity and navigating relationships. I enjoy these slice-of-life novels for their authenticity and as a break from the sometimes overwhelming and showy YA conventions. This will have a large audience because the first book has been (rightfully) popular. It also feels like a third book might be on the horizon.
This one was a bit all over the place but does lay out some good groundwork info on the rapid consequences of climate change.
Pocket Change Collective -an activism series by Penguin Workshop - is serving up great reads!Adult readers can also find a quick way to learn about weighty topics - strong recommend to this whole series
3.5 Helpful advice and foundational understanding of how to build and grow movements from Garza's long career in organizing. Very clear that people and organizing are the power of movements. There are some personal parts, but this book is mostly focused on how and why to build movements. The long explainer at the beginning on what built current conservative politics is helpful if you're new to these ideas. I also appreciated how she handled correctly calling out McKesson.
Needed to be edited (felt like it was plodding on for about 100 pages too long) and the anachronisms were jarring enough to take me out of the experience (but a kid likely won't notice). Not his best but better than Solo and it was nice to revisit the twins for a quick minute.
This volume is excellent, personal but universal. The organizing principle is “Queer people anywhere are responsible for queer people everywhere,” Eli gives simple rules and explanations on how to follow this principle, with ample resources at the end. Hope this one gets passed around!
Pocket Change Collective -an activism series by Penguin Workshop - is serving up great reads!Adult readers can also find a quick way to learn about weighty topics - strong recommend to this whole series
The main character and group therapy sessions seemed a realistic portrayal of teens with OCD, with pandering or over-dramatizing. Not many teen books have realistically rendered and authentically meant explorations of Catholic faith as a subplot, so it was nice to have that variance. The issues with the mother were the sole drama and plot propulsion other than the romantic relationship, but they felt both overwrought and underdeveloped at the same time. A relatively sweet book with some new angles but a bit boring overall.
Wow. Just reading the opening intro aloud is going to make a killer booktalk. This book made me cry multiple times and is a nuanced, unbiased, and smartly formatted reporting of a tragic event. Definitely my vote for the YALSA Nonfiction award this year. So much for teens to unpack and reflect on, looking forward to selling this.