Sports

Chris Crutcher has that gift of making books about sports into books not really about sports, but for those who love sports, it has that way of making them insta-likeable.  That is probably the case for Loser's Bracket.  I just didn't like Annie enough to LOVE the book.  But I still gave it 5 stars, I actually changed it from 4 to 5 because I realized that Annie is such a real and well-written character, you know? I will recommend it to guys and gals and lovers of basketball and lovers of just really good, coming of age, self-discovery realistic fiction.  What makes a family?  What does forgiveness look like?  What does acceptance look like?  What does love look like?  Love comes in so many forms.  We have love people as individuals, you know?  People require different kinds of love.  This book would be a great book discussion book, I think. 

Prequels, Prequels!

When Kwame Alexander writes a prequel, I have no reason to debate whether or not it is just a money tool.  He is amazing.  And Rebound is amazing and I didn't even realize it was .5 until I had finished it and see the .5 on goodreads.com.  This was excellent.  It is the prequel to The Crossover. 

(SPOILERS?) Everyone Handles Grief in His or Her Own Way

and probably because Matt handled it so differently from the way that I have handled it, I was unable to give this really good book 5 stars.  I did give it 4 because I do think that there are people who can resonate with the way in which he handled the loss of his best friend/love.  A Short History of the Girl Next Door was really well done.  I put the ? after Spoilers because I am not sure if the description of the book reveals that Tabby dies.  I didn't read the description before I read the book and the one on goodreads doesn't say that she dies, and I was surprised that she died.

Short Series

Tears of a Tiger and Forged by Fire are two of the three books in the Hazelwood High series by Sharon M. Draper.
Tears of a Tiger was a challenge for me.  I am militant in my disgust for drunk drivers.  I admit that I have no compassion or understanding about it at all.  Yes, I judge completely when it comes to this.  To me, one makes a choice to get behind the wheel when drunk.  And that is like taking a gun and shooting it into a crowd.  Only even more dangerous because one stray bullet can most likely only kill or hurt one person, whereas a vehicle out on the road, driven by a drunk driver?  Many people can die or be injured for life.
As I have mentioned here, I call the police when I see someone driving as though they might be drunk.
In TOAT, Andy is drunk.  And he is driving and he wrecks the car and his best friend dies.  Andy's life is over, too, pretty much, as he can't live with what he has done.  I was surprised that I found myself feeling compassion for him.  And also guilt for feeling compassion.  And also guilt for not feeling compassion.  And surprise and shock and anger at the teachers and coaches and friends and counselors who did have compassion for Andy.
I really like this guy's article.   How does it work with being a Christian though?  It's so hard!!!!!!!!  But these were really, really good books.  Love Sharon Draper.  Love her.

Wow Writers

I am a big fan of the short story.  I am a big fan of short books!  When I saw that Flying Lessons and Other Stories had short stories by authors like Kwame Alexander, Meg Medina, and Grace Lin, I just thought wow wow wow wow! And I WAS wow wow wow'd by every story.  Great, great collection of short stories edited by Ellen Oh and dedicated to the amazing Walter Dean Myers.

Just Really, Really Good

I really love EllRay Jakes.  I love the books and I love the kid.  I just finished what is published so far in the series:  Rocks the Holidays, Stands Tall and Recess King.  Each one of these is a worthy addition to a very worthy series.  You have to love this kid, you just do.

Newbery! Newbery!

It won't make me upset at all if The Crossover wins the Newbery.  Not only is it an excellent, moving, realistic book, written so so so so so well, it is also a book that kids will like!  In fact, The Crossover is now my top pick for the Newbery because it really will appeal to its audience, not just librarians!  Just fantastic.  I can't wait to read He Said, She Said, also by Kwame Alexander

The poetry here is so incredible.  I mean, I don't know much about poetry, but this just sounded so good.  I listened to the book, read by Corey Allen who also did the EllRay Jakes books! 

This isn't just a basketball story, it is a story about the loss of a parent and the love between brothers (twins) and how hard it is to grow up.  An excellent middle-grade book.  Just an all-the-way-around awesome book.
I first saw it on the Anderson's Mock Newbery List and then when I posted on the discussion on goodreads about Caminar, which I still do totally love, this gal, who clearly has excellent taste in books said that The Crossover was her favorite and I am so thankful that she did!   It made me want to buy it right away, which I did, using my last audible credit and man, man, man, so good!  

Will this win the Newbery though?  Will it be 1954?  Will this be one of those horrid, "Oh it will get the Coretta Scott King Award deals?  We can only pray not.  

Not only will kids love to read this, but even kids who don't love to read will want to read this!  

WINNER!

Never Have I Ever

been the first person to rate and review a book on goodreads, until now!  Guys, Lies and Alibis is the latest in the Langdon Prep series by Kimberley Reid.  This is such a terrific series.  All of the things that I've said about the series in the past are true about this latest edition.  Fantastic.  I love, love Chanti Evans.  I can't wait for the next one!