An American Summer Sadly Like Every Other American Summer

although this one seems worse.  Or maybe I am finally more aware.  An American Summer:  Love and Death in Chicago is written by the brilliant Alex Kotlowitz.  And if one hasn't read There are No Children Here, it should be read today.  And then this one. 
And we have to do something, right?  But what do we do?  How do we make things right?  How do we, especially those of us who claim to follow the example of Jesus, and try to be Christ in the world, live out of faith so that we will live in a world where Black Lives will Matter?

Long Awaited

Well any book from Jewell Parker Rhodes is long awaited!  So it was no surprise that I bought Black Brother, Black Brother on the day it was released!   An excellent story.   Once again Rhodes takes a serious issue and isn't preachy.  She creates REAL characters and man...her characters are just so...I don't know...REAL.  Rhodes is one of my most favorite authors and is really creating classics here.  Classics that will be read years and years from now and hopefully, kids will read them and think, "Was it really that bad?" and not "Well, not much has changed."  

Complicated

Dignity:  Seeking Respect in Back Row America is a complicated book for me.  Some have criticized it because they consider it to be anti-Trump.  Well, I don't think that anything can be too anti-Trump.  So that wasn't my problem at all.  I found this article, written before the publication of the book, about Arnade's photography, some are included in the book, as the book is a compilation of the work he was doing and posting/publishing during the process.  
So I have some reservations...but I am more in line with this review from one the best journals out there.
And so I did give it five stars. 

The Guy

with whom I pastor has a daughter who did her undergrad at Greenville University in Greenville, IL where The Best at It is set.  She then went on to Princeton Theological Seminary and is now an ordained American Baptist pastor, serving as chaplain at the Vandalia Correctional Facility.  You can read a cool interview with her here.
Thing is, Erika is 18 years younger than I am.  I was the Associate Pastor at the church in which she was raised.  I don't know what kind of impact I had on her life, but I can tell you she has made a huge impact on mine.
First of all, when she was going through the process of being ordained, she was firm in her commitment to our siblings in Christ who are members of the LBGTQ community.  She fought for her right to say proudly and with assurance that gay people are no different from straight people when it comes to being children of God and therefore their rights, marriage and otherwise, she upholds and affirms.  In this corner of the world, there are still people who don't seem to get this.  And there was push back, but Erika stood firm.
I did not.  Back when I was ordained in the mid-90s, I stood before my ordination council and said what they wanted to hear, not what I really believed and not what is true in God's eyes.  I was asked if marriage should only be between a man and a woman.  And I said yes.  How wrong I was and how I regret that.  But here was Erika, probably the same age that I was (mid to late 20s) and standing proudly for with God on her side, promoting God's word, not the word of the world.  Proclaiming love, not the hate and fear and ignorance of people who are still struggling to hear the loving, inclusive word of God.
On Sunday I was preaching at a nursing home in the South Hills of Pittsburgh and her mom and her grandmother (who is a resident there) were in attendance.  I was honored to be able to tell Erika's grandmother what an example the Rev. Erika Spring is to me.
Oh I do go on, don't I?
Let me get back to the book, and thank you for letting me share about one of my heroes in the faith!
The Best at It is a beautiful story about young Indian-American boy coming of age and discovering that he is gay.  The book isn't just a preachy "this is a story about a gay kid" kinda book, the characters are real and racism is addressed and bullying and all that kids and we deal with in the world.
Funny in places and it will make you laugh and cry. I highly recommend The Best at It.  The author, Maulik Pancholy can certainly say that he is doing what he loves and we readers are all the better for it!

Nic Stone!

Clean Getaway is for sure a contender for a Newbery.  I was worried that 2020 would be like last year.  I just couldn't get overly excited about much.  Probably that was me, like I said, it was a rough year, but wow, Stone has written a really different, excellent book here.  I didn't know about the Green Book.  I am embarrassed.  And I am glad that all who read this book will know about it.  The NYPL has digital copies online.  Stone is such a "real character" writer.  No easy answers, no dualistic thinking.  Excellent.

Sometimes

I think that I am far too old to connect with someone far younger than I.  The main character of Red Polka Dot in a World Full of Plaid just seems SO young to me that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I might have.  I can't say if this is a fair reading of the book, though.  I expected Maxine to have more understanding, a greater sense of the people around her and herself, but then I think, what do I know about being 18 anymore?  And could it be that other, more mature 18 year old book characters are simply TOO old.  I have criticized books before for having teen characters who have all of the right answers and can spout poetry, so why did Maxine's innocence bother me so much?
I like RPDIAWFOP's look at faith, though.  That was well done.  So I could recommend this, but I would like to see what real 18 year olds think about it.
I loved Varian Johnson's The Parker Inheritance, it was one of the best books I read last year and and will keep reading him.  I am just curios as to what others thought about the thoughts and feelings and actions of Maxine and how "real" they were.

Hey, YEAH! Why is that?

Totally hilarious.  But MORE!  I know W. Kamau Bell from CNN and I think he is brilliant and bold and yes, hilarious.  Face Full of Flour was all of those things and more.

The Nations Will Be Judged

Nowhere Boy is something else.  What a book.  What a really accessible book.  It's set in 2015-2016 and tells the story of a young refugee from Syria.  Set in Belgium, the other main character is an American boy whose parents have moved him to Belgium because of his father's job.  Very real and well drawn characters.  One of the best books I have read.

So Glad!

When I saw that Front Desk came out on audio I was so excited!  This is on the list for possible Newbery winners with the goodreads group and I know that means that the publisher thinks it is possible, too. There are a couple that I still can't get to because they aren't yet on audio.  It is not too often that a book will be a winner without having had an audio version.  It's just because of buzz.  And the faith that the publisher has in the book.  But I can remember one time when the audio came out after the award was given so I still have hope that even if one wins that I can't listen to now, I will eventually! 
Front Desk was so good.  And it was semi-autobiographical which I didn't know until I heard the author's note at the end but that made it even better.  Kelly Yang has made me think about a lot here.  Just a fantastic book and such real characters and one that made me cheer and also brought tears to my eyes at tender moments and made me angry at the prejudice and hate in the world, which is all too real.  If this one the Newbery I would not be mad!  It isn't my total pick but I wouldn't be mad at all!  Great book! 

Makes You Want to Run!

I have not been running as much lately...I had a fall and it kinda scared me, so I have been doing the elliptical and the stationary bike and running only a mile or two every day.  But man...the Track series by Jason Reynolds reminds me what it is like to feel the freedom and the strength that comes from running.  Reynolds just has that way....such a wonderful story, such great characters...Mr. Reynolds is just a master.  Lu was an excellent addition for those who run and those who want to run and those who feel and those who want to feel and for black skinned people and for white skinned people and for being who feel good in their skin and for being don't feel so good in their skin and well, just for humans in general.  I think that the best way to read this series or any of his book narrated by Guy Lockhard is to listen, because this man is just so excellent at reading and expressing the words of his friend. 

I worry

that the language used in Tyler Johnson Was Here will keep some schools from purchasing this book.  And this book needs to be purchased and it needs to be read.  I have read critics of the book say that it is racist.  I have heard that term "reverse racism" applied to the book.  And wow, how uneducated those people are.  How truly uninformed.
There are also those who say that the characters act like children.
Um....
well...
yeah...
because they are.
And then there was even someone who said there was too much use of Tupac.  REALLY?  Okay.
So I guess all of the books that fawn all over Jane Austen or Shakespeare or The Beatles or Harry Freakin Potter.  That's okay?
Um...yeah...
This was an excellent book and realistic and horrifying.  And it needs to be read.

My Only Regret

is that I wish I would have read If I Ever Get Out of Here BEFORE I read Give Me Some Truth.  I NEED to read everything by this man.  Shoe's poverty helped me to understand the way in which my mother grew up.  She was much luckier though, as there was no racial prejudice that she had to face.  But the description of the house and the lack of so much was right on target otherwise.  Again, so celebrating of Thanksgiving for me.  Incredible story.  Much to cry over and celebrate and inspire here. 

Trump Country

What You Are Getting Wrong about Appalachia was eye-opening for me in some ways.  In other ways it was affirming because I have often questioned a lot of the "Trump Country" rhetoric  and well, I am a suspicious person!  Elizabeth Catte has done an excellent job of addressing the book Hillbilly Elegy.  After reading this I was tempted to go back and rate HE much lower, but then I figured that wasn't fair.  But I just don't know.  How can I give five stars to that one and five stars to this one?  But the thing is, at the time, I didn't have this information and the information I researched independently after reading this.  So at the time, I gave HE the best rating I could with the information I had at the time. 
This is a very important book.  Especially for people who think that racism doesn't exist any more. 

How Appropriate

to be reading Give Me Some Truth on the Fourth of July.   As you know, I do spend most of my life under a rock and so Eric Gansworth is a new author for me.  After having read this, I immediately purchased If I Ever Get Out of Here and that will be my next book after the one I am listening to currently.  GMST was excellent.   Ganswoth is a man of many talents and he has written a must-read.  He is a citizen of the Onondaga Nation and grew up in the Turscarora Nation, as he is the descendant of two Onondaga woman who were there when the Onondaga Nation was founded. 
This book is an eye-opener for people who don't understand what the colonists did to the Native Peoples.  And what they continue to do.  For me, it wasn't as powerful as The Absolutely True Diary, because that was the first book to really open my eyes.  I suggest reading them both.  For sure.  Required reading for everyone. 

The F Word

I really, really resonated with Bad Feminist in a lot of ways.   The book isn't just about feminism though.  It deals with a lot of issues.  One of the things that kept running through my mind was that this was written in the Pre-Trump days.  Things were bad then, but they are even worse now for women.  No, for humans!  Dr. Gay is brilliant.  Witty, too. 

Drawing Lines

I really loved the boy, Michael, in The Lines We Cross.  Talk about being brave.  His parents were just the worst.  The worst.  They just made my skin crawl.  Especially the mom because she was an "educator."  Yeah, the dumbest educator ever.  Great book, even though I don't usually like books not set in the US!  Also, it was interesting to see the similarities between idiocy in the US and idiocy and hatefulness in Australia. 

To Pass the Time

Everything I Never Told you seemed like a lot of books I have read before, some of them even this year.  I didn't have anything to listen to and this was available and I didn't hate it.  I didn't even dislike it.  It was just there.  A solid 3 stars if you haven't read anything like it before, but a 2.5 if you have.  It was just a little too laid out for the reader.  Kinda like Mr. Obvious as to why the husband and wife acted as they did.  I mean, if I could get it, I bet everyone else did, but the author spelled it all out too much, the connections.  I don't think I am saying this right! 
It was kind of like this:
Husband wants daughter to be popular.  Says or does something to her to convey that.
Next scene in book is a flashback to when he was her age and was not popular.
Wife wants daughter to be a doctor.  Says or does something to her to convey that.
Next scene in book is a flashback to when her dreams of being a doctor were alive and then crushed.
It was just a little too...yeah, I guess spelled out?

AGH!!

All American Boys was so good and so real that by the end of the second chapter I had to listen backwards. 
When a book is so heartbreaking/real/frightening I skip to the end and listen backwards, just to make the ending a little easier on myself it is a horrible ending and just to confirm it will "all be okay" if it is a hopeful ending.  I won't give away the ending here, but this was just so powerful, I had to take it in chunks.  Excellent. 

Dear Martin, You would love this book.

Dear Martin was just so excellent.  I bought it when I saw that it had made the list of finalists for the Morris Award.  May I also admit that the Morris Award was completely unknown to me before I saw the email from YALSA announcing the finalists?  I am embarrassed, but I am transparent!  Relevant, real, amazing writing. I didn't know until I looked at her web page that Nic Stone is female.  Not a big deal or even a deal, but I am always impressed when an author can just really speak in the voice of someone different from they.  So good.  This one should be a Printz Honor for sure.  Only Auma's Long Run is higher in my opinion.  But man, this is close!

So THAT'S how it happens (not really)

I have always wondered how people flee a country.  When I read Exit West and read of the doors through which those seeking to leave scramble, I admit I honestly thought for a second, "Oh, wow. How is that possible?  Huh."  Well, no, it doesn't happen that way.  That is the magical realism part of the book, but the rest seems very raw and real.  This was a love story, and a refugee story and a story of the evils of humanity story and a story of the beauty of humanity story.  And it shows how life does go on, in small and in "ordinary" ways, like falling in love and feelings and "normal" things, even in the midst of the very worst of times.
On goodreads, Diane S. said this about the book, "We need more books like this, or no, maybe that's wrong, what we need are more readers of books like this. The country it takes place is unnamed, but one part makes it sound as if it is in Asia somewhere. A country under siege by opposing parties, a country at war with itself, a dangerous place, how so many in this world live in constant danger, constant war.," and I couldn't agree more.