Kate Mester
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A star-crossed teen romance that's really about family secrets and dealing with trauma and how all of that emotional baggage affects your relationships. There's also lots of basketball. Adult me thought much of the relationship on/off drama was cringey but it will be so relatable to the teen audience. I really appreciated the focus on healing from toxic relationships and working on a better sense of self rather than relying on a partner to fix you - that's a message that can't be relayed enough in YA - though I did wish that characters going to therapy would be shown, to normalize therapy for kids. Will definitely booktalk, this one has major appeal.
Needed to be editted down by about a third but the audio was funny and well done, especially because the actor could speak Korean. The book actually got better towards the end (except for the Q reveal, that felt tacked on and disrespectful to the character) as it got heavier about race/class and family duty/communication. I've had a few kids read and enjoy, will add to the booktalk rotation for my upper grades.
3.5 A good introduction to defunding (and perhaps ultimately abolishing) police, with lots of data and research that backs up each of the 10 topics. It's not a personal or narrative read, but how Vitale simply breaks down each topic (policing in education, sex work, drug trade, borders, mental health, etc) by the history, the hard harmful data, the reforms enacted, why those reforms aren't working, and possible solutions helps to give a full view of why a total system change is needed.
Whew, a tour de force from first time author Kim Johnson (with a top notch audiobook performed by Bahni Turpin). A fast paced, urgent, and compelling mystery through the lens of our country's baked-in racial inequality. The injustice for the Beaumount family shows rather than tells readers that the past is the present is the future and that history is living and constantly affects our society, our community, and people's everyday actions. This Is My America would be well paired in a classroom with the YA versions of Just Mercy or We are Not Yet Equal. This is one of my top reads of 2020 and I'll definitely be getting a book set for the library and recommending to students and teachers. I feel confident this will also show up on the 2021 Project Lit list!
ARC from NetGalley. 4.5 Teens will love this as much if not more than Dear Martin. You don't have to have read Dear Martin before reading this, but it's a direct continuation of characters and story, so it'll make more sense & increase your enjoyment of you have. You'll see updates on not just Quan but Justyce, SJ, Doc, and Jared, and on Quan's side, Martel, Trey, and Brad. I knocked of half a star because there's some weirdly abrupt plot explanation (especially the scene with Justyce, SJ, & Jared in car). The story is ultimately hopeful, and though you want it to be true, it's unfortunately not that believable, so I'm glad Nic addressed that in her note at the end. A great discussion book and class read for 8th - 10th ELA. This will definitely be on the next Project Lit list! I plan to get multiple copies for the library, because demand is going to be HIGH.
ALC thanks to Libro.FM: The audiobook was really well done, with a full cast reminiscent of Sadie's podcast-style audiobook. Teens will definitely enjoy this one, and I've heard good feedback from some of my students. Pippa's a bit modern-day-Nancy-Drew, where everything comes too easily to her (everyone just confesses everything to a teenager?!) and there's no real character depth, but the mystery is light and satisfyingly twisty. And I say light, but really there's murder/suicide/drug use/date rape/bullying/animal cruelty, but as nothing is graphically described, and there's no real character development other than Pippa's a good girl/savior type, you're allowed as the reader to kind of float above any bad stuff that would make reading this too realistic (very much unlike Sadie).
The audio by Jesse Martin was a treat for the ears. I have meant to read this for years, and now having read it, really wish that I had read it first in high school and then could be re-reading it for relevancy over the years. Definitely will try to correct that error of letting high school me down by talking about it with high school students now. I took so many notes as there are so many passages that (rather horrifyingly) apply exactly to today's cultural and political climate without any change in 50 years. I will need to get a physical copy to return to.
Teens (and adults) will LOVE this book! He covers the history of men's and women's basketball while serving an exciting through line story of the Bishop O'Dowd High School 2014-2015 baseketball season (I teared up at the last game, he builds such realistic excitement and emotion), offers a window into many of the main high school player's lives, and frames the story with his own meta-moments about his writing process (not sure as many kids will connect to this piece but some will and adult readers definitely will) and how his storyline decisions and who/what he includes will affect the reader. The only downside is it's a brick of a book, at 430+ pages hardback, and that visual thickness might initially put some kids off, but booktalking this will be an easy sell and kids will definitely feel accomplished that they've tackled such a thick book, and then spread the love on to other kids! Will definitely need to purchase multiple copies.
This is a TOUGH but realistic book about 3 teens deciding to escape their “small lives” (a theme of this book) to ride La Bestia and cross the desert into the US. Torres Sanchez's parents are from Guatamala, and though she has not experienced this journey herself, she has done lots of research into true stories of migrants and immigrants who have taken this journey. The story is claustrophobically tragic, I had to take breaks from it, but it's not without hope. Her writing is excellent, there's a tiny bit of magical realism/sprinkle of religion, and the characters and situations feel authentic. There are many students who will unfortunately relate to this and many who will learn from this, so I'll be sure to booktalk with lighter Latinx books so windows readers won't think the Latinx experience is only a monolith of tragedy and mirrors readers also have joyful realistic books.
“Family, whether biological or not, is supposed to support you, but that doesn't mean no one can ever tell you that you're wrong, or that any form of critique is an attack. And yes, sometimes the words involved are harsh. But as adults, as people who are doing hard work, you cannot expect your feelings to be the center of someone else's struggle.”
An excellent critique of white-centered feminism and the feminist movement overall. I learned and shifted some thinking on many of the topics. The chapters on schools, parenting, and how we adultify young girls are particularly relevant to teachers. Stongly recommended to every adult.
Read from NetGalley: A novel in verse that is semi-autobiographical about a first generation Nigerian immigrant, Ada, finding what she loves independent of her family's/society's expectations of her. Body is separate in the title because Iloh writes with so much thoughtfulness and imagery about Black female bodies and bodily autonomy and who is allowed to/stripped of that autonomy and why. Ada has a fractured relationship with her mostly absent and abusive mother, and though she loves her very religious Nigerian father, she struggles with his expectations for her future that don't match her own desires for herself. So much is good here, but the story jumps around in time, which was sometimes confusing, and not all of the flashbacks served the story, as some led to unfinished narrative threads. The book also stops abruptly and jarringly. I want to see her verse on the page, because the e-galley had editor notes and I'm hoping some of the time-hopping confusion will be mitigated with a word flow edit on the pages of the book. I can already think of a few students that I will recommend this to, and will add it into my book-talk rotation.
Excellence. A collection of essays on female body image, feminism, white supremacy, who gets to be a public intellectual, and so much more. Academic but with the framework of her own personal narrative, it was so was illuminating, sometimes witty and sometimes a gut-punch. I highlighted so many quotes that I'll return to. Also, if there was an award for best footnotes, this would be the clear winner!
The graphic novel form of a queer teen (technically New Adult, as they're in college) romcom, so adorable and hopeful. This 2nd book is the end of the 2 part series and covers Bitty's junior and senior years and a window into his post-college life. I couldn't always tell all of the secondary characters apart and some of the shifts in time were confusing, but this series is so sweet and fun and uplifting. Includes a few additional examiner comics and Bitty's tweets that are all additive to the story.
Excellence. A collection of essays on female body image, feminism, white supremacy, who gets to be a public intellectual, and so much more. Academic but with the framework of her own personal narrative, it was so was illuminating, sometimes witty and sometimes a gut-punch. I highlighted so many quotes that I'll return to. Also, if there was an award for best footnotes, this would be the clear winner!
4.5 so rounding up here. Half a star off for some plot conveniences, but this book is GREAT and needed! Korey Jackson was my fave male narrator of Let Me Hear a Rhyme and does an excellent job here. He sounds like a teen and gets the emphasis and tone right. Giles serves up an exploration of toxic masculinity, purity culture, and youth church life that feels fresh, funny, and authentic. Also, I've never heard the kids say “lying on my dick” but I hope it's either a phrase they use in secret or start to use because it's GOLD! Will definitely need more library copies ready for this one because I see it selling hard after booktalks!
A really personal way to learn about Bui's family throughout the Vietnam War and what it took for them to immigrate to the US and the trauma involved in her family history that she's now reckoning with as she has her own child. Definitely a good YA read to pair with learning about the 60s/70s and the Vietnam War. The art and color palette is effective as is her use of movement through panels. Teen readers might need to get talked/walked through the opening Chapter, “Labor” but the rest will appeal, hold interest, and give personal insight and context to history.