Book Review: Between Earth and Sky by Amanda Skenandore

I haven’t written a book review in a long time. I wonder if I remember how. I guess I’ll give it a go.

This was Kelly’s pick for my regular book club. She’s new to the group and we told her, at her first discussion meeting that she was next in line. She jumped in and picked Between Earth and Sky by Amanda Skenandore. It’s a historical fiction told in two interlocking stories. The first is in the 1880’s, when Alma is a girl and her family moves to no-wheres-ville Wisconson so that her father can start an “experiment” called Stovers School for Indians. Here, Indians learn the ways of the white man. Alma believes, as all the other white people believe, that the Stovers school will be the salvation that allows Indians to discard their savage ways and advance in a world that is righteous and white.

What I've Been Reading (Outbox March 2018)

If I were still an active blogger, this would be an outpost. As it is, it’s a picture of my March Reads. You never know what it might turn into later.

Feel free to let me know if you've read any of these and what you thought of them.  

Book Review: All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

[I have no idea why this post thinks it's new. I wrote it back in 2016]

The authors of this book were at Book Riot Live last year participating in a panel about writing with a co-author, or something like that. Jason Reynolds was already one of my Secret Author Boyfriends ever since he was at the Rochester Teen Book Festival last year, but shhhh, as the name suggests, it's a secret.

If you get the chance to see either of these men on tour, do it. If they are together, it's worth camping out to get in. Top quotes from this Book Riot Live panel:

Book Review: George by Alex Gino

How about a wee book review for George by Alex Gino. Great for #NationalComingOutDay, which today is!

George is a 4^th grader who knows that she is a girl, despite what her outside body looks like. This year, her class is putting on Charlotte’s Web. You know how I feel about books with theatre references, y'all! George desperately wants to play the title role, even though she knows that some people will say she shouldn’t because they don’t know that she is a girl.

Book Review - The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Welp. Here’s another book that left me a blubbering mess. The other one was earlier this week. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think so.

The Hate U Give has gotten a lot of great book buzz. I knew a bit about the main story line and I honestly wasn’t in the mood for a book about another teen death, with civil rights oriented content or otherwise. Seriously, yall. Make sure you are taking care of your own emotional wellness!

Anyhooo!

Mini-Reviews: We Are Okay and You're Welcome, Universe

Here’s a wee post on a couple of cute little slice- of- life books I’ve read recently. They both feature diverse protagonists that aren’t trying to be diverse. They are just being teens/ young adults and trying to live their lives.

Three on a Theme: Books I Recently Cried Over

Alright! Three books for when you feel the need to wipe tears off your face. I would say that these books, like all books, probably hit people in very different ways depending on their own lives. For each, I had overwhelming needs to stop reading and text my children.

I've also noticed that for myself, an adult who often reads YA, I tend to notice the adults (and their behavior) in a story much more so that I actively attended to as a younger reader. And I really think about how important it is to have good adult representation in books.

Speaking of, they each get a wee #WNDB sticker from me!

Mixed Feelings: When the author has a "past"

So I had a bit of a crisis of character while reading If I Was Your Girl. While looking for confirmation that this was an #ownvoices book (it is), I ran across a couple of news articles about the author. According to the articles,  (prior to transition I think) was accused of assaulting and abusing her wife at the time and there was a restraining order.

Now, here’s the thing.

Mini-Reviews Everything Leads to You and The Outsiders

Quick little post to tell you about a couple of awesome YA books that I’ve read recently.

One was for TBF 2017

Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour:

This book is about a senior in high school who has been working on the movie sets as part of her summer internship. She and her best friend discover a letter written by a famous dead movie star and start following clues from it to figure out the mystery of his life. I might be making it sound lame, but this book was well- written, charming, and emotionally satisfying. I’m excited to hear Ms. LaCour talk about the book a the book festival in a few days. The author that I will be working with that day is presenting with Ms. LaCour so I will be all up in her kool-aid all day! 

One was a Classic I thought I had Read

The Outsiders by H.E. Hinton: This book turned 50 years old this year and was originally written when Hinton was only 16 years old. It’s a coming of age tale (whatever the fuck that is) about a 14 year old boy who lives on the rough side of town, dodges fists, and almost drowns. And then, bad stuff happens. I knew it was coming and I almost decided not to finish the book to avoid it, but no. I hung in there. There are many great quotes about life and the interesting ways in which the social classes are different, but so-much-the same. Stay gold, y'all. This might be a challenged book, which makes it count for Read Harder.

Related Posts: 

   

Book Review: Scythe by Neal Shusterman

I discovered Neal Shusterman because of TBF, I think. Or maybe I discovered him right before a TBF several years ago. Either way, I definitely met him at a TBF and he is one of my author boyfriends. He doesn’t know that, so mums the word. Anyway, Mr. Shusterman wrote one of my favorite series (Unwind) and one of my favorite YA stand-alones (Bruiser). His previous book Challenger Deep was a good book but not my favorite so I was hesitant to jump into Scythe for fear that this would be author-hero-letdown. BUT NO! It’s definitely got the deep-if-you-think-about-it political commentary that I loved from Unwind along with his usual swept away in the story OH MY GOD WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT piece. Mr. Shusterman doesn’t shy away from the feels and I’m glad I forged ahead.

Oh, maybe I should actually mention something about the book. Duh.

What I've Been Reading (Outbox March 22, 2017)

My outbox posts don’t usually span multiple months. I must be behind! Or ahead. Depending which month you are looking at… This is really the total books I’ve read between mid- January and now, because I basically did all Feature posts in February. I only did one review!

Despite all that, this one is going to be a quickie. Because I’ve got shit ta do!

Book Review: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

The Ember in the Ashes is awesome, but let me not get ahead of myself . I got this book from the library and I think it was my final read of 2016. 

From Goodreads [linked]: 

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.
 
Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.
 
But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.
 
There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, it’s most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

My Two Cents:

January Wrap Up - Three Excellent YAs

I’m exhausted right now. But, I have to wait for my daughter to get out of rehearsal, anyway so I might as well tell you why by Book January sucked so hard.

First off, I have only completed 6 books this month, three since the outbox post a couple of weeks ago. This isn’t really a low number and I would never think this isn’t “Enough” books. It’s just well below by average for the last couple of years. However, I’m trying to take it easy on myself and switch my way of thinking about THE NUMBER. My goal is to read fewer books more mindfully this year. My guess is that the goal will wax and wane like so many others.

All three of these books earn a We Need Diverse Books badge!! Whoot whoot! Here's what I've read:

Read Harder - Roc: An LGBTQ Romance

Last week was the first meeting for the Read Harder Rochester book group! We had four whole people show up! Whoott!!

This month’s categories up for discussion were: A Book about War and A LGBTQ Romance. This post is about the latter.

 An interesting point that came up doing the discussion about this category is that all members agreed that it would be important, moving forward, to choose books in the “diversity” categories that were written by authors from the under-represented group. Not all of our books this time reflect this approach and the readers could tell that an "insider" voice would probably have been better.

Book Review: The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow

I’m not sure where I got this book or how long it’s been sitting on my shelf, which made it a great candidate for a ClearAShelf challenge book. I have not read the sequel (published September 2016), yet, but plan to.

The GoodReads lead in:

The world is at peace, said the Utterances. And really, if the odd princess has a hard day, is that too much to ask?

Greta is a duchess and crown princess—and a hostage to peace. This is how the game is played: if you want to rule, you must give one of your children as a hostage. Go to war and your hostage dies. [Link to GoodReads page]

First, the summary doesn’t really do the book justice, which is why I didn’t post the whole thing as I typically do. So let me just cut to my bit.

My Two Cents: 

Book Review: The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez

The Book of Unknown Americans has been on my radar for a few months. It’s appeared on several lists for things… no idea what those things are but I would assume they are “diverse” book lists. 

Here’spart of the Goodreads description (link to GR):

A dazzling, heartbreaking page-turner destined for breakout status: a novel that gives voice to millions of Americans as it tells the story of the love between a Panamanian boy and a Mexican girl: teenagers living in an apartment block of immigrant families like their own.

At Redwood also lives Mayor Toro, a high school sophomore whose family arrived from Panamà fifteen years ago. Mayor sees in Maribel something others do not: that beyond her lovely face, and beneath the damage she's sustained, is a gentle, funny, and wise spirit. But as the two grow closer, violence casts a shadow over all their futures in America.

Who Tells Whose Story? #WNDB (Blogiversary Musings)

Technically, I’ve been blogging since 2008, but there were a few years of starts and stops. But not only is October the month of my first blog post but it’s also my favorite month, so there you go. Sometimes arbitrary isn’t so arbitrary. Of course, usually it is.

Anyhooo… For the rest of my blogiversary month, I’m posting about some stuff I’ve been thinking about over the past year. Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts if you want.

who tells whose story?

I’ve written about this a couple of time. There are some books that are clearly #WNDB books. Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older and The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds, for example: racially diverse characters, POC authors, story lines set in diverse places with stories blending the rich cultural aspects of real people. Or The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle: gay author, a wonderful portrayal of gay main character that doesn’t feel contrived or stupid coming of age in a real- feeling world.

And look at these pictures? Am I crazy or are authors just more attractive than other people!

But what about stories of diverse characters in bland otherwise colorless worlds? Or written by non-marginalized (i.e., white, cis, male) authors. These can be great stories, too. I’m currently reading a Japanese story written by a white author that I’m really enjoying (The Monster on the Road is Me by J.P. Romney), or think about Soundless by Richelle Mead or The Girl with the Ghost Eyes by M.H. Boroson. I use these as examples because they are great books. I think the decision is easier if the authors are assholes about their subject matter. But these books show detail and consideration only achieved by research and experience. But do they count as diverse? They certainly aren't #ownvoice books.

And what about “diverse” authors that write white characters like Danielle Paige, who wrote the excellent Dorothy Must Die series? ... is that half a #WNDB sticker? ::sigh: Comment below on this because I love to hear other people’s thoughts on this. Here are a couple of my other related posts.

Link: What Makes a Diverse Book 

Link: My Diverse (but not too diverse?) Little Free Library  

Related Posts:

  

All pictures obtained from Google Search. I don't own anything!

Book Review: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Rebel of the Sands has been on my radar for about a hundred years, even though it was pubbed just a few months ago. This must mean that I saw some early cover reveals or something. Anyhooo. I checked it out from the library and read it in about two seconds.

Here’s the GoodReads mumbo Jumbo.

 

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mythical beasts still roam the wild and remote areas, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinn still perform their magic.  For humans, it’s an unforgiving place, especially if you’re poor, orphaned, or female.

Amani Al’Hiza is all three.  She’s a gifted gunslinger with perfect aim, but she can’t shoot her way out of Dustwalk, the back-country town where she’s destined to wind up wed or dead.

Then she meets Jin, a rakish foreigner, in a shooting contest, and sees him as the perfect escape route. But though she’s spent years dreaming of leaving Dustwalk, she never imagined she’d gallop away on mythical horse—or that it would take a foreign fugitive to show her the heart of the desert she thought she knew.

Rebel of the Sands reveals what happens when a dream deferred explodes—in the fires of rebellion, of romantic passion, and the all-consuming inferno of a girl finally, at long last, embracing her power.

What I had to say about it:

Book Review: Shadows of Sherwood by Kekla Magoon

I picked up Shadows of Sherwood at the RochesterTeen Book Festival this year. Kekla Magoon was one of the participating authors… She was the only author of color there (though Mariko Tamaki is half Japanese), but I won’t even get started on that. I’m currently trying to decide if I want to talk to them about it or if I just want to be go along with it resentfully. 

Anyway, Shadows of Sherwood is a Robin Hood retelling on its surface. It's the first book I've completed for my own damn book Challenge: #ClearAShelf.

Here’s the Goodreads mumbo jumbo for the book:

 

The night her parents disappear, twelve-year-old Robyn Loxley must learn to fend for herself. Her home, Nott City, has been taken over by a harsh governor, Ignomus Crown. After fleeing for her life, Robyn has no choice but to join a band of strangers-misfit kids, each with their own special talent for mischief. Setting out to right the wrongs of Crown's merciless government, they take their outlaw status in stride. But Robyn can't rest until she finds her parents. As she pieces together clues from the night they disappeared, Robyn learns that her destiny is tied to the future of Nott City in ways she never expected.

Kicking off a new series with an unforgettable heroine, readers will be treated to feats of courage and daring deeds as Robyn and her band find their way in this cruel, new world.

 

What I had to say about it:

Book Review: The Fisherman by Chigozie Obioma

I read this book via audiobook. Mostly because it was available for download immediately.

The Goodreads Summary (truncated):

"Told from the point of view of nine year old Benjamin, the youngest of four brothers, The Fishermen is the story of an unforgettable childhood in 1990s Nigeria, in the small town of Akure. When their strict father has to travel to a distant city for work, the brothers take advantage of his extended absence to skip school and go fishing. At the ominous, forbidden nearby river, they meet a dangerous local madman who persuades the oldest of the boys that he is destined to be killed by one of his siblings. What happens next is an almost mythic event whose impact-both tragic and redemptive-will transcend the lives and imaginations of its characters and its readers. Dazzling and viscerally powerful, The Fishermen never leaves Akure but the story it tells has enormous universal appeal."

What I Thought About It: