Kate Mester
Fast paced and fun, with plenty of competition, good world building, and a bit of steamy romance. The characters were mostly well developed but the plot twists telegraph pretty early on. There's enough to enjoy here for both gamers and nongamers. Medium interested in sticking around for the next in the series.
Really appreciated learning more about Hayti and famous founders like Merrick, Moore, Spaulding, Shepherd, Warren, Whitted, etc.
3 1/2. Was surprised by the audio narrator's voice, but his timing and comedic tone bumped my rating up a half star. He made the constant full name repetition and use of catchphrases like dynamo circle back to re-funny. I liked Austin's exploration of friend and romantic relationships within the end of the world/monsters trope. The ending wasn't my favorite, but much of the book felt fresh.
I found the premise creepy and stalkerish, especially when the resolve was to forcibly give Rhiannon to another boy as if she were romantic property to be passed around. Also his, now-here's-a-day-in-the-life of pretty stock characters felt way too preachy, though I do appreciate his gender-less theme. In total, not my favorite Levithan.
This volume is free verse and absolutely mesmerizing. Leon is moving, funny, current, wide reaching but intimate and personal at the same time. Definitely need a display of this whole series - they'll be snapped up!
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
While you can read this as a standalone, reading the first book will really help with an understanding of character motivations and the horrible, disease-filled wasteland setting. This book topped The Living with violent scenes, but neither were particularly well written, with this even less so. I appreciate de la Pena's pushing himself, but not sure he's a genre writer.
Very uneven. Some great (Libba Bray) and some that shouldn't be there (James Dashner, absolutely not). Hasn't been a lot of interest in short stories in my library but some of these authors might draw kids in.
Good intro to the couple and case. Very much like Sean Qualls illustrations, the melding of he and Alko's illustrations worked well.
Required for MS/HS collections. Powerful pieces, and you learn snippets about each poet (some of whom were new to me). Shared a few poems with 7th graders, they appreciated them, but age-appropriateness varies by selection. Pieces that moved me the most: “No Wound of Exit”, “statement on the killing of patrick dorismond”, and “Li'l Kings”
Ooof. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that romance writer Perkins created a make out/(consensual)sex heavy book that also happened to feature really gruesome slasher scenes. Unfortunately, the tension was low and the mystery wasn't interesting...or really a mystery. The characters checked diversity boxes (sort of, she did dead-name the trans character...nope) without being developed or engaging. The only non-boring parts were the slasher scenes, and that's only because they were Scream-syle detailed, yet the rest of the plot didn't get that level of attention. Have booktalked and will again, curious to see if there's an audience of teen interest for this.
Thanks to #NetGalley for the eARC, as this has been on my most-anticipated list this year! Written by the incomprable Ibi Zoboi with Dr. Yusef Salaam, of the Exonerated Five, this novel in verse is POWERFUL, Rarely do authors get to have a say in their cover, but they managed to convey such emotion just with that image alone. I'm already ordering a set to use with our English 1 teachers, as there is so much for students to unpack, discuss, write about, and grapple with. I appreciated most of all that Amal's story is so nuanced and emotionally raw, dealing with such humanity and powerful, real, themes, and leaving space for readers to form opinions and sit and think about what's happening in the story, all the way to the end. A top pick of the year and likely making next year's ProjectLit list.
World-building and characters still stellar. Really liked Helene's story arc in this one. Loyal to the end - I'll finish out the series!
Definitely get the audio, her asides are often even funnier than the book and #BritishBaekoff co-narrates the addendum with her. As before her essays are uneven but the overall experience is enjoyable
3.5 Very compelling topics and I liked the character's journies - both physically as they travelled to India and personally as they grew from the experiences they had there and learned to better cope with their individual problems. I knocked off a star because despite such weighty topics (sexual assault, human trafficking, adoption and finding your personal history, etc.) the characters and writing felt too simplistic. All of the main characters are 17 or 18 but sometimes the writing made them feel 13/14.
Enjoyable and sweet ruminations on tween loss and friendship. Loved that the focus on relationships was being each other's “person” and not in a romantic sense, would love to see that normalized more in MG/YA.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge really elevated and feminized the mediocre source material here. But while it was going fine enough, at least half-interesting and certainly not well written but ok enough to see it to the end - NOPE - it turned disgustingly outright transphobic. And I'm not talking Jennings is content with an “evil tranny” stereotype, he actually published “chick with a dick.” Unfortunately Goodreads won't allow below a 1 star, but this is 0 stars, STRONGLY do not recommend. Let's just go on as if the show is sui generis because these garbage views don't deserve more eyeballs.
4.75 The only thing I wish this book had was an map of who was who on the fabulous cover image. TLo does have an explainer post on their blog, but for the more casual reader who doesn't read their blog or will look this information up, this graphic would be helpful. I learned a lot more about queer history through the lens of the formulas, challenges, and tropes of RPDR. I always enjoy Tom and Lorenzo's unique voice and their takes and examinations of queer culture. For fans of RPDR but also for anyone interested in learning more about central queer figures and movements throughout the last century.
More aimed at elementary, but many ideas can cross to high school. Appreciated the gathering of and grounding in research. Will certainly be sharing some ideas with my faculty and using the research to add to my pitch for booktalks, reading groups, speedbooking, etc. A quick but recommended read for any PK-12 educator.
Such solid world and character building. The narrator was amazing with the Nigerian-accented characters but the American-accented characters kind of all had the same voice. With the intense magic and plot I think this can be read by both middle and high schoolers and would be a great companion to Children of Blood and Bone. Not as powerful as her Binti series but fast-moving and vibrant. Feel pretty compelled to read the second book now. ETA: Also, the new cover release for this series was a savvy choice. I had the original book in my last library and it didn't sell nearly like this new cover set does. Authors hardly ever get a say in the presentation but publishers need to push harder for better art & representation!
Would definitely skimmed this or quit this entirely if I was reading it. As for listening, I kept up until the end in the hopes that maybe it would get better, but no. The characters are incredibly unlikable, but beyond that, there isn't really much of a plot. There's twists, but not a whole lot really happens, other than a psychopathic main character reveals her true nature. Based on reviews and synopsis, I had high hopes, and even gave this out to a kid based on that (interested to see what they think!) but just not very good overall. Have a higher hope for Female of the Species, her previous book.
Sweet love story with a time travel element but with very realistic teen and teen/parent dialogue and situations. I actually liked the friendship storylines even more than main romance storyline. Got a little bogged down in the middle but a satisfying ending. Curious to hear teen opinion on this one.
The action/violence/death was all the way up in this one, but it was also the only volume where even suspending disbelief for the fantastical was a little hard (just a quick portion of a brain switch and problem solved!). Satisfying ending to a fun genre series combining teenage self-discovery, romance, and twists on classic Victorian horror tales. Audio narrator was great throughout all 3 volumes (agan at 1.4x speed).
Alan reads the audio himself, so listen if you're going to read it. I didn't know much about him other than that I enjoy him in films, so I had no expectations going in. He truly has a heartbreaking childhood story and he shares it with with, wisdom, and great reflection. I'd like to find and watch the episode about his grandfather after reading this. If you like memoirs or family stories, definitely listen.
Like all McGinnis I've read so far, this is incredibly intense. I'm from an addiction family, so I maybe was more personally invested than some will be, but I was compelled to keep following Mickey's descent. There's no greater context about her privilege helping her out of addiction, or some lack of consequences. Also, this book is tunnel-vision on Mickey, without much description of secondary characters or event descriptions, like the accident, which is a pattern I'm seeing in McGinnis's work. I will definitely book talk this and think it will find an audience. The book has a warning in the front and addiction resources at the end, but the audiobook has neither, though the warning should have stayed.