In the Thick of the Night

J.A. White is the author of my favorite spooky series, The Thickety.  The series is over and so I was really excited to see Nightbooks!  This did not disappoint!  What a great, great book!  A great idea and White kept the whole thing rolling and exciting and scary and surprising! 

Morning with Gayle

I had heard about Gayle King because she is Oprah's best friend, but I knew she was more than just Oprah's best friend, but I never really knew how awesome she was until I started watching CBS This Morning.  For that reason I was so happy to read Notes to Self:  Inspiring Figures Write to the Young People They Once Were.   I had thought that it was a book written by Ms. King about her own life, so at first I was a little bummed that I wouldn't learn more about King from it, but wow, she really picked the heavy hitters here!  Maya Angelou, Joe Biden for example.  And there's also Jane Fonda!  Along with some people I didn't know, but each one had really inspiring stories and wonderful things to say.  It was great listening to the book because each person read their own story! 

29

I was dating when I was 29 and I probably did go on 29 dates and if the Korean belief that bad things end in 9 is correct, but they need a could use a little more evidence, they can use my experiences!  29 Dates was a very sweet book.  I can recommend it very highly because of the way in which Melissa de la Cruz tackles the issues of cultural differences and just because she is such a good writer.  It was interesting to learn about the Korean matchmaking experience, too. 

Not Me!

It Wasn't Me was such a good book!  From the characters and their stories to the author's note, I appreciated all of this!  Even though I am not a fan of The Breakfast Club (simply because I am not a fan of the 80s in general) I loved it!  It will be easy to recommend to guys and gals!  I also thought it was neat that this was the second book this week that talked about restorative justice.  Something of which I was sadly and and ashamedly unaware prior to reading about it in one of Anne Lamott's books. 

So while the adults get it...

I don't think that tweens will get that when the Upside-Down Magic kids talk about magic fluidity, they are drawing a subtle comparison to gender fluidity, this won't be weird or preachy for them.  I really liked it, actually.  Weather or Not is the fifth in the series and is still as fresh and the first!

The Title Gets it Right

For Everyone by Jason Reynolds is, indeed, for everyone.  However, I think that every Jason Reynolds book I have read should be read by everyone.  That's just how good Reynolds is.  The thing is, this is the time of year when people buy all kinds of gift books.  You know the type, those little mini books with a word or picture on each page, that people mean well by giving and are usually an add on, impulse buy at a book or card store.  And then there is Oh, the Places You'll Go!  I feel bad mentioning that because Dr. Seuss was such a nice dude. 
But this is the PERFECT gift for a graduate.  Or a non-graduate or anyone.  What a fantastic, fantastic, thoughtful and powerful, meaningful book. 

Too Much Mean to Be Redeemed

Invisible Emmie was just not a good fit for me.   Even the ending could not redeem it for me but I do think it made it a little better.  A little.  I can see why this would be popular, maybe, but I also think it would be off-putting, at least to dorks like me, who were/are the kids that Emmie criticizes endlessly.  I definitely think that David Levithan would like it because there is a lot of subtle fat-shaming!  It might be too subtle for him though...but for me, the thing that bothered me most was the rip on people with a disability.  I know, I know, pain in is pain out.  And no one can measure anyone else's pain and it isn't fair to compare someone's pain to another person's pain.  But wow, I mean, for the amount of pain in that Emmie expresses, she sure does give a lotta pain out! 

Book By Its Cover

So many graphic novels have fabulous covers.  I mean, art is their thing, right?  So when I was at a middle school READATHON and I wanted to read a book instead of listen and this was sitting on the shelf in the middle school library, I grabbed this baby up!  All's Faire in Middle School has a great cover.  And Roller Girl was a great book so I was excited to get a chance to read this.  

This one didn't do it for me like RG did, though and that was through no fault of the book.  It was the whole Renaissance Fair aspect.  Renaissance Fairs are REALLY not my thing.  I think it might be because of the commercials that were played ENDLESSLY with some singer singing, "The Renaissance Festival is back in time!" And then there was the festival itself which I went to at a particularly hard time in my life with some people who were REALLY into it and even made their own costumes.  Good for them, man!  I mean if a Ren-Fest, as the kids call them, is something you enjoy, then great!  But it was NOT something I enjoyed.  At all.  So I probably should have paid more attention to  the fact that AFIMS was going to be all about a Ren-Fest.  So it wasn't a favorite of mine!  But I did appreciate the  clever way the "now" was woven in the "ren" part and I did appreciate the art, for sure.  It is really well drawn!  And middle school...well, while it might have been "faire" it really isn't fair at all.  So there is a lot of good in this book and I can and have and will continue now to recommend it, as long as someone doesn't mind the Ren Fest Factor!

Four and Still Going Strong!

Upside-Down Magic #4, Dragon Overnight hasn't lost any of the magic of the first three in the series.  I love this series and bought the new one right away.  I simply love the messages in this book that don't hit you over the head, but are there, just as part of the story.  A male school nurse, women scientists, people of different colors, people who have magic that works in a way different from others, fathers who are trying their best, not all good or all bad.  And this is a lot of fun, too!  Love it!

Softly and Tenderly

Jesus is calling, calling o sinner, come home.  I love that song.  Never heard it until my internship at my church in seminary.  Love that song.  Especially this version.  I love Anne Murray.
Of course that brings me to Openly, Honestly!  a 1.5 but a FREE one!  Whoa! I would have paid for it, before and after reading it.  I love Rafe.  I love Ben, too.  And I love Claire Olivia.  Can't wait for the next one!

First of all, great cover!

It was the simplicity and cuteness of the cover that caught me.  I really loved Openly Straight.  Sexuality is not an easy thing at any age.  And what I really liked about this book was the way Rafe, the main character, grew and changed as the book progressed.  His parents were super cool and funny!  I also really liked the ending.  Seemed very realistic to me.  And I am really looking forward to the next one.  And I see there is a .5!  So I will have to read that, too!

Julie Murphy

wrote Dumplin', which I really enjoyed even though David Levithan wouldn't have, because it has a person of size in and she doesn't hate herself.  Ramona Blue was just as great as Dumplin', but it was different.
This book takes place in Eulogy, Mississippi.  Ramona talks about how the devastation of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina overshadows the devastation along with the Mississippi coast.  I need to find out more about that.
Anyway, I like reading small towny and rural setting books because I know so little about these places "in real life."
I also loved the way in which Murphy addresses the fluid nature of sexuality. Or maybe Ramona is truly one of those people who loves hearts not parts?  Either way, just more testimony that the world is not black and white but shades.  Great book.

Can't Remember

where the title of Every Exquisite Thing comes from, which I wish I did.  I like quirky titles and I bet this one had meaning.  This was a really, really good read.  Matthew Quick is a new-to-me author and his new book is coming out in July.  He is the author of Silver Linings Play Book, which I didn't read, but I did see the movie.  I felt like a fool because I had put off seeing the movie for a long time because I thought it was about football!
This was a super good story that was sad and complicated and just really neat. It has a very realistic portrayal of mental illness, I think.  And all of the hard, hard stuff that goes along with loving someone who has some serious mental health issues.  It also reminds me that everyone had mental health issues!

Shorty

One of the main characters, Virgil, is short and the book is short, too!  Hello, Universe is really good.  A quick book, but not cheap or cheesy or fluff.  It was jut a little too short, I think.  But the characters were easy to like and I did care about them!  Kaori is super funny, without meaning to be, so parts with her were probably the parts I loved the best.

REALLY, really good SPOILERS!

Stranger than Fanfiction was SO good!  So good!  There is swearing, so if that bothers you then just be aware, but this was just so good.  Dealt with faith in such a good way, too.  I loved the conversation that the one young man imagines God having about homosexuality.  This is just awesome!  I had no idea that the book would end the way it did.  I am even fearful of putting up the subject tags because it totally gives away the shock-ending!  But man, what a great book.

Started Out with a Bang

Okay, bad pun.  Spontaneous has bad puns, too and they are funny.  Even though the book is about the spontaneous combustion of members of the senior class at Mara's school, it is a light-hearted story!  I really did enjoy a lot of it, it's just at the end things started to drag.  Maybe it wouldn't be that way for everyone, but it was for me, but I would still recommend it with that mention!

American Shakespeare

Today I read that Arthur Miller is America's Shakespeare.  The same has been said for August Wilson.   I like Miller but I don't like Shakespeare, but I still know that is a compliment!  I like August Wilson better than Miller, but I do like Miller!  Broken Glass is a very thought-provoking story.  It is set in 1938 in Brooklyn where a woman of Jewish heritage is experiencing paralysis brought on at least in part by news of Kristallnacht and the horrors that are beginning in Europe with the rise of Hitler.

It's a short play but packed with a lot.  Self-denial and self-hatred and the complexities of love.  Powerful.

Here it the Thing

When I read the reviews for Into White I was worried about reading the book.  There were some people who really slammed this book and said it was racist and it the characters were all race-focused and on and on and on.  But the thing was, the folks who said that were all white.  And frankly, it is pretty easy for someone who is white to say that "race should be a big deal."  White people are always ready to say that racism is the past, that Affirmative Action isn't necessary.  White people are just that-- what's the world?  Ignorant? Clueless?
Racist.
That's probably the best word, even if it is painful.
An excellent book.  Convicting.  Excellent.

Never Could Get the Hang of It

Roller Girl was a GREAT book!  I totally got the hang of the book.  I just could never get the hang of roller skating!  But I loved this graphic novel!

Just Something Different

Last Seen Leaving was the kind of book I haven't read in a long time.  I bought it on audible after I saw it on the shelf at my local library.   I read the jacket and thought it sounded really good.  And it was really good!  I mean it wasn't WOW but it was good for what it was and easy to recommend.  The language is rough, if that bothers you.  But some teenagers do talk this way.  Flynn is only 15 but he seems older.  His vocabulary is quite large.  Here is something that I liked about it.  Flynn is gay and he is worried about coming out.  In so many teen books these days coming out doesn't seem like a big deal at all.  I just don't know if that is true for everyone.  Maybe it is.  It would be nice! Because gay or straight doesn't matter and should someone have to "come out" as straight, too?  But I think that some people might have a hard time coming out.  And even though the people in Flynn's world are very supportive, Flynn still has a hard time in his head.  I just thought that was good.  Kinda a shout-out to those who are struggling with coming out (which I wish no one had to and heck, maybe Flynn IS the only one who has a hard time with it anymore.  Wouldn't that be a wonderful world!) but maybe since I can be a pessimist sometimes, I think maybe there is at least a few kids out there who aren't so excited about announcing their sexuality.  In reality, it can be a cruel world.