I'm Back!

Hello, World!
I am back! I am really going to keep up with this blog from now on. My goal is to do at least one post a week. Since it's in writing, I have to stick to it! LOL!

Those of you who know me, know I love to read YA. I am 2 amazing committees this year. Through TLA, I am on the Tayshas Committee, which compiles a yearly list of great YA for high school students, and LITA Excellence in Children's and Young Adult Science Fiction Notable Lists, which creates lists for K-12 of great science fiction.

I am always open to suggestions for either list! Share your thoughts and ideas.

I just finished a book that is very timely. I recommend it to all readers.
Slay by Brittney Morris
https://www.amazon.com/SLAY-Brittney-Morris/dp/1534445420/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2KZT7J7L4PU7E&dchild=1&keywords=slay+book&qid=1591291914&sprefix=Slay+book%2Caps%2C178&sr=8-1

Ready Player One meets The Hate U Give in this dynamite debut novel that follows a fierce teen game developer as she battles a real-life troll intent on ruining the Black Panther-inspired video game she created and the safe community it represents for Black gamers.

By day, seventeen-year-old Kiera Johnson is an honors student, a math tutor, and one of the only Black kids at Jefferson Academy. But at home, she joins hundreds of thousands of Black gamers who duel worldwide as Nubian personas in the secret multiplayer online role-playing card game, SLAY. No one knows Kiera is the game developer, not her friends, her family, not even her boyfriend, Malcolm, who believes video games are partially responsible for the "downfall of the Black man."

But when a teen in Kansas City is murdered over a dispute in the SLAY world, news of the game reaches mainstream media, and SLAY is labeled a racist, exclusionist, violent hub for thugs and criminals. Even worse, an anonymous troll infiltrates the game, threatening to sue Kiera for "anti-white discrimination."

Driven to save the only world in which she can be herself, Kiera must preserve her secret identity and harness what it means to be unapologetically Black in a world intimidated by Blackness. But can she protect her game without losing herself in the process?
(Summary from the publisher)

Happy Reading!

Slayer by Kiersten White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book! I am a huge Buffy fan and I love everything Kiersten White has written, so this book had high standards to meet from me. JOB ACCOMPLISHED!
This story is set after Buffy has messed everything up and made magic disappear from the world. Watchers have mostly been killed off, and Buffy is not well-liked. Athena (Nina) and her twin sister, Artemis, are from a long line of Watchers. They lost their father because of Buffy. Nina has always taken care of people and Artemis has always been the protector. If you know the Buffy world, you know things are not always as they seem. After being attacked by a Hellhound, Nina realizes things may not be like she thought. Nina and her friends realize they have to save the world. White does an excellent job immersing her story in the Buffy universe. Hopefully, Joss Wheaton reads this and decides to make it a movie!


View all my reviews

Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kiko, who is half Japanese, is getting ready to graduate. She is waiting to hear about acceptance into her dream school, an art school in New York. Kiko's has anxiety and doesn't like looking different. She has never been told that she was beautiful by her narcissistic mother, who always brags about what a blond haired, blue eyed beauty that she was in high school. Her mother doesn't think of anyone but herself. This has greatly affected Kiko and her two brothers.

Her mom tells her that Max, her uncle, is moving back in with them. This greatly upsets Kiko because even though her mother didn't believe her, she was sexually abused by Max. Kiko's only friend who moved away when they were 11, comes back to town. He gives her the opportunity to start a journey to help discover herself and her worth.

This book gave me all the feels! I loved it!


View all my reviews

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's not often that a simple graphic novel touches you to the point where you want to buy multiple copies and pass them out to everyone you know! This beautiful book is about a Prince who likes to wear dresses and the Dressmaker who makes him feel beautiful. All I can say is that the King is my hero. Read this book!


View all my reviews

And She Was

And She Was by Jessica Verdi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was a great read! It was thought provoking and engaging.

Dara is an 18 year old tennis player who is ready to start doing tournaments. She asks her mom for her birth certificate, but she says she can't find it. Dara does her own searching and finds a lock box under her mom's bed with the birth certificate, some pictures, and some bottles of pills. When she confronts her mom, Dara cannot believe what her mom is telling her.

Dara's mom, Mellie, used to be her dad. Dara's birth mom died when Dara was 6 months old. Dara is shocked, not that her mom was transgender, but that she lied to her for 17 years. Dara and her best friend Sam journey to find her birth mother's (Celeleste) parents. On their trip Dara has to work through her thoughts and feelings. Through a series of emails, Mellie tells Dara her story from the beginning. She shares her struggles, tribulations and her love for Dara and Celeste. Dara meets her grandparents, and at first, thinks she has found everything she needs, but soon realizes that Mellie did what she felt was best for Dara.

This book does an amazing job answering questions about being transgender or having a transgender parent for readers who have never experienced it. Verdi does a amazing job of discussing Marcus' struggle with being who he felt he was on the inside but not on the outside, and realizing how important it was to transition to Mellie. She also shows different reactions and levels of acceptance and bias. This book should be in every library!


View all my reviews

DNF- without the Guilt!

So, at TLA, I meet an author. The author was very personable, relatable, and very excited about their debut novel. So excited, that I could not wait to read it. I was not impressed with the cover, but once I talked to the author, it made sense. I finally got a copy of the book, and put all my other TBR books on hold. I WAS SO EXCITED! Then I started reading...I tried. I really tried! The book was not great. The writing was not good. The characters were one dimensional. It was breaking my heart. I talked to a friend of mine, whom I knew was also excited to read this book, and we commiserated over how bad the book was.  She made me realize that it is ok to stop reading a book. Most of my reading is done so that I can put great books in my students hands, and I realized that this book is not one that I would give them. Not when there are so many other books out there that fit the same niche or genre, but are written better.
I thought back to when I was teaching sixth grade, and worked hard to build a reading culture in my classroom. Self-choice is such an important part of becoming a lifelong reader, and I always taught my kids that if they read some of a book and realized it was not for them, it was ok to switch books. So know, it is ok to abandon a book, it is what good readers do.

Bang by Barry Lyga


Sebastian has lived (if you call it living) with the guilt of having accidently killing his baby sister when he was 4. He is just biding his time until it is the right time to rectify his past by killing himself. Then he meets Aneesa, his new neighbor, who has to deal with racism due to the fact that she is Muslim. They bond over the youtube show they create about making pizza. Sebastian realizes that he has to forgive himself, and that life should be lived. Plan on crying a little bit!


View all my reviews