There's no faulting the retelling of historical facts, many of which may be only hazily known by readers and the idea of focusing on a teen makes the novel inspirational for young readers. However, for a story rich with people and events, the verse format provides too sketchy of a treatment. And while the poetry is definitely above average, it can prove distracting and distancing to the storytelling. That frustrates attempts to understand the events of the story. Reading a more traditional historical account alongside this novel would prove beneficial and in fact be a useful complement.
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
One Step Forward, by Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Monday, May 05, 2025
The Enemy's Daughter, by Anne Blankman
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Aisle Nine, by Ian X. Cho
Jasper works at the Here For You. Try as he might, he has no real memories of the past for Hell on Earth arrived. There are people who seem to know him (like a trainee security guard named Kyle) and he discovered his job when he happened to walk into the store and got cornered by his manager. However, he has the same recurring nightmare in which the world comes to an end. And it's coming soon -- on Black Friday. With some help from Kyle and a friendly pet demon, he plans to stop all of that, dodging crazy shoppers and bloodthirsty monsters (same thing?) and save the world.
Initially, the book is an absolutely hilarious and original farce that imagines what would happen if the end of the world came and no one cared so long as they could keep shopping. The story loses its fun as the farce peters out about half way through and the plot turns serious (or as serious as it can, given the premise). But while I loved the premise, I just couldn't get into the largely nonsensical story and weak characters.
Saturday, April 26, 2025
Twenty-Four Seconds from Now...: A Love Story, by Jason Reynolds
Monday, April 14, 2025
Book Uncle and Me, by Uma Krishnaswami
Then one day, Book Uncle and his cart of books are missing! He's been ordered to close his library! Yasmin is bereft and asks around for what she can do about it. Everyone knows that there is a big mayoral election going on. Maybe she and her classmates could write letters to try to convince the candidates to support Book Uncle. They do so and find a sympathetic candidate. But when the children help to get their pro-Book Uncle candidate elected, they discover that not all is smooth sailing.
A beautiful and short tale about the power of people to shape the world. Yasmin's efforts to stand up for what is right is particularly inspirational. Set in urban India, there are plenty of lovely cultural details that will be both alien and yet somehow familiar to readers.
The first of a series.
Sunday, April 13, 2025
Warrior Girl Unearthed, by Angeline Boulley
Thursday, April 10, 2025
Where Do You See Yourself, by Claire Forrest
When she graduates, her parents expect her to go to college somewhere nearby, but Effie has her eye on a mass media program in New York City. Life in NYC will be challenging for a person in a wheelchair and her parents try to discourage her. So to prove that she can handle it, she takes some brave steps to stand up for herself at her high school. And when that goes well, her parents relent. But when she gets to New York on a school visit, she's disappointed to find that the same old struggles for accommodation await her there.
Effie is a protagonist with an exciting voice and interesting insights on being a teen with a disability. There's a lot of serious matters discussed here, but Effie approaches them with strength and a sense of humor that makes her a real winner to the reader. In a time when caring for the needs of others has become so politically charged, having a bit of a grounding here is good for the soul. And it's a beautiful story about finding out what is important in one's life and becoming the things that you want.