Kate Mester
So incredibly brutal, with the slightest of hopes at the end. It's rare that I feel so gutsick in a YA book (In Darkness was the last I remember), but Perez's characters are so vivid and real and believable that when the horrifically true acts of history that the plot was churning towards finally happen, it's so hard to take. I was literally yelling “NO!” by the end of the audio book. Certainly worthy of its Printz Honor & Americas Award - A valuable book for older teens/adults, but one that would also need some matching to the reader.
I was absolutely blown away by Angie Thomas's powerful writing. Starr is one of the most fully realized and authentic characters I've ever come across in YA, and every single supporting character was realistic and expertly nuanced.The power punches that Thomas packs in relatively simple sentences, the way she's able to concisely and expertly capture such social complexity but distill it into a simple line of thought or dialogue, is nothing short of magic. Required reading for middle school to adult, and maybe even especially adults.
Some favorite examples:
p.186 “They act like I'm the official representative of the black race and they owe me an explanation. I think I understand though. If I sit out a protest, I'm making a statement, but if they sit out a protest, they look racist”
p. 245 “Funny. Slave masters thought they were making a difference in black people's lives too. Saving them from their ‘wild African ways.' Same shit, different century. I wish people like them would stop thinking that people like me need saving.”
Taylor excels at world building, and some of her prose is genuinely beautiful, but this book would have benefitted from an unflinching edit - at least a third should have gone. Satisfying ending, though considering how long the book was the wrap up and explanation for Eliza seemed rushed. Kids would really need to love this world and characters to stick with it all the way to the end of ~1500 pages.
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.
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”
Layman pulled out the central mystery (chicken = death and the connection to the space writing ) for so long with hardly any breadcrumbs until vol 11, so this left the final volume with tons of exposition. The explanation was semi-satisfying but big blocks of text didn't pace well with the graphics or the plot. Also, the first ending seemed understandable, but the addendum ending really erased a lot of the goodwill earned by the series. Overall, a twisted, interesting, and funny series. Would recommend to mature older HS students.
Excellent sociological analysis of life at/below the poverty line in Milwaukee. Glad that Desmond spent time explaining how he did his ethnographic research and his conclusions, as I had lots of questions. Definitely recommended reading for all. By spending time with these people, you viscerally feel the effects of grinding poverty, hopelessness and helplessness, and desperation.
Pacing started off relatively slowly but really crammed lots of action in at the end. Appreciate that the ended the story in 2 books and she didn't try to drag out the story just to create an unneeded trilogy. I enjoyed Shahrzad as a character, and the retelling of Arabian Nights was fun. Like the first book, the descriptions drag on far too long, so gloss over all of those. I listened to the audio book at 1.75x because the narrator was a tiresomely slow reader.
Taylor does good fairy tale work and world building, but could certainly use a more persistent editor, as at least a 1/4 could be cut (especially character strands that were unnecessary and then totally forgotten). Not sure why audio narrator only gave 2 characters Borscht-beltish accents but didn't assign accents to anyone else. Listened at 1.5 speed to move it along.
Learned about many charities I hadn't heard of, and adding a few to my donate to/volunteer with list. Giving personal narratives introducing the work of all the organizations while consistently rooting the work around research and results was incredibly engaging and effective. Also, Olivia Wilde had a compelling audio voice.
Very much enjoyed that Sonia did the intro herself and Rita Moreno as a narrator was a treat. I'm a little surprised that nowhere in her narrative, even when she was jumping out of time to analyze past events from her current perspective, did she talk about her father's & cousin's addictions as addictions, rather than as personal moral failings. Would certainly think, as smart as she is, that her perspective on that would change with age.