tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43533444210406110232024-03-12T18:14:55.630-07:00Reading in the MiddleA blog about all of the best books - middle grades and YA, with an occasional adult book thrown in. Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-88605704304056992682021-10-03T15:23:00.000-07:002021-10-03T15:23:39.738-07:00My Favorites (from the past six months)<p><span style="font-family: times;">Hey, friends!</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">I've written a few blog posts over the past six months but haven't shared what I've been reading, and I have read some fabulous books since late last winter. So, without further ado, here are some of my favorites since last February. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>What I Carry </i>by Jennifer Longo </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b> </b>* Young adult - 7th grade and up</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdxDzPqgX2e878nMciauRflZFYZr0vHkqkpQUU7EYiwmMMe9S3KuTKumpDlUxLLG1Nm5pZgxLTzY3l29wnDs0WdO6RqHRwabtd5c1jJLppKOhmh9A8C-HZ1MwFryQcMAuxmFzfSYcMOVnF/s400/carry.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdxDzPqgX2e878nMciauRflZFYZr0vHkqkpQUU7EYiwmMMe9S3KuTKumpDlUxLLG1Nm5pZgxLTzY3l29wnDs0WdO6RqHRwabtd5c1jJLppKOhmh9A8C-HZ1MwFryQcMAuxmFzfSYcMOVnF/w133-h200/carry.jpeg" width="133" /></a></div><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Growing up in foster care, Muir has lived in many houses. And if she's learned one thing, it is to </span><b style="color: #181818;">Pack. Light.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText9794696527033818421" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Carry only what fits in a suitcase.<br />Toothbrush? Yes.<br />Socks? Yes.<br />Emotional attachment to friends? foster families? a boyfriend? Nope!<br />There's no room for any additional <b>baggage.</b><br />Muir has just one year left before she ages out of the system. One year before she's free. One year to avoid anything--or anyone--that could get in her way.<br /><br />Then she meets Francine. And Kira. <b>And Sean.</b><br /><br />And everything changes.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Weight of Our Sky </i>by Hanna Alkaf</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b> </b>* Young adult - 8th grade and up</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-xPhOPjeC4zL6-XOY_evBZsr1_wgqDvfE8XQk80itM2p7EkxJyGsK_X8f8uj_O1SSajFCqw9_GQUrAtMlIUYubORoMlctyIRDX7c1G9p45RWGDFl6OC2tr_yeRhxVVA12txrFq2Z3Ub5O/s475/sky.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-xPhOPjeC4zL6-XOY_evBZsr1_wgqDvfE8XQk80itM2p7EkxJyGsK_X8f8uj_O1SSajFCqw9_GQUrAtMlIUYubORoMlctyIRDX7c1G9p45RWGDFl6OC2tr_yeRhxVVA12txrFq2Z3Ub5O/w133-h200/sky.jpeg" width="133" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A music-loving teen with OCD does everything she can to find her way back to her mother during the historic race riots in 1969 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in this heart-pounding literary debut.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Melati Ahmad looks like your typical moviegoing, Beatles-obsessed sixteen-year-old. Unlike most other sixteen-year-olds though, Mel also believes that she harbors a djinn inside her, one who threatens her with horrific images of her mother’s death unless she adheres to an elaborate ritual of counting and tapping to keep him satisfied.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But there are things that Melati can't protect her mother from. On the evening of May 13th, 1969, racial tensions in her home city of Kuala Lumpur boil over. The Chinese and Malays are at war, and Mel and her mother become separated by a city in flames.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">With a 24-hour curfew in place and all lines of communication down, it will take the help of a Chinese boy named Vincent and all of the courage and grit in Melati’s arsenal to overcome the violence on the streets, her own prejudices, and her djinn’s surging power to make it back to the one person she can’t risk losing.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">**Content warnings: Racism, graphic violence, on-page death, OCD and anxiety triggers.**</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir </i>by Natasha Trethewey</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: times;"> * Adult Book - okay for 8th grade and up</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX2AdDeiskCKpr8x0ZdYQRUZNXnl8JfPuAmnq5yqRfL9Lam_ngeCmEa7LZB-mrsCyy-ZJXrvmY_AREpd9S0ksVA6sBeU7cDpgvZmqkTuNJ2aysqgbhSlNpfXHGxNF10n2gMoQxpXWVKh6v/s400/drive.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="264" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX2AdDeiskCKpr8x0ZdYQRUZNXnl8JfPuAmnq5yqRfL9Lam_ngeCmEa7LZB-mrsCyy-ZJXrvmY_AREpd9S0ksVA6sBeU7cDpgvZmqkTuNJ2aysqgbhSlNpfXHGxNF10n2gMoQxpXWVKh6v/w132-h200/drive.jpeg" width="132" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">At age nineteen, Natasha Trethewey had her world turned upside down when her former stepfather shot and killed her mother. Grieving and still new to adulthood, she confronted the twin pulls of life and death in the aftermath of unimaginable trauma and now explores the way this experience lastingly shaped the artist she became.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Natasha Trethewey explores this profound experience of pain, loss, and grief as an entry point into understanding the tragic course of her mother’s life and the way her own life has been shaped by a legacy of fierce love and resilience. Moving through her mother’s history in the deeply segregated South and through her own girlhood as a “child of miscegenation” in Mississippi, Trethewey plumbs her sense of dislocation and displacement in the lead-up to the harrowing crime that took place on Memorial Drive in Atlanta in 1985.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>A Sitting in St. James </i>by Rita Williams-Garcia</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"> * Young adult - 8th grade and up</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoCzX7FqVfIdSRIv6HKV8xL3knsvN63aZ0tXqN5QiSmL7tJN27YpAbZeJq28kJPII-FZIpj1G02-JDEl7JBuyFU8Ply0rKTI_YHFyNFdRKH0Gu7d12irva0qKbfQ_-IH61bRvm8l-adYVL/s1000/a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="667" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoCzX7FqVfIdSRIv6HKV8xL3knsvN63aZ0tXqN5QiSmL7tJN27YpAbZeJq28kJPII-FZIpj1G02-JDEl7JBuyFU8Ply0rKTI_YHFyNFdRKH0Gu7d12irva0qKbfQ_-IH61bRvm8l-adYVL/w133-h200/a.jpeg" width="133" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText15617233523898929737" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">An unmissable tour de force from three-time National Book Award finalist and Coretta Scott King Award–winning author Rita Williams-Garcia, who memorably tells the stories of one white family and the enslaved people who work for them. Essential reading for teens and adults who are grappling with our country’s history of racism.<br /><br />This astonishing novel about the interwoven lives of those bound to a plantation in antebellum America is an epic masterwork—empathetic, brutal, and entirely human.<br /><br />1860, Louisiana. After serving as mistress of Le Petit Cottage for more than six decades, Madame Sylvie Guilbert has decided, in spite of her family’s indifference, to sit for a portrait.<br /><br />But there are other important stories to be told on the Guilbert plantation. Stories that span generations, from the big house to out in the fields, of routine horrors, secrets buried as deep as the family fortune, and the tangled bonds of descendants and enslaved.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Middletown </i>by Sarah Moon</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"> * Middle grade - 6th grade and up</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Xgcv_MK1yWqHh5bcz72B1XJnmhdUZY6I9YaJPDY0CcosakvfDKOlIsl1OhpoYdq2w1z0P6tdlc_9DSj6VyMqQcW7HZcatqJx2AmutLsrmExOrCfhNkWn4MqjJwWr_54TzvEAu8GyTwox/s346/a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="242" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Xgcv_MK1yWqHh5bcz72B1XJnmhdUZY6I9YaJPDY0CcosakvfDKOlIsl1OhpoYdq2w1z0P6tdlc_9DSj6VyMqQcW7HZcatqJx2AmutLsrmExOrCfhNkWn4MqjJwWr_54TzvEAu8GyTwox/w140-h200/a.jpeg" width="140" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Thirteen-year-old Eli likes baggy clothes, baseball caps, and one girl in particular. Her seventeen-year-old sister Anna is more traditionally feminine; she loves boys and staying out late. They are sisters, and they are also the only family each can count on. Their dad has long been out of the picture, and their mom lives at the mercy of her next drink. When their mom lands herself in enforced rehab, Anna and Eli are left to fend for themselves. With no legal guardian to keep them out of foster care, they take matters into their own hands: Anna masquerades as Aunt Lisa, and together she and Eli hoard whatever money they can find. But their plans begin to unravel as quickly as they were made, and they are always way too close to getting caught.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Eli and Anna have each gotten used to telling lies as a means of survival, but as they navigate a world without their mother, they must learn how to accept help, and let other people in.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Linked </i>by Gordon Korman</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b> </b>* Middle grade - 6th grade and up</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlcQlftqUKOOy02mJGxjybZZ_p-RNOuD1naR8ukdcmixlnF-j8-FYB_UQUJphzLPGwALSqXi5phhjqYO1RJOH9VLEaFbK6RmqiE3j-Uy7TMAxb6dgWoZYsYZwCrgo0Irdn7ZzJ7o1Pedm/s1200/a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlcQlftqUKOOy02mJGxjybZZ_p-RNOuD1naR8ukdcmixlnF-j8-FYB_UQUJphzLPGwALSqXi5phhjqYO1RJOH9VLEaFbK6RmqiE3j-Uy7TMAxb6dgWoZYsYZwCrgo0Irdn7ZzJ7o1Pedm/w133-h200/a.jpeg" width="133" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Link, Michael, and Dana live in a quiet town. But it's woken up very quickly when someone sneaks into school and vandalizes it with a swastika. Nobody can believe it. How could such a symbol of hate end up in the middle of their school? Who would do such a thing?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Because Michael was the first person to see it, he's the first suspect. Because Link is one of the most popular guys in school, everyone's looking to him to figure it out. And because Dana's the only Jewish girl in the whole town, everyone's treating her more like an outsider than ever.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The mystery deepens as more swastikas begin to appear. Some students decide to fight back and start a project to bring people together instead of dividing them further. The closer Link, Michael, and Dana get to the truth, the more there is to face-not just the crimes of the present, but the crimes of the past.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>My Vanishing Country </i>by Bakari Sellers</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"> * Adult book - but 8th grade and up is fine</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzpAMGDsGIu-t-mNAlCYhotzC1JFIWtZSD-SBb-dML5AVnv1EBGMOQtw25Fj_4RJ-GHSD_D5DNLX1aUVy-i_rzGPXWjaDJXmw7DjpCU5prD9UDk4M7sG_5Baw79kGgRp43AoJytpC9bBP5/s400/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="263" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzpAMGDsGIu-t-mNAlCYhotzC1JFIWtZSD-SBb-dML5AVnv1EBGMOQtw25Fj_4RJ-GHSD_D5DNLX1aUVy-i_rzGPXWjaDJXmw7DjpCU5prD9UDk4M7sG_5Baw79kGgRp43AoJytpC9bBP5/w131-h200/a.jpg" width="131" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; margin: 18px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;">Part memoir, part historical and cultural analysis, <i>My Vanishing Country</i> is an eye-opening journey through the South's past, present, and future.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; margin: 18px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;">Anchored in in Bakari Sellers' hometown of Denmark, South Carolina, <i>Country</i> illuminates the pride and pain that continues to fertilize the soil of one of the poorest states in the nation. He traces his father’s rise to become a friend of Stokely Carmichael and Martin Luther King, a civil rights hero, and a member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), to explore the plight of the South's dwindling rural, black working class―many of whom can trace their ancestry back for seven generations.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; margin: 18px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;">In his poetic personal history, we are awakened to the crisis affecting the other “Forgotten Men & Women,” who the media seldom acknowledges. For Sellers, these are his family members, neighbors, and friends. He humanizes the struggles that shape their lives: to gain access to healthcare as rural hospitals disappear; to make ends meet as the factories they have relied on shut down and move overseas; to hold on to precious traditions as their towns erode; to forge a path forward without succumbing to despair.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; margin: 18px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>My Vanishing Country</i> is also a love letter to fatherhood―to Sellers' father, his lodestar, whose life lessons have shaped him, and to his newborn twins, who he hopes will embrace the Sellers family name and honor its legacy.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; margin: 18px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>The Burning: Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 </i>by Tim Madigan, adapted by Hilary Beard for young adults </b>* Young adult - 7th grade and up</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuBQCJy02Eq3gwXY_IhUZCSOzgmU9VKvlx_KkSrV-0qUQ5-2nDAvcukembJqRVg6rWc3CkQd5PFfCIhEwH4AY8f8v_1rkTb7s-hbTD7d2So9EH8RPBLoU8inTFyi1x5_ip5KTbvufQ3obu/s400/a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuBQCJy02Eq3gwXY_IhUZCSOzgmU9VKvlx_KkSrV-0qUQ5-2nDAvcukembJqRVg6rWc3CkQd5PFfCIhEwH4AY8f8v_1rkTb7s-hbTD7d2So9EH8RPBLoU8inTFyi1x5_ip5KTbvufQ3obu/w134-h200/a.jpeg" width="134" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; margin: 18px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 21px; margin: 18px 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">One of the worst acts of racial violence in American history took place in 1921, when a White mob numbering in the thousands decimated the thriving Black community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma.<br /></b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The Burning</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> recreates Greenwood at the height of its prosperity, explores the currents of hatred, racism, and mistrust between its Black residents and Tulsa's White population, narrates events leading up to and including Greenwood's devastation, and documents the subsequent silence that surrounded this tragedy. Delving into history that's long been pushed aside, this is the true story of Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre, with updates that connect the historical significance of the massacre to the ongoing struggle for racial justice in America.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">This adaptation is for ages 12-18.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>List of Ten </i>by Halli Gomez</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"> * Young adult - 7th grade and up</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTF6AYiuRZMECV7dbi0gbIF1LbSh6lSdZlj1ktbaZxCUWmtOxcG4fhbovV7IoZZjLfPFfoigHrxR_pxD9OU8sAjKf0omIXeeM5jNELPGclZGHgqmaoEvCvbp7sjqQudWiG_1p2WEvS5qL/s768/a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="519" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTF6AYiuRZMECV7dbi0gbIF1LbSh6lSdZlj1ktbaZxCUWmtOxcG4fhbovV7IoZZjLfPFfoigHrxR_pxD9OU8sAjKf0omIXeeM5jNELPGclZGHgqmaoEvCvbp7sjqQudWiG_1p2WEvS5qL/w135-h200/a.jpeg" width="135" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText12693128347633983580" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>A harrowing yet hopeful account of a teen living with Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder . . . and contemplating his own mortality.</b><br /><br />Ten: three little letters, one ordinary number. No big deal, right? But for Troy Hayes, a 16-year-old suffering from Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, the number ten dictates his life, forcing him to do everything by its exacting rhythm. Finally, fed up with the daily humiliation, loneliness, and physical pain he endures, Troy writes a list of ten things to do by the tenth anniversary of his diagnosis—culminating in suicide on the actual day. But the process of working his way through the list changes Troy’s life: he becomes friends with Khory, a smart, beautiful classmate who has her own troubled history. Khory unwittingly helps Troy cross off items on his list, moving him ever closer to his grand finale, even as she shows him that life may have more possibilities than he imagined. This is a dark, intense story, but it’s also realistic, hopeful, and deeply authentic.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Gilded Ones </i>by Namina Forna</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"> * Young adult - 7th grade and up</span></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3hr9aj9I8nmjQZEtYyw4gDyFu7B4JiXcSJK1YRHc2yGyfcv3UHcxC3lXM-2To27cY45zULeNSk89z81RW3S8yuR2xzGPO_FkcsfPzTHYQp7fozE7Ol1pizPsbrDhpLwy-xcAGcQY3e9B2/s475/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3hr9aj9I8nmjQZEtYyw4gDyFu7B4JiXcSJK1YRHc2yGyfcv3UHcxC3lXM-2To27cY45zULeNSk89z81RW3S8yuR2xzGPO_FkcsfPzTHYQp7fozE7Ol1pizPsbrDhpLwy-xcAGcQY3e9B2/w133-h200/a.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity--and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki--near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire's greatest threat.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she's ever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be--not even Deka herself.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>When Stars Are Scattered </i>by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"> * Middle grade - 6th grade and up</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0feq89rBK3d2dfabdz-l0EaO_3hEhSq50JOlTYBuqpdnzkARwDRA1S93yPpXYjS5Q9T09PfUtgW4jU1O7vqbn9uGMiBZuBHA9pt_6KRNEHnwj2xJ0hF-_7vJFGvF7fc6_-ll2ZiJP8SBe/s475/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0feq89rBK3d2dfabdz-l0EaO_3hEhSq50JOlTYBuqpdnzkARwDRA1S93yPpXYjS5Q9T09PfUtgW4jU1O7vqbn9uGMiBZuBHA9pt_6KRNEHnwj2xJ0hF-_7vJFGvF7fc6_-ll2ZiJP8SBe/w134-h200/a.jpg" width="134" /></span></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText7034439443056827270" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Heartbreak and hope exist together in this remarkable graphic novel about growing up in a refugee camp, as told by a Somali refugee to the Newbery Honor-winning creator of <i>Roller Girl.</i></b><br /><br />Omar and his little brother, Hassan, arrived in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya, seven years ago. Their father was killed the day they left home, and they haven't seen their mother since they joined their neighbors who were fleeing to Dadaab. Now Omar is eleven and Hassan is nine, and Omar has quit school to look after his brother, who has an intellectual disability.<br /><br />When Omar is given the opportunity to return to school and carve out a future for himself and Hassan, he feels torn. He loves school and could have the opportunity to earn a coveted scholarship to a North American university--and with it a visa for himself and Hassan. But is it worth the risk and heartache of leaving his vulnerable brother for hours each day?<br /><br />Told in Victoria Jamieson's engaging and accessible graphic-novel style and based on Omar Mohamed's gripping true story, this book is an intimate, important look at day-to-day life in a refugee camp.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Brave </i>by James Bird</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"> * Middle grade - 6th grade and up</span></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilluNGEug95l1JRIZc9rwSmHotshYu_DIUGdE1Yyo8HNFdK2VjMI0AxHV9gQWelSy4WnmkCBbuGYQJchxAnZE47l229sOT_KVcatd890mMqCe4AexL7Ri_zOJuGbWsCGfEl7mTyl1Ue6vF/s400/a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="259" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilluNGEug95l1JRIZc9rwSmHotshYu_DIUGdE1Yyo8HNFdK2VjMI0AxHV9gQWelSy4WnmkCBbuGYQJchxAnZE47l229sOT_KVcatd890mMqCe4AexL7Ri_zOJuGbWsCGfEl7mTyl1Ue6vF/w129-h200/a.jpeg" width="129" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i></span></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>The Brave </i>is about a boy with an OCD issue and his move to a reservation to live with his biological mother.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Collin can't help himself—he has a unique condition that finds him counting every letter spoken to him. It's a quirk that makes him a prime target for bullies, and a continual frustration to the adults around him, including his father.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Collin asked to leave yet another school, his dad decides to send him to live in Minnesota with the mother he's never met. She is Ojibwe, and lives on a reservation. Collin arrives in Duluth with his loyal dog, Seven, and quickly finds his mom and his new home to be warm, welcoming, and accepting of his condition.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Collin’s quirk is matched by that of his neighbor, Orenda, girl who lives mostly in her treehouse and believes she is turning into a butterfly. With Orenda’s help, Collin works hard to overcome his challenges. His real test comes when he must step up for his new friend and trust his new family.</span></span></p>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-32911391551101697282021-07-07T13:34:00.000-07:002021-07-07T13:34:25.014-07:00I had no idea what CRT is<p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">For the past month or so, if you watch the news or have a social media account, you have most likely seen stories about politicians and parents getting all worked up over CRT (Critical Race Theory) being taught in our public schools. The stories are all over the place. In just the news from today: students were expelled from a private school because they pushed back on CRT, politicians and parents explain why CRT shouldn't be taught in public schools, and the teachers' union says it will defend teachers in CRT fights. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Truth be told, I felt like an idiot when all of the CRT controversy began. I teach 8th grade English in a public school and didn't know what CRT was. How could I not know what CRT was? Turns out, I shouldn't have known what CRT is, but now, I have some working knowledge of it. CRT is a legal analysis. Yes, my friends, a <i>legal analysis</i>. Please see the definition from Brittanica below.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjovlZcJpsf_PhUhfakbiYp5D_shbLZCvFwG5QV8UieLgTG02Wq9d3hIAAeN1VmLWvpk21dW_5Z5dSHEJUbdW2vkTZ1JV6EWydmWye-kDl5mqgLIiwnIvF6cImptgDGqIvsmBdN2hE3Thlg/s1280/CRT.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjovlZcJpsf_PhUhfakbiYp5D_shbLZCvFwG5QV8UieLgTG02Wq9d3hIAAeN1VmLWvpk21dW_5Z5dSHEJUbdW2vkTZ1JV6EWydmWye-kDl5mqgLIiwnIvF6cImptgDGqIvsmBdN2hE3Thlg/s320/CRT.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><u>Critical Race Theory</u>: <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off" data-term="intellectual" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectual" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 2px dotted var(--blue); box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><span style="color: black;">intellectual</span></a><span style="background-color: white;"> movement and loosely organized framework of legal analysis based on the </span><span style="color: black;"><a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off" data-term="premise" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/premise" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 2px dotted var(--blue); box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none !important;"><span style="color: black;">premise</span></a><span style="background-color: white;"> that </span><a class="md-crosslink" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/race-human" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: black;">race</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white;"> is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of physically distinct subgroups of human beings but a socially constructed (culturally invented) category that is used to oppress and exploit people of colour. Critical race theorists hold that the law and legal institutions in the United States are inherently </span><a class="md-crosslink" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/racism" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: black;">racist</span></a><span style="background-color: white;"> insofar as they function to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites, especially </span><span style="color: black;"><a class="md-crosslink" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/African-American" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: black;">African Americans</span></a> (Brittanica.com)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="color: black;">I'm not a lawyer. I don't pretend to have any expertise in legal matters, but, I guess, I am indoctrinating my students by teaching CRT in my 8th grade English classroom. I guess most of America's public school teachers are indoctrinating their kids with CRT. The majority of America's public school teachers didn't even know what CRT was (or that we were teaching it) until some politicians told us we were. Who would have thought it? </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="color: black;">Let me say it loud and clear: I am not teaching Critical Race Theory in my classroom. </span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">I am not teaching Critical Race Theory in my classroom. </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">I am not teaching Critical Race Theory in my classroom. </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">I am not teaching Critical Race Theory in my classroom.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">I am teaching with race in mind, though, in my classroom, and when I say "with race in mind," I am purposefully seeking out and bringing different perspectives to my classroom. That's what I am supposed to do. I want my students to know about, comprehend, and learn from others' lived experiences. I don't understand how that is wrong. I truly don't. My mind cannot wrap itself around the idea that there are Americans who think teaching other perspectives and history is wrong and that teaching this somehow divides us and makes white people feel guilty. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">When I learn about our past and present, I don't feel guilty. I love the learning. I wonder why I didn't know about a topic before this. I wonder how I can make a small difference in the lives of others. I wonder what else I can read to learn more. Learning makes me think. That's what I hope for my students - that learning makes them think and be curious to learn more.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">This past spring, my 8th graders read <i>Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You </i>written by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. Although we didn't finish it (because of the weird school year we had), my students were fascinated. We learned about Climate Theory and Curse Theory in relation to race, the Mennonites, the Puritans, Harvard, Cotton Mather, the Salem Witch Trials, the paradox of Thomas Jefferson's ideas, Aristotle, Phillis Wheatley, the importance of the year 1619, and the Haitian Revolution. The list goes on. I didn't tell the kids what to think when they learned about this history. They thought for themselves, and they had some deep discussions with each other when they stopped to talk about this history. I trusted my students to think. We all need to trust our students be thoughtful, empathetic, and critical thinkers because they are when we allow them to be. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Now, we need to get adults to be the same thoughtful, empathetic, and critical thinkers we hope our children become. To do that, we must read. And read some more. And continue reading.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">I challenge everyone who reads this blog of mine, whether adult, teen, or child, to find a book that sparks your curiosity about a topic. You can take a look at the books listed below in the links, or you can scroll through my previous posts to find a book which takes you out of your comfort zone. Please leave a comment if you find a book you plan on reading. Thank you!</span></p><p><a href="https://www.readbrightly.com/anti-racist-resources-for-kids/">Books and Resources to Help You Raise Anti-Racist Children</a><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/antiracist-books-for-kids-and-teens/">14 Antiracist Books for Kids and Teens Recommended by BIPOC Teachers and Librarians</a><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.rclreads.org/race-and-social-justice/">Race and Social Justice</a><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.theconsciouskid.org/antiracist-childrens-books">Antiracist Children's Books</a><br /></p><p><a href="https://calgary.bibliocommons.com/list/share/422868168/1867389749">An All Ages Reading List to Combat Anti-Asian Racism</a><br /></p><p><a href="http://prhinternationalsales.com/childrens/">Anti-Racist Books for Kids</a><br /></p><p><a href="https://guides.library.georgetown.edu/antiracism/parents">Georgetown Antiracism Toolkit</a><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.bu.edu/articles/2021/juneteenth-books-for-kids-teens-and-adults/">10 Powerful Books for Adults, Teens, Kids to Celebrate and Understand Juneteenth</a><br /></p><p><a href="https://parentinghighschoolers.com/social-justice-books-for-teens/">Lots of Great Reads - Kid to Adult</a><br /></p><p><a href="https://libguides.gettysburg.edu/diversity/read">Diversity and Inclusion Resource Guide: DEI Read & Learn</a><br /></p><p><a href="https://libguides.westsoundacademy.org/resources-for-exploring-race-racism-and-racial-identiy/books-for-adults">Resources for Exploring Race, Racism, and Racial Identity: Books for Adults</a><br /></p><p><a href="https://library.ship.edu/anti-racism-guide/essential-reads">Essential Reads (for adults)</a><br /></p><p><br /></p>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-51242262055439984822021-06-15T16:27:00.001-07:002021-06-15T16:35:29.053-07:00When All of Us Need to Be Seen and Heard<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEireGVZojwHwVsxJjPlTipk8cxFQks6-PGhKyPXME2UhVxbygjbgwnXBSUwYOLFRZKn1dTjrOtt4v7ZH7Ffhboo04arTN072UUQOFM_IthEp8fLTTmDRBTjEaBQVSa1ogDiFYpssnR6zRkZ/s225/pride+2021.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEireGVZojwHwVsxJjPlTipk8cxFQks6-PGhKyPXME2UhVxbygjbgwnXBSUwYOLFRZKn1dTjrOtt4v7ZH7Ffhboo04arTN072UUQOFM_IthEp8fLTTmDRBTjEaBQVSa1ogDiFYpssnR6zRkZ/s0/pride+2021.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: times; text-align: left;">I<span style="font-size: medium;"> teach eighth grade and have taught middle school for over 20 years, so I've had the blessing of working with many diverse students in my classroom - different races, different religions, different socioeconomic classes, different countries, different languages, and different sexualities and genders. All of my students have wanted to be seen and heard, and being an English teacher, I have the privilege of sharing "windows and mirror" books with my students. The "windows and mirrors" concept comes from Rudine Sims Bishop. </span></span><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">From Reading is Fundamental (rif.org) </span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOKfA7MXo-ps1K8md3_hQ1eucaq7urwtSWDoyKREXKVK6Id1eho9h_iBeiwuexLVINgzHyv4ejwDY9qWD-4NKlDCZcth6oIz0bj7EYK4j03_zh-0zowNDpFqHjv6B3Ic2Cfu1DWrJx4a3C/s1088/wm.png"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="192" data-original-width="1088" height="97" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOKfA7MXo-ps1K8md3_hQ1eucaq7urwtSWDoyKREXKVK6Id1eho9h_iBeiwuexLVINgzHyv4ejwDY9qWD-4NKlDCZcth6oIz0bj7EYK4j03_zh-0zowNDpFqHjv6B3Ic2Cfu1DWrJx4a3C/w552-h97/wm.png" width="552" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Most books used to be written by and for straight white people. That is changing - although publishers don't publish as many diverse authors yet, but that is a subject for another time. With this change comes a much better selection for my students to read books that are windows and mirrors, yet my students who identify as LGBTQ+ can have difficulties finding books to which they can relate and my students who don't identify as LGBTQ+ don't have as many opportunities to read perspectives different from theirs. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">So, to celebrate PRIDE month, this blog post is dedicated to all of my wonderful LGBTQ+ students past and present. I love you for you. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifTXxqv99siF5v6cbGYZm9YjYVwDsM0a_QdarEuVa9uuD2YeKmzRdstdbPWcoVn0O13vFm7QpbutTVugcxCbnjlM631WMA6m1e6EVkzDDPTkls3KkgqPi8DrLWsCsBuR83UKHhUoCfUI8Z/s300/pride+flag.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifTXxqv99siF5v6cbGYZm9YjYVwDsM0a_QdarEuVa9uuD2YeKmzRdstdbPWcoVn0O13vFm7QpbutTVugcxCbnjlM631WMA6m1e6EVkzDDPTkls3KkgqPi8DrLWsCsBuR83UKHhUoCfUI8Z/w400-h224/pride+flag.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Here are some of the books I have read recently (or have read in the past but loved) and recommend. Thanks for reading!</span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWR6_ozp_kEyxg7-43Xgiz-4r1ccio7xm1RK-ykD8k_wLvYjsyt9gvl5VPWA5O9t4rk6cOOozsGS3i3U4lMprW7sGk8jJR9k8Pn2hZRVuvMJRpHvPIzD7YB2sNrOHOFFsEuIioj9q64l7E/s475/ants.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWR6_ozp_kEyxg7-43Xgiz-4r1ccio7xm1RK-ykD8k_wLvYjsyt9gvl5VPWA5O9t4rk6cOOozsGS3i3U4lMprW7sGk8jJR9k8Pn2hZRVuvMJRpHvPIzD7YB2sNrOHOFFsEuIioj9q64l7E/w134-h200/ants.jpeg" width="134" /></a></div>We Are the Ants </i>by Shaun David Hutchinson</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span id="freeText10313231375680167684" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Henry Denton has spent years being periodically abducted by aliens. Then the aliens give him an ultimatum: The world will end in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button.<br /><br />Only he isn’t sure he wants to.<br /><br />After all, life hasn’t been great for Henry. His mom is a struggling waitress held together by a thin layer of cigarette smoke. His brother is a jobless dropout who just knocked someone up. His grandmother is slowly losing herself to Alzheimer’s. And Henry is still dealing with the grief of his boyfriend’s suicide last year.<br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Wiping the slate clean sounds like a pretty good choice to him.<br /><br />But Henry is a scientist first, and facing the question thoroughly and logically, he begins to look for pros and cons: in the bully who is his perpetual one-night stand, in the best friend who betrayed him, in the brilliant and mysterious boy who walked into the wrong class. Weighing the pain and the joy that surrounds him, Henry is left with the ultimate choice: push the button and save the planet and everyone on it…or let the world—and his pain—be destroyed forever.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i>The List of Things That Will Not Change </i>by Rebecca Stead <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgTgE8CSf2SSRXLWrpeWzuozo8y3xexvO0VYdWchZqddg81bmPNbhYit5IfWiylQimVFzaEiIwPtegwiOEvqwZN3ZM3z9HfpZCmw-HpP3-gM_8_HEmhpKDT23NjZjbNp5klHRXa2kqRei/s400/change.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="262" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgTgE8CSf2SSRXLWrpeWzuozo8y3xexvO0VYdWchZqddg81bmPNbhYit5IfWiylQimVFzaEiIwPtegwiOEvqwZN3ZM3z9HfpZCmw-HpP3-gM_8_HEmhpKDT23NjZjbNp5klHRXa2kqRei/w131-h200/change.jpeg" width="131" /></a></div></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span id="freeText18306720836395932045" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">After her parents' divorce, Bea's life became different in many ways. But she can always look back at the list she keeps in her green notebook to remember the things that will stay the same. The first and most important: Mom and Dad will always love Bea, and each other.<br /><br />When Dad tells Bea that he and his boyfriend, Jesse, are getting married, Bea is thrilled. Bea loves Jesse, and when he and Dad get married, she'll finally (finally!) have what she's always wanted--a sister. Even though she's never met Jesse's daughter, Sonia, Bea is sure that they'll be "just like sisters anywhere."<br /><br />As the wedding day approaches, Bea will learn that making a new family brings questions, surprises, and joy.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsHgAt2L2vKvkD1-ANkKLTGyH4_EbGH63dL2eyD7BBn2IuMqu9yH8Se1Q8E-M45vRf4ZYRpk2W8T29Ly9rXHBqyfxrkK5bNcxPGXScVEF4AXZrjAh0yfvBgZ5DetdtYnJcKZTxWYNG62i3/s475/henna.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsHgAt2L2vKvkD1-ANkKLTGyH4_EbGH63dL2eyD7BBn2IuMqu9yH8Se1Q8E-M45vRf4ZYRpk2W8T29Ly9rXHBqyfxrkK5bNcxPGXScVEF4AXZrjAh0yfvBgZ5DetdtYnJcKZTxWYNG62i3/w132-h200/henna.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>The Henna Wars </i>by Adiba Jaigirdar</b></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Nishat doesn’t want to lose her family, but she also doesn’t want to hide who she is, and it only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life. Flávia is beautiful and charismatic, and Nishat falls for her instantly. But when a school competition invites students to create their own businesses, both Flávia and Nishat decide to showcase their talent as henna artists. In a fight to prove who is the best, their lives become more tangled—but Nishat can’t quite get rid of her crush, especially since Flávia seems to like her back.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">As the competition heats up, Nishat has a decision to make: stay in the closet for her family, or put aside her differences with Flávia and give their relationship a chance.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i>King and the Dragonflies </i>by Kacen Callender <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg7cEUi23qhHyYntotCYF94LrjZsh8YqUpjBIadncWhhXfE4-rwAs5eoyDzO6NvRtL6DsW_p8fWupH7Z3JquIHXu5whhHGdENLQy_cp8RhhbufBObf_Y_HN7DMXTphnywQDFTF9NN1sQJr/s475/dragon.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg7cEUi23qhHyYntotCYF94LrjZsh8YqUpjBIadncWhhXfE4-rwAs5eoyDzO6NvRtL6DsW_p8fWupH7Z3JquIHXu5whhHGdENLQy_cp8RhhbufBObf_Y_HN7DMXTphnywQDFTF9NN1sQJr/w134-h200/dragon.jpeg" width="134" /></a></div></span></b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Twelve-year-old Kingston James is sure his brother Khalid has turned into a dragonfly. When Khalid unexpectedly passed away, he shed what was his first skin for another to live down by the bayou in their small Louisiana town. Khalid still visits in dreams, and King must keep these secrets to himself as he watches grief transform his family.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">It would be easier if King could talk with his best friend, Sandy Sanders. But just days before he died, Khalid told King to end their friendship, after overhearing a secret about Sandy—that he thinks he might be gay. "You don't want anyone to think you're gay too, do you?"</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But when Sandy goes missing, sparking a town-wide search, and King finds his former best friend hiding in a tent in his backyard, he agrees to help Sandy escape from his abusive father, and the two begin an adventure as they build their own private paradise down by the bayou and among the dragonflies. As King's friendship with Sandy is reignited, he's forced to confront questions about himself and the reality of his brother's death.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFeUtZUZQFQ2gJFk4flg7v9J_bYybTE0ovnBR4G_kHngBPcE35dGiapJhLkXCd8rFm04WzBHcpbhlDuHpjQ5JeeDyRrkDU0ID4aUrVTzdxnZCz0DzW-Y9dcmXOs8clCVaFSmEhPmdh8Aan/s1098/elatsoe.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1098" data-original-width="740" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFeUtZUZQFQ2gJFk4flg7v9J_bYybTE0ovnBR4G_kHngBPcE35dGiapJhLkXCd8rFm04WzBHcpbhlDuHpjQ5JeeDyRrkDU0ID4aUrVTzdxnZCz0DzW-Y9dcmXOs8clCVaFSmEhPmdh8Aan/w135-h200/elatsoe.jpeg" width="135" /></a></div>Elatsoe </i>by Darcie Little Badger</span></b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span id="freeText11765325142128026071" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Imagine an America very similar to our own. It's got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream.<br /><br />There are some differences. This America has been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day.<br /><br />Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i>Girl Made of Stars </i>by Ashley Herring Blake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4OyyaNTVzMSqmTO4oSuFOHcOPHgrNRzmZObf3bFheUK-fRc8ULbJL0e7_oV0TMriQx1ecx7bY6wsy74hb-p0AsjLe9wfzgY7RMMZWVnm5GrBHB_lBNHpK7cs8811NW7lkYvBr0XhyphenhyphenoTNZ/s471/girl.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4OyyaNTVzMSqmTO4oSuFOHcOPHgrNRzmZObf3bFheUK-fRc8ULbJL0e7_oV0TMriQx1ecx7bY6wsy74hb-p0AsjLe9wfzgY7RMMZWVnm5GrBHB_lBNHpK7cs8811NW7lkYvBr0XhyphenhyphenoTNZ/w135-h200/girl.jpeg" width="135" /></a></div></span></b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">"I need Owen to explain this. Because yes, I do know that Owen would never do that, but I also know Hannah would never lie about something like that."</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Mara and Owen are about as close as twins can get. So when Mara's friend Hannah accuses Owen of rape, Mara doesn't know what to think. Can the brother she loves really be guilty of such a violent crime? Torn between the family she loves and her own sense of right and wrong, Mara is feeling lost, and it doesn't help that things have been strained with her ex-girlfriend and best friend since childhood, Charlie.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">As Mara, Hannah, and Charlie navigate this new terrain, Mara must face a trauma from her own past and decide where Charlie fits in her future. With sensitivity and openness, this timely novel confronts the difficult questions surrounding consent, victim blaming, and sexual assault.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikg2gNfc-eSFgxHWnpNXNiy96BHRTt8qoxRSXyISGUgcTmoTiNSJeUrfAC_LkGuIXF97SyPFSi1A534vO8TDXq3tTDJmAgCmPmGa7cX0TeX9fwnvXFeHV8X2O7c4dq7LJpw043nOXkdSn2/s1503/blew.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1503" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikg2gNfc-eSFgxHWnpNXNiy96BHRTt8qoxRSXyISGUgcTmoTiNSJeUrfAC_LkGuIXF97SyPFSi1A534vO8TDXq3tTDJmAgCmPmGa7cX0TeX9fwnvXFeHV8X2O7c4dq7LJpw043nOXkdSn2/w133-h200/blew.jpeg" width="133" /></a></div>How It All Blew Up </i>by Arvin Ahmadi</span></b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span id="freeText11821421311433792754" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda</i> goes to Italy in Arvin Ahmadi's newest incisive look at identity and what it means to find yourself by running away.<br /><br />Eighteen-year-old Amir Azadi always knew coming out to his Muslim family would be messy--he just didn't think it would end in an airport interrogation room. But when faced with a failed relationship, bullies, and blackmail, running away to Rome is his only option. Right?<br /><br />Soon, late nights with new friends and dates in the Sistine Chapel start to feel like second nature... until his old life comes knocking on his door. Now, Amir has to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth to a U.S. Customs officer, or risk losing his hard-won freedom.<br /><br />At turns uplifting and devastating, <i>How It All Blew Up</i> is Arvin Ahmadi's most powerful novel yet, a celebration of how life's most painful moments can live alongside the riotous, life-changing joys of discovering who you are.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Any book by Adam Silvera: <a href="http://www.adamsilvera.com/" target="_blank">http://www.adamsilvera.com/</a></b></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlB71vanzztYUw3G0SWkBvObcMClz1YIed5AsPqXCZkg9Db-mhITCxCaTWyvrm2OPt0JpkgGKg86xOvQuMFLGEkUoY3tffn-AloTEztvIQOMRQQCAOzIT8zf_S9YwSGFy0OrXyTNCMd4pp/s475/A3.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlB71vanzztYUw3G0SWkBvObcMClz1YIed5AsPqXCZkg9Db-mhITCxCaTWyvrm2OPt0JpkgGKg86xOvQuMFLGEkUoY3tffn-AloTEztvIQOMRQQCAOzIT8zf_S9YwSGFy0OrXyTNCMd4pp/w132-h200/A3.jpg" width="132" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRrVswfQdfqEIMZwumz8DucDnY0rKFWe0Q-dolH4hC6JCmLxuDj4qTwcJ7pLdf57VOksEOeg5dHt93pTxWUPeBXDXzUtua1tjy_P_fZgR5boAvKKVbDgVPI58oCnA7Uk-aaVfrFddpBc6j/s475/A2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRrVswfQdfqEIMZwumz8DucDnY0rKFWe0Q-dolH4hC6JCmLxuDj4qTwcJ7pLdf57VOksEOeg5dHt93pTxWUPeBXDXzUtua1tjy_P_fZgR5boAvKKVbDgVPI58oCnA7Uk-aaVfrFddpBc6j/w134-h200/A2.jpg" width="134" /></a> </b></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC2NoJiLq00aVZ2G1Wr_r4ZEVyf70CM8acw5XMprYPd20Yjvb4tN0IQgJz7vUNRoVcEa1jI3ltwwoQ05ApIAv0J77KIuyKHgEVAppcv4McdkolSs4q7ySw_9I3tdqAqIv7BmE3-hrGdWAG/s475/A1.jpg" style="font-weight: bold; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC2NoJiLq00aVZ2G1Wr_r4ZEVyf70CM8acw5XMprYPd20Yjvb4tN0IQgJz7vUNRoVcEa1jI3ltwwoQ05ApIAv0J77KIuyKHgEVAppcv4McdkolSs4q7ySw_9I3tdqAqIv7BmE3-hrGdWAG/w133-h200/A1.jpg" width="133" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5xVWQBsruumBXwb2zECHjka4A0reJLlUJLe4_4YuUH9OjpLm0EyZC4mLiyYoxSGl492NXQCUuTi7SHkP1lTO-oDTY0f9gbfe4HuT3_QD-2kjbVak07NuhFEPJ5M5utnVSiXNMM5fPHjsd/s475/A4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5xVWQBsruumBXwb2zECHjka4A0reJLlUJLe4_4YuUH9OjpLm0EyZC4mLiyYoxSGl492NXQCUuTi7SHkP1lTO-oDTY0f9gbfe4HuT3_QD-2kjbVak07NuhFEPJ5M5utnVSiXNMM5fPHjsd/w133-h200/A4.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIP-Ji5nM6v8uHYBbiAbXaN2yrERPcHCIGmXMIDXlBBnP1Ak5kfBwxlY-oCK3-b7aMUUBXxxFHAJ0f3h28NOSCJ5EFEMGmkURIuH_cFgq7gjuPBEP3-E-ron2ynWwA7X-SYfie8GQFOV3/s475/ari.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIP-Ji5nM6v8uHYBbiAbXaN2yrERPcHCIGmXMIDXlBBnP1Ak5kfBwxlY-oCK3-b7aMUUBXxxFHAJ0f3h28NOSCJ5EFEMGmkURIuH_cFgq7gjuPBEP3-E-ron2ynWwA7X-SYfie8GQFOV3/w133-h200/ari.jpeg" width="133" /></a></div>Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe </i>by Benjamin Alire Sáenz</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A lyrical novel about family and friendship from critically acclaimed author Benjamin Alire Sáenz.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship--the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.</span><b><br /></b><br /><span style="color: #181818;"><b><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><br /></p></div>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-79880680237061035812021-05-10T10:41:00.000-07:002021-05-10T10:41:41.809-07:00Reading Quiets the Mind; Reading Opens the Mind<p><span style="font-family: times;">We are slowly coming out the other side of this awful pandemic after 14 months of being cooped up in our homes, wearing masks when we are out and about, and staying away from our family and friends. Back on March 14, I thought we'd be dealing with this virus for a few weeks and then moving on. That was not the case, and the virus led us humans to become suspicious of each other, fearful of each other, and unkind to one another. The virus fueled a hate that had be simmering below the surface for many years. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">At the start of the pandemic, I could not read a book. I didn't have the mental capacity or stamina for it, yet I knew that books would be my saving grace if I could let myself back into their wonders. I allowed myself time to slowly begin engaging with books last spring, and those books quieted my mind. Those books allowed me to leave the world we were currently living. Those books gave me back my sanity in a world filled with news about the virus. Those books were my lifeline. It wasn't easy reading during that time, but I made myself read knowing that's what my heart and mind needed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Although the summer seemed a little better in terms of the virus, it wasn't gone (or soon-to-be gone), and Americans distrust and fear toward one another only spiraled into hate and scapegoating. To be honest, I didn't know how we would make it as a country with such vitriol, too many hate-crimes (one is too much), and the racism our country has never figured out how to deal with. Again, I kept my nose buried in books. I read books about different races, different political viewpoints, different religions, different sexualities, different everything, so I could share with others what I was reading and to help them understand that reading also opens our minds. My one goal in life is to get people to read more and to read more diverse books. I truly believe people can read their way out of ignorance. (Maybe that's a bit idealistic, but that's me.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">In honor of books quieting the mind and opening minds, here are the books I have read since the end of February (in order of oldest to most-recently read).</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNvSKQEeJ7EyrUx0X1OfVsV-L8pHECcMjMMr-oe4J2KfJA9ejKGdb9r5RaLhhsYLmtmMqUpxv_wGIbrWT08Nrqqq_N4W4Q26R819l8Anp-X8mSHwfndaT2OyRVatudX9nGsQG4gXKFhn3X/s475/written.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNvSKQEeJ7EyrUx0X1OfVsV-L8pHECcMjMMr-oe4J2KfJA9ejKGdb9r5RaLhhsYLmtmMqUpxv_wGIbrWT08Nrqqq_N4W4Q26R819l8Anp-X8mSHwfndaT2OyRVatudX9nGsQG4gXKFhn3X/w132-h200/written.jpg" width="132" /></a></i></span></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Written in Starlight </i>(Woven in Moonlight #2) by Isabel Ibañez</span></b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">If the jungle wants you, it will have you...</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Catalina Quiroga is a Condesa without a country. She’s lost the Inkasisa throne, the loyalty of her people, and her best friend. Banished to the perilous Yanu Jungle, Catalina knows her chances of survival are slim, but that won’t stop her from trying to escape. It’s her duty to reclaim the throne.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Manuel, the son of her former general, rescues Catalina from a jaguar, a plan forms. Deep in the jungle, the city of gold is hidden, home to the fierce Illari people, who she could strike an alliance with.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But the elusive Illari are fighting a battle of their own—a mysterious blight is corrupting the jungle, laying waste to everything they hold dear. As a seer, Catalina should be able to help, but her ability to read the future in the stars is as feeble as her survival instincts. While searching for the Illari, Catalina must reckon with her duty and her heart to find her true calling, which could be the key to stopping the corruption before it destroys the jungle completely.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Grade 6 and up)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Brave </i>by James Bird </span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-SQ_PJc-iP_MjDgiHdDQV4qSsoB8U5PTpb_vYQyJL53IfE6o67HukdYvgqQHrOIFxtRexidacKTsODlIHmaeUquH02fP0WA-HN0PmGr8XJF6NOLfcEr86tWdsTM92tvPG5Eu1-Nm5Pp8A/s400/brave.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="259" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-SQ_PJc-iP_MjDgiHdDQV4qSsoB8U5PTpb_vYQyJL53IfE6o67HukdYvgqQHrOIFxtRexidacKTsODlIHmaeUquH02fP0WA-HN0PmGr8XJF6NOLfcEr86tWdsTM92tvPG5Eu1-Nm5Pp8A/w129-h200/brave.jpeg" width="129" /></a></span></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Collin can't help himself—he has a unique condition that finds him counting every letter spoken to him. It's a quirk that makes him a prime target for bullies, and a continual frustration to the adults around him, including his father.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Collin asked to leave yet another school, his dad decides to send him to live in Minnesota with the mother he's never met. She is Ojibwe, and lives on a reservation. Collin arrives in Duluth with his loyal dog, Seven, and quickly finds his mom and his new home to be warm, welcoming, and accepting of his condition.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Collin’s quirk is matched by that of his neighbor, Orenda, girl who lives mostly in her treehouse and believes she is turning into a butterfly. With Orenda’s help, Collin works hard to overcome his challenges. His real test comes when he must step up for his new friend and trust his new family.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Grade 6 and up)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCfzM_ZWhQIgfhgNC2tn-vxwrjJLETvuS2wGp5et4fiAIE7EH6HjojlSPbyQrjqxSi-kx3WZj0FtYLMMtHrpiq3TeP7Eeov8JfpkjmX7_GgeIiRWW0kKYkQNyr2YgZKVPdY9LxYj_HvROX/s475/stars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCfzM_ZWhQIgfhgNC2tn-vxwrjJLETvuS2wGp5et4fiAIE7EH6HjojlSPbyQrjqxSi-kx3WZj0FtYLMMtHrpiq3TeP7Eeov8JfpkjmX7_GgeIiRWW0kKYkQNyr2YgZKVPdY9LxYj_HvROX/w134-h200/stars.jpg" width="134" /></a></i></span></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>When Stars Are Scattered </i>by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed </span></b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Life is hard there: never enough food, achingly dull, and without access to the medical care Omar knows his nonverbal brother needs. So when Omar has the opportunity to go to school, he knows it might be a chance to change their future . . . but it would also mean leaving his brother, the only family member he has left, every day.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Heartbreak, hope, and gentle humor exist together in this graphic novel about a childhood spent waiting, and a young man who is able to create a sense of family and home in the most difficult of settings. It's an intimate, important, unforgettable look at the day-to-day life of a refugee, as told to </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">New York Times</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> Bestselling author/artist Victoria Jamieson by Omar Mohamed, the Somali man who lived the story.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Grade 6 and up)</span></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow </i>by Laura Taylor Namey </span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdgaEA8ZGKVhZGA2N3cdAoA1lU94Tv7OgYlCYVJh8aSXdTPfSr15wisNgjQtzrvjQaBp1lkRaD2I2BYk8eNVkBX7llDH6z8geNcvr7LVaRqZDrRU9YlcKq5etcGp4xte6-1wiUqORsvTw/s475/tea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdgaEA8ZGKVhZGA2N3cdAoA1lU94Tv7OgYlCYVJh8aSXdTPfSr15wisNgjQtzrvjQaBp1lkRaD2I2BYk8eNVkBX7llDH6z8geNcvr7LVaRqZDrRU9YlcKq5etcGp4xte6-1wiUqORsvTw/w134-h200/tea.jpg" width="134" /></a></span></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText7004773083128800815" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">For Lila Reyes, a summer in England was never part of the plan. The plan was 1) take over her abuela’s role as head baker at their panadería, 2) move in with her best friend after graduation, and 3) live happily ever after with her boyfriend. But then the Trifecta happened, and everything—including Lila herself—fell apart.<br /><br />Worried about Lila’s mental health, her parents make a new plan for her: Spend three months with family friends in Winchester, England, to relax and reset. But with the lack of sun, a grumpy inn cook, and a small town lacking Miami flavor (both in food and otherwise), what would be a dream trip for some feels more like a nightmare to Lila…until she meets Orion Maxwell.<br /><br />A teashop clerk with troubles of his own, Orion is determined to help Lila out of her funk, and appoints himself as her personal tour guide. From Winchester’s drama-filled music scene to the sweeping English countryside, it isn’t long before Lila is not only charmed by Orion, but England itself. Soon a new future is beginning to form in Lila’s mind—one that would mean leaving everything she ever planned behind.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Grade 7 and up)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSvCWpxzACVgcQzWcR09BTCbzz1-M0nHS9hhLm0Dawn-ZA8aZMqBfdtTjvp3qz65JOIxNGJp2Bi95BlXfkpdsBuCS86j0eO5mRZKFLsyBa6-3P10T4oYAwW48Sxg2pm-3rlr0BQYYj6kwK/s469/men.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSvCWpxzACVgcQzWcR09BTCbzz1-M0nHS9hhLm0Dawn-ZA8aZMqBfdtTjvp3qz65JOIxNGJp2Bi95BlXfkpdsBuCS86j0eO5mRZKFLsyBa6-3P10T4oYAwW48Sxg2pm-3rlr0BQYYj6kwK/w136-h200/men.jpeg" width="136" /></a></i></span></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Men We Reaped </i>by Jesmyn Ward </span></b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">'...And then we heard the rain falling, and that was the drops of blood falling; and when we came to get the crops, it was dead men that we reaped.' Harriet Tubman</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In five years, Jesmyn Ward lost five men in her life, to drugs, accidents, suicide, and the bad luck that can follow people who live in poverty, particularly black men. Dealing with these losses, one after another, made Jesmyn ask the question: why? And as she began to write about the experience of living through all the dying, she realized the truth--and it took her breath away. Her brother and her friends all died because of who they were and where they were from, because they lived with a history of racism and economic struggle that fostered drug addiction and the dissolution of family and relationships. Jesmyn says the answer was so obvious she felt stupid for not seeing it. But it nagged at her until she knew she had to write about her community, to write their stories and her own.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Jesmyn grew up in poverty in rural Mississippi. She writes powerfully about the pressures this brings, on the men who can do no right and the women who stand in for family in a society where the men are often absent. She bravely tells her story, revisiting the agonizing losses of her only brother and her friends. As the sole member of her family to leave home and pursue high education, she writes about this parallel American universe with the objectivity distance provides and the intimacy of utter familiarity.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Adult book but accessible for high school and up)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Truth Project </i>by Dante Medema </span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3BrFo9ahjVSsGOes_5iFcmZVdgt2KQ1cJUqgwZfKg_JsKNG5KCQh-Y6bkl3BNp38QJrxaJZz-XVEQshNxpfeNR0xEhnmtd_KI1kI2bjTjC84dLmgXscxbp7ve5hef89s86yTz0YwFxaHg/s906/truth.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="906" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3BrFo9ahjVSsGOes_5iFcmZVdgt2KQ1cJUqgwZfKg_JsKNG5KCQh-Y6bkl3BNp38QJrxaJZz-XVEQshNxpfeNR0xEhnmtd_KI1kI2bjTjC84dLmgXscxbp7ve5hef89s86yTz0YwFxaHg/w133-h200/truth.jpeg" width="133" /></a></span></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText4340877166720632874" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Seventeen-year-old Cordelia Koenig was sure of many things going into her last year of high school. For one, she wasn’t going to stress over the senior project all her peers were dreading—she’d just use the same find-your-roots genealogy idea that her older sister used for hers. Secondly, she’d put all that time spent not worrying about the project toward getting reacquainted with former best friend and longtime crush Kodiak Jones who, conveniently, gets assigned as Cordelia’s partner.<br /><br />All she has to do is mail in her DNA sample, write about her ancestry results and breeze through the rest of senior year. Done, done and done.<br /><br />But when Cordelia’s GeneQuest results reveal that her father is not the man she thought he was but a stranger who lives thousands of miles away, Cordelia realizes she isn’t sure of anything anymore—not the mother who lied, the life she was born into or the girl staring back at her in the mirror.<br /><br />If your life began with a lie, how can you ever be sure of what’s true?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Grade 7 and up)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpYXjziBhbMdd32P659nQvhK1_bL6RJj5joG20UaaX4ei-jhO931Q0J8eCYwVcP8CBJUhyphenhyphenCveYmqvB-v8EgcYG-2IbugiukfIkD1P7uOg1F_SMklxUtxCPNnc20pvt924-0VxwZXkwAARt/s475/good.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="309" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpYXjziBhbMdd32P659nQvhK1_bL6RJj5joG20UaaX4ei-jhO931Q0J8eCYwVcP8CBJUhyphenhyphenCveYmqvB-v8EgcYG-2IbugiukfIkD1P7uOg1F_SMklxUtxCPNnc20pvt924-0VxwZXkwAARt/w130-h200/good.jpg" width="130" /></a></i></span></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Good Girl, Bad Blood </i>(A Good Girl's Guide to Murder #2) by Holly Jackson</span></b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText5499144905749281408" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The highly anticipated sequel to the instant <i>New York Times</i> bestseller, <i>A Good Girl's Guide to Murder</i>! More dark secrets are exposed in this addictive, true-crime fueled mystery.<br /><br />Pip is <i>not</i> a detective anymore.<br /><br />With the help of Ravi Singh, she released a true-crime podcast about the murder case they solved together last year. The podcast has gone viral, yet Pip insists her investigating days are behind her.<br /><br />But she will have to break that promise when someone she knows goes missing. Jamie Reynolds has disappeared, on the very same night the town hosted a memorial for the sixth-year anniversary of the deaths of Andie Bell and Sal Singh.<br /><br />The police won't do anything about it. And if they won't look for Jamie then Pip will, uncovering more of her town's dark secrets along the way... and this time <i>everyone</i> is listening. But will she find him before it's too late?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Grade 7 and up)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>American Betiya </i>by Anuradha D. Rajurkar </span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG-Q-PQibpCNQyEi15uJ2f2Pm84_Ddm0IUsdn7WgdEkK4YnNxMGfdkuVCFi93iVcbxw2dgXvXxffmKLN_rXgd_ffK1CuqSgsjn48gZ5ThPpAA1O6WdQHI7RK0HCYVt4_jhXT4M67UtTZw2/s475/american.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG-Q-PQibpCNQyEi15uJ2f2Pm84_Ddm0IUsdn7WgdEkK4YnNxMGfdkuVCFi93iVcbxw2dgXvXxffmKLN_rXgd_ffK1CuqSgsjn48gZ5ThPpAA1O6WdQHI7RK0HCYVt4_jhXT4M67UtTZw2/w133-h200/american.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText11381622302579411122" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Fans of Sandhya Menon, Erika Sanchez and Jandy Nelson will identify with this powerful story of a young artist grappling with first love, family boundaries, and the complications of a cross-cultural relationship.<br /><br />Rani Kelkar has never lied to her parents, until she meets Oliver. The same qualities that draw her in--his tattoos, his charisma, his passion for art--make him her mother's worst nightmare.<br /><br />They begin dating in secret, but when Oliver's troubled home life unravels, he starts to ask more of Rani than she knows how to give, desperately trying to fit into her world, no matter how high the cost. When a twist of fate leads Rani from Evanston, Illinois to Pune, India for a summer, she has a reckoning with herself--and what's really brewing beneath the surface of her first love.<br /><br />Winner of the SCBWI Emerging Voices award, Anuradha Rajurkar takes an honest look at the ways cultures can clash in an interracial relationship. Braiding together themes of sexuality, artistic expression, and appropriation, she gives voice to a girl claiming ownership of her identity, one shattered stereotype at a time.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Mature Grade 8 and up)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGmHjJpulJEkB6F1CQIGSoHUNmsJmS6_Cou9LwxXYE04WDwOL53Wvj3LeJrowy069Xb1qgkzm5kT-OK7_Lw0XmXnvhLnCbA5rAGizoo3C9uryiLG2kNa8PMCR2gTi3qobncWxjW0LbapF/s1000/quince.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="662" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGmHjJpulJEkB6F1CQIGSoHUNmsJmS6_Cou9LwxXYE04WDwOL53Wvj3LeJrowy069Xb1qgkzm5kT-OK7_Lw0XmXnvhLnCbA5rAGizoo3C9uryiLG2kNa8PMCR2gTi3qobncWxjW0LbapF/w133-h200/quince.jpeg" width="133" /></a></i></span></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Once Upon a Quinceañara </i>by Monica Gomez-Hira</span></b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Carmen Aguilar just wants to make her happily ever after come true. Except apparently “happily ever after” for Carmen involves being stuck in an unpaid summer internship! All she has to do is perform! In a ball gown! During the summer. In Miami.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Fine. Except that Carmen’s company is hired for her spoiled cousin Ariana’s over the top quinceañera.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">And of course, her new dance partner at work is none other than Mauro Reyes, Carmen’s most deeply regrettable ex.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">If Carmen is going to move into the future she wants, she needs to leave the past behind. And if she can manage dancing in the blistering heat, fending off Mauro’s texts, and stopping Ariana from ruining her own quinceañera Carmen might just get that happily ever after after all.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Grade 7 and up)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>A Pho Love Story </i>by Loan Le </span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr9FLGb6amUgbwUPPRTBCnSlLuJupf1itXl5NQCEOdcs9Oibt9D2eiS4DSCWltZGcZX9nXtWZMOUa9-7QpPw8z3u29zwaRiID82GcnmI-rm-rF_IG2M8uV9JXcuNYpM6CdUr1JwVSbLBLM/s2048/pho.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1342" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr9FLGb6amUgbwUPPRTBCnSlLuJupf1itXl5NQCEOdcs9Oibt9D2eiS4DSCWltZGcZX9nXtWZMOUa9-7QpPw8z3u29zwaRiID82GcnmI-rm-rF_IG2M8uV9JXcuNYpM6CdUr1JwVSbLBLM/w131-h200/pho.jpeg" width="131" /></a></span></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">If Bao Nguyen had to describe himself, he’d say he was a rock. Steady and strong, but not particularly interesting. His grades are average, his social status unremarkable. He works at his parents’ pho restaurant, and even there, he is his parents’ </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">fifth</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> favorite employee. Not ideal.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">If Linh Mai had to describe herself, she’d say she was a firecracker. Stable when unlit, but full of potential for joy and fire. She loves art and dreams pursuing a career in it. The only problem? Her parents rely on her in ways they’re not willing to admit, including working practically full-time at her family’s pho restaurant.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">For years, the Mais and the Nguyens have been at odds, having owned competing, neighboring pho restaurants. Bao and Linh, who’ve avoided each other for most of their lives, both suspect that the feud stems from feelings much deeper than friendly competition.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But then a chance encounter brings Linh and Bao in the same vicinity despite their best efforts and sparks fly, leading them both to wonder what took so long for them to connect. But then, of course, they immediately remember.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Can Linh and Bao find love in the midst of feuding families and complicated histories?</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Grade 7 and up)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmgtmWw-45FOvl-uqNuu_NtMTkJNjvDjYBy98SISg9lj3Kv0vaVm_7yPMhuUV6sWRhyUu6rPGCvbFRdqxQpygfa2_67hI3qVqKHl_iBVz5PMSDl62TWk-rGG_rxMzgy5bSdbkSMx34RIIL/s475/girls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmgtmWw-45FOvl-uqNuu_NtMTkJNjvDjYBy98SISg9lj3Kv0vaVm_7yPMhuUV6sWRhyUu6rPGCvbFRdqxQpygfa2_67hI3qVqKHl_iBVz5PMSDl62TWk-rGG_rxMzgy5bSdbkSMx34RIIL/w133-h200/girls.jpg" width="133" /></a></i></span></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Neighborhood Girls </i>by Jessie Ann Foley</span></b><p></p><p><span id="freeText9957326420382536342" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">When Wendy Boychuck’s father, a Chicago cop, was escorted from their property in handcuffs for his shady criminal practices, she knew her life would never be the same. Her father gets a years-long jail sentence, her family falls on hard times, and the whispers around town are impossible to ignore. If that wasn’t bad enough, she gets jumped walking home from a party one night. Wendy quickly realizes that in order to survive her father’s reputation, she’ll have to make one for herself.<br /><br />Then Wendy meets Kenzie Quintana—a cigarette-smoking, Catholic-school-uniform-skirt-hiking alpha—and she knows that she’s met her savior. Kenzie can provide Wendy with the kind of armor a girl needs when she’s trying to outrun her father’s past. Add two more mean girls to the mix—Sapphire and Emily—and Wendy has found herself in Academy of the Sacred Heart’s most feared and revered clique. Makeover complete.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;">(Grade 7 and up)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Dead Girls Don't Lie </i>by Jennifer Shaw Wolf </span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlaPCoqQWd-IYvVg1kKE26jp2-CRa_QCpU9FJypkiMyXyeB-3yfpI_ri1oNeaBBZFCIGi_zAW5sEF4pHq7kp_V2YdFZeUmk4DiAtS5dzY0A3ndwl8KkOg1VbHfjzsK-Dvq8l2DQCrVC3bs/s475/dead.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlaPCoqQWd-IYvVg1kKE26jp2-CRa_QCpU9FJypkiMyXyeB-3yfpI_ri1oNeaBBZFCIGi_zAW5sEF4pHq7kp_V2YdFZeUmk4DiAtS5dzY0A3ndwl8KkOg1VbHfjzsK-Dvq8l2DQCrVC3bs/w133-h200/dead.jpeg" width="133" /></a></span></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Rachel died at two a.m . . . Three hours after Skyler kissed me for the first time. Forty-five minutes after she sent me her last text.</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Jaycee and Rachel were best friends. But that was before. . .before that terrible night at the old house. Before Rachel shut Jaycee out. Before Jaycee chose Skyler over Rachel. Then Rachel is found dead. The police blame a growing gang problem in their small town, but Jaycee is sure it has to do with that night at the old house. Rachel’s text is the first clue—starting Jaycee on a search that leads to a shocking secret. Rachel’s death was no random crime, and Jaycee must figure out who to trust before she can expose the truth.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In the follow-up to her powerful debut, Jennifer Shaw Wolf keeps readers on their toes in another dark, romantic story of murder and secrets.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><br /></b><br />But complete is far from what Wendy feels. Instead, she faces the highs and lows of a vapid, toxic friendship, the exhaustion that comes with keeping up appearances, and the only loss that could hurt more than losing herself.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Grade 8 and up)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0fzbF1c8BKUApOQL-cyU7ye3jtY0l_VXkZE5Hjp13D44A0uKqjwHx0CFuICWAfkd7vLYQ1O0sJW5Hgvr-uZP0aM4I_rSRkivtYy94WWHplPGLvBYBcI29z_jQBAzCvfCHM40wHu1RXd-T/s475/caste.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0fzbF1c8BKUApOQL-cyU7ye3jtY0l_VXkZE5Hjp13D44A0uKqjwHx0CFuICWAfkd7vLYQ1O0sJW5Hgvr-uZP0aM4I_rSRkivtYy94WWHplPGLvBYBcI29z_jQBAzCvfCHM40wHu1RXd-T/w132-h200/caste.jpg" width="132" /></a></i></span></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents </i>by Isabel Wilkerson</span></b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText14518026934875908184" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling author of <i>The Warmth of Other Suns</i> examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.<br /><br />“As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power—which groups have it and which do not.”<br /><br />In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.<br /><br />Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people—including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball’s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others—she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. She documents how the Nazis studied the racial systems in America to plan their out-cast of the Jews; she discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against; she writes about the surprising health costs of caste, in depression and life expectancy, and the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Adult book but easy to understand: High school and up)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Gilded Ones </i>by Namina Forna </span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj43o3plyguh9xH1km6Qs2rccZYaFc26IU2csyNcErdB3S6kngAMATiCPOTovMIPAaHF27XyRkvHNXBVzVyDRZce6ebLWYq6p7urI4SvhBO9-oTfo5OiwDEZ8dVGHNHX5XKvhRJB5XfJFM/s475/gilded.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj43o3plyguh9xH1km6Qs2rccZYaFc26IU2csyNcErdB3S6kngAMATiCPOTovMIPAaHF27XyRkvHNXBVzVyDRZce6ebLWYq6p7urI4SvhBO9-oTfo5OiwDEZ8dVGHNHX5XKvhRJB5XfJFM/w133-h200/gilded.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity--and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki--near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire's greatest threat.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she's ever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be--not even Deka herself.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Grade 7 and up)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj2fUy_DmsUSyqaREXXCTsCLmKMmLDjfbNpEECj7GyqPpNoI2H8yOypq4l0DY38_6r0YmmJfKXmSlvNvC8gm0-W71ivplFyj9m6w2h_GFPOtWvBnDnbG9unCoqm7YBRuoSUiL-PNnG4aLK/s475/angry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj2fUy_DmsUSyqaREXXCTsCLmKMmLDjfbNpEECj7GyqPpNoI2H8yOypq4l0DY38_6r0YmmJfKXmSlvNvC8gm0-W71ivplFyj9m6w2h_GFPOtWvBnDnbG9unCoqm7YBRuoSUiL-PNnG4aLK/w133-h200/angry.jpg" width="133" /></a></i></span></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Angry Management </i>by Chris Crutcher</span></b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText11099633630283232567" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Chris Crutcher fills these three stories with raw emotion. They are about insecurity, anger, and prejudice. But they are also about love, freedom, and power. About surviving. And hope.<br /><br />Every kid in this group wants to fly. Every kid in this group has too much ballast.<br /><br />Mr. Nak's Angry Management group is a place for misfits. A place for stories. And, man, does this crew have stories.<br /><br />There's Angus Bethune and Sarah Byrnes, who can hide from everyone but each other. Together, they will embark on a road trip full of haunting endings and glimmering beginnings.<br /><br />And Montana West, who doesn't step down from a challenge. Not even when the challenge comes from her adoptive dad, who's leading the school board to censor the article she wrote for the school paper.<br /><br />And straightlaced Matt Miller, who had never been friends with outspoken genius Marcus James. Until one tragic week—a week they'd do anything to change—brings them closer than Matt could have ever imagined.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Grade 7 and up)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything </i>by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland </span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBYmr5EsR5ghjZJjoflKBfqkxwWiqXTLYfZcT9V93eNYg95BTBxlUyQqCCuz2AORP0xHii_z-bz3lDI26SzKys32FnHKZyQ96m0Yn_gpsv0T-sCALpQ0H8hE_QJepyVebZF2SKLiBWOy6h/s475/sia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBYmr5EsR5ghjZJjoflKBfqkxwWiqXTLYfZcT9V93eNYg95BTBxlUyQqCCuz2AORP0xHii_z-bz3lDI26SzKys32FnHKZyQ96m0Yn_gpsv0T-sCALpQ0H8hE_QJepyVebZF2SKLiBWOy6h/w131-h200/sia.jpg" width="131" /></a></span></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText2738113825687242916" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A Mexican American teen discovers profound connections between immigration, folklore, and alien life.<br /><br />It’s been three years since ICE raids and phone calls from Mexico and an ill-fated walk across the Sonoran. Three years since Sia Martinez’s mom disappeared. Sia wants to move on, but it’s hard in her tiny Arizona town where people refer to her mom’s deportation as “an unfortunate incident.”<br /><br />Sia knows that her mom must be dead, but every new moon Sia drives into the desert and lights San Anthony and la Guadalupe candles to guide her mom home.<br /><br />Then one night, under a million stars, Sia’s life and the world as we know it cracks wide open. Because a blue-lit spacecraft crashes in front of Sia’s car…and it’s carrying her mom, who’s very much alive.<br /><br />As Sia races to save her mom from armed-quite-possibly-alien soldiers, she uncovers secrets as profound as they are dangerous.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Grade 7 and up)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfxTYryVnOxGDKcMN91Gb7co7DKGQFt1IdiJ35p9N5ImFt0MvzjZEZUFLSGiqaYRT-CaYP2p5F_Uft7pUfQicItgMs8vj8E4o1clpjG_cdpw6pS6aOICTL-_3GjvFpuhO0ug121OhBrb8/s768/ten.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="519" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfxTYryVnOxGDKcMN91Gb7co7DKGQFt1IdiJ35p9N5ImFt0MvzjZEZUFLSGiqaYRT-CaYP2p5F_Uft7pUfQicItgMs8vj8E4o1clpjG_cdpw6pS6aOICTL-_3GjvFpuhO0ug121OhBrb8/w135-h200/ten.jpeg" width="135" /></a></i></span></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>List of Ten </i>by Halli Gomez</span></b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText14124800682420560636" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A harrowing yet hopeful account of a teen living with Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder . . . and contemplating his own mortality.<br /><br />Ten: three little letters, one ordinary number. No big deal, right? But for Troy Hayes, a 16-year-old suffering from Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, the number ten dictates his life, forcing him to do everything by its exacting rhythm. Finally, fed up with the daily humiliation, loneliness, and physical pain he endures, Troy writes a list of ten things to do by the tenth anniversary of his diagnosis—culminating in suicide on the actual day. But the process of working his way through the list changes Troy’s life: he becomes friends with Khory, a smart, beautiful classmate who has her own troubled history. Khory unwittingly helps Troy cross off items on his list, moving him ever closer to his grand finale, even as she shows him that life may have more possibilities than he imagined. This is a dark, intense story, but it’s also realistic, hopeful, and deeply authentic.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Grade 7 and up)</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Out of the Easy </i>by Ruta Sepetys</span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTbfGS73l4_aW5sL8jgzAv6JRkOHvfCKyafpl6E_HBAwf50HKNslCtt_uaR3f74Zxs-3O-1Qt6gkqzLWk1S4jhC-8OWe4uAFxgwrFJoC9zbnGIjISnkkHL0Ml2aNfdtpJGEuttLv6HIec6/s400/easy.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="266" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTbfGS73l4_aW5sL8jgzAv6JRkOHvfCKyafpl6E_HBAwf50HKNslCtt_uaR3f74Zxs-3O-1Qt6gkqzLWk1S4jhC-8OWe4uAFxgwrFJoC9zbnGIjISnkkHL0Ml2aNfdtpJGEuttLv6HIec6/w133-h200/easy.jpeg" width="133" /></a></span></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText10233241579093892634" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Known amongst the locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie Moraine wants more out of life than The Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan to get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her conscience, her loyalties, and her darkest fears. Caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld, Josie must choose -- between who she is now and who she longs to become, between when to hold on and how to let go.<br /><br />With characters and atmosphere reminiscent of the great Southern novels, Ruta Sepetys creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that our decisions shape our destiny.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">(Grade 8 and up)</span></span></p>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-54927005451224883432021-03-20T12:44:00.001-07:002021-03-20T12:44:53.371-07:00Don't Get It<p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">This post has me heavy-hearted. I'm not writing much in the beginning of this post because this post isn't about me. It's about Asian Americans. It's about Black Americans. It's about Latino Americans. It's about all the groups in our country that still continue to bear too much - too much hate, too much racism, too much everything. As I was speaking to my husband this morning after reading a story about a white woman who yelled racist comments to Asian American families at a school bus stop in St. Paul yesterday, I told him, "I just don't get it." I don't understand how people can be so hateful and filled with such animosity. I don't understand how a white man can enter a business and gun down Asian Americans, mostly women. I don't get it. At. All. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">You may be thinking, "I would never do those things, so I'm not racist." But what private thoughts do you have when you encounter someone different from you? Someone who dresses in a different fashion? Someone who speaks another language? Someone whose culture is different from yours? Someone whose religion is different from yours? Someone whose hair is different from yours? Someone who you just consider different? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">One way to counteract this hate is to read, read, and read some more. Read perspectives that are different from yours. Have an open mind. Try to walk in someone else's shoes. Open your eyes to your privilege. For the love of god, stop hating!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Here are some books that will help you and your children along the journey.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i>Parachutes </i>by Kelly Yang </b>(8th grade and up, mature) </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUtkvqSfRJL3NJJ0BXU72lJnopeVxQAoXQTLu5F_hXZNSQuFEqSfH_YZozr8N43zijdrLK9l2Zj76NjQ9Jk0EQ34h9Tl3Uu2bn-VmL94LWMUnkWxvY-LB2V8jftvVSreYFYtEPNpNIhjQH/s1511/para.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1511" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUtkvqSfRJL3NJJ0BXU72lJnopeVxQAoXQTLu5F_hXZNSQuFEqSfH_YZozr8N43zijdrLK9l2Zj76NjQ9Jk0EQ34h9Tl3Uu2bn-VmL94LWMUnkWxvY-LB2V8jftvVSreYFYtEPNpNIhjQH/w133-h200/para.jpeg" width="133" /></span></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Speak enters the world of Gossip Girl in this modern immigrant story from New York Times bestselling author Kelly Yang about two girls navigating wealth, power, friendship, and trauma.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">They’re called parachutes: teenagers dropped off to live in private homes and study in the US while their wealthy parents remain in Asia. Claire Wang never thought she’d be one of them, until her parents pluck her from her privileged life in Shanghai and enroll her at a high school in California. Suddenly she finds herself living in a stranger’s house, with no one to tell her what to do for the first time in her life. She soon embraces her newfound freedom, especially when the hottest and most eligible parachute, Jay, asks her out.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Dani De La Cruz, Claire’s new host sister, couldn’t be less thrilled that her mom rented out a room to Claire. An academic and debate-team star, Dani is determined to earn her way into Yale, even if it means competing with privileged kids who are buying their way to the top. When her debate coach starts working with her privately, Dani’s game plan veers unexpectedly off course.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Desperately trying to avoid each other under the same roof, Dani and Claire find themselves on a collision course, intertwining in deeper and more complicated ways, as they grapple with life-altering experiences. Award-winning author Kelly Yang weaves together an unforgettable modern immigrant story about love, trauma, family, corruption, and the power of speaking out.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i></i></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94vQTnZ01rIJJyaAPHE6WR7PLsDW6N4bGbj8lMwatffmTaH1511ZF5rOw-Us4gZ0KG1cWm8mIZEbZkLGL7hw9RRn3-5Kb8Y1qtMdFC48yMKaTONdaIC85QBh84s893PuxTj0aZkjaRCd3/s475/front.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94vQTnZ01rIJJyaAPHE6WR7PLsDW6N4bGbj8lMwatffmTaH1511ZF5rOw-Us4gZ0KG1cWm8mIZEbZkLGL7hw9RRn3-5Kb8Y1qtMdFC48yMKaTONdaIC85QBh84s893PuxTj0aZkjaRCd3/w134-h200/front.jpeg" width="134" /></a></i></b></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i>Front Desk (</i>and sequel<i> Three Keys) </i>by Kelly Yang </b>(middle school and up)</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Mia Tang has a lot of secrets.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they've been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the Tangs will be doomed.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Number 3: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">It will take all of Mia's courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i>We Are Not Free </i>by Traci Chee </b>(7th grade and up) </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi80lb9TS83ZBrqYZMk8TFuXpYPWExKR-OO98HBoJGAylgfXTo7ztUdo0AtzndNrMB4hN1rXw7A5OZtQDmT2nK_QrQBGjfbVdIE8IIL-u-uzkpNdWbR591TWoyMPlfSqBW9944v_YKidhdX/s1024/we.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="655" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi80lb9TS83ZBrqYZMk8TFuXpYPWExKR-OO98HBoJGAylgfXTo7ztUdo0AtzndNrMB4hN1rXw7A5OZtQDmT2nK_QrQBGjfbVdIE8IIL-u-uzkpNdWbR591TWoyMPlfSqBW9944v_YKidhdX/w128-h200/we.jpeg" width="128" /></span></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">“All around me, my friends are talking, joking, laughing. Outside is the camp, the barbed wire, the guard towers, the city, the country that hates us.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">We are not free.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But we are not alone.” </b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">We Are Not Free,</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is the collective account of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second-generation Japanese American citizens, whose lives are irrevocably changed by the mass U.S. incarcerations of World War II.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Fourteen teens who have grown up together in Japantown, San Francisco.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Fourteen teens who form a community and a family, as interconnected as they are conflicted.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Fourteen teens whose lives are turned upside down when over 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry are removed from their homes and forced into desolate incarceration camps.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In a world that seems determined to hate them, these young Nisei must rally together as racism and injustice threaten to pull them apart.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i></i></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_4GxvjLd6bkbP801WW4xNIlZzDDZ554nDWp49w7q3RHDTrgusnA6pij2PM5stxGkF-wBkzjHHibaFdplNnc4GTayqWqGJW8HlQ6lIrJqkZqfaq-rszcoC8-X2Iyris8Z1IabufOIpSvfc/s469/Men+We+Reaped.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_4GxvjLd6bkbP801WW4xNIlZzDDZ554nDWp49w7q3RHDTrgusnA6pij2PM5stxGkF-wBkzjHHibaFdplNnc4GTayqWqGJW8HlQ6lIrJqkZqfaq-rszcoC8-X2Iyris8Z1IabufOIpSvfc/w136-h200/Men+We+Reaped.jpeg" width="136" /></a></i></b></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i>Men We Reaped </i>by Jesmyn Ward </b>(adult book, high school and up)</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span id="freeText14233978593848576785" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>'...And then we heard the rain falling, and that was the drops of blood falling; and when we came to get the crops, it was dead men that we reaped.' Harriet Tubman</i><br /><br />In five years, Jesmyn Ward lost five men in her life, to drugs, accidents, suicide, and the bad luck that can follow people who live in poverty, particularly black men. Dealing with these losses, one after another, made Jesmyn ask the question: why? And as she began to write about the experience of living through all the dying, she realized the truth--and it took her breath away. Her brother and her friends all died because of who they were and where they were from, because they lived with a history of racism and economic struggle that fostered drug addiction and the dissolution of family and relationships. Jesmyn says the answer was so obvious she felt stupid for not seeing it. But it nagged at her until she knew she had to write about her community, to write their stories and her own.<br /><br />Jesmyn grew up in poverty in rural Mississippi. She writes powerfully about the pressures this brings, on the men who can do no right and the women who stand in for family in a society where the men are often absent. She bravely tells her story, revisiting the agonizing losses of her only brother and her friends. As the sole member of her family to leave home and pursue high education, she writes about this parallel American universe with the objectivity distance provides and the intimacy of utter familiarity.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i>Everything Sad is Untrue </i>by Daniel Nayeri </b>(middle school and up)</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwGthjCS7mLLbSdSs7OQgex2oUpSCdWopO6XjjxLnMODfqVroSqbftwJ4jimQeZqCsF3r_kb-8FKEpIIg5WV728oe_VrdSZ5QzjhoQaQ3OkzAhYFR_RUeA0WsecTHdhPQoIxqk48DqL30/s475/everything.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwGthjCS7mLLbSdSs7OQgex2oUpSCdWopO6XjjxLnMODfqVroSqbftwJ4jimQeZqCsF3r_kb-8FKEpIIg5WV728oe_VrdSZ5QzjhoQaQ3OkzAhYFR_RUeA0WsecTHdhPQoIxqk48DqL30/w131-h200/everything.jpg" width="131" /></span></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">At the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom everyone calls "Daniel") stands, trying to tell a story. His story. But no one believes a word he says. To them he is a dark-skinned, hairy-armed boy with a big butt whose lunch smells funny; who makes things up and talks about poop too much.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But Khosrou's stories, stretching back years, and decades, and centuries, are beautiful, and terrifying, from the moment he, his mother, and sister fled Iran in the middle of the night, stretching all the way back to family tales set in the jasmine-scented city of Isfahan, the palaces of semi-ancient kings, and even the land of stories.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">We bounce between a school bus of kids armed with paper clip missiles and spitballs, to the heroines and heroes of Kosrou's family's past, who ate pastries that made them weep, and touched carpets woven with precious gems.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Like Scheherazade in a hostile classroom, author Daniel Nayeri weaves a tale of Khosrou trying to save his own life: to stake his claim to the truth. And it is (a true story).</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i style="font-weight: bold;"></i></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0VL_DppdHAZvhtgqRd3eTZo6wg0H3gj1ziAI-jHjl9VnsW_C85tmQ_SK6yiNhD7b_mp4s9sXGPFCEnDjC9biYOXL-wNBfaFg9Uk-LPieSkWPq5wvAgHRiK6gaZV2m_73qmZZ0rdaszpdY/s318/stars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0VL_DppdHAZvhtgqRd3eTZo6wg0H3gj1ziAI-jHjl9VnsW_C85tmQ_SK6yiNhD7b_mp4s9sXGPFCEnDjC9biYOXL-wNBfaFg9Uk-LPieSkWPq5wvAgHRiK6gaZV2m_73qmZZ0rdaszpdY/w200-h200/stars.jpg" width="200" /></a></i></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">When Stars Are Scattered </i><b>by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed </b>(graphic novel, middle school and up)</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Life is hard there: never enough food, achingly dull, and without access to the medical care Omar knows his nonverbal brother needs. So when Omar has the opportunity to go to school, he knows it might be a chance to change their future . . . but it would also mean leaving his brother, the only family member he has left, every day.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Heartbreak, hope, and gentle humor exist together in this graphic novel about a childhood spent waiting, and a young man who is able to create a sense of family and home in the most difficult of settings. It's an intimate, important, unforgettable look at the day-to-day life of a refugee, as told to </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">New York Times</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> Bestselling author/artist Victoria Jamieson by Omar Mohamed, the Somali man who lived the story.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i>Homegoing </i>by Yaa Gyasi </b>(adult book, 11th grade and up) </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje51I1fvVBrp0hKmQxN7atYCi99I8uD3Ojx-xnO3W2OefB6N4ImhZC2vfL7YCnjo4P0tv7RbuPq8drsi6s_J2uv_TzKanRkEw6DDAbxlLRmHxGZMArpT6Fwz0jmpHFb5i8If1QTngHR36r/s474/home.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje51I1fvVBrp0hKmQxN7atYCi99I8uD3Ojx-xnO3W2OefB6N4ImhZC2vfL7YCnjo4P0tv7RbuPq8drsi6s_J2uv_TzKanRkEw6DDAbxlLRmHxGZMArpT6Fwz0jmpHFb5i8If1QTngHR36r/w134-h200/home.jpeg" width="134" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A novel of breathtaking sweep and emotional power that traces three hundred years in Ghana and along the way also becomes a truly great American novel. Extraordinary for its exquisite language, its implacable sorrow, its soaring beauty, and for its monumental portrait of the forces that shape families and nations, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Homegoing</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, her sister, Esi, is imprisoned beneath her in the castle's dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast's booming slave trade, and shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. One thread of </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Homegoing</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> follows Effia's descendants through centuries of warfare in Ghana, as the Fante and Asante nations wrestle with the slave trade and British colonization. The other thread follows Esi and her children into America. From the plantations of the South to the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the coal mines of Pratt City, Alabama, to the jazz clubs and dope houses of twentieth-century Harlem, right up through the present day, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Homegoing</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> makes history visceral, and captures, with singular and stunning immediacy, how the memory of captivity came to be inscribed in the soul of a nation.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i></i></b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJf86s0733k51DMxqTsE4qT1gFpDQGLdYoKD2H-gqr_wi0NQnhB2Lt9Z-rq0C-VdsAd2eJm0fX9juiLluP9e_6ynQnH-tchKpaFx1JJ5O8V66ocQuNRyJd309oI0ZDeXrY8BpFOzpjZ9x/s475/here.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJf86s0733k51DMxqTsE4qT1gFpDQGLdYoKD2H-gqr_wi0NQnhB2Lt9Z-rq0C-VdsAd2eJm0fX9juiLluP9e_6ynQnH-tchKpaFx1JJ5O8V66ocQuNRyJd309oI0ZDeXrY8BpFOzpjZ9x/w133-h200/here.jpg" width="133" /></a></i></b></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i>We Are Not From Here </i>by Jenny Torres Sanchez </b>(8th grade and up)</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A ripped-from-the-headlines novel of desperation, escape, and survival across the U.S.-Mexico border.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Pulga has his dreams.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Chico has his grief.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Pequeña has her pride.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">And these three teens have one another. But none of them have illusions about the town they’ve grown up in and the dangers that surround them. Even with the love of family, threats lurk around every corner. And when those threats become all too real, the trio knows they have no choice but to run: from their country, from their families, from their beloved home.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Crossing from Guatemala through Mexico, they follow the route of La Bestia, the perilous train system that might deliver them to a better life–if they are lucky enough to survive the journey. With nothing but the bags on their backs and desperation drumming through their hearts, Pulga, Chico, and Pequeña know there is no turning back, despite the unknown that awaits them. And the darkness that seems to follow wherever they go.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In this powerful story inspired by current events, the plight of migrants at the U.S. southern border is brought to painful, poignant, vivid life. An epic journey of danger, resilience, heartache, and hope.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i>This Is My America </i>by Kim Johnson </b>(7th grade and up) </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6hmlCMznMofO54wE8iQidXSs27L4_gEd0nM1M-9lMCy6oIgr04QLs6FzRKkJ5b2juc2H5hU2TfoTutuJ-L75fxyO7GKJaUKv49lA6N7U-OBzFtIZzy8zaGnrE1OAL793PrLlCAixcH_QP/s475/america.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6hmlCMznMofO54wE8iQidXSs27L4_gEd0nM1M-9lMCy6oIgr04QLs6FzRKkJ5b2juc2H5hU2TfoTutuJ-L75fxyO7GKJaUKv49lA6N7U-OBzFtIZzy8zaGnrE1OAL793PrLlCAixcH_QP/w133-h200/america.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Every week, seventeen-year-old Tracy Beaumont writes letters to Innocence X, asking the organization to help her father, an innocent Black man on death row. After seven years, Tracy is running out of time—her dad has only 267 days left. Then the unthinkable happens. The police arrive in the night, and Tracy’s older brother, Jamal, goes from being a bright, promising track star to a “thug” on the run, accused of killing a white girl. Determined to save her brother, Tracy investigates what really happened between Jamal and Angela down at the Pike. But will Tracy and her family survive the uncovering of the skeletons of their Texas town’s racist history that still haunt the present?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Fans of Nic Stone and Jason Reynolds won’t want to miss this provocative and gripping debut.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i></i></b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhTbUTtfbXYTmN4VbVuRcllqKHtJ-pS7RfO5WUdwHigfNMTZcALeeiNNVkkHrEgCV0jd8_BBvFaKpO1A99z0AGCq5dGsPBvBMriatDqJSMED5rE-8Jj9dtFCl2Vac01LtIXwJroTgLthRu/s471/girl.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhTbUTtfbXYTmN4VbVuRcllqKHtJ-pS7RfO5WUdwHigfNMTZcALeeiNNVkkHrEgCV0jd8_BBvFaKpO1A99z0AGCq5dGsPBvBMriatDqJSMED5rE-8Jj9dtFCl2Vac01LtIXwJroTgLthRu/w135-h200/girl.jpeg" width="135" /></a></i></b></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i>Girl Made of Stars </i>by Ashley Herring Blake </b>(8th grade and up, mature)</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">"I need Owen to explain this. Because yes, I do know that Owen would never do that, but I also know Hannah would never lie about something like that."</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Mara and Owen are about as close as twins can get. So when Mara's friend Hannah accuses Owen of rape, Mara doesn't know what to think. Can the brother she loves really be guilty of such a violent crime? Torn between the family she loves and her own sense of right and wrong, Mara is feeling lost, and it doesn't help that things have been strained with her ex-girlfriend and best friend since childhood, Charlie.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">As Mara, Hannah, and Charlie navigate this new terrain, Mara must face a trauma from her own past and decide where Charlie fits in her future. With sensitivity and openness, this timely novel confronts the difficult questions surrounding consent, victim blaming, and sexual assault.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i>A Heart in a Body in the World </i>by Deb Caletti </b>(8th grade and up, mature) </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDm4jGNWxZtN7B0oHOjbHgi15bo1nXg3kOVsgI-lz4UoPM-9VB5OYxcC3U-7wtqQDPkJ7rxT03w7E3eda8abw-59FQFOIiEgMypAdsryji7loiJZQU5bhBUccf-9eLd3j6f2xUviMKooS-/s475/heart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDm4jGNWxZtN7B0oHOjbHgi15bo1nXg3kOVsgI-lz4UoPM-9VB5OYxcC3U-7wtqQDPkJ7rxT03w7E3eda8abw-59FQFOIiEgMypAdsryji7loiJZQU5bhBUccf-9eLd3j6f2xUviMKooS-/w133-h200/heart.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span id="freeText10394277021138884828" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Each step in Annabelle’s 2,700-mile cross-country run brings her closer to facing a trauma from her past in National Book Award finalist Deb Caletti’s novel about the heart, all the ways it breaks, and its journey to healing. Because sometimes against our will, against all odds, we go forward.</b><br /><br /><i>Then…</i><br />Annabelle’s life wasn’t perfect, but it was full—full of friends, family, love. And a boy…whose attention Annabelle found flattering and unsettling all at once.<br /><br />Until that attention intensified.<br /><br /><i>Now…</i><br />Annabelle is running. Running from the pain and the tragedy from the past year. With only Grandpa Ed and the journal she fills with words she can’t speak out loud, Annabelle runs from Seattle to Washington, DC and toward a destination she doesn’t understand but is determined to reach. With every beat of her heart, every stride of her feet, Annabelle steps closer to healing—and the strength she discovers within herself to let love and hope back into her life.<br /><br />Annabelle’s journey is the ultimate testament to the human heart, and how it goes on after being broken.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i></i></b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgifuGfmMkO5Zul7At4lU6jvJm_-HsI_xrcop8sB81KX6sfK7HX7HCW4VXTWsYAFNv-brLKXB3solB6z87ULolxKhkB7Z49f-VhOOQv5mWxYnPjDo2pU3OMdUB-IiH2oFVd7aKa9wS5zVw4/s475/ben.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgifuGfmMkO5Zul7At4lU6jvJm_-HsI_xrcop8sB81KX6sfK7HX7HCW4VXTWsYAFNv-brLKXB3solB6z87ULolxKhkB7Z49f-VhOOQv5mWxYnPjDo2pU3OMdUB-IiH2oFVd7aKa9wS5zVw4/w134-h200/ben.jpeg" width="134" /></a></i></b></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i>The Benefits of Being an Octopus </i>by Ann Braden </b>(middle school and up)</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span id="freeText4060231169647482898" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Some people can do their homework. Some people get to have crushes on boys. Some people have other things they’ve got to do.</b><br /><br />Seventh-grader Zoey has her hands full as she takes care of her much younger siblings after school every day while her mom works her shift at the pizza parlor. Not that her mom seems to appreciate it. At least there’s Lenny, her mom’s boyfriend—they all get to live in his nice, clean trailer.<br /><br />At school, Zoey tries to stay under the radar. Her only friend Fuchsia has her own issues, and since they're in an entirely different world than the rich kids, it’s best if no one notices them.<br /><br />Zoey thinks how much easier everything would be if she were an octopus: eight arms to do eight things at once. Incredible camouflage ability and steady, unblinking vision. Powerful protective defenses.<br /><br />Unfortunately, she’s not totally invisible, and one of her teachers forces her to join the debate club. Even though Zoey resists participating, debate ultimately leads her to see things in a new way: her mom’s relationship with Lenny, Fuchsia’s situation, and her own place in this town of people who think they’re better than her. Can Zoey find the courage to speak up, even if it means risking the most stable home she’s ever had?<br /><br />This moving debut novel explores the cultural divides around class and the gun debate through the eyes of one girl, living on the edges of society, trying to find her way forward.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i></i></b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVcgFrYi2aVyoixXJeIV0dRMWVUx0ol8Q5py44JaSP8oPkuDyDJf4DBT1WDriQVpduj6UBgCLiF8sMC1ZbeJT1frg-OlmpD_8cU_SiibmdedOb_9Mbr5mn4lzg5NUQmWLiLASOvCRuUV76/s400/mercy.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="263" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVcgFrYi2aVyoixXJeIV0dRMWVUx0ol8Q5py44JaSP8oPkuDyDJf4DBT1WDriQVpduj6UBgCLiF8sMC1ZbeJT1frg-OlmpD_8cU_SiibmdedOb_9Mbr5mn4lzg5NUQmWLiLASOvCRuUV76/w131-h200/mercy.jpeg" width="131" /></a></i></b></span></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><i>Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption </i>by Bryan Stevenson </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">(adult book, young adult book </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">available)</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">An unforgettable true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to end mass incarceration in America — from one of the most inspiring lawyers of our time.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit law office in Montgomery, Alabama, dedicated to defending the poor, the incarcerated, and the wrongly condemned.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Just Mercy tells the story of EJI, from the early days with a small staff facing the nation’s highest death sentencing and execution rates, through a successful campaign to challenge the cruel practice of sentencing children to die in prison, to revolutionary projects designed to confront Americans with our history of racial injustice.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">One of EJI’s first clients was Walter McMillian, a young Black man who was sentenced to die for the murder of a young white woman that he didn’t commit. The case exemplifies how the death penalty in America is a direct descendant of lynching — a system that treats the rich and guilty better than the poor and innocent.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota </i>edited by Sun Yung Shin </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">(adult, 8th grade and up) </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVh4H8bHS7fwCfnx0exI0CD_lKnCYLwq7sh4Gn1T5qlzB9WuiS2hWBdcPlh7mGwioR9pA3vq8igXQoqXXo4CKAb4bwnFl3txtLTuMyq9vTI81nibas2N2D_AwkstmPx2K_gKBEJ71dpZpb/s475/truth.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVh4H8bHS7fwCfnx0exI0CD_lKnCYLwq7sh4Gn1T5qlzB9WuiS2hWBdcPlh7mGwioR9pA3vq8igXQoqXXo4CKAb4bwnFl3txtLTuMyq9vTI81nibas2N2D_AwkstmPx2K_gKBEJ71dpZpb/w134-h200/truth.jpeg" width="134" /></span></a></div><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Essays that challenge, discomfort, disorient, galvanize, and inspire all of us to evolve now, for our shared future.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-13169962299650764742021-02-21T19:16:00.000-08:002021-02-21T19:16:25.143-08:00Thank goodness for books! <p><span style="font-family: times;">We've been in this pandemic for almost a year now, and it's a bit surreal. I've been patiently waiting to hug my parents, hang out with my family and friends, hug my 8th graders, and be around people - you know, be a part of a community. It's been lonely. I am an introvert at heart, but, yeesh, I need people like right now! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">So, thank goodness for books. They have helped me get through this madness. My husband, 17 year old daughter, and I have been at home together for months now (until I finally went back to school last week), and while we have done surprisingly well being stuck at home together, books have helped me to escape this world we are currently experiencing. Crabby? Read a book. Frustrated? Read a book. Bored? Read a book. Overwhelmed? Read a book. Tired? Read a book. Hungry? Read a book (with some popcorn). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Last spring, it took me a bit to get back into reading. I went a few weeks without reading because I was in shock. In fact, I wasn't sure I wanted to even get back into my reading habit, but I forced myself, which was the best thing I could have done for myself. People are still talking about how they can't get back into their reading grooves. I understand. But, they need to get back into reading. It's hard. We feel like we should constantly be checking the news, our live social media feeds, the weather, Covid numbers, etc., but we need to take a break from all of that on a daily basis and let our minds find the joy of books again.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">*Please follow @north_view_reads on Instagram.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Here are the books I've read since my last post in November. (There are quite a few books - in order from oldest to newest.)</span></p><p><b style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-style: italic;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7CbvTERTNiq0DtCvizLy7xmr-BRv4fxuig4OIvm8CARyWucDvuYZ8otWh4tlxQIaiQnaP6yUEfSrWLrvwOduV8v1Xps6vrqNrr7jy79C0-9-rIWWNzILm6_dbcCKMam58qwRNPAPXB6eI/s475/Three+Keys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7CbvTERTNiq0DtCvizLy7xmr-BRv4fxuig4OIvm8CARyWucDvuYZ8otWh4tlxQIaiQnaP6yUEfSrWLrvwOduV8v1Xps6vrqNrr7jy79C0-9-rIWWNzILm6_dbcCKMam58qwRNPAPXB6eI/w134-h200/Three+Keys.jpg" width="134" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="font-style: italic;"><i>Three Keys </i>by Kelly Yang </b>#middleschool</span><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText3807435315026832636" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Mia Tang thinks she’s going to have the best year ever.<br /><br />She and her parents are the proud owners of the Calivista Motel, Mia gets to run the front desk with her best friend, Lupe, and she’s finally getting somewhere with her writing! But as it turns out, sixth grade is no picnic…<br />1. Mia’s new teacher doesn’t think her writing is all that great.<br />2. The motel is struggling, and Mia has to answer to the Calivista’s many, many worried investors.<br />3. A new immigration law is looming and if it passes, it will threaten everything—and everyone—in Mia’s life.<br /><br />It’s a roller coaster of challenges, and Mia needs all of her determination to hang on tight. But if anyone can find the key to getting through turbulent times, it’s Mia Tang!</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>Homegoing </i>by Yaa Gyasi </b>#adult</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55FQRok1RSFKb77yKZj2tvsFBqOu3m4Vr5jBhvFH2vZvQRokRqJIK2Lzl0U4eh9GqVCMggfDLpnnV6fTbhp3ZAMXIfTuotvufBg_dT46cmXUDhxAQ9XjnA3SrHFwki5_txkPiZaCpx-4e/s474/Homegoing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55FQRok1RSFKb77yKZj2tvsFBqOu3m4Vr5jBhvFH2vZvQRokRqJIK2Lzl0U4eh9GqVCMggfDLpnnV6fTbhp3ZAMXIfTuotvufBg_dT46cmXUDhxAQ9XjnA3SrHFwki5_txkPiZaCpx-4e/w134-h200/Homegoing.jpg" width="134" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A novel of breathtaking sweep and emotional power that traces three hundred years in Ghana and along the way also becomes a truly great American novel. Extraordinary for its exquisite language, its implacable sorrow, its soaring beauty, and for its monumental portrait of the forces that shape families and nations, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Homegoing</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, her sister, Esi, is imprisoned beneath her in the castle's dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast's booming slave trade, and shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. One thread of </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Homegoing</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> follows Effia's descendants through centuries of warfare in Ghana, as the Fante and Asante nations wrestle with the slave trade and British colonization. The other thread follows Esi and her children into America. From the plantations of the South to the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the coal mines of Pratt City, Alabama, to the jazz clubs and dope houses of twentieth-century Harlem, right up through the present day, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Homegoing</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> makes history visceral, and captures, with singular and stunning immediacy, how the memory of captivity came to be inscribed in the soul of a nation.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBQBCPuOSPqgcRXUt4fCxb-t63HnN6-Em3Xt16QY4xCZrcpN4b8FZHt-U-q9IYilf4maV3fpmtou9lvMIn2wanlOqUGVb7VuSH1nMeNlLs9A8pJaXD1AnxkJ9WV_27wzsaHybQevKFjkBg/s475/The+Only+Road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBQBCPuOSPqgcRXUt4fCxb-t63HnN6-Em3Xt16QY4xCZrcpN4b8FZHt-U-q9IYilf4maV3fpmtou9lvMIn2wanlOqUGVb7VuSH1nMeNlLs9A8pJaXD1AnxkJ9WV_27wzsaHybQevKFjkBg/w133-h200/The+Only+Road.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>The Only Road </i>by Alexandra Diaz </b>#middleschool</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Jaime is sitting on his bed drawing when he hears a scream. Instantly, he knows: Miguel, his cousin and best friend, is dead.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Everyone in Jaime’s small town in Guatemala knows someone who has been killed by the Alphas, a powerful gang that’s known for violence and drug trafficking. Anyone who refuses to work for them is hurt or killed—like Miguel. With Miguel gone, Jaime fears that he is next. There’s only one choice: accompanied by his cousin Ángela, Jaime must flee his home to live with his older brother in New Mexico.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Inspired by true events, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The Only Road</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is an individual story of a boy who feels that leaving his home and risking everything is his only chance for a better life.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right </i>by Arlie Russell Hochschild </b>#adult</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUvgc4WFstWXDyQiVDL75yAJGpqFYfH51SebKf9M7OyI_7Gz4XW2GkT8ES6NJFLneLSjyQ2YKzxq_NqUDjLalAZhXudd8qfCve4eLBPN3L6RKRsdS65SzH9q0hiXupywfggD4zPAPiDow/s400/Strangers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUvgc4WFstWXDyQiVDL75yAJGpqFYfH51SebKf9M7OyI_7Gz4XW2GkT8ES6NJFLneLSjyQ2YKzxq_NqUDjLalAZhXudd8qfCve4eLBPN3L6RKRsdS65SzH9q0hiXupywfggD4zPAPiDow/w134-h200/Strangers.jpg" width="134" /></span></a></b></div><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election, a bewildered nation turned to </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Strangers in Their Own Land</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> to understand what Trump voters were thinking when they cast their ballots. Arlie Hochschild, one of the most influential sociologists of her generation, had spent the preceding five years immersed in the community around Lake Charles, Louisiana, a Tea Party stronghold. As Jedediah Purdy put it in the </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">New Republic</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, "Hochschild is fascinated by how people make sense of their lives. . . . [Her] attentive, detailed portraits . . . reveal a gulf between Hochchild's 'strangers in their own land' and a new elite." Already a favorite common read book in communities and on campuses across the country and called "humble and important" by David Brooks and "masterly" by Atul Gawande, Hochschild's book has been lauded by Noam Chomsky, New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu, and countless others.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpBn4DzYf7AvOPa2ujWygTWl7lhESO40_36UEYJXJghpkce3154AltasJ7qjqK7aO0wVHNMDXGSkEcNhYIqhyw6v-B-YW4h8yefN-JLsWlrntjK391cdnFwehqyJOAJcZ4jHmaEDEw5nd0/s475/The+program.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpBn4DzYf7AvOPa2ujWygTWl7lhESO40_36UEYJXJghpkce3154AltasJ7qjqK7aO0wVHNMDXGSkEcNhYIqhyw6v-B-YW4h8yefN-JLsWlrntjK391cdnFwehqyJOAJcZ4jHmaEDEw5nd0/w131-h200/The+program.jpg" width="131" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>The Program </i>by Suzanne Young </b>#8thgradeandup</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In Sloane’s world, true feelings are forbidden, teen suicide is an epidemic, and the only solution is The Program.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>We'll Fly Away </i>by Bryan Bliss </b>#8thgradeandup</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuDlhMu_z-N_d0itve4dff-sTbaFXANB7AvikI8aJwzNyVAumrV4HSSr95UL5cPUzciSGS-kTVDOtEqBJUcU3y7NoRwmOPki5AwrW01O6MiMOG9F7UGc9u3gcJ3ykBIb3K4CMw1aZm0eES/s475/Well+fly+away.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuDlhMu_z-N_d0itve4dff-sTbaFXANB7AvikI8aJwzNyVAumrV4HSSr95UL5cPUzciSGS-kTVDOtEqBJUcU3y7NoRwmOPki5AwrW01O6MiMOG9F7UGc9u3gcJ3ykBIb3K4CMw1aZm0eES/w133-h200/Well+fly+away.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Uniquely told through letters from death row and third-person narrative, Bryan Bliss’s hard-hitting third novel expertly unravels the string of events that landed a teenager in jail. Luke feels like he’s been looking after Toby his entire life. He patches Toby up when Toby’s father, a drunk and a petty criminal, beats on him, he gives him a place to stay, and he diffuses the situation at school when wise-cracking Toby inevitably gets into fights. Someday, Luke and Toby will leave this small town, riding the tails of Luke’s wrestling scholarship, and never look back.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But during their senior year, they begin to drift apart. Luke is dealing with his unreliable mother and her new boyfriend. And Toby unwittingly begins to get drawn into his father’s world, and falls for an older woman. All their long-held dreams seem to be unraveling. Tense and emotional, this heartbreaking novel explores family, abuse, sex, love, friendship, and the lengths a person will go to protect the people they love. For fans of NPR’s Serial podcast, Jason Reynolds, and Matt de la Peña.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCbcXFEVmVnblv2Hq4G7_xsZYyfbjbTv0lHG2nUipXFCO3v0wXb5Vc-jZ5YBy1H0aLckC8xU4vNkF9v7ykyMXTFVU88g7N-J8YyUjL2c4lHGOU472c3KOoWEsPSbXlzlH7cwMjsvKCPof/s475/an+ember.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCbcXFEVmVnblv2Hq4G7_xsZYyfbjbTv0lHG2nUipXFCO3v0wXb5Vc-jZ5YBy1H0aLckC8xU4vNkF9v7ykyMXTFVU88g7N-J8YyUjL2c4lHGOU472c3KOoWEsPSbXlzlH7cwMjsvKCPof/w134-h200/an+ember.jpg" width="134" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>An Ember in the Ashes </i>by Sabaa Tahir </b>#8thgradeandup</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText7875865738463642416" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its 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.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>A Torch Against the Night </i>by Sabaa Tahir </b></span>#8thgradeandup</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUFUrvwDbZyXjRfJn3cuCF2ltkDiENuDyAICmdCUbhDhSABozIJQZiwc5p0gKFwgkAAffpskYy_MdoYdj2GCWJlcnJiwXxlUKDMdaJ_LVI-iIYkC1X9ahKhGDUvsyx0yAT2zywNEj9rk0m/s475/a+torch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUFUrvwDbZyXjRfJn3cuCF2ltkDiENuDyAICmdCUbhDhSABozIJQZiwc5p0gKFwgkAAffpskYy_MdoYdj2GCWJlcnJiwXxlUKDMdaJ_LVI-iIYkC1X9ahKhGDUvsyx0yAT2zywNEj9rk0m/w131-h200/a+torch.jpg" width="131" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own—one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape…and kill them both.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0M8vJ_rOjh1vi5xtEJ8sLZqCVlVWmh1PgqMFdfVOpDKOAhVy8qTsnoonqhgE9rw2h4kL4BfJy_pkdCndfjXef6uj1LER_-pwVeaLYX6IQ-gNKc4si5yLD7jDDKO1Cs7RVDvOI8duAhzr/s475/a+reaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0M8vJ_rOjh1vi5xtEJ8sLZqCVlVWmh1PgqMFdfVOpDKOAhVy8qTsnoonqhgE9rw2h4kL4BfJy_pkdCndfjXef6uj1LER_-pwVeaLYX6IQ-gNKc4si5yLD7jDDKO1Cs7RVDvOI8duAhzr/w134-h200/a+reaper.jpg" width="134" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>A Reaper at the Gates </i>by Sabaa Tahir </b>#8thgradeandup</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText1865027209063884374" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Beyond the Martial Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger.<br /><br />Helene Aquilla, the Blood Shrike, is desperate to protect her sister's life and the lives of everyone in the Empire. Yet danger lurks on all sides. Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable and violent, while Keris Veturia, the ruthless Commandant, capitalizes on the Emperor's volatility to grow her own power—regardless of the carnage she leaves in her path.<br /><br />Far to the east, Laia of Serra knows that the fate of the world lies not in the machinations of the Martial court, but in stopping the Nightbringer. During the hunt to bring him down, Laia faces unexpected threats from those she hoped would help her, and is drawn into a battle she never thought she'd have to fight.<br /><br />And in the land between the living and the dead, Elias Veturius has given up his freedom to serve as Soul Catcher. However, in doing so, he has vowed himself to an ancient power that demands his complete surrender—even if that means abandoning the woman he loves.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>A Sky Beyond the Storm </i>by Sabaa Tahir </b></span>#8thgradeandup</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsT2PV-Yqcdaa9JprUSGrKnj5D2LNq9g8PkTVZgIihZ1qYKxwdUJyRnfKyV-9wKof-GD6D5Z5B0s-68XCMVc8Mh2x4q4Gbufez4ObNgoHwwhEUC3uh9q5JvHL-sxsJiwgnQitxQyDhWIsk/s475/a+sky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsT2PV-Yqcdaa9JprUSGrKnj5D2LNq9g8PkTVZgIihZ1qYKxwdUJyRnfKyV-9wKof-GD6D5Z5B0s-68XCMVc8Mh2x4q4Gbufez4ObNgoHwwhEUC3uh9q5JvHL-sxsJiwgnQitxQyDhWIsk/w133-h200/a+sky.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText4206515163449738965" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Picking up just a few months after <i>A Reaper at the Gates</i> left off...<br /><br />The long-imprisoned jinn are on the attack, wreaking bloody havoc in villages and cities alike. But for the Nightbringer, vengeance on his human foes is just the beginning.<br /><br />At his side, Commandant Keris Veturia declares herself Empress, and calls for the heads of any and all who defy her rule. At the top of the list? The Blood Shrike and her remaining family.<br /><br />Laia of Serra, now allied with the Blood Shrike, struggles to recover from the loss of the two people most important to her. Determined to stop the approaching apocalypse, she throws herself into the destruction of the Nightbringer. In the process, she awakens an ancient power that could lead her to victory--or to an unimaginable doom.<br /><br />And deep in the Waiting Place, the Soul Catcher seeks only to forget the life--and love--he left behind. Yet doing so means ignoring the trail of murder left by the Nightbringer and his jinn. To uphold his oath and protect the human world from the supernatural, the Soul Catcher must look beyond the borders of his own land. He must take on a mission that could save--or destroy--all that he knows.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLcwiKG1S8Un9TFKYTcFtpvWJ7mE8tDE8COOIi3c6W3YAWob3FiAIMuR3b1iSOh2FApH_LaAW10kUA-Kb7GhE-Zqh_qBWAHi5FRMvjZp084215xn7YhDAdJglY1HHa56_80MaLSOlg8vD/s1275/charming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1275" data-original-width="844" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLcwiKG1S8Un9TFKYTcFtpvWJ7mE8tDE8COOIi3c6W3YAWob3FiAIMuR3b1iSOh2FApH_LaAW10kUA-Kb7GhE-Zqh_qBWAHi5FRMvjZp084215xn7YhDAdJglY1HHa56_80MaLSOlg8vD/w133-h200/charming.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>Charming as a Verb </i>by Ben Philippe </b>#8thgradeandup</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Henri “Halti” Haltiwanger can charm just about anyone. He is a star debater and popular student at the prestigious FATE academy, the dutiful first-generation Haitian son, and the trusted dog walker for his wealthy New York City neighbors. But his easy smiles mask a burning ambition to attend his dream college, Columbia University.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">There is only one person who seems immune to Henri’s charms: his “intense” classmate and neighbor Corinne Troy. When she uncovers Henri’s less-than-honest dog-walking scheme, she blackmails him into helping her change her image at school. Henri agrees, seeing a potential upside for himself.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Soon what started as a mutual hustle turns into something more surprising than either of them ever bargained for. . . .</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">This is a sharply funny and insightful novel about the countless hustles we have to keep from doing the hardest thing: being ourselves.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling </i>by Wai Chim </b>#7thgradeandup</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIW2USSCMyE4M4m6AGEu_mD6HInNtZwDv60CBm0JoqnmSqsyAs7LSC875aM_9u11fCT7mvo1xYf2oxGRt0kWZhpJcJKTjZ8KR9BDWEn0utyJHSQqMsniH4zTDaX8a2HF56lagkNxigMLK/s475/the+surprising.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="307" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIW2USSCMyE4M4m6AGEu_mD6HInNtZwDv60CBm0JoqnmSqsyAs7LSC875aM_9u11fCT7mvo1xYf2oxGRt0kWZhpJcJKTjZ8KR9BDWEn0utyJHSQqMsniH4zTDaX8a2HF56lagkNxigMLK/w129-h200/the+surprising.jpg" width="129" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Anna Chiu has her hands pretty full looking after her brother and sister and helping out at her dad’s restaurant, all while her mum stays in bed. Dad’s new delivery boy, Rory, is a welcome distraction and even though she knows that things aren’t right at home, she’s starting to feel like she could just be a normal teen.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But when Mum finally gets out of bed, things go from bad to worse. And as Mum’s condition worsens, Anna and her family question everything they understand about themselves and each other.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A nourishing tale about the crevices of culture, mental wellness and family, and the surprising power of a good dumpling.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Q05KOZY2vu6tLVG9HyzX49dKDJXMrNNOj4cAgrAtDjKaBC_XqV4jMEi1k2wIsWd1JlznU6EC3Gr8yYhptGvvRClwIMTNu08At_ac6EwVPjNmduArTZLtmUnttYmGHjYoYr8Yt_l9qmYM/s475/we+used.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Q05KOZY2vu6tLVG9HyzX49dKDJXMrNNOj4cAgrAtDjKaBC_XqV4jMEi1k2wIsWd1JlznU6EC3Gr8yYhptGvvRClwIMTNu08At_ac6EwVPjNmduArTZLtmUnttYmGHjYoYr8Yt_l9qmYM/w133-h200/we+used.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>We Used to Be Friends </i>by Amy Spalding </b>#8thgradeandup</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Told in dual timelines—half of the chapters moving forward in time and half moving backward—</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">We Used to Be Friends </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">explores the most traumatic breakup of all: that of childhood besties. At the start of their senior year in high school, James (a girl with a boy’s name) and Kat are inseparable, but by graduation, they’re no longer friends. James prepares to head off to college as she reflects on the dissolution of her friendship with Kat while, in alternating chapters, Kat thinks about being newly in love with her first girlfriend and having a future that feels wide open. Over the course of senior year, Kat wants nothing more than James to continue to be her steady rock, as James worries that everything she believes about love and her future is a lie when her high-school sweetheart parents announce they’re getting a divorce. Funny, honest, and full of heart, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">We Used to Be Friends </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">tells of the pains of growing up and growing apart.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></i></b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>The Boys in the Back Row </i>by Mike Jung </b>#middleschool</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PCncRhAubAQlKlDuNhsxnj_CASHnV-6ebCtV3tce4dUb9GtjeNYmcAwGCr1TgW8P_i2fQKRxGfmAD6RpYvQ9U6FMbBRF8qatVLbRMJXiogb_OwYMzACcnOIPCpDCzB4xJh-Y1WvVRkva/s459/the+boys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="459" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PCncRhAubAQlKlDuNhsxnj_CASHnV-6ebCtV3tce4dUb9GtjeNYmcAwGCr1TgW8P_i2fQKRxGfmAD6RpYvQ9U6FMbBRF8qatVLbRMJXiogb_OwYMzACcnOIPCpDCzB4xJh-Y1WvVRkva/w139-h200/the+boys.jpg" width="139" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">Best friends Matt and Eric are hatching a plan for one big final adventure together before Eric moves away: during the marching band competition at a Giant Amusement Park, they will sneak away to a nearby comics convention and meet their idol – a famous comic creator. Without cell phones. Or transportation. Or permission. Of course, their final adventure together is more than just that – really, it’s a way for the boys to celebrate their friendship, and their honest love and support for one another.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUDW-heWwVy9lKf-rlCIhdsV1ioOdOKeRvph1wqcK8-Z8v6-jEyfIWyBcTMgPLmUOIJo2ApUTHUcGCVTMJn5dtolxNqfMC-j2i5C4qWWK4FTY2TFmw3uFxDcg6AueoIrQHsbE6B-vqTbYI/s1500/more+than.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUDW-heWwVy9lKf-rlCIhdsV1ioOdOKeRvph1wqcK8-Z8v6-jEyfIWyBcTMgPLmUOIJo2ApUTHUcGCVTMJn5dtolxNqfMC-j2i5C4qWWK4FTY2TFmw3uFxDcg6AueoIrQHsbE6B-vqTbYI/w133-h200/more+than.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>More Than Just a Pretty Face </i>by Syed M. Masood </b>#8thgradeandup</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText3674470549715683998" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Danyal Jilani doesn't lack confidence. He may not be the smartest guy in the room, but he's funny, gorgeous, and going to make a great chef one day. His father doesn't approve of his career choice, but that hardly matters. What <i>does</i> matter is the opinion of Danyal's longtime crush, the perfect-in-all-ways Kaval, and her family, who consider him a less than ideal arranged marriage prospect.<br /><br />When Danyal gets selected for Renaissance Man--a school-wide academic championship--it's the perfect opportunity to show everyone he's smarter than they think. He recruits the brilliant, totally-uninterested-in-him Bisma to help with the competition, but the more time Danyal spends with her...the more he learns from her...the more he cooks for her...the more he realizes that happiness may be staring him right in his pretty face.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>This Tender Land </i>by William Kent Krueger </b>#adult #okayfor8thgradeandup</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtv-psVw53IT44Cj8QXDj-PsCCb6sQx2MT0_SNHfagXC5uFbmd0rsecjTjdiVJUPqwmt25LEDN14zCuEM5vM-y2CRVc4EuIGsojNaDn9hZe9dykPmNfAJ2F_K34dttdEk0noGhwcmmQX5v/s2048/this+tender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1352" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtv-psVw53IT44Cj8QXDj-PsCCb6sQx2MT0_SNHfagXC5uFbmd0rsecjTjdiVJUPqwmt25LEDN14zCuEM5vM-y2CRVc4EuIGsojNaDn9hZe9dykPmNfAJ2F_K34dttdEk0noGhwcmmQX5v/w132-h200/this+tender.jpg" width="132" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In the summer of 1932, on the banks of Minnesota's Gilead River, the Lincoln Indian Training School is a pitiless place where Native American children, forcibly separated from their parents, are sent to be educated. It is also home to Odie O’Banion, a lively orphan boy whose exploits constantly earn him the superintendent’s wrath. Odie and his brother, Albert, are the only white faces among the hundreds of Native American children at the school.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">After committing a terrible crime, Odie and Albert are forced to flee for their lives along with their best friend, Mose, a mute young man of Sioux heritage. Out of pity, they also take with them a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy. Together, they steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi in search for a place to call home.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Over the course of one unforgettable summer, these four orphan vagabonds journey into the unknown, crossing paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">This Tender Land</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is an enthralling, bighearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKLzRxnfp6PqrMT6mMxqBUWKP1RGI43JeMuDEVeNdeOaEokwZIn1tZmJjlhZeXhyZ8b8JIqeOuMTOSyRkroeu2rnSHsbR6RyfSiMXc5in9_qvm4LTois-L_MzJptB_SwGLF2_toUmG_-BC/s475/king.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKLzRxnfp6PqrMT6mMxqBUWKP1RGI43JeMuDEVeNdeOaEokwZIn1tZmJjlhZeXhyZ8b8JIqeOuMTOSyRkroeu2rnSHsbR6RyfSiMXc5in9_qvm4LTois-L_MzJptB_SwGLF2_toUmG_-BC/w134-h200/king.jpg" width="134" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>King and the Dragonflies </i>by Kacen Callender </b>#middleschool</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Twelve-year-old Kingston James is sure his brother Khalid has turned into a dragonfly. When Khalid unexpectedly passed away, he shed what was his first skin for another to live down by the bayou in their small Louisiana town. Khalid still visits in dreams, and King must keep these secrets to himself as he watches grief transform his family.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">It would be easier if King could talk with his best friend, Sandy Sanders. But just days before he died, Khalid told King to end their friendship, after overhearing a secret about Sandy—that he thinks he might be gay. "You don't want anyone to think you're gay too, do you?"</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But when Sandy goes missing, sparking a town-wide search, and King finds his former best friend hiding in a tent in his backyard, he agrees to help Sandy escape from his abusive father, and the two begin an adventure as they build their own private paradise down by the bayou and among the dragonflies. As King's friendship with Sandy is reignited, he's forced to confront questions about himself and the reality of his brother's death.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>You Know I'm No Good </i>by Jessie Ann Foley </b></span>#8thgradeandup</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4lqEOBc7GKbbsczyHMKRaGKg9H7eVO8cJsTD0Rl0xt6h1rSIgSDlUmLPj8c7w5ZRUaYYxdWSp1zWKHGVkzc8xQueDmqW2gsuh7afO8BmuZN9Z3Q3P5871235jnxRArbnGbYJMda2DTul/s1000/you+know.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="662" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4lqEOBc7GKbbsczyHMKRaGKg9H7eVO8cJsTD0Rl0xt6h1rSIgSDlUmLPj8c7w5ZRUaYYxdWSp1zWKHGVkzc8xQueDmqW2gsuh7afO8BmuZN9Z3Q3P5871235jnxRArbnGbYJMda2DTul/w133-h200/you+know.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">From Printz Honor winner and William C. Morris Award finalist Jessie Ann Foley comes the story of one girl’s battle to define herself as something other than her reputation.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Mia is officially a Troubled Teen—she gets bad grades, drinks too much, and has probably gone too far with too many guys. But she doesn’t realize how out of control her parents think she is until they send her away to Red Oak Academy, a therapeutic boarding school in rural Minnesota.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">While there, Mia starts confronting her painful past, and questions the purpose of Red Oak. After all, if the Red Oak girls were boys, they never would have been treated the way that they are. Amidst the revelations that cause her to question the way that society treats young women, circumstances outside of her control force Mia to discover what happens when she makes herself vulnerable enough to be truly seen by the rest of the world.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja7G1jd_UczOXSGrNQkoREp8RKbImuXKFjepZ9VQuhEQMPob7bId8aBg5k0Zbcmte1QgPO9R8NKVitfu716BtrD4lIkzZeKXMYmu0ZpV2gkvM3ndqCW6t0Ojzv7TCogwDM8V6PdmkaU2cy/s475/the+henna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja7G1jd_UczOXSGrNQkoREp8RKbImuXKFjepZ9VQuhEQMPob7bId8aBg5k0Zbcmte1QgPO9R8NKVitfu716BtrD4lIkzZeKXMYmu0ZpV2gkvM3ndqCW6t0Ojzv7TCogwDM8V6PdmkaU2cy/w132-h200/the+henna.jpg" width="132" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>The Henna Wars </i>by Adiba Jaigirdar </b>#7thgradeandup</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Nishat doesn’t want to lose her family, but she also doesn’t want to hide who she is, and it only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life. Flávia is beautiful and charismatic, and Nishat falls for her instantly. But when a school competition invites students to create their own businesses, both Flávia and Nishat decide to showcase their talent as henna artists. In a fight to prove who is the best, their lives become more tangled—but Nishat can’t quite get rid of her crush, especially since Flávia seems to like her back.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">As the competition heats up, Nishat has a decision to make: stay in the closet for her family, or put aside her differences with Flávia and give their relationship a chance.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></i></b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>Efrén Divided </i>by Ernesto Cisneros </b>#middleschool</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIUJL9wIH8Na28-JihxLNsQY2HsbfYoDb10jSFVLxe2AeJwDP07XoehDvEKy1KAkLNTens5iPV2xxSxtNsOmhChAVtlskSVRD7L9I_t_Gsh2er6S0G_vZ6Z1wS-T_bm5QUQ3Z4DumZh_Rj/s475/efren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIUJL9wIH8Na28-JihxLNsQY2HsbfYoDb10jSFVLxe2AeJwDP07XoehDvEKy1KAkLNTens5iPV2xxSxtNsOmhChAVtlskSVRD7L9I_t_Gsh2er6S0G_vZ6Z1wS-T_bm5QUQ3Z4DumZh_Rj/w133-h200/efren.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Efrén Nava’s Amá is his Superwoman - or Soperwoman, named after the delicious Mexican sopes his mother often prepares. Both Amá and Apá work hard all day to provide for the family, making sure Efrén and his younger siblings Max and Mía feel safe and loved.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But Efrén worries about his parents; although he’s American-born, his parents are undocumented. His worst nightmare comes true one day when Amá doesn’t return from work and is deported across the border to Tijuana, México.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Now more than ever, Efrén must channel his inner Soperboy to help take care of and try to reunite his family.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSLLw6tsBi9O_RWVNpRcYlnW4qY2wr5QRHUH_ovZOEr-kV6kNXkGmn7nYLUlPOMidvetLkwM6gLdW4O9Q_pQIBQ6cGMfAF7BOZ5cesE1EMjH9qtIu95nCwgxmKppUEUVGiuM4w1-FUGMpi/s475/everything.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSLLw6tsBi9O_RWVNpRcYlnW4qY2wr5QRHUH_ovZOEr-kV6kNXkGmn7nYLUlPOMidvetLkwM6gLdW4O9Q_pQIBQ6cGMfAF7BOZ5cesE1EMjH9qtIu95nCwgxmKppUEUVGiuM4w1-FUGMpi/w131-h200/everything.jpg" width="131" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>Everything Sad Is Untrue </i>by Daniel Nayeri </b>#7th-9thgrade</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">At the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom everyone calls "Daniel") stands, trying to tell a story. His story. But no one believes a word he says. To them he is a dark-skinned, hairy-armed boy with a big butt whose lunch smells funny; who makes things up and talks about poop too much.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But Khosrou's stories, stretching back years, and decades, and centuries, are beautiful, and terrifying, from the moment he, his mother, and sister fled Iran in the middle of the night, stretching all the way back to family tales set in the jasmine-scented city of Isfahan, the palaces of semi-ancient kings, and even the land of stories.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">We bounce between a school bus of kids armed with paper clip missiles and spitballs, to the heroines and heroes of Kosrou's family's past, who ate pastries that made them weep, and touched carpets woven with precious gems.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Like Scheherazade in a hostile classroom, author Daniel Nayeri weaves a tale of Khosrou trying to save his own life: to stake his claim to the truth. And it is (a true story).</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>The Midnight Library </i>by Matt Haig </b>#adult #okayfor8thgradeandup</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTabzFPSn_Zv6P-zwXWCpOrlRbDV7sAlD5QIhfF6s1EfKIn6bBAw_2VQTRJ9Z3Vfhl6wv14vmj5tGoBpA2rUT2_Ggvnm0A0xQ60T9Cf2QZUmKsSyJqBXcEtq21VpqorSt3W3z7_lLNgtST/s475/the+midnight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTabzFPSn_Zv6P-zwXWCpOrlRbDV7sAlD5QIhfF6s1EfKIn6bBAw_2VQTRJ9Z3Vfhl6wv14vmj5tGoBpA2rUT2_Ggvnm0A0xQ60T9Cf2QZUmKsSyJqBXcEtq21VpqorSt3W3z7_lLNgtST/w133-h200/the+midnight.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Reasons to Stay Alive</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> and </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">How To Stop Time</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The Midnight Library</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, Matt Haig’s enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBi6hydlbm-zB10uuEouugFHI4hE7W7D5L7a15c89R_v-sUCKymZNm6AvhVgiC9-q-bgVsPa5xzfU81MJecUMcNsCcu11Eqki_7q4yEZ5gVZElHoSbwKUvUdVUDwDlBaAbUne2Il7LkxKh/s1511/super+fake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1511" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBi6hydlbm-zB10uuEouugFHI4hE7W7D5L7a15c89R_v-sUCKymZNm6AvhVgiC9-q-bgVsPa5xzfU81MJecUMcNsCcu11Eqki_7q4yEZ5gVZElHoSbwKUvUdVUDwDlBaAbUne2Il7LkxKh/w133-h200/super+fake.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>Super Fake Love Song </i>by David Yoon </b>#8thgradeandup</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText471813740675547776" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Sunny Dae—self-proclaimed total nerd—meets Cirrus Soh, he can’t believe how cool and confident she is. So when Cirrus mistakes Sunny’s older brother Gray’s bedroom—with its electric guitars and rock posters—for Sunny’s own, he sort of, kind of, accidentally winds up telling her he’s the front man of a rock band.<br /><br />Before he knows it, Sunny is knee-deep in the lie: He ropes his best friends into his scheme, begging them to form a fake band with him, and starts wearing Gray’s rock-and-roll castoffs. But no way can he trick this amazing girl into thinking he’s cool, right? Just when Sunny is about to come clean, Cirrus asks to see them play sometime. Gulp.<br /><br />Now there’s only one thing to do: Fake it till you make it.<br /><br />Sunny goes all in on the lie, and pretty soon, the strangest things start happening. People are noticing him in the hallways, and he’s going to football games and parties for the first time. He’s feeling more confident in every aspect of his life, and especially with Cirrus, who’s started to become not just his dream girl but also the real deal. Sunny is falling in love. He’s having fun. He’s even becoming a rocker, for real.<br /><br />But it’s only a matter of time before Sunny’s house of cards starts tumbling down. As his lies begin to catch up with him, Sunny Dae is forced to wonder whether it was all worth it—and if it’s possible to ever truly change.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2GG-tEyFI54hpO-hUn2kRho37YNbCWwWqTmENzoUG3ZcoLRfEeGj15pVes9eISKddNiz2Rbvwkuk9Slr5TbT43dfox4QpyB99P4S8QiUbr96f0cS-y2q5Fa-yiNb4IbWpG47da6Trz-5i/s475/ways.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2GG-tEyFI54hpO-hUn2kRho37YNbCWwWqTmENzoUG3ZcoLRfEeGj15pVes9eISKddNiz2Rbvwkuk9Slr5TbT43dfox4QpyB99P4S8QiUbr96f0cS-y2q5Fa-yiNb4IbWpG47da6Trz-5i/w133-h200/ways.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>Ways to Make Sunshine </i>by Renée Watson, Nina Mata (Illustrator) </b>#middleschool</span><p></p><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">Ryan Hart loves to spend time with her friends, loves to invent recipes, and has a lot on her mind—school, self-image, and family. Her dad finally has a new job, but money is tight. That means changes like selling their second car and moving into a new (old) house. But Ryan is a girl who knows how to make sunshine out of setbacks. Because Ryan is all about trying to see the best. Even when things aren’t all she would wish for—her brother is infuriating, her parents don’t understand, when her recipes don’t turn out right, and when the unexpected occurs—she can find a way forward, with wit and plenty of sunshine.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>We Dream of Space </i>by Erin Entrada Kelly </b>#middleschool</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ht4uqhlYndZTEVrd9dij9sS0irHgTO6mgwMjhizs2GxK9SkvL4wLJMQPUcbohILstmU90uT66H4Ju5SMgTZltQU1Rsm0fNixOwbgIzId_PUmL-XdlL9oqLTzMmmAOG0YD_ztX3L_ehL4/s1000/we+dream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="662" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ht4uqhlYndZTEVrd9dij9sS0irHgTO6mgwMjhizs2GxK9SkvL4wLJMQPUcbohILstmU90uT66H4Ju5SMgTZltQU1Rsm0fNixOwbgIzId_PUmL-XdlL9oqLTzMmmAOG0YD_ztX3L_ehL4/w133-h200/we+dream.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">It's January 1986. The launch of the Challenger is just weeks away, and Cash, Fitch, and Bird Nelson Thomas are three siblings in seventh grade together in this story of family, friendship, and tragedy by Newbery Medalist and NYT-bestselling author Erin Entrada Kelly.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Cash loves the Philadelphia 76ers, Dr. J, and a girl named Penny; he's also in danger of failing seventh grade for a second time. Fitch spends every afternoon playing Major Havoc at the arcade and wrestles with an explosive temper that he doesn't understand. And Bird, his twelve-year-old twin, dreams of being NASA's first female shuttle commander, but feels like she's disappearing.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The Nelson Thomas siblings, who live in Park, Delaware, have little in common except an enthusiastic science teacher named Ms. Salonga—a failed applicant to the Teacher in Space program—who encourages her students to live vicariously through the launch. Cash and Fitch take a passive interest, but Bird builds her dreams around it.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When the fated day arrives, it changes everything.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">This is a story about three middle-schoolers floating in their own orbits, circling a tense, crowded, and unpredictable household, dreaming of escape, dreaming of the future, dreaming of space.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUCV9d5xpBK2w-Y9X_TJXQw2ydE2JMD8zVEcXvGmdcqMJ3z6ZUb87Ha7JU65lffV2ekIy_y1fBvdNl9nS1JnuPkYoe8HuFsb5vnMOxMJt4BBme48-HTzzceAv5WcVyyGqlrqOXpc5gI-BV/s1503/How+it.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1503" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUCV9d5xpBK2w-Y9X_TJXQw2ydE2JMD8zVEcXvGmdcqMJ3z6ZUb87Ha7JU65lffV2ekIy_y1fBvdNl9nS1JnuPkYoe8HuFsb5vnMOxMJt4BBme48-HTzzceAv5WcVyyGqlrqOXpc5gI-BV/w133-h200/How+it.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>How It All Blew Up </i>by Arvin Ahmadi </b>#8thgradeandup</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Eighteen-year-old Amir Azadi always knew coming out to his Muslim family would be messy--he just didn't think it would end in an airport interrogation room. But when faced with a failed relationship, bullies, and blackmail, running away to Rome is his only option. Right?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Soon, late nights with new friends and dates in the Sistine Chapel start to feel like second nature... until his old life comes knocking on his door. Now, Amir has to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth to a U.S. Customs officer, or risk losing his hard-won freedom.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">At turns uplifting and devastating, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">How It All Blew Up</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is Arvin Ahmadi's most powerful novel yet, a celebration of how life's most painful moments can live alongside the riotous, life-changing joys of discovering who you are.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>The List of Things That Will Not Change </i>by Rebecca Stead </b>#middleschool</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgelX1u8ZJ40fnDKh26bKOx7q9Aa0CHoguZvPVIX-vuuOAiwn190mcV5_95OeCObXozHbZFshfHOTAkoEaFYc3hkpI6qJiYn0XwTLrB-Zu-xbaXOnKEhXM7zftotMX_Pg3rCCJcOAzFxVXA/s400/the+list.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="262" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgelX1u8ZJ40fnDKh26bKOx7q9Aa0CHoguZvPVIX-vuuOAiwn190mcV5_95OeCObXozHbZFshfHOTAkoEaFYc3hkpI6qJiYn0XwTLrB-Zu-xbaXOnKEhXM7zftotMX_Pg3rCCJcOAzFxVXA/w131-h200/the+list.jpg" width="131" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText2494780814210738684" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">After her parents' divorce, Bea's life became different in many ways. But she can always look back at the list she keeps in her green notebook to remember the things that will stay the same. The first and most important: Mom and Dad will always love Bea, and each other.<br /><br />When Dad tells Bea that he and his boyfriend, Jesse, are getting married, Bea is thrilled. Bea loves Jesse, and when he and Dad get married, she'll finally (finally!) have what she's always wanted--a sister. Even though she's never met Jesse's daughter, Sonia, Bea is sure that they'll be "just like sisters anywhere."<br /><br />As the wedding day approaches, Bea will learn that making a new family brings questions, surprises, and joy.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPXx-ZaYU3OfQ0pzDxSIilr-2DIvvf34zLCqmsApYmqwOenUwxpkfuvySP7a7TRL1xlKioG5NiYtPIMtsrp3AiODKx68degFG6vixIpHQrnYdygVU2SAEbqU4nbEQ7HpQzKhXw3GWnbc1K/s2048/angel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1366" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPXx-ZaYU3OfQ0pzDxSIilr-2DIvvf34zLCqmsApYmqwOenUwxpkfuvySP7a7TRL1xlKioG5NiYtPIMtsrp3AiODKx68degFG6vixIpHQrnYdygVU2SAEbqU4nbEQ7HpQzKhXw3GWnbc1K/w133-h200/angel.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i><br />Angel of Greenwood </i>by Randi Pink </b>#7thgradeandup</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A historical YA novel that takes place during the Greenwood Massacre of 1921, in an area of Tulsa, OK, known as the <i>Black Wall Street</i>.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Wilson is, on the surface, a town troublemaker, but is hiding that he is an avid reader and secret poet, never leaving home without his journal. A passionate follower of WEB. Du Bois, he believes that black people should rise up to claim their place as equals.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Sixteen-year-old Angel Hill is a loner, mostly disregarded by her peers as a goody-goody. Her father is dying, and her family’s financial situation is in turmoil. Also, as a loyal follower of Booker T. Washington, she believes, through education and tolerance, that black people should rise slowly and without forced conflict.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Though they’ve attended the same schools, Isaiah never noticed Angel as anything but a dorky, Bible toting church girl. Then their English teacher offers them a job on her mobile library, a three-wheel, two-seater bike. Angel can’t turn down the money and Isaiah is soon eager to be in such close quarters with Angel every afternoon.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But life changes on May 31, 1921 when a vicious white mob storms the community of Greenwood, leaving the town destroyed and thousands of residents displaced. Only then, Isaiah, Angel, and their peers realize who their real enemies are.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwx_0ogpSa2eOzx6hemrGjZoGqgUOcVDxs7fHTngh5e6rY9AyhORQBKN2HttTN2NbZUkIKXhSSwBUcGY_alCst95l30io5Z8vm4DBw0QtR-3Lq9yNytV-MZ1D0UikuEbvTQxkjYaCfEEis/s1000/clues.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="662" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwx_0ogpSa2eOzx6hemrGjZoGqgUOcVDxs7fHTngh5e6rY9AyhORQBKN2HttTN2NbZUkIKXhSSwBUcGY_alCst95l30io5Z8vm4DBw0QtR-3Lq9yNytV-MZ1D0UikuEbvTQxkjYaCfEEis/w133-h200/clues.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>Clues to the Universe </i>by Christina Li </b>#middleschool</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The only thing Rosalind Ling Geraghty loves more than watching NASA launches with her dad is building rockets with him. When he dies unexpectedly, all Ro has left of him is an unfinished model rocket they had been working on together.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Benjamin Burns doesn’t like science, but he can’t get enough of </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Spacebound</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, a popular comic book series. When he finds a sketch that suggests that his dad created the comics, he’s thrilled. Too bad his dad walked out years ago, and Benji has no way to contact him.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Though Ro and Benji were only supposed to be science class partners, the pair become unlikely friends: Benji helps Ro finish her rocket, and Ro figures out a way to reunite Benji and his dad. But Benji hesitates, which infuriates Ro. Doesn’t he realize how much Ro wishes she could be in his place?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">As the two face bullying, grief, and their own differences, Benji and Ro must try to piece together clues to some of the biggest questions in the universe.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>From the Desk of Zoe Washington </i>by Janae Marks </b>#middleschool</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQqXP9TK1fi983FYJUI3x9JoWSzEJXiDDRAtbBv5r6LK9IuaYBczomsiplWspqp5mP2fvIZn_84SIKXc9vNe4mDcOFNaHOLbkBVEiiJ3ebI5cBenTnRLAIBpAniRq8U_j_butMgjSijn-N/s475/from+the+desk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQqXP9TK1fi983FYJUI3x9JoWSzEJXiDDRAtbBv5r6LK9IuaYBczomsiplWspqp5mP2fvIZn_84SIKXc9vNe4mDcOFNaHOLbkBVEiiJ3ebI5cBenTnRLAIBpAniRq8U_j_butMgjSijn-N/w133-h200/from+the+desk.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Zoe Washington isn’t sure what to write. What does a girl say to the father she’s never met, hadn’t heard from until his letter arrived on her twelfth birthday, and who’s been in prison for a terrible crime?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A crime he says he never committed.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Could Marcus really be innocent? Zoe is determined to uncover the truth. Even if it means hiding his letters and her investigation from the rest of her family. Everyone else thinks Zoe’s worrying about doing a good job at her bakery internship and proving to her parents that she’s worthy of auditioning for Food Network’s </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Kids Bake Challenge</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But with bakery confections on one part of her mind, and Marcus’s conviction weighing heavily on the other, this is one recipe Zoe doesn’t know how to balance. The only thing she knows to be true: Everyone lies.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ZBwmSW919fIA4SQDgT1H1_eYlqmcws2Z3heCOFCluO8zBdRFHxsT13wyaoatBbMcyUyz72UJfYXAcJiJ23brwWi6h3SNX4iqbjMoHvNbi7k1T66KtOE2Fs6BJoKGzAI4NMpBbSLRe-h5/s499/transcendent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="336" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ZBwmSW919fIA4SQDgT1H1_eYlqmcws2Z3heCOFCluO8zBdRFHxsT13wyaoatBbMcyUyz72UJfYXAcJiJ23brwWi6h3SNX4iqbjMoHvNbi7k1T66KtOE2Fs6BJoKGzAI4NMpBbSLRe-h5/w134-h200/transcendent.jpg" width="134" /></span></a></i></b></div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><i>Transcendent Kingdom </i>by Yaa Gyasi </b>#adult</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText11562976881162606679" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Yaa Gyasi's stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national best seller <i>Homegoing</i> is a powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama.<br /><br />Gifty is a fifth-year candidate in neuroscience at Stanford School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after a knee injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her suicidal mother is living in her bed. Gifty is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her.<br /><br />But even as she turns to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family's loss, she finds herself hungering for her childhood faith and grappling with the evangelical church in which she was raised, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive. <i>Transcendent Kingdom</i> is a deeply moving portrait of a family of Ghanaian immigrants ravaged by depression and addiction and grief--a novel about faith, science, religion, love. Exquisitely written, emotionally searing, this is an exceptionally powerful follow-up to Gyasi's phenomenal debut.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Concrete Rose </i>by Angie Thomas </b></span>#8thgradeandup</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdi9Ji2IqFpXXKggKGD1FllbCwqrochVI0J61Js4OMEsR1Gd5WD3L3PcgCViA2l1n8SgkF_qIqTYgp0rfOui7_YgM4Ib-EWhAbbEIviBGKoQgfXt3GuptHvh7KtqBg0BuujwXtSwhacf4v/s1500/concrete.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdi9Ji2IqFpXXKggKGD1FllbCwqrochVI0J61Js4OMEsR1Gd5WD3L3PcgCViA2l1n8SgkF_qIqTYgp0rfOui7_YgM4Ib-EWhAbbEIviBGKoQgfXt3GuptHvh7KtqBg0BuujwXtSwhacf4v/w133-h200/concrete.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText2026044528702046205" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">International phenomenon Angie Thomas revisits Garden Heights seventeen years before the events of <i>The Hate U Give</i> in this searing and poignant exploration of Black boyhood and manhood.<br /><br />If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison.<br /><br />Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control.<br /><br />Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father.<br /><br />Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he’s expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he’s different.<br /><br />When King Lord blood runs through your veins, though, you can't just walk away. Loyalty, revenge, and responsibility threaten to tear Mav apart, especially after the brutal murder of a loved one. He’ll have to figure out for himself what it really means to be a man.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p><br /></p>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-19458255120673230782020-11-01T06:54:00.000-08:002020-11-01T06:54:36.123-08:00Reading Opens Minds, Social Media . . . Not So Much<p><span style="font-family: times;">After I woke up, grabbed a cup of coffee, and sat down to read the news this blustery Sunday morning, I opened up my Facebook account and read disheartening and disturbing posts and comments from people in my community. Well, being an English teacher and avid reader, I decided to share some books with many of those people instead of arguing with them. (I don't like debating on social media - much.) People tend to group-think on social media sites no matter what, but books offer unique perspectives on a variety of topics. Reading, especially fiction or narrative nonfiction, helps us understand people better and we become more empathetic, and I think empathy, understanding, and compassion for our fellow human beings is what is needed now. So read a good book to better understand our diverse country and diverse world, read a book to take yourself away from the madness encompassing 2020, or do both. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">I truly believe if people read more books and less social media we'd be in a much better place. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Please get out there and READ and VOTE!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Here are the books I have read since my last post (back in August - yikes).</span></p><p><b style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnOO9mzVLXXdyLrtJIpooxdom3H_MftfzXa2LUcBrSR6YfTc6R-qMyPQMyyv3v7pMHju-TrUIz9qLpZyO8Xrkah4uZNFxivXcTfBnlODExxVgy-RXHkgq3_il46JIFPT7ZBaunfrgNYcM2/s475/this+is+my+america.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnOO9mzVLXXdyLrtJIpooxdom3H_MftfzXa2LUcBrSR6YfTc6R-qMyPQMyyv3v7pMHju-TrUIz9qLpZyO8Xrkah4uZNFxivXcTfBnlODExxVgy-RXHkgq3_il46JIFPT7ZBaunfrgNYcM2/w133-h200/this+is+my+america.jpg" width="133" /></a></i></span></b></div><b style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>This Is My America </i>by Kim Johnson </span></b><p></p><p></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times;">Young Adult, Realistic Fiction </span></i></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Book Blurb:</b> <span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Every week, seventeen-year-old Tracy Beaumont writes letters to Innocence X, asking the organization to help her father, an innocent Black man on death row. After seven years, Tracy is running out of time—her dad has only 267 days left. Then the unthinkable happens. The police arrive in the night, and Tracy’s older brother, Jamal, goes from being a bright, promising track star to a “thug” on the run, accused of killing a white girl. Determined to save her brother, Tracy investigates what really happened between Jamal and Angela down at the Pike. But will Tracy and her family survive the uncovering of the skeletons of their Texas town’s racist history that still haunt the present?</span></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic </i>by Sam Quinones </span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPITn7XDbPm0X3uQ23zvUmH-i056F3X4-tRam-c9J4oRqCqRgVkCaWAhRIqaRa5KjbFMi8Avk6kQesErfQP0KlhEhFQwUhaWie_NhlBv_LA94lwM1lyNgYVkaRqhgP_9BQUnvutqtXWQ8c/s400/Dreamland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPITn7XDbPm0X3uQ23zvUmH-i056F3X4-tRam-c9J4oRqCqRgVkCaWAhRIqaRa5KjbFMi8Avk6kQesErfQP0KlhEhFQwUhaWie_NhlBv_LA94lwM1lyNgYVkaRqhgP_9BQUnvutqtXWQ8c/w133-h200/Dreamland.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></b></div><p></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times;">Young Adult, Narrative Nonfiction</span></i></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Book Blurb: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">As an adult book, Sam Quinones's</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><i style="color: #181818;">Dreamland</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">took the world by storm, winning the NBCC Award for General Nonfiction and hitting at least a dozen Best Book of the Year lists. Now, adapted for the first time for a young adult audience, this compelling reporting explains the roots of the current opiate crisis.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText15594083684512348625" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In 1929, in the blue-collar city of Portsmouth, Ohio, a company built a swimming pool the size of a football field; named Dreamland, it became the vital center of the community. Now, addiction has devastated Portsmouth, as it has hundreds of small rural towns and suburbs across America. How that happened is the riveting story of <i>Dreamland</i>. Quinones explains how the rise of the prescription drug OxyContin, a miraculous and extremely addictive painkiller pushed by pharmaceutical companies, paralleled the massive influx of black tar heroin--cheap, potent, and originating from one small county on Mexico's west coast, independent of any drug cartel.<br /><br />Introducing a memorable cast of characters--pharmaceutical pioneers, young Mexican entrepreneurs, narcotics investigators, survivors, teens, and parents--<i>Dreamland</i> is a revelatory account of the massive threat facing America and its heartland.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1k2eZ18oZJubiKggFAGnXr-8ZeN5EQ78dSuY3N8sSshLcHK-wwyvz3eBuv42bd9iuJkYKJdLA7lfAvuz_Pg061JfZetEv13fGkqGJfxQVOKbQMr-VT-hGYy9SrcP33pcuAAuULaQKmjd3/s400/The+Voting+Booth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1k2eZ18oZJubiKggFAGnXr-8ZeN5EQ78dSuY3N8sSshLcHK-wwyvz3eBuv42bd9iuJkYKJdLA7lfAvuz_Pg061JfZetEv13fGkqGJfxQVOKbQMr-VT-hGYy9SrcP33pcuAAuULaQKmjd3/w133-h200/The+Voting+Booth.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>The Voting Booth </i>by Brandy Colber</span></b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: times;">Young Adult, Realistic Fictions</span></i></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Book Blurb: </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Marva Sheridan was born ready for this day. She's always been driven to make a difference in the world, and what better way than to vote in her first election?</span></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText14123281745426467077" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br />Duke Crenshaw is so done with this election. He just wants to get voting over with so he can prepare for his band's first paying gig tonight. Only problem? Duke can't vote.<br /><br />When Marva sees Duke turned away from their polling place, she takes it upon herself to make sure his vote is counted. She hasn't spent months doorbelling and registering voters just to see someone denied their right. And that's how their whirlwind day begins, rushing from precinct to precinct, cutting school, waiting in endless lines, turned away time and again, trying to do one simple thing: vote. They may have started out as strangers, but as Duke and Marva team up to beat a rigged system (and find Marva's missing cat), it's clear that there's more to their connection than a shared mission for democracy.<br /><br />Romantic and triumphant, <i>The Voting Booth</i> is proof that you can't sit around waiting for the world to change, but some things are just meant to be.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFRBuwU0oLKnLvpeFUXMhaWRDtL_EWwuSs4T4PyS64yEBiztyM2l8Anrnqym7MworT676BL_l80sHHIEbrI-C5PmaPFqVcvo3fSid3M-gCnIXWXma3XSIwbwMVHsLB7OzgOYmaKjoglgw4/s475/a+heart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFRBuwU0oLKnLvpeFUXMhaWRDtL_EWwuSs4T4PyS64yEBiztyM2l8Anrnqym7MworT676BL_l80sHHIEbrI-C5PmaPFqVcvo3fSid3M-gCnIXWXma3XSIwbwMVHsLB7OzgOYmaKjoglgw4/w133-h200/a+heart.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><br />A Heart in a Body in the World </i>by Deb Caletti </span></b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: times;">Young Adult, Realistic Fiction</span></i></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Book Blurb: </b></span><span style="color: #181818;">Each step in Annabelle’s 2,700-mile cross-country run brings her closer to facing a trauma from her past in National Book Award finalist Deb Caletti’s novel about the heart, all the ways it breaks, and its journey to healing. Because sometimes against our will, against all odds, we go forward.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText7123132504715397850" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br /><i>Then…</i><br />Annabelle’s life wasn’t perfect, but it was full—full of friends, family, love. And a boy…whose attention Annabelle found flattering and unsettling all at once.<br /><br />Until that attention intensified.<br /><br /><i>Now…</i><br />Annabelle is running. Running from the pain and the tragedy from the past year. With only Grandpa Ed and the journal she fills with words she can’t speak out loud, Annabelle runs from Seattle to Washington, DC and toward a destination she doesn’t understand but is determined to reach. With every beat of her heart, every stride of her feet, Annabelle steps closer to healing—and the strength she discovers within herself to let love and hope back into her life.<br /><br />Annabelle’s journey is the ultimate testament to the human heart, and how it goes on after being broken.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdvIVz2ZNLLHujNGgcsVPNP8RBC9aivXVmGsvttCy3hLvX8nSaI8hMyf0SMOYaOudNWEEBFhBxJqNWeMExxKFVVSfdBE9ZXAJtLT_r_Y5zGFbmqUzHTEnwIuQ42O8orBJy1xCtmuSgKM0h/s475/we+are+not+from+here.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdvIVz2ZNLLHujNGgcsVPNP8RBC9aivXVmGsvttCy3hLvX8nSaI8hMyf0SMOYaOudNWEEBFhBxJqNWeMExxKFVVSfdBE9ZXAJtLT_r_Y5zGFbmqUzHTEnwIuQ42O8orBJy1xCtmuSgKM0h/w133-h200/we+are+not+from+here.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>We Are Not From Here </i>by Jenny Torres Sanchez</b></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>Young Adult, Realistic Fiction</i></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Book Blurb: </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A ripped-from-the-headlines novel of desperation, escape, and survival across the U.S.-Mexico border.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Pulga has his dreams.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Chico has his grief.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Pequeña has her pride.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">And these three teens have one another. But none of them have illusions about the town they’ve grown up in and the dangers that surround them. Even with the love of family, threats lurk around every corner. And when those threats become all too real, the trio knows they have no choice but to run: from their country, from their families, from their beloved home.</span></span><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Crossing from Guatemala through Mexico, they follow the route of La Bestia, the perilous train system that might deliver them to a better life–if they are lucky enough to survive the journey. With nothing but the bags on their backs and desperation drumming through their hearts, Pulga, Chico, and Pequeña know there is no turning back, despite the unknown that awaits them. And the darkness that seems to follow wherever they go.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In this powerful story inspired by current events, the plight of migrants at the U.S. southern border is brought to painful, poignant, vivid life. An epic journey of danger, resilience, heartache, and hope.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Punching the Air </i>by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6PMITHELGcPWkwqiM7JSyztJUxGSSlU9vbktgmT9bM-0eckGcGlF0TSjhRVcKQiXJKovxlMnu9A5d5TnZrCfF8ifnuIwcgtZDYBET9IMTEtCGMy9nITFjBx4CDT2CH9vc42Nrk4XVGUdm/s220/punching+the+air.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="145" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6PMITHELGcPWkwqiM7JSyztJUxGSSlU9vbktgmT9bM-0eckGcGlF0TSjhRVcKQiXJKovxlMnu9A5d5TnZrCfF8ifnuIwcgtZDYBET9IMTEtCGMy9nITFjBx4CDT2CH9vc42Nrk4XVGUdm/w132-h200/punching+the+air.jpg" width="132" /></a></div><br /></span></b></span></div><div><i style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">Young Adult, Novel-in-Verse, Realistic Fiction</span></i></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Book Blurb: </b></span></span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The story that I thought</i></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br />was my life<br /><br />didn’t start on the day<br /><br />I was born</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he’s seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. “Boys just being boys” turns out to be true only when those boys are white.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The story that I think<br /><br />will be my life<br /><br />starts today</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal’s bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. This never should have been his story. But can he change it?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">With spellbinding lyricism, award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam tell a moving and deeply profound story about how one boy is able to maintain his humanity and fight for the truth, in a system designed to strip him of both.</span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCY3n_8NdxNBAvQLlN-L5tD0kfSBNAq7BWKRBfQgQOz2qY1KVCnMeeiXRfqLCuu-nHFa8DncoZL-iRHaRowg-09e_WbpTWxhLqm_Ir8Cb7oIzARlIlMHUw68jog9t5CUjJjnuKTJAlxXu3/s475/The+stars+beneath+our+feet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCY3n_8NdxNBAvQLlN-L5tD0kfSBNAq7BWKRBfQgQOz2qY1KVCnMeeiXRfqLCuu-nHFa8DncoZL-iRHaRowg-09e_WbpTWxhLqm_Ir8Cb7oIzARlIlMHUw68jog9t5CUjJjnuKTJAlxXu3/w133-h200/The+stars+beneath+our+feet.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>The Stars Beneath Our Feet </i>by David Barclay Moore</span></b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: times;">Middle School, Realistic Fiction</span></i></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Book Blurb: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">It’s Christmas Eve in Harlem, but twelve-year-old Lolly Rachpaul and his mom aren’t celebrating. They’re still reeling from his older brother’s death in a gang-related shooting just a few months earlier. Then Lolly’s mother’s girlfriend brings him a gift that will change everything: two enormous bags filled with Legos. Lolly’s always loved Legos, and he prides himself on following the kit instructions exactly. Now, faced with a pile of building blocks and no instructions, Lolly must find his own way forward.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">His path isn’t clear—and the pressure to join a “crew,” as his brother did, is always there. When Lolly and his friend are beaten up and robbed, joining a crew almost seems like the safe choice. But building a fantastical Lego city at the community center provides Lolly with an escape—and an unexpected bridge back to the world.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">David Barclay Moore paints a powerful portrait of a boy teetering on the edge—of adolescence, of grief, of violence—and shows how Lolly’s inventive spirit helps him build a life with firm foundations and open doors.</span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Elatsoe </i>by Darcie Little Badger <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7WI792sBfwtdesD25EYkCW4R0dA7Mhc48Cq6SFZHaEOWh2FMvPJ2WI36-S7rbaM1yNJocy4oSD_jKn8auKMOH8VTPJxwndHrx2XLXUgrTSRPg0iSx8YfcuAEpwENKL4ksIFz8C5300Kb/s1098/elatsoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1098" data-original-width="740" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7WI792sBfwtdesD25EYkCW4R0dA7Mhc48Cq6SFZHaEOWh2FMvPJ2WI36-S7rbaM1yNJocy4oSD_jKn8auKMOH8VTPJxwndHrx2XLXUgrTSRPg0iSx8YfcuAEpwENKL4ksIFz8C5300Kb/w135-h200/elatsoe.jpg" width="135" /></a></div><br /></span></b></span></div><div><i style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">Young Adult, Fantasy</span></i></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Book Blurb: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Imagine an America very similar to our own. It’s got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText3181659065957946453" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br />There are some differences. This America been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day.<br /><br />Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered, in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLF8qDHjhWS-XzJG3MYvhTkZftoWr2lIcpuVMZrIlpbk5jaqdYflPv4rWLj4vARt61awDqmDaEim3GLt6EsGKQKwYf6ixmQVrSW78raAP3R2lJ7lpewJieol_4m7dsyJgvA_8CP07HE4oP/s400/before+the+ever+after.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="266" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLF8qDHjhWS-XzJG3MYvhTkZftoWr2lIcpuVMZrIlpbk5jaqdYflPv4rWLj4vARt61awDqmDaEim3GLt6EsGKQKwYf6ixmQVrSW78raAP3R2lJ7lpewJieol_4m7dsyJgvA_8CP07HE4oP/w133-h200/before+the+ever+after.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>Before the Ever After </i>by Jacqueline Woodson</span></b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: times;">Middle School, Novel-in-Verse, Realistic Fiction</span></i></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Book Blurb: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">For as long as ZJ can remember, his dad has been everyone's hero. As a charming, talented pro football star, he's as beloved to the neighborhood kids he plays with as he is to his millions of adoring sports fans. But lately life at ZJ's house is anything but charming. His dad is having trouble remembering things and seems to be angry all the time. ZJ's mom explains it's because of all the head injuries his dad sustained during his career. ZJ can understand that--but it doesn't make the sting any less real when his own father forgets his name. As ZJ contemplates his new reality, he has to figure out how to hold on tight to family traditions and recollections of the glory days, all the while wondering what their past amounts to if his father can't remember it. And most importantly, can those happy feelings ever be reclaimed when they are all so busy aching for the past?</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Dear Justyce </i>by Nic Stone <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibLB48xYxY6BNbtiR6kMm9oqbxs5bkfD6BLjemTmTBqNwBWSJU4OJrtJDWhq9fAy9kiY5EXb-dHATMqv56QHYSmOzqOBTqxwjiV_5KNmq7-O0Vy0x1F5r6q3BRB_5QIo6fxdUTGqeX4bnF/s2048/dear+justyce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1344" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibLB48xYxY6BNbtiR6kMm9oqbxs5bkfD6BLjemTmTBqNwBWSJU4OJrtJDWhq9fAy9kiY5EXb-dHATMqv56QHYSmOzqOBTqxwjiV_5KNmq7-O0Vy0x1F5r6q3BRB_5QIo6fxdUTGqeX4bnF/w131-h200/dear+justyce.jpg" width="131" /></a></div><br /></span></b></span></div><div><i style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">Young Adult, Realistic Fiction</span></i></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Book Blurb: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Shortly after teenager Quan enters a not guilty plea for the shooting death of a police officer, he is placed in a holding cell to await trial. Through a series of flashbacks and letters to Justyce, the protagonist of </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Dear Martin</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, Quan's story unravels.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">From a troubled childhood and bad timing to a coerced confession and prejudiced police work, Nic Stone's newest novel takes an unflinching look at the flawed practices and ideologies that discriminate against African American boys and minorities in the American justice system.</span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKArAXjWqgR_Pl5k5OzQtHldbJ_JM5bQULBKu-rmTA06pK7EiDWT50rdniDEOlhuonYTCuWuDfQh2wGBFG_NYrcWxx4zZuRGrlTi7ArfZpO9rZPlghy8AYY2fnvUE-NaDt5L0TDGy3ceB/s1024/We+are+not+free.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="655" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKArAXjWqgR_Pl5k5OzQtHldbJ_JM5bQULBKu-rmTA06pK7EiDWT50rdniDEOlhuonYTCuWuDfQh2wGBFG_NYrcWxx4zZuRGrlTi7ArfZpO9rZPlghy8AYY2fnvUE-NaDt5L0TDGy3ceB/w128-h200/We+are+not+free.jpg" width="128" /></a></div>We Are Not Free </i>by Traci Chee</span></b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>Young Adult, Historical Fiction</i></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Book Blurb:</b> </span></span><span style="color: #181818;">“All around me, my friends are talking, joking, laughing. Outside is the camp, the barbed wire, the guard towers, the city, the country that hates us.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText7498603016149591219" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> <br />We are not free.<br /> <br />But we are not alone.” <br /><br />From <i>New York Times</i> best-selling and acclaimed author Traci Chee comes <i>We Are Not Free,</i> the collective account of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second-generation Japanese American citizens, whose lives are irrevocably changed by the mass U.S. incarcerations of World War II.<br /> <br />Fourteen teens who have grown up together in Japantown, San Francisco.<br /> <br />Fourteen teens who form a community and a family, as interconnected as they are conflicted.<br /> <br />Fourteen teens whose lives are turned upside down when over 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry are removed from their homes and forced into desolate incarceration camps.<br /> <br />In a world that seems determined to hate them, these young Nisei must rally together as racism and injustice threaten to pull them apart.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>A Good Girl's Guide to Murder </i>by Holly Jackson <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyxLG7Qfys9A5nY1IkOEoVd2TJ-68CC1yarA-gVLsCp_2OLcgCtS8liFxfBBLk1sxR8HROHQNJcR3jdyJG0joup_amx6KcCZV8fjcNkQr3yxeizHs4xkZlxOsAK-GWZ7qCzvhm9ypvMPl8/s2048/a+good+girl%2527s+guide+to+murder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1356" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyxLG7Qfys9A5nY1IkOEoVd2TJ-68CC1yarA-gVLsCp_2OLcgCtS8liFxfBBLk1sxR8HROHQNJcR3jdyJG0joup_amx6KcCZV8fjcNkQr3yxeizHs4xkZlxOsAK-GWZ7qCzvhm9ypvMPl8/w133-h200/a+good+girl%2527s+guide+to+murder.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><br /></span></b></span></div><div><i style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;">Young Adult, Mystery</span></i></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Book Blurb: </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Everyone in Fairview knows the story.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: times;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But she can't shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn't want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">This is the story of an investigation turned obsession, full of twists and turns and with an ending you'll never expect.</span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><br /></b></span></div>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-76771831426747596192020-08-10T09:01:00.002-07:002020-08-10T09:01:21.672-07:00Back to School, Back to "Reality"<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;">Well, I'm ready for 2020 to be done already, but we still have four and a half months left of this never-ending year. Soon, we'll be heading back to school and back to our new "reality."</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTsZibeuYmtZatDRo5fvjuPx7ZjaUWjQknGP_LYzaJSg8NRi2yK7gAPArW4UWN-ukOXAx2zkROjmRpZmn0A2jVhRNGmhI4XfYMveysFAMpup9ZTdktiH5ykMETZYnvUr7CzCZfWrRHC7we/s480/2020_1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTsZibeuYmtZatDRo5fvjuPx7ZjaUWjQknGP_LYzaJSg8NRi2yK7gAPArW4UWN-ukOXAx2zkROjmRpZmn0A2jVhRNGmhI4XfYMveysFAMpup9ZTdktiH5ykMETZYnvUr7CzCZfWrRHC7we/w320-h320/2020_1.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; text-align: left;">Here in my school district in Minnesota, our first day of school is Tuesday, September 8 - the day after Labor Day. As I write this post, our district is heading back to school in the hybrid model, which means we'll see one group of students two days a week and another group two different days a week with Fridays "off." Our back-to-school model could change on August 20 if our virus numbers change, meaning we could go to distance learning. We aren't even close to being all in the classroom yet. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZTqXHOXWX4vXN3Tsl_YFWW40EiW-CACbk5Tv0DzP-4_TaTk4sc_gBdVxto7yzXQwmhH1bbcUYC3TieEVENM1qNN9ck2WBClCWW1Ip6ip2tJdFv2p4GUE5jq5Fz341L1ZMiEjlY3XAWwf/s1936/2020.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="1936" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZTqXHOXWX4vXN3Tsl_YFWW40EiW-CACbk5Tv0DzP-4_TaTk4sc_gBdVxto7yzXQwmhH1bbcUYC3TieEVENM1qNN9ck2WBClCWW1Ip6ip2tJdFv2p4GUE5jq5Fz341L1ZMiEjlY3XAWwf/w200-h200/2020.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: times; text-align: left;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;">For some of our teachers, this is quite worrisome and stressful, and I completely understand this. For me, I only want to walk back into my classroom and meet my students - for at least a few weeks. I'm pretty sure being in the actual school building isn't going to last too long, so I need to make sure to build community, get kids reading, and get kids writing. This new "reality" is hard to deal with, but I am going to make it work to the best of my ability for my students. I want them to be excited about being with each other, reading, writing, and discussing, whether they are in the building or online. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;">Over the summer, I have purchased more books for my classroom library, much to the chagrin of my husband and our budget, organized my books using Booksource's Classroom Organizer (highly recommend!), participated in Book Love Foundation's 2020 Summer Book Club (highly recommend!), read amazing professional development books, and read for my own enjoyment - even though it was difficult for me to stay focused like usual because of the heaviness of our what our country is experiencing this summer.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;">My last two posts were about specific books for specific topics, so they didn't focus on the books I have been reading. I haven't written about what I have actually been reading since April 27, so this will be a longer than normal post, which will be broken into middle grade books, young adult books, adult books, and teacher professional development books. Take a peek and find something you might enjoy! Happy reading!</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><u><span style="font-family: times;">Middle Grade Books</span></u></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DeXEfaJyuXm-jpEb07szLuvPDPbxnrLKvxzNgEA_weGZBPpz69D4RSlZn3UOT4uHK1GClDvCKhmenbi-Hfu3np3eeuJIXPJ9uqmd02d0FZDLZbeFT-jgY-LQ8O7swGhexaDvNARRTJ2r/s475/marcus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DeXEfaJyuXm-jpEb07szLuvPDPbxnrLKvxzNgEA_weGZBPpz69D4RSlZn3UOT4uHK1GClDvCKhmenbi-Hfu3np3eeuJIXPJ9uqmd02d0FZDLZbeFT-jgY-LQ8O7swGhexaDvNARRTJ2r/w132-h200/marcus.jpg" width="132" /></span></a></i></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish </i>by Pablo Cartaya</span></b><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><b>This is a wonderful middle grade book about finding who you are. It was a fairly quick read, so I think it will hook in some readers who aren’t always able to stick with longer books. Really enjoyed it! 5 stars!</b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText1535208587396594523" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><b>Summary: </b>Marcus Vega is six feet tall, 180 pounds, and the owner of a premature mustache. When you look like this and you're only in the eighth grade, you're both a threat and a target. Marcus knows what classmates and teachers see when they look at him: a monster.<br /><br />But appearances are deceiving. At home, Marcus is a devoted brother. And he finds ways to earn cash to contribute to his family’s rainy day fund. His mom works long hours and his dad walked out ten years ago—someone has to pick up the slack.<br /><br />After a fight at school leaves him facing suspension, Marcus and his family decide to hit the reset button and regroup for a week in Puerto Rico. Marcus is more interested in finding his father, though, who is somewhere on the island. Through a series of misadventures that take Marcus all over Puerto Rico in search of the elusive Mr. Vega, Marcus meets a colorful cast of characters who show him the many faces of fatherhood. And he even learns a bit of Spanish along the way.<br /><br />Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish is a novel about discovering home and identity in uncharted landscapes.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>What Lane </i>by Torrey Maldonado </span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><b>Wonderful book for the times we are living in. Perfect for 5th-7th grade. Would work well for 8th graders who are striving readers. 5 stars!</b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4pazsYzPhLiz39Mje_zhcNkVNEw6g_PqEZmADQQJzkhJkbf8aF2Vw8PX5_RwuzpQdR2bEuOoWjlvm_j8UsYu5OGuI7MXZgbvPUJ9C8WL-cIIspPoi4WYxS6zisfHkwQu91_Ap-1knPSR/s400/what+lane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4pazsYzPhLiz39Mje_zhcNkVNEw6g_PqEZmADQQJzkhJkbf8aF2Vw8PX5_RwuzpQdR2bEuOoWjlvm_j8UsYu5OGuI7MXZgbvPUJ9C8WL-cIIspPoi4WYxS6zisfHkwQu91_Ap-1knPSR/w133-h200/what+lane.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818; text-align: left;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">"STAY IN YOUR LANE." Stephen doesn't want to hear that--he wants to have no lane.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Anything his friends can do, Stephen should be able to do too, right? So when they dare each other to sneak into an abandoned building, he doesn't think it's his lane, but he goes. Here's the thing, though: </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Can</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> he do </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">everything</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> his friends can? Lately, he's not so sure. As a mixed kid, he feels like he's living in two worlds with different rules--and he's been noticing that strangers treat him differently than his white friends . . .</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">So what'll he do? Hold on tight as Stephen swerves in and out of lanes to find out which are his--and who should be with him.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Torrey Maldonado, author of the highly acclaimed </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Tight</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">, does a masterful job showing a young boy coming of age in a racially split world, trying to blaze a way to be his best self.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizFCr35C3FH5ldVl468K4GMAQQ7c4_R1Mb5gRoTte8IG-TGgrwmLpGmrXc49uXW1vOjTjv_Q9ciDagu-XNVkJvkQWxQ82_YN2eRDNU0xodR_YlnWfA6ROxmjLjOcC4_JMoA8m1xEIUKgQX/s475/lightning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizFCr35C3FH5ldVl468K4GMAQQ7c4_R1Mb5gRoTte8IG-TGgrwmLpGmrXc49uXW1vOjTjv_Q9ciDagu-XNVkJvkQWxQ82_YN2eRDNU0xodR_YlnWfA6ROxmjLjOcC4_JMoA8m1xEIUKgQX/w133-h200/lightning.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></i></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl </i>by Stacy McAnulty</span></b><div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><u>My Review</u>: <span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">I needed a good cry and got it with this honest, quirky, and heartfelt middle school book about a seventh grade girl, who is a math genius and attending public school for the first time since second grade. This book had me sad crying and happy crying. Was definitely what I needed right now. People are good. That’s what I’m going with right now, especially during these turbulent times. We need to be like Lucy, Levi, and Windy if we want the world to be a better place. 5 stars!</span><br /></span></b><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818; text-align: left;">Summary: </b><span id="freeText15935539273771704754" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Lucy Callahan was struck by lightning. She doesn't remember it, but it changed her life forever. The zap gave her genius-level math skills, and ever since, Lucy has been homeschooled. Now, at 12 years old, she's technically ready for college. She just has to pass 1 more test — middle school!<br /><br />Lucy's grandma insists: Go to middle school for 1 year. Make 1 friend. Join 1 activity. And read 1 book (that's not a math textbook!). Lucy's not sure what a girl who does calculus homework for fun can possibly learn in 7th grade. She has everything she needs at home, where nobody can make fun of her rigid routines or her superpowered brain. The equation of Lucy's life has already been solved. Unless there's been a miscalculation?<br /><br /><i>A celebration of friendship, Stacy McAnulty's smart and thoughtful middle-grade debut reminds us all to get out of our comfort zones and embrace what makes us different.</i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>New Kid </i>by Jerry Craft </span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>This book is ALWAYS checked out of my classroom library, and now that I’ve had a chance to read it, I absolutely loved it! #bestofmiddleschool #graphicnovel 5 stars!</b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3FyMQlNKMeWWEUI2l2KT8dwwY7asrfvDJi3eZC4IjVDJKHAxxKijFib-2lXHJJClImbL9jAcHAhv8fSWbXCcq1LrvlAoq5B_qXX44M2R8fonnyWTkoBxBOOjtSPvOVY_4ZqywK1nXZvhp/s400/New.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3FyMQlNKMeWWEUI2l2KT8dwwY7asrfvDJi3eZC4IjVDJKHAxxKijFib-2lXHJJClImbL9jAcHAhv8fSWbXCcq1LrvlAoq5B_qXX44M2R8fonnyWTkoBxBOOjtSPvOVY_4ZqywK1nXZvhp/w134-h200/New.jpg" width="134" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">A graphic novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is low and the struggle to fit in is real.</strong><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><b style="color: #181818; text-align: left;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>I Can Make This Promise </i>by Christine Day</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD1nENTmEqJ6rYitEPBfvl0Rsjss_xGkInX5P-vjSn4-juwrQry3P2L5oqhS-gbHBGd7uHvx2S_QIrWs3Y52h9In_EdnbLGzDUbzfM9ldKg3GxoU_A1wIj-tY9un2pK1iWOGAPDVc_3RNA/s475/promise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD1nENTmEqJ6rYitEPBfvl0Rsjss_xGkInX5P-vjSn4-juwrQry3P2L5oqhS-gbHBGd7uHvx2S_QIrWs3Y52h9In_EdnbLGzDUbzfM9ldKg3GxoU_A1wIj-tY9un2pK1iWOGAPDVc_3RNA/w133-h200/promise.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><u>My Review</u>: </span></b><table border="0" cellspacing="1" class="myActivity" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" style="line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="readable reviewText" style="line-height: 21px;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">I’m trying to put into words how this book affected me. First off, Edie and her mom’s story is one of love, and it’s clear throughout the book. Secondly, I’m angry. Angry at how our government stole lives from Native Americans, in so many ways, and we as White Americans mostly know nothing about this. (You’ll see what I’m talking about when you read the book.) I’m saddened by all that continues to go on in our country (and world - Uighurs in China as one example) against basic humanity. How does one group get to have such power over another group?<br /><br />In the end, this is a book about the past, the present, and the future and how we can be informed and knowledgeable to make a difference.<br /><br />This book would be perfect for any middle school classroom! The characters have some middle school drama, grow as human beings, and learn about life.<br /><br />#middleschoolread #NativeAmericanvoices #readthisbook #timetomoveawayfromtheclassics 5 stars!</span></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span id="freeText16054758604323310871" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"><br /></span><b style="color: #181818; text-align: left;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Inspired by her family’s history—Christine Day tells the story of a girl who uncovers her family’s secrets—and finds her own Native American identity.<br /><br />All her life, Edie has known that her mom was adopted by a white couple. So, no matter how curious she might be about her Native American heritage, Edie is sure her family doesn’t have any answers.<br /><br />Until the day when she and her friends discover a box hidden in the attic—a box full of letters signed “Love, Edith,” and photos of a woman who looks just like her.<br /><br />Suddenly, Edie has a flurry of new questions about this woman who shares her name. Could she belong to the Native family that Edie never knew about? But if her mom and dad have kept this secret from her all her life, how can she trust them to tell her the truth now?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><u><span style="font-family: times;">Young Adult Books</span></u></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Woven in Moonlight </i>by Isabel Ibañez </span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Quick-paced, action-packed, YA fantasy with real character development, social commentary, and life lessons. Read this book in less than 24 hours. You should read it, too! 5 stars!</b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW8UbuwDXeWQWw8EtCxK8b7YTsj9O0xwZPsf_Vr7vCTb0MYZQb7yHO-taoxOKvRIycVCtNOagkVaWxoCRggOycoNg8HTTH5LaitI9unfadQflMAHzagjGEMuTzR8phqiW-IQinXjUb0B5B/s475/moonlight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW8UbuwDXeWQWw8EtCxK8b7YTsj9O0xwZPsf_Vr7vCTb0MYZQb7yHO-taoxOKvRIycVCtNOagkVaWxoCRggOycoNg8HTTH5LaitI9unfadQflMAHzagjGEMuTzR8phqiW-IQinXjUb0B5B/w132-h200/moonlight.jpg" width="132" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A lush tapestry of magic, romance, and revolución, drawing inspiration from Bolivian politics and history.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Ximena is the decoy Condesa, a stand-in for the last remaining Illustrian royal. Her people lost everything when the usurper, Atoc, used an ancient relic to summon ghosts and drive the Illustrians from La Ciudad. Now Ximena’s motivated by her insatiable thirst for revenge, and her rare ability to spin thread from moonlight.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Atoc demands the real Condesa’s hand in marriage, it’s Ximena’s duty to go in her stead. She relishes the chance, as Illustrian spies have reported that Atoc’s no longer carrying his deadly relic. If Ximena can find it, she can return the true aristócrata to their rightful place.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">She hunts for the relic, using her weaving ability to hide messages in tapestries for the resistance. But when a masked vigilante, a warm-hearted princess, and a thoughtful healer challenge Ximena, her mission becomes more complicated. There could be a way to overthrow the usurper without starting another war, but only if Ximena turns her back on revenge—and her Condesa.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQJaGdhrW_V_Lo-cOY0x0c0c6WpqIiTm6ddIX0-iKZayx0qhvz4hQyzbyqXKrE49wtKT9l8et1S8TEJIuO11SmQCrogTPpDkLWrFI_VwAn1piS9Yu9Wfdaw38ScdccxZr25Fl7LL9OPe1/s475/bad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQJaGdhrW_V_Lo-cOY0x0c0c6WpqIiTm6ddIX0-iKZayx0qhvz4hQyzbyqXKrE49wtKT9l8et1S8TEJIuO11SmQCrogTPpDkLWrFI_VwAn1piS9Yu9Wfdaw38ScdccxZr25Fl7LL9OPe1/w133-h200/bad.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></i></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know </i>by Samira Ahmed</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Mystery, romance, France, and #writeherstory - You will not be able to put this newly published YA book down! 5 stars!</span><b><br /></b></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span id="freeText14316006883909821760" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Told in alternating narratives that bridge centuries, the latest novel from New York Times bestselling author Samira Ahmed traces the lives of two young women fighting to write their own stories and escape the pressure of familial burdens and cultural expectations in worlds too long defined by men.<br /><br />It’s August in Paris and 17-year-old Khayyam Maquet—American, French, Indian, Muslim—is at a crossroads. This holiday with her professor parents should be a dream trip for the budding art historian. But her maybe-ex-boyfriend is probably ghosting her, she might have just blown her chance at getting into her dream college, and now all she really wants is to be back home in Chicago figuring out her messy life instead of brooding in the City of Light.<br /><br />Two hundred years before Khayyam’s summer of discontent, Leila is struggling to survive and keep her true love hidden from the Pasha who has “gifted” her with favored status in his harem. In the present day—and with the company of a descendant of Alexandre Dumas—Khayyam begins to connect allusions to an enigmatic 19th-century Muslim woman whose path may have intersected with Alexandre Dumas, Eugène Delacroix, and Lord Byron.<br /><br />Echoing across centuries, Leila and Khayyam’s lives intertwine, and as one woman’s long-forgotten life is uncovered, another’s is transformed.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Truly Devious (Truly Devious #1) </i>by Maureen Johnson </span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>I am not one for mysteries, and I ordered the next two books in the series. Great YA read! 5 stars!</b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-WMBkcOminFPQFJY2axzW5_TeOFAY_4tKI-sAiCgNLCZIKP630LtRy2FjRgIJhgGEp-PbiQf_-ujBiCRjX3spyY0y-p3acJBfBCD-5yKarQ6HygvQigcdQNM1_7bdLCxuRTCEosbuN63/s460/Truly+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-WMBkcOminFPQFJY2axzW5_TeOFAY_4tKI-sAiCgNLCZIKP630LtRy2FjRgIJhgGEp-PbiQf_-ujBiCRjX3spyY0y-p3acJBfBCD-5yKarQ6HygvQigcdQNM1_7bdLCxuRTCEosbuN63/w138-h200/Truly+1.jpg" width="138" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.”</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCAsN3uCgWpGEgxdhT2Is9_7N7E0KSTYTel3kipQVbFNahsJSBUXhwdwIVH_NxWY_wdiv6I1npDIcCGfyfhJiW71IPVYE_jNkrwt3Rl5DrGLaXGxHtWnqRgwNLLiGci8bdIl8FCfN0YQ0/s475/truly+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCAsN3uCgWpGEgxdhT2Is9_7N7E0KSTYTel3kipQVbFNahsJSBUXhwdwIVH_NxWY_wdiv6I1npDIcCGfyfhJiW71IPVYE_jNkrwt3Rl5DrGLaXGxHtWnqRgwNLLiGci8bdIl8FCfN0YQ0/w132-h200/truly+2.jpg" width="132" /></span></a></i></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious #2) </i>by Maureen Johnson</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>I cannot believe how much I love this YA mystery trilogy! So glad I have the next book ready and waiting for me to delve into! 7th grade and up (does have some mature content but not anything most middle school kids can’t handle) 5 stars!</b></span><b><br /></b></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">All Stevie Bell wanted was to find the key to the Ellingham mystery, but instead she found her classmate dead. And while she solved that murder, the crimes of the past are still waiting in the dark. Just as Stevie feels she’s on the cusp of putting it together, her parents pull her out of Ellingham academy.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">For her own safety they say. She must move past this obsession with crime. Now that Stevie’s away from the school of topiaries and secret tunnels, and her strange and endearing friends, she begins to feel disconnected from the rest of the world. At least she won’t have to see David anymore. David, who she kissed. David, who lied to her about his identity—son of despised politician Edward King. Then King himself arrives at her house to offer a deal: He will bring Stevie back to Ellingham immediately. In return, she must play nice with David. King is in the midst of a campaign and can’t afford his son stirring up trouble. If Stevie’s at school, David will stay put.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The tantalizing riddles behind the Ellingham murders are still waiting to be unraveled, and Stevie knows she’s so close. But the path to the truth has more twists and turns than she can imagine—and moving forward involves hurting someone she cares for. In New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson’s second novel of the </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Truly Devious</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> series, nothing is free, and someone will pay for the truth with their life.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Hand on the Wall (Truly Devious #3) </i>by Maureen Johnson </span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>I am not a mystery person, but this YA mystery trilogy is fabulous! 1936 and present-day will have you hooked! Read the last book in a day. Soooooo good! 5 stars!</b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHC6aKiTDjZxozRXGTMWIAnNPE7xdU4bb8p7RSQlq4LhjvqtD9Ct6MsV1g82MMiZnkB9hrvvi3uhxEzjS7PQOKOOdgjRu1sGfksrqDqBiEE-mJVg7njjvzSmijbMba1Erpcsmrrb1SdSUf/s475/Truly+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHC6aKiTDjZxozRXGTMWIAnNPE7xdU4bb8p7RSQlq4LhjvqtD9Ct6MsV1g82MMiZnkB9hrvvi3uhxEzjS7PQOKOOdgjRu1sGfksrqDqBiEE-mJVg7njjvzSmijbMba1Erpcsmrrb1SdSUf/w132-h200/Truly+3.jpg" width="132" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Ellingham Academy must be cursed. Three people are now dead. One, a victim of either a prank gone wrong or a murder. Another, dead by misadventure. And now, an accident in Burlington has claimed another life. All three in the wrong place at the wrong time. All at the exact moment of Stevie’s greatest triumph . . .</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">She knows who Truly Devious is. She’s solved it. The greatest case of the century.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">At least, she thinks she has. With this latest tragedy, it’s hard to concentrate on the past. Not only has someone died in town, but David disappeared of his own free will and is up to something. Stevie is sure that somehow—somehow—all these things connect. The three deaths in the present. The deaths in the past. The missing Alice Ellingham and the missing David Eastman. Somewhere in this place of riddles and puzzles there must be answers.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Then another accident occurs as a massive storm heads toward Vermont. This is too much for the parents and administrators. Ellingham Academy is evacuated. Obviously, it’s time for Stevie to do something stupid. It’s time to stay on the mountain and face the storm—and a murderer.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In the tantalizing finale to the Truly Devious trilogy, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">New York Times</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> bestselling author Maureen Johnson expertly tangles her dual narrative threads and ignites an explosive end for all who’ve walked through Ellingham Academy.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehXUdPA7oKB7AaXI0qHPgalVJnYWhEw6FYB9FUDJFVYbMq6RBku1esmljSimklYx8EKfjXF5Hi8W-LIyF0Dufhkb4QZ1d-23y4DXcR7922XS7UVHaRHG_-I2X91BbPZnejxgIgcITbEU0/s475/clap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehXUdPA7oKB7AaXI0qHPgalVJnYWhEw6FYB9FUDJFVYbMq6RBku1esmljSimklYx8EKfjXF5Hi8W-LIyF0Dufhkb4QZ1d-23y4DXcR7922XS7UVHaRHG_-I2X91BbPZnejxgIgcITbEU0/w133-h200/clap.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></i></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Clap When You Land </i>by Elizabeth Acevedo</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>There are so many amazing books in the world, and this is one of them! Novel-in-verse, family secrets, sisters, two continents. 5 stars!</b></span><b><br /></b></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>What Made Maddy Run: The Secret Struggles and Tragic Death of an All-American Teen </i>by </span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dVOMSzfUT4DzMA76olCQ0AmchPhoJrZVbNvA9LqrOdOJK8gpBMNXYzLnInbITGbXgUIfNWv91emeOhUYROT-scVRSvlHCs5Pntdv6sTXrG0VvRQRZepOO4NHKsgiMySo339imv-kJhFB/s475/maddy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="308" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dVOMSzfUT4DzMA76olCQ0AmchPhoJrZVbNvA9LqrOdOJK8gpBMNXYzLnInbITGbXgUIfNWv91emeOhUYROT-scVRSvlHCs5Pntdv6sTXrG0VvRQRZepOO4NHKsgiMySo339imv-kJhFB/w130-h200/maddy.jpg" width="130" /></span></a></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;">Kate Fagan</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>This isn’t a book about suicide. This is a book about mental health, specifically Maddy Holleran’s struggle with mental health. Woven throughout the book, information is presented about social media, perfectionism, capitalism, success, and pressures young people face from the time they are born. I found the book to have helpful information in dealing with our own three kids - 16, 18, and 21. This is a highly recommended read for mature 7th graders and up. 5 stars!<br /></b></span></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The #1 </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">New York Times</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> Monthly Sports and Fitness bestseller</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">From noted ESPN commentator and journalist Kate Fagan, the heartbreaking and vital story of college athlete Madison Holleran, whose death by suicide rocked the University of Pennsylvania campus and whose life reveals with haunting detail and uncommon understanding the struggle of young people suffering from mental illness today.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">If you scrolled through the Instagram feed of 19-year-old Maddy Holleran, you would see a perfect life: a freshman at an Ivy League school, recruited for the track team, who was also beautiful, popular, and fiercely intelligent. This was a girl who succeeded at everything she tried, and who was only getting started.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But when Maddy began her long-awaited college career, her parents noticed something changed. Previously indefatigable Maddy became withdrawn, and her thoughts centered on how she could change her life. In spite of thousands of hours of practice and study, she contemplated transferring from the school that had once been her dream. When Maddy's dad, Jim, dropped her off for the first day of spring semester, she held him a second longer than usual. That would be the last time Jim would see his daughter.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">What Made Maddy Run</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> began as a piece that Kate Fagan, a columnist for espnW, wrote about Maddy's life. What started as a profile of a successful young athlete whose life ended in suicide became so much larger when Fagan started to hear from other college athletes also struggling with mental illness. This is the story of Maddy Holleran's life, and her struggle with depression, which also reveals the mounting pressures young people, and college athletes in particular, face to be perfect, especially in an age of relentless connectivity and social media saturation.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCJvEv29cGiIznBt6ApwqnZ7mkRbHGeFEFDzfq-BtJUA_T43iF1Wvd0LiAuPwoiKGxGIfcTIqAl6XT1L-H1vKBxY2-xingVqLpa6zY-nUPbduUoDr7dHKq8KAfUXLqsIyFua2VxMP2xhoF/s450/down.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCJvEv29cGiIznBt6ApwqnZ7mkRbHGeFEFDzfq-BtJUA_T43iF1Wvd0LiAuPwoiKGxGIfcTIqAl6XT1L-H1vKBxY2-xingVqLpa6zY-nUPbduUoDr7dHKq8KAfUXLqsIyFua2VxMP2xhoF/w133-h200/down.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></i></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Downstairs Girl </i>by Stacey Lee</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Stacey Lee did it again! I love her historical books, and The Downstairs Girl does not disappoint. Set in Atlanta in 1890, Lee writes about Jo Kuan and America’s past with honesty, wit, and heartbreak. This book will draw you in from the first page. #YA #historicalfiction 5 stars!</b></span><b><br /></b></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span id="freeText8183355753355751912" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">From the founding member of We Need Diverse Books comes a powerful novel about identity, betrayal, and the meaning of family.<br /><br />By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady's maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, "Dear Miss Sweetie." When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society's ills, but she's not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender. While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta's most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she, a girl used to living in the shadows, is ready to step into the light. With prose that is witty, insightful, and at times heartbreaking, Stacey Lee masterfully crafts an extraordinary social drama set in the New South.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Fights: One Boy's Triumph Over Violence </i>by Joel Christian Gill </span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Pretty intense YA graphic novel. Difficult and mature content. It was confusing in a few spots, so that’s why the 4 and not a 5. Recommend for mature 8th graders and up. 4 stars!</b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_8taaGl8jSPHEd2jTLcnTSPOUFg7wRpahvIlX8UfS6nCfUWI2mCd8lxgLCZpPU2llIBJaaW-ywvc2dEvNMSCtRFkQrwZ9qtadIGr7WrFxAHZwDN3kQNlrRFyZecGp9gbua1QfI2DDT6YY/s473/fights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_8taaGl8jSPHEd2jTLcnTSPOUFg7wRpahvIlX8UfS6nCfUWI2mCd8lxgLCZpPU2llIBJaaW-ywvc2dEvNMSCtRFkQrwZ9qtadIGr7WrFxAHZwDN3kQNlrRFyZecGp9gbua1QfI2DDT6YY/w134-h200/fights.jpg" width="134" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Fights</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is the visceral and deeply affecting memoir of artist/author Joel Christian Gill, chronicling his youth and coming of age as a Black child in a chaotic landscape of rough city streets and foreboding backwoods. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Propelled into a world filled with uncertainty and desperation, young Joel is pushed toward using violence to solve his problems by everything and everyone around him. But fighting doesn’t always yield the best results for a confused and sensitive kid who yearns for a better, more fulfilling life than the one he was born into, as Joel learns in a series of brutal conflicts that eventually lead him to question everything he has learned about what it truly means to fight for one’s life.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_cBsRyjISNK-db6CbrcfB_LQuEsgJzzzMCoj4I1aEyLQ0WA7Va-t17ofQWJRG_Db5Pjq3634YmAUo1LqlkFRYqHyLuViqBPK7VTdYnp2Zys18vUx-bokiUEwibuf8rzVMUHs6zVjntfo4/s475/stamp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_cBsRyjISNK-db6CbrcfB_LQuEsgJzzzMCoj4I1aEyLQ0WA7Va-t17ofQWJRG_Db5Pjq3634YmAUo1LqlkFRYqHyLuViqBPK7VTdYnp2Zys18vUx-bokiUEwibuf8rzVMUHs6zVjntfo4/w132-h200/stamp.jpg" width="132" /></span></a></i></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You </i>by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">I know I’m going to be ostracized for giving this book 4 stars and not 5. It’s a good book. It really is. But it leaves out too much. Thinking about my 8th graders reading this next year, many of them will have lots of questions because the book doesn’t delve deep enough and mentions things kids might have no idea about without giving them info on it. It’s more surface-level. I believe our young adults can handle more than is given in this book, and I think they deserve more, too. That being said, it’s still a good book. It really is.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">I’ve purchased Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped from the Beginning, where Stamped originated from. After I read it, I’m hoping I can add that one to my classroom library, too, for the kids who want more details. 4 stars!<br /></span></b></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A timely, crucial, and empowering exploration of racism--and antiracism--in America</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">This is NOT a history book.</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">This is a book about the here and now.</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A book to help us better understand why we are where we are.</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A book about race.</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Stamped from the Beginning</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future. It takes you on a race journey from then to now, shows you why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism lingers. It also proves that while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Through a gripping, fast-paced, and energizing narrative written by beloved award-winner Jason Reynolds, this book shines a light on the many insidious forms of racist ideas--and on ways readers can identify and stamp out racist thoughts in their daily lives.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Parachutes </i>by Kelly Yang </span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Excellent must-read about sexual harassment and sexual assault. This book is a true YA book, and I’d only recommend for very mature 8th graders and up. 5 stars!</b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyMrrxgXXaDEzsR9zFaBqbp8wgg6eKl20Cu8SeLaJjlmZNud2TNbwkrygweAsbj0TMPWNwOg28vbVi_CHAiwwocgMX6v5GujPLn60zDK_B-dtYrrG1a_gNcZuKjOXk1WgQSoBy6ON6OAGO/s1511/parachutes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1511" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyMrrxgXXaDEzsR9zFaBqbp8wgg6eKl20Cu8SeLaJjlmZNud2TNbwkrygweAsbj0TMPWNwOg28vbVi_CHAiwwocgMX6v5GujPLn60zDK_B-dtYrrG1a_gNcZuKjOXk1WgQSoBy6ON6OAGO/w133-h200/parachutes.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Speak enters the world of Gossip Girl in this modern immigrant story from New York Times bestselling author Kelly Yang about two girls navigating wealth, power, friendship, and trauma.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">They’re called parachutes: teenagers dropped off to live in private homes and study in the US while their wealthy parents remain in Asia. Claire Wang never thought she’d be one of them, until her parents pluck her from her privileged life in Shanghai and enroll her at a high school in California. Suddenly she finds herself living in a stranger’s house, with no one to tell her what to do for the first time in her life. She soon embraces her newfound freedom, especially when the hottest and most eligible parachute, Jay, asks her out.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Dani De La Cruz, Claire’s new host sister, couldn’t be less thrilled that her mom rented out a room to Claire. An academic and debate-team star, Dani is determined to earn her way into Yale, even if it means competing with privileged kids who are buying their way to the top. When her debate coach starts working with her privately, Dani’s game plan veers unexpectedly off course.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Desperately trying to avoid each other under the same roof, Dani and Claire find themselves on a collision course, intertwining in deeper and more complicated ways, as they grapple with life-altering experiences. Award-winning author Kelly Yang weaves together an unforgettable modern immigrant story about love, trauma, family, corruption, and the power of speaking out.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /><b><i>Who Put This Song On </i>by Morgan Parker<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPLtyEkQ3-gqXv0D7pukdK3kESLIHYmcfuKUl1WexB7IU1bwPK3cz8aw5xXRiEUN1WeeNNhNOB0X6rgMWmOG5I3upxkIyBfnZMekO42sCJfFxcCxLe_HjpL7qDPhbiTs_caGed9_XHj9CV/s475/song.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPLtyEkQ3-gqXv0D7pukdK3kESLIHYmcfuKUl1WexB7IU1bwPK3cz8aw5xXRiEUN1WeeNNhNOB0X6rgMWmOG5I3upxkIyBfnZMekO42sCJfFxcCxLe_HjpL7qDPhbiTs_caGed9_XHj9CV/w133-h200/song.jpg" width="133" /></a></div></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b></span><table border="0" cellspacing="1" class="myActivity" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" style="line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="readable reviewText" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><b>I loved the raw honesty, humor, and humanity in this YA book. Important read on so many issues. Recommend for mature 8th graders and up. 5 stars!</b></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Trapped in sunny, stifling, small-town suburbia, seventeen-year-old Morgan knows why she’s in therapy. She can’t count the number of times she’s been the only non-white person at the sleepover, been teased for her “weird” outfits, and been told she’s not “really” black. Also, she’s spent most of her summer crying in bed. So there’s that, too.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Lately, it feels like the whole world is listening to the same terrible track on repeat—and it’s telling them how to feel, who to vote for, what to believe. Morgan wonders, when can she turn this song off and begin living for herself?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Life may be a never-ending hamster wheel of agony, but Morgan finds her crew of fellow outcasts, blasts music like there’s no tomorrow, discovers what being black means to her, and finally puts her mental health first. She decides that, no matter what, she will always be intense, ridiculous, passionate, and sometimes hilarious. After all, darkness doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Darkness is just real.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>They Both Die at the End </i>by Adam Silvera </span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>I started this book 11 days ago. I didn’t want to read it because I knew both of the boys would die at the end. Ya know, the title. So I put it off. Who wants to read about that?</b></span></span></p><b><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A few days back, I decided I was going to dive back in, and I was not disappointed. The book is about death, but it’s also about living, being your true self, finding your people, and being a good person.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Even though you know what’s coming, you’re still not prepared, but you feel somewhat okay. #loveyourself #loveothers #bekind 5 stars!</span></span></b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhMQKIaUY8Bqkqe_UwDDt-MbguT5mTi4ZLnTZRK8uZJBJyPKEGsawxAhEdvSs0_b20YLIFGVbA2K-gclJkUG9WT6RUoG3-VDsyCzyKarK1Ydr_DEHHzE4ru2FwAmWIL21SMX92nu3H19v/s475/die.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhMQKIaUY8Bqkqe_UwDDt-MbguT5mTi4ZLnTZRK8uZJBJyPKEGsawxAhEdvSs0_b20YLIFGVbA2K-gclJkUG9WT6RUoG3-VDsyCzyKarK1Ydr_DEHHzE4ru2FwAmWIL21SMX92nu3H19v/w132-h200/die.jpg" width="132" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Adam Silvera reminds us that there’s no life without death and no love without loss in this devastating yet uplifting story about two people whose lives change over the course of one unforgettable day.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEila263jwRvUT0i7pCgT_2MfEdhKzOx-gfFhu5B6dS955IAAOERdLObKOmhVgiea_F-1yYYsJa6-ffADB6BecVGeZ4MLWfPKOgvna3Up-jjytb-mxF3QJJMTVqJuZHtcabm62V00mbgEXRQ/s915/ask.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="915" data-original-width="610" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEila263jwRvUT0i7pCgT_2MfEdhKzOx-gfFhu5B6dS955IAAOERdLObKOmhVgiea_F-1yYYsJa6-ffADB6BecVGeZ4MLWfPKOgvna3Up-jjytb-mxF3QJJMTVqJuZHtcabm62V00mbgEXRQ/w133-h200/ask.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></i></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>We Didn't Ask for This </i>by Adi Alsaid</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>I’m not rating this book because I’ve struggled this month to read with the virus increasing in our country and in my state of Minnesota, with the ever-present fight about opening schools, and my anxiety. It’s not fair for me to rate this book when I’ve been a bit of a hot mess. That being said, once I finally got myself to calm down and focus on the book, I truly enjoyed it. Focus on teenagers solving world issues sounds good to me! Adults don’t seem to be doing much. Character development was solid, too. Decent YA book!</b></span><b><br /></b></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Every year, lock-in night changes lives. This year, it might just change the world.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Central International School’s annual lock-in is legendary — and for six students, this year’s lock-in is the answer to their dreams. The chance to finally win the contest. Kiss the guy. Make a friend. Become the star of a story that will be passed down from student to student for years to come.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But then a group of students, led by Marisa Cuevas, stage an eco-protest and chain themselves to the doors, vowing to keep everyone trapped inside until their list of demands is met. While some students rally to the cause, others are devastated as they watch their plans fall apart. And Marisa, once so certain of her goals, must now decide just how far she’ll go to attain them.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Girl Made of Stars </i>by Ashley Herring Blake </span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>My words can’t do the book justice. Read it. 5 stars!</b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij1mfbdqR4hIXdcmF5TbkA_y07aHyAWXLMEUahBNRZa5agye0plzqn_cjkkaUaa6Tt9CP-6fk1bFdHEMT2_ALFBsmeuERYTGPnc3-beFzzUFK2k8Y9YHCh1NGmlRhmBzXuvpdPKT2wLO9s/s471/girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij1mfbdqR4hIXdcmF5TbkA_y07aHyAWXLMEUahBNRZa5agye0plzqn_cjkkaUaa6Tt9CP-6fk1bFdHEMT2_ALFBsmeuERYTGPnc3-beFzzUFK2k8Y9YHCh1NGmlRhmBzXuvpdPKT2wLO9s/w135-h200/girl.jpg" width="135" /></span></a></b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span id="freeText17375561891853410592" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">"I need Owen to explain this. Because yes, I do know that Owen would never do that, but I also know Hannah would never lie about something like that."<br /><br />Mara and Owen are about as close as twins can get. So when Mara's friend Hannah accuses Owen of rape, Mara doesn't know what to think. Can the brother she loves really be guilty of such a violent crime? Torn between the family she loves and her own sense of right and wrong, Mara is feeling lost, and it doesn't help that things have been strained with her ex-girlfriend and best friend since childhood, Charlie.<br /><br />As Mara, Hannah, and Charlie navigate this new terrain, Mara must face a trauma from her own past and decide where Charlie fits in her future. With sensitivity and openness, this timely novel confronts the difficult questions surrounding consent, victim blaming, and sexual assault.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><u>Adult Books</u></b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><i></i></b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-SZRKLqkvYy5bKKCSTFvkxWUbp3B5bGR39rmuQzec3wa8TtA0ifmKcbP20_Roescp8xY3TqI5UHeIDKfEIIIwphHyYfJlkbFTOrjBMDQOgjZhrR3lKXpdVpI41uLsreoPc0z474GFONh/s475/ame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-SZRKLqkvYy5bKKCSTFvkxWUbp3B5bGR39rmuQzec3wa8TtA0ifmKcbP20_Roescp8xY3TqI5UHeIDKfEIIIwphHyYfJlkbFTOrjBMDQOgjZhrR3lKXpdVpI41uLsreoPc0z474GFONh/w132-h200/ame.jpg" width="132" /></a></i></b></span></div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><b><i>The Room on Rue Amélie </i>by Kristin Harmel</b></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>I am always taken with books about WWII, and this one captivated me as well. Although it was a fairly easy read and kind of predictable, I enjoyed it. 4 stars!</b></span><span style="color: #181818;"><b><br /></b></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">For fans of Kristin Hannah’s </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The Nightingale</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> and Martha Hall Kelly’s </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Lilac Girls,</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> this powerful novel of fate, resistance, and family—by the international bestselling author of </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The Sweetness of Forgetting </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">and </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When We Meet Again</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">—tells the tale of an American woman, a British RAF pilot, and a young Jewish teenager whose lives intersect in occupied Paris during the tumultuous days of World War II.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When newlywed Ruby Henderson Benoit arrives in Paris in 1939 with her French husband Marcel, she imagines strolling arm in arm along the grand boulevards, awash in the golden afternoon light. But war is looming on the horizon, and as France falls to the Nazis, her marriage begins to splinter, too.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Charlotte Dacher is eleven when the Germans roll into the French capital, their sinister swastika flags snapping in the breeze. After the Jewish restrictions take effect and Jews are ordered to wear the yellow star, Charlotte can’t imagine things getting much worse. But then the mass deportations begin, and her life is ripped forever apart.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Thomas Clarke joins the British Royal Air Force to protect his country, but when his beloved mother dies in a German bombing during the waning days of the Blitz, he wonders if he’s really making a difference. Then he finds himself in Paris, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, and he discovers a new reason to keep fighting—and an unexpected road home.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When fate brings them together, Ruby, Charlotte, and Thomas must summon the courage to defy the Nazis—and to open their own broken hearts—as they fight to survive. Rich with historical drama and emotional depth, this is an unforgettable story that will stay with you long after the final page is turned.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>You Are No Longer in Trouble </i>by Nicole Stellon O'Donnell </span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPhRI-7RZpo-38kDYhxsHGZvQ5sXyXMwPrAK1j-zjEdjfqDV_FOxLgi8ipdsW0lGcFPqjBGFIp8GrrPSqNziQp2pMXKwfsoTRendNkCAk3N6cJqaKBK7shlRGJ2ouqcy-SucZzNIlFh0O/s475/trouble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPhRI-7RZpo-38kDYhxsHGZvQ5sXyXMwPrAK1j-zjEdjfqDV_FOxLgi8ipdsW0lGcFPqjBGFIp8GrrPSqNziQp2pMXKwfsoTRendNkCAk3N6cJqaKBK7shlRGJ2ouqcy-SucZzNIlFh0O/w133-h200/trouble.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>I read this for Book Love Foundation's Summer Book Club. I read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. It's a book for all of the students we teach who aren't seen and feel alone. It's a book for all of us teachers who are doing the best we can to see those students while the system expects us to focus on the stupid things instead. Love yourself. Love your students. 5 stars! FYI - 8th graders and up could read this book. </b></span></span></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Part memoir and part investigation into the educational system, this collection of linked shorts is a compelling portrait of one teacher’s family history, her experience of being a student, and the persona she has to wear in the classroom.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZLYalFPpGDO-lgFfkuXD5kJpaUAj9NkbHckaFBuCyzxkgz7gnAVZps2KS1B__p6WlS51ibvzfyAyZcxyMpJP64HpjZFLNUyv2iyAXPNW875x03t3tEAa2zoQmg6MZw7DyYhLCtpHSemgI/s475/color.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZLYalFPpGDO-lgFfkuXD5kJpaUAj9NkbHckaFBuCyzxkgz7gnAVZps2KS1B__p6WlS51ibvzfyAyZcxyMpJP64HpjZFLNUyv2iyAXPNW875x03t3tEAa2zoQmg6MZw7DyYhLCtpHSemgI/w133-h200/color.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></i></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America </i>by Richard Rothstein</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Okay, this book was not a fast read for me. It is nonfiction which takes me longer, and also it had so much information I did not know that I had to take the book in baby steps.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Why are we not taught in schools how our government, federal, state, and local, created segregation with the many policies they put in place knowingly - de jure segregation? Instead, we are taught that segregation in our country is a result of personal decisions - de facto segregation. “Just pull yourself up with your bootstraps and you’ll make it.” Wrong, wrong, wrong.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">*Government allowed racially separate public housing in cities where segregation hadn’t taken place yet.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">*Fed government urged suburbs to adopt racially exclusive zoning laws.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">*Government told developers they could have FHA loans if they segregated.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">*Courts allowed evictions if Blacks in white neighborhoods with racial covenants.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">*Churches, universities, and hospitals encouraged restrictive covenants and still kept their tax-exempt status.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">*Police did not arrest leaders of mob violence when Black families moved into White neighborhoods.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">*Real estate commissions gave licenses to those who would keep neighborhoods racially separate.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">*School boards drew attendance boundaries to ensure separation.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">*Interstate system demolished Black neighborhoods and did not help them with relocation.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">*Government did not give Black people the same labor-market rights.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">*The New Deal was not a good deal for Blacks.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">* Tax breaks are given for homeowners but adequate funds are not given to transportation networks that would bring Black Americans to job opportunities.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">*Federal programs reinforce racial isolation by directing low-income Black Americans into already segregated neighborhoods. 5 stars!</span></b><b><br /></b></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span id="freeText4897716445723140894" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In this groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein, a leading authority on housing policy, explodes the myth that America’s cities came to be racially divided through <i>de facto</i> segregation—that is, through individual prejudices, income differences, or the actions of private institutions like banks and real estate agencies. Rather, <i>The Color of Law</i> incontrovertibly makes clear that it was <i>de jure</i> segregation—the laws and policy decisions passed by local, state, and federal governments—that actually promoted the discriminatory patterns that continue to this day.<br /><br />Through extraordinary revelations and extensive research that Ta-Nehisi Coates has lauded as "brilliant" (<i>The Atlantic</i>), Rothstein comes to chronicle nothing less than an untold story that begins in the 1920s, showing how this process of <em>de jure</em> segregation began with explicit racial zoning, as millions of African Americans moved in a great historical migration from the south to the north.<br /><br />As Jane Jacobs established in her classic <i>The Death and Life of Great American Cities</i>, it was the deeply flawed urban planning of the 1950s that created many of the impoverished neighborhoods we know. Now, Rothstein expands our understanding of this history, showing how government policies led to the creation of officially segregated public housing and the demolition of previously integrated neighborhoods. While urban areas rapidly deteriorated, the great American suburbanization of the post–World War II years was spurred on by federal subsidies for builders on the condition that no homes be sold to African Americans. Finally, Rothstein shows how police and prosecutors brutally upheld these standards by supporting violent resistance to black families in white neighborhoods.<br /><br />The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibited future discrimination but did nothing to reverse residential patterns that had become deeply embedded. Yet recent outbursts of violence in cities like Baltimore, Ferguson, and Minneapolis show us precisely how the legacy of these earlier eras contributes to persistent racial unrest. “The American landscape will never look the same to readers of this important book” (Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund), as Rothstein’s invaluable examination shows that only by relearning this history can we finally pave the way for the nation to remedy its unconstitutional past.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><u>Teacher Professional Development Books</u></b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><i>Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive </i></b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgigZONIBMwWRL_eA16QQDUKVDNPJwwJZyTDY0MUFTPsToqeEruCo9MX6YL0aGt3a5qkiBhPXkRdfWLHAIpbxQRinoD98UQ5zQy7E3xxpp2MZHULxM1GqUCt_rBO5AB8OEy_HhuaxzTqA-K/s390/cult.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgigZONIBMwWRL_eA16QQDUKVDNPJwwJZyTDY0MUFTPsToqeEruCo9MX6YL0aGt3a5qkiBhPXkRdfWLHAIpbxQRinoD98UQ5zQy7E3xxpp2MZHULxM1GqUCt_rBO5AB8OEy_HhuaxzTqA-K/w163-h200/cult.jpg" width="163" /></a></i></b></span></div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><b><i>Literacy </i>by Gholdy Muhammad</b></span></div><div><span style="color: #181818; font-family: times;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>THIS IS THE BOOK I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR MY ENTIRE TEACHING CAREER! Dr. Gholdy Muhammad connects the excellence of the past, Black literary societies, to how we need to teach for our Black and Brown (and all) students today. I’m so sick of teaching skills, skills, and more skills. That’s not what literacy is about. Literacy is about being human, figuring out who we are, knowing our world, and critiquing our world to make it a better place for everyone. Literacy is action. Literacy is love. We can do better for our students, and we can do it now. Dr. Muhammad shows us the way through her genius, excellence, love, and honesty. 5 stars!</b></span><span style="color: #181818;"><b><br /></b></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span id="freeText5362219604621608085" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In <i>Cultivating Genius</i>, Dr. Gholdy E. Muhammad presents a four-layered equity framework—one that is grounded in history and restores excellence in literacy education. This framework, which she names, <i>Historically Responsive Literacy</i>, was derived from the study of literacy development within 19th-century Black literacy societies. The framework is essential and universal for all students, especially youth of color, who traditionally have been marginalized in learning standards, school policies, and classroom practices. The equity framework will help educators teach and lead toward the following learning goals or pursuits:<br /><br />Identity Development—Helping youth to make sense of themselves and others<br />Skill Development— Developing proficiencies across the academic disciplines<br />Intellectual Development—Gaining knowledge and becoming smarter<br />Criticality—Learning and developing the ability to read texts (including print and social contexts) to understand power, equity, and anti-oppression<br /> When these four learning pursuits are taught together—through the Historically Responsive Literacy Framework, all students receive profound opportunities for personal, intellectual, and academic success. Muhammad provides probing, self-reflective questions for teachers, leaders, and teacher educators as well as sample culturally and historically responsive sample plans and text sets across grades and content areas. In this book, Muhammad presents practical approaches to cultivate the genius in students and within teachers.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw_kEYK7X09gqNh62dcPBYIwqIvtmxe6j3LHFqB-UugCb9MOsoO8bYQwCR8QWIUoXAFPMsWsI8g7cjij0ZomSuP8avHl2icL9Few8bBKCJKtXewaXcoTAloKvlS1YAna0dm2BfJNyYkT_K/s389/pointless.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw_kEYK7X09gqNh62dcPBYIwqIvtmxe6j3LHFqB-UugCb9MOsoO8bYQwCR8QWIUoXAFPMsWsI8g7cjij0ZomSuP8avHl2icL9Few8bBKCJKtXewaXcoTAloKvlS1YAna0dm2BfJNyYkT_K/w163-h200/pointless.jpg" width="163" /></span></a></i></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Point-less: An English Teacher's Guide to More Meaningful Grading </i>by Sarah M. Zerwin</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">I’ve been wanting to go “gradeless” in my 8th grade English classroom and focus on learning rather than points for years now, but I hadn’t yet found the right book to lead me there. Don’t misunderstand me. I’ve read many books that helped me, just not enough to make happen what needs to happen. Well, Sarah M. Zerwin’s book pulled it all together for me, step by step, with examples, and reasons why she does what she does in her classroom. Even though this year is the year from hell and going back to school, however we do it seems daunting, Doctor Zerwin has motivated me to do right by my students! 5 stars!</span><br /></b></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">From the Foreword by Cris Tovani:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">"Sarah Zerwin has written the book I desperately needed to help my beliefs about learning match my assessment practices. In Point-Less, she nudges teachers to consider how traditional forms of grading get in the way of student growth. Her pioneering ways of marking, collecting, and sharing student work shows teachers how to assess with fidelity and in ways that serve student learning. Instead of assigning random points to student tasks, she demonstrates how teachers can provide students with concise, descriptive data that serves as meaningful and specific feedback.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">'Inside this book, teachers will find:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">- online resources rife with tools and examples to manage feedback</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">- ways to harness the electronic grade book as a useful instructional tool</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">- frameworks that guide student and teacher feedback</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">- checklists to simplify convoluted rubrics.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">'Sarah addresses every grading obstacle one could think of. She provides ways to navigate objections that parents, athletic directors, administrators, colleagues, colleges, and even students might have with this innovative way of reporting grades.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">'It's exciting to think how instruction could change if teachers weren't compelled to evaluate everything students did for the mere purpose of putting points in the grade book. Are you ready to find your path to a better way of grading? Are you ready to lead students on this journey to becoming better readers, writers, and thinkers? If so, you are going to love Point-Less!"--Cris Tovani</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i></i></span></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzF4Zxlow7MJioPy0uskReB4iRMyVoxRvtJ21c04jbWn4PuDJNJ-EfnebacGfH-mohCPgQr4x185YFXrutgP40nuDDFk3rS6RPRTjwtEvIuzgcz30FcpaZoBe0lGD6ao0HJVU3Zi12IBsW/s400/equity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: times;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="280" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzF4Zxlow7MJioPy0uskReB4iRMyVoxRvtJ21c04jbWn4PuDJNJ-EfnebacGfH-mohCPgQr4x185YFXrutgP40nuDDFk3rS6RPRTjwtEvIuzgcz30FcpaZoBe0lGD6ao0HJVU3Zi12IBsW/w140-h200/equity.jpg" width="140" /></span></a></i></b></div><b><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Grading for Equity: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How It Can Transform Schools and Classrooms </i>by Joe Feldman</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b><u>My Review</u>: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>This book will change how you grade for the better! I recommend this book to every middle school teacher, high school teacher, and college professor. 5 stars!</b></span><b><br /></b></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b style="color: #181818;">Summary: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><em>"Joe Feldman shows us how we can use grading to help students become the leaders of their own learning and lift the veil on how to succeed. . . . This must-have book will help teachers learn to implement improved, equity-focused grading for impact."</em></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">--Zaretta Hammond, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Author of <em>Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain</em></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><em>Crack open the grading conversation</em></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Here at last--and none too soon--is a resource that delivers the research base, tools, and courage to tackle one of the most challenging and emotionally charged conversations in today's schools: our inconsistent grading practices and the ways they can inadvertently perpetuate the achievement and opportunity gaps among our students.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">With </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Grading for Equity, </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Joe Feldman cuts to the core of the conversation, revealing how grading practices that are accurate, bias-resistant, and motivational will improve learning, minimize grade inflation, reduce failure rates, and become a lever for creating stronger teacher-student relationships and more caring classrooms. Essential reading for schoolwide and individual book study or for student advocates, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Grading for Equity</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> provides</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A critical historical backdrop, describing how our inherited system of grading was originally set up as a sorting mechanism to provide or deny opportunity, control students, and endorse a "fixed mindset" about students' academic potential--practices that are still in place a century later A summary of the research on motivation and equitable teaching and learning, establishing a rock-solid foundation and a "true north" orientation toward equitable grading practices Specific grading practices that are more equitable, along with teacher examples, strategies to solve common hiccups and concerns, and evidence of effectiveness Reflection tools for facilitating individual or group engagement and understanding As Joe writes, "Grading practices are a mirror not just for students, but for us as their teachers." Each one of us should start by asking, "What do my grading practices say about who I am and what I believe?" Then, let's make the choice to do things differently . . . with </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Grading for Equity</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> as a dog-eared reference.</span></span></p></div>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-41132551497895837482020-06-02T15:14:00.001-07:002020-06-02T15:14:01.778-07:00Books for Understanding, Empathy, and ChangeBeing honest here. I don't know how to describe everything I have been feeling after the murder of George Floyd on Memorial Day by Minneapolis police officers. I have seen the depravity of humanity and the goodness of humanity. Being that I am a White woman, I have never experienced what it is like to be Black in our country, so I can't speak to that. But I can read and learn about the experiences of the Black community in our country and use that knowledge to help others gain a better and more empathetic understanding to help bring about change. This may sound naive, but I truly believe in the power of books to change minds, create empathy, and bring about change. When we delve into a powerful book, whether fiction or nonfiction, we enter a world unlike our own and can see things from another perspective or we enter a world like our own and realize that other people have our same experiences. Either way, we grow. We learn. We become better human beings.<br />
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Books have power, so I have curated a list of books that my 8th grade students have loved about being Black in America. June is also Pride Month, so I have curated another list of books that my students have enjoyed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghYomdUCLVc2ZT_sPyL-Ztn5y9fdU3lco8saMrLzL9rmivx4OTTY-6fTnrvqk27CDyOL0UEysuIflNAQFzqOcAMDpMclQFq4kJC0UOSi4FWZTN4m7OZfiQsS1foysD5vKwyYNnamhpilK1/s1600/black-lives-matter-car-jett-ashcroft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="750" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghYomdUCLVc2ZT_sPyL-Ztn5y9fdU3lco8saMrLzL9rmivx4OTTY-6fTnrvqk27CDyOL0UEysuIflNAQFzqOcAMDpMclQFq4kJC0UOSi4FWZTN4m7OZfiQsS1foysD5vKwyYNnamhpilK1/s200/black-lives-matter-car-jett-ashcroft.jpg" width="166" /></a></div>
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<b><i>What Lane? </i>by Torrey Maldonado</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQ3dutIFdgW4XaKa4MuIws6afMR7fX3Zik7EkGu1Bm5tkeWfd65_cLDFODNnVoJS0xfFyiuj6NxHJtGsdmjMUzrNTXADs6RBoTJl2vmfAZwAJi4s70NtZ87MxDtl3e6_LGA6W-6iGdQEw/s1600/what+lane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQ3dutIFdgW4XaKa4MuIws6afMR7fX3Zik7EkGu1Bm5tkeWfd65_cLDFODNnVoJS0xfFyiuj6NxHJtGsdmjMUzrNTXADs6RBoTJl2vmfAZwAJi4s70NtZ87MxDtl3e6_LGA6W-6iGdQEw/s200/what+lane.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">"STAY IN YOUR LANE." Stephen doesn't want to hear that--he wants to have no lane.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Anything his friends can do, Stephen should be able to do too, right? So when they dare each other to sneak into an abandoned building, he doesn't think it's his lane, but he goes. Here's the thing, though: </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Can</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> he do </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">everything</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> his friends can? Lately, he's not so sure. As a mixed kid, he feels like he's living in two worlds with different rules--and he's been noticing that strangers treat him differently than his white friends . . .</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">So what'll he do? Hold on tight as Stephen swerves in and out of lanes to find out which are his--and who should be with him.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Torrey Maldonado, author of the highly acclaimed </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Tight</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">, does a masterful job showing a young boy coming of age in a racially split world, trying to blaze a way to be his best self.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You </i>by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi </b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPg2O1LEqLJ6uixad2HxxKH6O4cYdBjC9CqWYklaStMCs1Fj6DVfr2IdQXUrNAp7CP9kfC8nJ_-_oQxomhEOwMZt18oJx7k6hMU5xnEJoKb0FoNU_ZB0VHNYMRRiWCiSI9ljPaBDIzYcJL/s1600/stamped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPg2O1LEqLJ6uixad2HxxKH6O4cYdBjC9CqWYklaStMCs1Fj6DVfr2IdQXUrNAp7CP9kfC8nJ_-_oQxomhEOwMZt18oJx7k6hMU5xnEJoKb0FoNU_ZB0VHNYMRRiWCiSI9ljPaBDIzYcJL/s200/stamped.jpg" width="131" /></a><b></b></div>
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<span id="freeText14219451861877598823" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">A timely, crucial, and empowering exploration of racism--and antiracism--in America<br /><br /><i>This is NOT a history book.</i><br /><i>This is a book about the here and now.</i><br /><i>A book to help us better understand why we are where we are.</i><br /><i>A book about race.</i><br /><br />The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning <i>Stamped from the Beginning</i> reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future. It takes you on a race journey from then to now, shows you why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism lingers. It also proves that while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited.<br /><br />Through a gripping, fast-paced, and energizing narrative written by beloved award-winner Jason Reynolds, this book shines a light on the many insidious forms of racist ideas--and on ways readers can identify and stamp out racist thoughts in their daily lives.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Dear Martin </i>by Nic Stone </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSfquK7Maef0pX-s1nlOS5wDGM17PJDL175adqbLxMM3_CHaP-vi3ecAVQJMecWJ8HFxTz-aUqz9R50eHErHS1j8g41tX1SeFbBZqdVk6GGKeBLfEY1The7SNdmbKSbG7ek93dKfrhyphenhyphenIuA/s1600/dear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSfquK7Maef0pX-s1nlOS5wDGM17PJDL175adqbLxMM3_CHaP-vi3ecAVQJMecWJ8HFxTz-aUqz9R50eHErHS1j8g41tX1SeFbBZqdVk6GGKeBLfEY1The7SNdmbKSbG7ek93dKfrhyphenhyphenIuA/s200/dear.jpg" width="132" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Justyce McAllister is top of his class and set for the Ivy League—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. And despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can't escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates. Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up—way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it's Justyce who is under attack.</span></div>
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<b><i>Genesis Begins Again </i>by Alicia D. Williams</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWg5162daHxOYfxP8H0mJyIo2CnK3kIJs90s0rnLgEmBOgVfgAR_zNT-mDcNZRlI1ppO4Fufosf5JCbyH2S9DiB53oKxRIMTac_M70zqOxeoEN06MnpKyFIybGrO0pXvfbMi9AsezMXu7U/s1600/genesis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWg5162daHxOYfxP8H0mJyIo2CnK3kIJs90s0rnLgEmBOgVfgAR_zNT-mDcNZRlI1ppO4Fufosf5JCbyH2S9DiB53oKxRIMTac_M70zqOxeoEN06MnpKyFIybGrO0pXvfbMi9AsezMXu7U/s200/genesis.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">This is the story of a thirteen-year-old girl who is filled with self-loathing and must overcome internalized racism and a verbally abusive family to finally learn to love herself.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">There are ninety-six things Genesis hates about herself. She knows the exact number because she keeps a list. Like #95: Because her skin is so dark, people call her charcoal and eggplant—even her own family. And #61: Because her family is always being put out of their house, belongings laid out on the sidewalk for the world to see. When Genesis reaches #100 on the list of things she hates about herself, will she continue on, or can she find the strength to begin again?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Let Me Hear a Rhyme </i>by Tiffany D. Jackson </b></span><br />
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVLPNZwNhNXWuo8NMTUYIL7Vmlr0UnTpQuuMrTy_SGEdoQCB9nGrgiaRUuL-igQ-U4IoJYxtkyyNMPs2IFdWCzjpMQIEXh4YOyOvfDAB_l2ORxAFNmk2mD7farcaoYE1Alg-ViN_4dpUUF/s1600/rhyme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVLPNZwNhNXWuo8NMTUYIL7Vmlr0UnTpQuuMrTy_SGEdoQCB9nGrgiaRUuL-igQ-U4IoJYxtkyyNMPs2IFdWCzjpMQIEXh4YOyOvfDAB_l2ORxAFNmk2mD7farcaoYE1Alg-ViN_4dpUUF/s200/rhyme.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></div>
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<span id="freeText2664018188424984972" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Biggie Smalls was right. Things done changed. But that doesn’t mean that Quadir and Jarrell are okay letting their best friend Steph’s tracks lie forgotten in his bedroom after he’s killed—not when his beats could turn any Bed-Stuy corner into a celebration, not after years of having each other’s backs.<br /><br />Enlisting the help of Steph’s younger sister, Jasmine, Quadir and Jarrell come up with a plan to promote Steph’s music under a new rap name: The Architect. Soon, everyone in Brooklyn is dancing to Steph’s voice. But then his mixtape catches the attention of a hotheaded music rep and—with just hours on the clock—the trio must race to prove Steph’s talent from beyond the grave.<br /><br />Now, as the pressure—and danger—of keeping their secret grows, Quadir, Jarrell, and Jasmine are forced to confront the truth about what happened to Steph. Only each has something to hide. And with everything riding on Steph’s fame, together they need to decide what they stand for before they lose everything they’ve worked so hard to hold on to—including each other.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtbDKMaBov9xFgww6EZuo-fIcZBmRkqu6nA-hL2wKgNTTKJEgK6leMp1M8_WoxWXkqISoWqE974W6TlqZOIk_7Mw-u3zFHQqVGfLUnnT8rHIw9f1gmRcjSjetjBPeCF77tNIBIclivg03y/s1600/good.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtbDKMaBov9xFgww6EZuo-fIcZBmRkqu6nA-hL2wKgNTTKJEgK6leMp1M8_WoxWXkqISoWqE974W6TlqZOIk_7Mw-u3zFHQqVGfLUnnT8rHIw9f1gmRcjSjetjBPeCF77tNIBIclivg03y/s200/good.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>A Good Kind of Trouble </i>by Lisa Ramee</b></span><br />
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<span id="freeText10141793870223617277" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Twelve-year-old Shayla is allergic to trouble. All she wants to do is to follow the rules. (Oh, and she’d also like to make it through seventh grade with her best friendships intact, learn to run track, and have a cute boy see past her giant forehead.)<br /><br />But in junior high, it’s like all the rules have changed. Now she’s suddenly questioning who her best friends are and some people at school are saying she’s not black enough. Wait, <em>what</em>?<br /><br />Shay’s sister, Hana, is involved in Black Lives Matter, but Shay doesn't think that's for her. After experiencing a powerful protest, though, Shay decides some rules are worth breaking. She starts wearing an armband to school in support of the Black Lives movement. Soon everyone is taking sides. And she is given an ultimatum.<br /><br />Shay is scared to do the wrong thing (and even more scared to do the right thing), but if she doesn't face her fear, she'll be forever tripping over the next hurdle. Now that’s trouble, for real.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Tight </i>by Torrey Maldonado </b></span><br />
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCi-hVsY_9vuOiTAOSNxnWG0QkULLPGSBIhP_7dYWQgvR-sAQiSx-MRbnMvxN8_Vsd_miO2hvUUxFahhiPp6OQhp6VbffFK3oXT9CqJbjDRg2OuD3RMSB7qdetYiEWbUb6gFjAC-_bdauY/s1600/tight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCi-hVsY_9vuOiTAOSNxnWG0QkULLPGSBIhP_7dYWQgvR-sAQiSx-MRbnMvxN8_Vsd_miO2hvUUxFahhiPp6OQhp6VbffFK3oXT9CqJbjDRg2OuD3RMSB7qdetYiEWbUb6gFjAC-_bdauY/s200/tight.jpg" width="133" /></a></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Tight: Lately, Bryan's been feeling it in all kinds of ways . . .</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Bryan knows what's tight for him--reading comics, drawing superheroes, and hanging out with no drama. But drama is every day where he's from, and that gets him tight, wound up.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">And now Bryan's friend Mike pressures him with ideas of fun that are crazy risky. At first, it's a rush following Mike, hopping turnstiles, subway surfing, and getting into all kinds of trouble. But Bryan never really feels right acting so wrong, and drama really isn't him. So which way will he go, especially when his dad tells him it's better to be hard and feared than liked?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">But if there's one thing Bryan's gotten from his comic heroes, it's that he has power--to stand up for what he feels . . .</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Torrey Maldonado delivers a fast-paced, insightful, dynamic story capturing urban community life. Readers will connect with Bryan's journey as he navigates a tough world with a heartfelt desire for a different life.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Anger Is a Gift </i>by Mark Oshiro</b></span><br />
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<span id="freeText6621647498351212525" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Six years ago, Moss Jefferies' father was murdered by an Oakland police officer. Along with losing a parent, the media's vilification of his father and lack of accountability has left Moss with near crippling panic attacks.<br /><br />Now, in his sophomore year of high school, Moss and his fellow classmates find themselves increasingly treated like criminals by their own school. New rules. Random locker searches. Constant intimidation and Oakland Police Department stationed in their halls. Despite their youth, the students decide to organize and push back against the administration.<br /><br />When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizP5QzLiFPTLjx3cdM3DDdH7VmNycuAw06eM7ENK9qa4KHFdRCHzEFEB2zEV9VnAvjtXJR8LjYjZvoiu471hDFQuEP9ctz838FmtL2xyp_eaQxDitxDRMQet65zCf64qbZk5QjFd5awaDJ/s1600/clap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizP5QzLiFPTLjx3cdM3DDdH7VmNycuAw06eM7ENK9qa4KHFdRCHzEFEB2zEV9VnAvjtXJR8LjYjZvoiu471hDFQuEP9ctz838FmtL2xyp_eaQxDitxDRMQet65zCf64qbZk5QjFd5awaDJ/s200/clap.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Clap When You Land </i>by Elizabeth Acevedo</b></span></div>
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<span id="freeText14677475898996995673" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.<br /><br />Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…<br /><br />In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.<br /><br />Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.<br /><br />And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>The War Outside </i>by Monica Hesse </b></span></div>
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpZeFQ-e71ldapRVnLjSKkoquPzQvtE95RIAdb8Iy3nIcgGI8G62U-qdGUwUvZB0e0YOXibUSGyEjqkzW628GZ7zXfD-eonVJoxPEVyJgrX0WTG0Bcok9zc9ICoS4hO4Iu7gLUKhHtVq3/s1600/war.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpZeFQ-e71ldapRVnLjSKkoquPzQvtE95RIAdb8Iy3nIcgGI8G62U-qdGUwUvZB0e0YOXibUSGyEjqkzW628GZ7zXfD-eonVJoxPEVyJgrX0WTG0Bcok9zc9ICoS4hO4Iu7gLUKhHtVq3/s200/war.jpg" width="133" /></a></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">It's 1944, and World War II is raging across Europe and the Pacific. The war seemed far away from Margot in Iowa and Haruko in Colorado--until they were uprooted to dusty Texas, all because of the places their parents once called home: Germany and Japan.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Haruko and Margot meet at the high school in Crystal City, a "family internment camp" for those accused of colluding with the enemy. The teens discover that they are polar opposites in so many ways, except for one that seems to override all the others: the camp is changing them, day by day, and piece by piece. Haruko finds herself consumed by fear for her soldier brother and distrust of her father, who she knows is keeping something from her. And Margot is doing everything she can to keep her family whole as her mother's health deteriorates and her rational, patriotic father becomes a man who distrusts America and fraternizes with Nazis.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">With everything around them falling apart, Margot and Haruko find solace in their growing, secret friendship. But in a prison the government has deemed full of spies, can they trust anyone--even each other?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5gn3irABiKeVWFdNvJRKWVQJoHrnd6_JdXlauuaeQeyxYnHl-QLCvEvb9NEiTn7ywD65OnG27ryDci8ZlRRJhSpfUydqUA9rKpDpTzkdBo2XycV4EbcYjH8-UwAmNGLN7hW4JNsfq2I3T/s1600/history.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5gn3irABiKeVWFdNvJRKWVQJoHrnd6_JdXlauuaeQeyxYnHl-QLCvEvb9NEiTn7ywD65OnG27ryDci8ZlRRJhSpfUydqUA9rKpDpTzkdBo2XycV4EbcYjH8-UwAmNGLN7hW4JNsfq2I3T/s200/history.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>History Is All You Left Me </i>by Adam Silvera</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When Griffin's first love and ex-boyfriend, Theo, dies in a drowning accident, his universe implodes. Even though Theo had moved to California for college and started seeing Jackson, Griffin never doubted Theo would come back to him when the time was right. But now, the future he's been imagining for himself has gone far off course.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">To make things worse, the only person who truly understands his heartache is Jackson. But no matter how much they open up to each other, Griffin's downward spiral continues. He's losing himself in his obsessive compulsions and destructive choices, and the secrets he's been keeping are tearing him apart.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">If Griffin is ever to rebuild his future, he must first confront his history, every last heartbreaking piece in the puzzle of his life.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz </i></b></span></div>
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<b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha3QDCx4Ii5WQ-LPWjPLCrYXtUODjCboNuEF6imQxgZerIZiyE5iNa96suVp8W9BjCbNCv8BE-y_hZwoC8rBeW7TbY0_ofHl-wisk9kMSsfxbgUvDA6rBn_saSiAy3pUINAoI8gDLzGyvF/s1600/ari.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha3QDCx4Ii5WQ-LPWjPLCrYXtUODjCboNuEF6imQxgZerIZiyE5iNa96suVp8W9BjCbNCv8BE-y_hZwoC8rBeW7TbY0_ofHl-wisk9kMSsfxbgUvDA6rBn_saSiAy3pUINAoI8gDLzGyvF/s200/ari.jpg" width="132" /></a></i></b></div>
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<br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship--the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGMjee55pvii56VzqtJ8_txRWJ-H1D7K1MrOgHiKbHhX6O3XqaiKvunO1tQE3FoBDOXY2xn72K3Mxos-3zvT7yVvrGfi6r8-RW8lEO33wOL6z5dtmrZL8m_hO39DnHtw7yICNcleRSE6SP/s1600/juliet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="302" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGMjee55pvii56VzqtJ8_txRWJ-H1D7K1MrOgHiKbHhX6O3XqaiKvunO1tQE3FoBDOXY2xn72K3Mxos-3zvT7yVvrGfi6r8-RW8lEO33wOL6z5dtmrZL8m_hO39DnHtw7yICNcleRSE6SP/s200/juliet.jpg" width="126" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Juliet Takes a Breath </i>by Gabby Rivera</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Juliet Milagros Palante is leaving the Bronx and headed to Portland, Oregon. She just came out to her family and isn’t sure if her mom will ever speak to her again. But Juliet has a plan, sort of, one that’s going to help her figure out this whole “Puerto Rican lesbian” thing. She’s interning with the author of her favorite book: Harlowe Brisbane, the ultimate authority on feminism, women’s bodies, and other gay-sounding stuff.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Will Juliet be able to figure out her life over the course of one magical summer? Is that even possible? Or is she running away from all the problems that seem too big to handle?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">With more questions than answers, Juliet takes on Portland, Harlowe, and most importantly, herself.</span></div>
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<b><i>Pet </i>by Akwaeke Emezi </b></div>
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmGgfG2iuHd1y_tB7LFjQJKIrO-R-QsL7urtYSB8uZerhIeMoW4gtKsmN5sXWFMrAVR81COAwQbhYjYK8qHjdOjjkQR2pPdNOLHR7qIWmaDjOwbumxhZhhlRMj9JsZNDUyckz8evmvVDDS/s1600/pet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmGgfG2iuHd1y_tB7LFjQJKIrO-R-QsL7urtYSB8uZerhIeMoW4gtKsmN5sXWFMrAVR81COAwQbhYjYK8qHjdOjjkQR2pPdNOLHR7qIWmaDjOwbumxhZhhlRMj9JsZNDUyckz8evmvVDDS/s200/pet.jpg" width="133" /></a></b></div>
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Pet is here to hunt a monster.</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Are you brave enough to look?</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">There are no more monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. With doting parents and a best friend named Redemption, Jam has grown up with this lesson all her life. But when she meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colours and claws, who emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question-How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">In their riveting and timely young adult debut, acclaimed novelist Akwaeke Emezi asks difficult questions about what choices a young person can make when the adults around them are in denial.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5tBABmQDMuP7dCmUdGI7DbPOfp3nWLRhhyaQS3_2PkQB44xR8IE9aAno7L3D4drNuiGCPRNmnbpj82zf-cYCyz72NMRateCrjPbcdrFXOCrgF5XhfMbdBnbSgA3f1jahUJ7xzaNNqtwbf/s1600/ivy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5tBABmQDMuP7dCmUdGI7DbPOfp3nWLRhhyaQS3_2PkQB44xR8IE9aAno7L3D4drNuiGCPRNmnbpj82zf-cYCyz72NMRateCrjPbcdrFXOCrgF5XhfMbdBnbSgA3f1jahUJ7xzaNNqtwbf/s200/ivy.jpg" width="137" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World </i> by Ashley Herring Blake </b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When a tornado rips through town, twelve-year-old Ivy Aberdeen's house is destroyed and her family of five is displaced. Ivy feels invisible and ignored in the aftermath of the storm--and what's worse, her notebook filled with secret drawings of girls holding hands has gone missing.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Mysteriously, Ivy's drawings begin to reappear in her locker with notes from someone telling her to open up about her identity. Ivy thinks--and hopes--that this someone might be her classmate, another girl for whom Ivy has begun to develop a crush. Will Ivy find the strength and courage to follow her true feelings?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>The Prince and the Dressmaker </i>by Jen Wang </b></span></div>
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy7RKg7R5hgUx-rBp1UHVD9akO0z5LGWhEjmLrpDMbq0IG-V-nQVMC3sfl82Y1vmgETc5Z6enj5sbavfYFjwDN4kmDXjtuxCYKctImeD87Zv14noh3VAdxJps3kSMZ6pt6bi1lZJ5d_jOE/s1600/prince.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy7RKg7R5hgUx-rBp1UHVD9akO0z5LGWhEjmLrpDMbq0IG-V-nQVMC3sfl82Y1vmgETc5Z6enj5sbavfYFjwDN4kmDXjtuxCYKctImeD87Zv14noh3VAdxJps3kSMZ6pt6bi1lZJ5d_jOE/s200/prince.jpg" width="141" /></a></b></div>
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<span id="freeText9199969360030658315" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Paris, at the dawn of the modern age:<br /><br />Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride―or rather, his parents are looking for one for him. Sebastian is too busy hiding his secret life from everyone. At night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia―the hottest fashion icon in the world capital of fashion!<br /><br />Sebastian’s secret weapon (and best friend) is the brilliant dressmaker Frances―one of only two people who know the truth: sometimes this boy wears dresses. But Frances dreams of greatness, and being someone’s secret weapon means being a secret. Forever. How long can Frances defer her dreams to protect a friend? Jen Wang weaves an exuberantly romantic tale of identity, young love, art, and family. A fairy tale for any age, <i>The Prince and the Dressmaker</i> will steal your heart.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></div>
Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-34832971446026158072020-05-05T16:42:00.000-07:002020-05-05T16:42:19.559-07:00Celebrate Asian/Pacific Heritage Month<div style="text-align: left;">
May is Asian/Pacific Heritage Month, and I'd like to share some books with you that I have loved these past few years. Enjoy!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgtTieYPm4tIO2NyhhNj7UY63taZIyV6gbxLFGEnMycnNFReYL6Bicy5y34Dcje9pMqvJfcLDgBrxV0wPI8oweA7iBnqYXJUmGeaprP6XguPkBMXaxQ8GL1ucTGN5zsDgD6YbU02DVMqfH/s1600/apa+month.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgtTieYPm4tIO2NyhhNj7UY63taZIyV6gbxLFGEnMycnNFReYL6Bicy5y34Dcje9pMqvJfcLDgBrxV0wPI8oweA7iBnqYXJUmGeaprP6XguPkBMXaxQ8GL1ucTGN5zsDgD6YbU02DVMqfH/s1600/apa+month.png" /></a></div>
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<b><i>Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know </i>by Samira Ahmed </b></div>
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAJmsre0bTt7UXH80lg-UJAgpWR74LkcZSVJsS0GnQhCNjpKu5YJ4d1P9LCNZJvxtZniZ3BGLznnfRqu2ACR6GPDVAEq1oK1r-lxBdTmSGz3LuKIJEAyacUDCeSdloX2rZl2L-bwRRSj-g/s1600/mad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAJmsre0bTt7UXH80lg-UJAgpWR74LkcZSVJsS0GnQhCNjpKu5YJ4d1P9LCNZJvxtZniZ3BGLznnfRqu2ACR6GPDVAEq1oK1r-lxBdTmSGz3LuKIJEAyacUDCeSdloX2rZl2L-bwRRSj-g/s200/mad.jpg" width="133" /></a></b></div>
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<span id="freeText15111667747245297522" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Told in alternating narratives that bridge centuries, the latest novel from New York Times bestselling author Samira Ahmed traces the lives of two young women fighting to write their own stories and escape the pressure of familial burdens and cultural expectations in worlds too long defined by men.<br /><br />It’s August in Paris and 17-year-old Khayyam Maquet—American, French, Indian, Muslim—is at a crossroads. This holiday with her professor parents should be a dream trip for the budding art historian. But her maybe-ex-boyfriend is probably ghosting her, she might have just blown her chance at getting into her dream college, and now all she really wants is to be back home in Chicago figuring out her messy life instead of brooding in the City of Light.<br /><br />Two hundred years before Khayyam’s summer of discontent, Leila is struggling to survive and keep her true love hidden from the Pasha who has “gifted” her with favored status in his harem. In the present day—and with the company of a descendant of Alexandre Dumas—Khayyam begins to connect allusions to an enigmatic 19th-century Muslim woman whose path may have intersected with Alexandre Dumas, Eugène Delacroix, and Lord Byron.<br /><br />Echoing across centuries, Leila and Khayyam’s lives intertwine, and as one woman’s long-forgotten life is uncovered, another’s is transformed.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7RDvNg36W_abmytNmFHsahzVkP4eui_efhzLgOqDKSoK0KDHczY-8HZrr4ZEDLQv0BdIa_a_fSe81yEUL4tiCU32oftnDrRuYJlmGLN5Wi7d91-tj-YFq8nJbqkFjZgAwG3PfYOLNOMJj/s1600/loveboat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7RDvNg36W_abmytNmFHsahzVkP4eui_efhzLgOqDKSoK0KDHczY-8HZrr4ZEDLQv0BdIa_a_fSe81yEUL4tiCU32oftnDrRuYJlmGLN5Wi7d91-tj-YFq8nJbqkFjZgAwG3PfYOLNOMJj/s200/loveboat.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Loveboat, Taipei </i>by Abigail Hing Wen</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the Yale-bound prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine—and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Unbeknownst to her parents, however, the program is actually an infamous teen meet-market nicknamed Loveboat, where the kids are more into clubbing than calligraphy and drinking snake-blood sake than touring sacred shrines.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Free for the first time, Ever sets out to break all her parents’ uber-strict rules—but how far can she go before she breaks her own heart?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Not the Girls You're Looking For </i>by Aminah Mae Safi </b></span></div>
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwHkRQLhmw3YbpPCuh8t3K0VEhecSmX8FDZQyvMdluD4otlBmcFyLbxgDPVVvCx76gHGbWViUNnDCaZNcIysbO7qSDFru0J7RR2GwyjnplocO_E3Yfe6f4NsT1rFF-Va7sQBHY-qR0CcjX/s1600/not+the+girls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="309" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwHkRQLhmw3YbpPCuh8t3K0VEhecSmX8FDZQyvMdluD4otlBmcFyLbxgDPVVvCx76gHGbWViUNnDCaZNcIysbO7qSDFru0J7RR2GwyjnplocO_E3Yfe6f4NsT1rFF-Va7sQBHY-qR0CcjX/s200/not+the+girls.jpg" width="130" /></a></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Lulu Saad doesn't need your advice, thank you very much. She's got her three best friends and nothing can stop her from conquering the known world. Sure, for half a minute she thought she’d nearly drowned a cute guy at a party, but he was totally faking it. And fine, yes, she caused a scene during Ramadan. It's all under control. Ish.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Except maybe this time she’s done a little more damage than she realizes. And if Lulu can't find her way out of this mess soon, she'll have to do more than repair friendships, family alliances, and wet clothing. She'll have to go looking for herself.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguK7xXzoOPzrp2QOp7kMqQrA4P-opvI5X6H5PcPOuB3DNDi_S7XxNlBFb8ZhrxCLzhKnUyu_I6TuxNcUy4MxPfHiHcc6qtDGL1uJPZSc_R1mWkUE1eBz0V__HyBtH1JBLWs-dZ4B4sE7iX/s1600/bridge+home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguK7xXzoOPzrp2QOp7kMqQrA4P-opvI5X6H5PcPOuB3DNDi_S7XxNlBFb8ZhrxCLzhKnUyu_I6TuxNcUy4MxPfHiHcc6qtDGL1uJPZSc_R1mWkUE1eBz0V__HyBtH1JBLWs-dZ4B4sE7iX/s200/bridge+home.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>The Bridge Home </i>by Padma Venkatraman</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When Viji and her sister, Rukku, whose developmental disability makes her overly trusting and vulnerable to the perils of the world, run away to live on their own, the situation could not be more grim. Life on the streets of the teeming city of Chennai is harsh for girls considered outcasts, but the sisters manage to find shelter on an abandoned bridge. There they befriend Muthi and Arul, two boys in a similar predicament, and the four children bond together and form a family of sorts. Viji starts working with the boys scavenging in trash heaps while Rukku makes bead necklaces, and they buy food with what little money they earn. They are often hungry and scared but they have each other--and Kutti, the best dog ever. When the kids are forced from their safe haven on the bridge, they take shelter in a graveyard. But it is now the rainy season and they are plagued by mosquitos, and Rukku and Muthu fall ill. As their symptoms worsen, Viji and Arul must decide whether to risk going for help--when most adults in their lives have proven themselves untrustworthy--or to continue holding on to their fragile, hard-fought freedom.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Frankly in Love </i>by David Yoon </b></span></div>
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb6OiPZmyWkwmsP4RKt2A3O1eQmAgxBGwfrqQMOM9neCVx6fu8mEGbrDjRyzO3AOrtx30_KQ3i7bXx2jpi4usi7f5sgj540I-05GGa6bEgnZQvSKVYu3uiBTxaUEVronSwsi9Veh5ZEDnF/s1600/frankly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb6OiPZmyWkwmsP4RKt2A3O1eQmAgxBGwfrqQMOM9neCVx6fu8mEGbrDjRyzO3AOrtx30_KQ3i7bXx2jpi4usi7f5sgj540I-05GGa6bEgnZQvSKVYu3uiBTxaUEVronSwsi9Veh5ZEDnF/s200/frankly.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></div>
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<span id="freeText5560067089332393462" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">High school senior Frank Li is a Limbo--his term for Korean-American kids who find themselves caught between their parents’ traditional expectations and their own Southern California upbringing. His parents have one rule when it comes to romance--“Date Korean”--which proves complicated when Frank falls for Brit Means, who is smart, beautiful--and white. Fellow Limbo Joy Song is in a similar predicament, and so they make a pact: they’ll pretend to date each other in order to gain their freedom. Frank thinks it’s the perfect plan, but in the end, Frank and Joy’s fake-dating maneuver leaves him wondering if he ever really understood love--or himself--at all.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmnmpKSzwkdkRhZ831Jina9QELaqbk7OOW-pFSrmULmnZ9Vsj4fn6qHQemxAZ1QOoBpi37B5-LUrRi4H9VS9x7tYoPW5W43Zb-7WmK7L4dfxt81fSajuanla4dHL8ZhxTINQv4DXxHaLOh/s1600/astonishing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmnmpKSzwkdkRhZ831Jina9QELaqbk7OOW-pFSrmULmnZ9Vsj4fn6qHQemxAZ1QOoBpi37B5-LUrRi4H9VS9x7tYoPW5W43Zb-7WmK7L4dfxt81fSajuanla4dHL8ZhxTINQv4DXxHaLOh/s200/astonishing.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>The Astonishing Color of After </i>by Emily X. R. Pan</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, hope and despair, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The Astonishing Color of After</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> is a novel about finding oneself through family history, art, grief, and love.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>A Place to Belong </i>by Cynthia Kadohata </b></span></div>
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6u3hoaMj7V3AZ72yzzt4yRQezH8QWKyXVcyo9FBw6hPgEeEthv5t72FAv0cGXp-hOMpgEN7-7lAQ64P5uLBweh4ABGdb-pBDbHj9xAWjZmWcurmh7cynfC10zJuGPgixc4KZV9Tot262p/s1600/place.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6u3hoaMj7V3AZ72yzzt4yRQezH8QWKyXVcyo9FBw6hPgEeEthv5t72FAv0cGXp-hOMpgEN7-7lAQ64P5uLBweh4ABGdb-pBDbHj9xAWjZmWcurmh7cynfC10zJuGPgixc4KZV9Tot262p/s200/place.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">A Japanese-American family, reeling from their ill treatment in the Japanese internment camps, gives up their American citizenship to move back to Hiroshima, unaware of the devastation wreaked by the atomic bomb in this piercing look at the aftermath of World War II by Newbery Medalist Cynthia Kadohata.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">World War II has ended, but while America has won the war, twelve-year-old Hanako feels lost. To her, the world, and her world, seems irrevocably broken.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">America, the only home she’s ever known, imprisoned then rejected her and her family—and thousands of other innocent Americans—because of their Japanese heritage, because Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Japan, the country they’ve been forced to move to, the country they hope will be the family’s saving grace, where they were supposed to start new and better lives, is in shambles because America dropped bombs of their own—one on Hiroshima unlike any other in history. And Hanako’s grandparents live in a small village just outside the ravaged city.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The country is starving, the black markets run rampant, and countless orphans beg for food on the streets, but how can Hanako help them when there is not even enough food for her own brother?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Hanako feels she could crack under the pressure, but just because something is broken doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed. Cracks can make room for gold, her grandfather explains when he tells her about the tradition of </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">kintsukuroi</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">—fixing broken objects with gold lacquer, making them stronger and more beautiful than ever. As she struggles to adjust to find her place in a new world, Hanako will find that the gold can come in many forms, and family may be hers.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAB6_W55nKvi8UxypNRcPP_jZIPApeBKTsGddXZF0dXgHBmbcTr4o_4Mvf3csqFutPw8-decnq3nij4qi7Er8mfjCftbIQvUWEn-NyZ0Pkanu2M7cwO_VBCPM02jghp1YUwn2diBPJREip/s1600/patron.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAB6_W55nKvi8UxypNRcPP_jZIPApeBKTsGddXZF0dXgHBmbcTr4o_4Mvf3csqFutPw8-decnq3nij4qi7Er8mfjCftbIQvUWEn-NyZ0Pkanu2M7cwO_VBCPM02jghp1YUwn2diBPJREip/s200/patron.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Patron Saints of Nothing </i>by Randy Ribay</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">A coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin's murder.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Jay Reguero plans to spend the last semester of his senior year playing video games before heading to the University of Michigan in the fall. But when he discovers that his Filipino cousin Jun was murdered as part of President Duterte's war on drugs, and no one in the family wants to talk about what happened, Jay travels to the Philippines to find out the real story.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Hoping to uncover more about Jun and the events that led to his death, Jay is forced to reckon with the many sides of his cousin before he can face the whole horrible truth -- and the part he played in it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Summer Bird Blue </i>by Akemi Dawn Bowman </b></span></div>
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVFKXazaP0J04rLC0jwnMWT6oZyArRMAAN1jEwgT08rWnrhUVyCXEJ6RLtN3RL6mnjYyhbTXAJv6yA2tupaj72wZh-Czw68UhTSvJ7KVTCdt7G3lbR8KyXahGlswu7E4dicXsPUDIWoYm/s1600/summer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVFKXazaP0J04rLC0jwnMWT6oZyArRMAAN1jEwgT08rWnrhUVyCXEJ6RLtN3RL6mnjYyhbTXAJv6yA2tupaj72wZh-Czw68UhTSvJ7KVTCdt7G3lbR8KyXahGlswu7E4dicXsPUDIWoYm/s200/summer.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Rumi Seto spends a lot of time worrying she doesn’t have the answers to everything. What to eat, where to go, whom to love. But there is one thing she is absolutely sure of—she wants to spend the rest of her life writing music with her younger sister, Lea.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Then Lea dies in a car accident, and her mother sends her away to live with her aunt in Hawaii while she deals with her own grief. Now thousands of miles from home, Rumi struggles to navigate the loss of her sister, being abandoned by her mother, and the absence of music in her life. With the help of the “boys next door”—a teenage surfer named Kai, who smiles too much and doesn’t take anything seriously, and an eighty-year-old named George Watanabe, who succumbed to his own grief years ago—Rumi attempts to find her way back to her music, to write the song she and Lea never had the chance to finish.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyFf_DaXd80xCWLbNtqGSsaFDIv_TOEtn7w9e2DYSKMW46kUfRZQ1szzxBnDIEklL9f0vWf3s2vXFF1sC7qY49XfPUw9pkkxXFZMzfs83lulQEjA4tNKQlCD0_KaVgBV_-YWFsEq77DNh/s1600/tea+girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyFf_DaXd80xCWLbNtqGSsaFDIv_TOEtn7w9e2DYSKMW46kUfRZQ1szzxBnDIEklL9f0vWf3s2vXFF1sC7qY49XfPUw9pkkxXFZMzfs83lulQEjA4tNKQlCD0_KaVgBV_-YWFsEq77DNh/s200/tea+girl.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane </i><b>by Lisa See </b><i>(adult book)</i></span></div>
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<span id="freeText7515360439298949802" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">From #1 <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author Lisa See, “one of those special writers capable of delivering both poetry and plot” (<i>The New York Times Book Review</i>), a moving novel about tradition, tea farming, and the bonds between mothers and daughters.<br /><br />In their remote mountain village, Li-yan and her family align their lives around the seasons and the farming of tea. For the Akha people, ensconced in ritual and routine, life goes on as it has for generations—until a stranger appears at the village gate in a jeep, the first automobile any of the villagers has ever seen.<br /><br />The stranger’s arrival marks the first entrance of the modern world in the lives of the Akha people. Slowly, Li-yan, one of the few educated girls on her mountain, begins to reject the customs that shaped her early life. When she has a baby out of wedlock—conceived with a man her parents consider a poor choice—she rejects the tradition that would compel her to give the child over to be killed, and instead leaves her, wrapped in a blanket with a tea cake tucked in its folds, near an orphanage in a nearby city.<br /><br />As Li-yan comes into herself, leaving her insular village for an education, a business, and city life, her daughter, Haley, is raised in California by loving adoptive parents. Despite her privileged childhood, Haley wonders about her origins. Across the ocean Li-yan longs for her lost daughter. Over the course of years, each searches for meaning in the study of Pu’er, the tea that has shaped their family’s destiny for centuries.<br /><br />A powerful story about circumstances, culture, and distance, <i>The </i><i>Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane</i> paints an unforgettable portrait of a little known region and its people and celebrates the bond of family.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>A Land of Permanent Goodbyes </i>by Atia Abawi </b></span></div>
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5n8du-3casNymrV34_eKNHcXphRPdTQMUfioMP8oPNUl7hqa0HYYWmeNRN_KB5hN-fd8SVMQvMN-6ceq02xqO7vjZkDYtWfGUTfvKDpe5zMwYxOCkZd2HCJ4m0I7iNVO1LdjVQgTnC8El/s1600/land.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5n8du-3casNymrV34_eKNHcXphRPdTQMUfioMP8oPNUl7hqa0HYYWmeNRN_KB5hN-fd8SVMQvMN-6ceq02xqO7vjZkDYtWfGUTfvKDpe5zMwYxOCkZd2HCJ4m0I7iNVO1LdjVQgTnC8El/s200/land.jpg" width="133" /></a></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">In a country ripped apart by war, Tareq lives with his big and loving family . . . until the bombs strike. His city is in ruins. His life is destroyed. And those who have survived are left to figure out their uncertain future.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">In the wake of destruction, he's threatened by Daesh fighters and witnesses a public beheading. Tareq's family knows that to continue to stay alive, they must leave. As they travel as refugees from Syria to Turkey to Greece, facing danger at every turn, Tareq must find the resilience and courage to complete his harrowing journey.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">But while this is one family's story, it is also the timeless tale of all wars, of all tragedy, and of all strife. When you are a refugee, success is outliving your loss.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zQ71CWb2xRnH55vLlOPQimZQDxlgEmSrihJvd5s2hYdjc46tfS1vPLO7f5gHbjwO-X3-EaH0m2A_h51tp5me4iPQPrCJLCJVh5eWkyVCPlPB5p1BBuS-7xhTJiEdeGJSznd53KQul7Pg/s1600/darius.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zQ71CWb2xRnH55vLlOPQimZQDxlgEmSrihJvd5s2hYdjc46tfS1vPLO7f5gHbjwO-X3-EaH0m2A_h51tp5me4iPQPrCJLCJVh5eWkyVCPlPB5p1BBuS-7xhTJiEdeGJSznd53KQul7Pg/s200/darius.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Darius the Great Is Not Okay </i>by Adib Khorram </b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Darius doesn't think he'll ever be enough, in America or in Iran.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He's about to take his first-ever trip to Iran, and it's pretty overwhelming--especially when he's also dealing with clinical depression, a disapproving dad, and a chronically anemic social life. In Iran, he gets to know his ailing but still formidable grandfather, his loving grandmother, and the rest of his mom's family for the first time. And he meets Sohrab, the boy next door who changes everything.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Sohrab makes sure people speak English so Darius can understand what's going on. He gets Darius an Iranian National Football Team jersey that makes him feel like a True Persian for the first time. And he understands that sometimes, best friends don't have to talk. Darius has never had a true friend before, but now he's spending his days with Sohrab playing soccer, eating rosewater ice cream, and sitting together for hours in their special place, a rooftop overlooking the Yazdi skyline.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Sohrab calls him Darioush--the original Persian version of his name--and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he's Darioush to Sohrab. When it's time to go home to America, he'll have to find a way to be Darioush on his own.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">Front Desk </i><b>by Kelly Yang </b><i>(true middle school book, but a great read for all) </i></span></div>
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<i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjT5e02x9NC4-cps7uUaXVIrMAcWmY-z8GOfch1WJUV2tO-ByPcDDCNV_iH8J2oiuj6rqohg6-YEblY8J_WsGg_1HP3lsmTeZj9yU-bCzJzSraYP7j3wS9tFrTFs0uZ8LI7lD34pcP5Zhi/s1600/front+desk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjT5e02x9NC4-cps7uUaXVIrMAcWmY-z8GOfch1WJUV2tO-ByPcDDCNV_iH8J2oiuj6rqohg6-YEblY8J_WsGg_1HP3lsmTeZj9yU-bCzJzSraYP7j3wS9tFrTFs0uZ8LI7lD34pcP5Zhi/s200/front+desk.jpg" width="133" /></a></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Mia Tang has a lot of secrets.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they've been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the Tangs will be doomed.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Number 3: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">It will take all of Mia's courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert </i></b></span></div>
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<span id="freeText6788504036207551721" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Danny Cheng has always known his parents have secrets. But when he discovers a taped-up box in his father's closet filled with old letters and a file on a powerful Silicon Valley family, he realizes there's much more to his family's past than he ever imagined.</i><br /><br />Danny has been an artist for as long as he can remember and it seems his path is set, with a scholarship to RISD and his family's blessing to pursue the career he's always dreamed of. Still, contemplating a future without his best friend, Harry Wong, by his side makes Danny feel a panic he can barely put into words. Harry and Danny's lives are deeply intertwined and as they approach the one-year anniversary of a tragedy that shook their friend group to its core, Danny can't stop asking himself if Harry is truly in love with his girlfriend, Regina Chan.<br /><br />When Danny digs deeper into his parents' past, he uncovers a secret that disturbs the foundations of his family history and the carefully constructed facade his parents have maintained begins to crumble. With everything he loves in danger of being stripped away, Danny must face the ghosts of the past in order to build a future that belongs to him.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>The Night Diary </i>by Veera Hiranandani </b></span></div>
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0REalVFmMADAb2j0dB7BCdO-M49sPJtmSAhI6g4cbwwDJu9qJkjhE_A9JN_mK7b0Hqp-zj4ZtG6jIP6cPo9DSPaCQuGgrueyK86j1JKO-oGtPb3h5kDzh8peFqgsD8aCi6uHAZ-3-chjo/s1600/night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="309" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0REalVFmMADAb2j0dB7BCdO-M49sPJtmSAhI6g4cbwwDJu9qJkjhE_A9JN_mK7b0Hqp-zj4ZtG6jIP6cPo9DSPaCQuGgrueyK86j1JKO-oGtPb3h5kDzh8peFqgsD8aCi6uHAZ-3-chjo/s200/night.jpg" width="130" /></a></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home. The journey is long, difficult, and dangerous, and after losing her mother as a baby, Nisha can't imagine losing her homeland, too. But even if her country has been ripped apart, Nisha still believes in the possibility of putting herself back together.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>An Ember in the Ashes (book 1 in series) </i>by Sabaa Tahir</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its 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.</span></div>
Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-24206822522308967062020-04-27T09:00:00.001-07:002020-04-27T09:19:07.996-07:00Grateful for Books!<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Since Minnesota's governor announced on Sunday, March 15 schools would start distance learning because of the coronavirus, I have read 11 books. At first, I struggled to read as I could not wrap my head around what was happening, but my brain and body needed normalcy. Reading is my normal: what takes me away from the current world I'm in, what makes me think of others' experiences, what helps me to understand others' perspectives, what calms my mind, what relaxes my body.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Others, who are normally readers, have not found reading to come easily during this time, and that's okay. We are all doing what we can during this time. I wasn't sure I could get lost in reading either, but reading has helped me become less anxious about the virus. I'm not spending as many hours reading articles about it - still reading about it, but much less. I feel much calmer. Don't get me wrong. I still worry, but when I'm lost in a book, my mind is not thinking about the virus at all. That's worth it to me.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The list of books that follows is going to be a long one. I haven't written a post since February, so some of the books are pre-pandemic and some are during pandemic. But, I'm grateful for all the books! I hope you can find one or two or three books from this list that will take your mind off of the craziness and worry we are all experiencing.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Finally, if you can, please support your local, indie book stores. I shop <a href="https://www.moonpalacebooks.com/">Moon Palace Books</a> in South Minneapolis. They have shipping right now at 99 cents a book. Even if you aren't from Minnesota, check them out!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Slay </i>by Brittney Morris </b><i>(7th grade and up) </i></span></span><br />
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<b><br /></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Blurb: </b>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."</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">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."</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">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?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>The Dream Daughter </i>by Diane Chamberlain </b><i>(adult book - high school and up)</i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Blurb: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Caroline Sears receives the news that her unborn baby girl has a heart defect, she is devastated. It is 1970 and there seems to be little that can be done. But her brother-in-law, a physicist, tells her that perhaps there is. Hunter appeared in their lives just a few years before—and his appearance was as mysterious as his past. With no family, no friends, and a background shrouded in secrets, Hunter embraced the Sears family and never looked back.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span id="freeText15605862337581917039" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br />Now, Hunter is telling her that something can be done about her baby's heart. Something that will shatter every preconceived notion that Caroline has. Something that will require a kind of strength and courage that Caroline never knew existed. Something that will mean a mind-bending leap of faith on Caroline's part.<br /><br />And all for the love of her unborn child.<br /><br />A rich, genre-spanning, breathtaking novel about one mother's quest to save her child, unite her family, and believe in the unbelievable. Diane Chamberlain pushes the boundaries of faith and science to deliver a novel that you will never forget.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>The Other Side of the Sky </i>by Farah Ahmedi with Tamim Ansary </b><i>(7th grade and up) </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Blurb: </b></span><span id="freeText7397084482828934753" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Farah Ahmedi's "poignant tale of survival" ("Chicago Tribune") chronicles her journey from war to peace. Equal parts tragedy and hope, determination and daring, Ahmedi's memoir delivers a remarkably vivid portrait of her girlhood in Kabul, where the sound of gunfire and the sight of falling bombs shaped her life and stole her family. She herself narrowly escapes death when she steps on a land mine. Eventually the war forces her to flee, first over the mountains to refugee camps across the border, and finally to America. Ahmedi proves that even in the direst circumstances, not only can the human heart endure, it can thrive. "The Other Side of the Sky" is "a remarkable journey" ("Chicago Sun-Times"), and Farah Ahmedi inspires us all.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroDO5T15KJXdLHO1Xye0W_9VbMmPGQWlZ4xdCy1rLhptnCsWFnVwSHi4G6c1jZTPPRDtlBsvd4Ma8A286Ms6uhqKCkxJHjDygjkFeD4LUoDcpRNWZ2vLOWBAHLouI7JO33Ji063XNdLnt/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroDO5T15KJXdLHO1Xye0W_9VbMmPGQWlZ4xdCy1rLhptnCsWFnVwSHi4G6c1jZTPPRDtlBsvd4Ma8A286Ms6uhqKCkxJHjDygjkFeD4LUoDcpRNWZ2vLOWBAHLouI7JO33Ji063XNdLnt/s200/4.jpg" width="132" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Free Lunch </i>by Rex Ogle </b><i>(6th grade and up)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Blurb: </b></span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Free Lunch</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is the story of Rex Ogle’s first semester in sixth grade. Rex and his baby brother often went hungry, wore secondhand clothes, and were short of school supplies, and Rex was on his school’s free lunch program. Grounded in the immediacy of physical hunger and the humiliation of having to announce it every day in the school lunch line, Rex’s is a compelling story of a more profound hunger—that of a child for his parents’ love and care. Compulsively readable, beautifully crafted, and authentically told with the voice and point of view of a 6th-grade kid, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Free Lunch</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is a remarkable debut by a gifted storyteller.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxiI_E3QZswJF0se_cAb0yieUiUIetHUTohI-I4VZEGuPBH_YzRCQjzOZiTFMW9uQPTHhvh3x7bZsjsYquG2qudRCjPhQ5vT2OTWB3fCkhGTjET5PwEJl1o4LmoefsFG_L0Z6P-GjSAzE2/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxiI_E3QZswJF0se_cAb0yieUiUIetHUTohI-I4VZEGuPBH_YzRCQjzOZiTFMW9uQPTHhvh3x7bZsjsYquG2qudRCjPhQ5vT2OTWB3fCkhGTjET5PwEJl1o4LmoefsFG_L0Z6P-GjSAzE2/s200/5.jpg" width="166" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case </i>by Chris Crowe </b>(7th grade and up)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Blurb: </b></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Revised and updated with new information, this Jane Adams award winner is an in-depth examination of the Emmett Till murder case, a catalyst of the Civil Rights Movement.</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The kidnapping and violent murder of fourteen-year-old Emmett Till in 1955 was and is a uniquely American tragedy. Till, a black teenager from Chicago, was visiting family in a small town in Mississippi, when he allegedly whistled at a white woman. Three days later, his brutally beaten body was found floating in the Tallahatchie River.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In clear, vivid detail Chris Crowe investigates the before-and-aftermath of Till's murder, as well as the dramatic trial and speedy acquittal of his white murderers, situating both in the context of the nascent Civil Rights Movement. Newly reissued with a new chapter of additional material--including recently uncovered details about Till's accuser's testimony--this book grants eye-opening insight to the legacy of Emmett Till.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>All-American Muslim Girl </i>by Nadine Jolie Courtney </b><i>(7th grade and up) </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenV-BtTR_IScx9oIaxH2PWiyNPR5rJFeomXvdunXjiminrxv0ch8YFxVOVokIOOjaw8KxvhLiVDcN-5MczOXXJX2nZnVdaTYj1FjKYoC3M3peEwgtKWiqR7vgBdk9NaPFs_FiTGjywtb6/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="310" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenV-BtTR_IScx9oIaxH2PWiyNPR5rJFeomXvdunXjiminrxv0ch8YFxVOVokIOOjaw8KxvhLiVDcN-5MczOXXJX2nZnVdaTYj1FjKYoC3M3peEwgtKWiqR7vgBdk9NaPFs_FiTGjywtb6/s200/6.jpg" width="130" /></a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Blurb:</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Allie Abraham has it all going for her—she's a straight-A student, with good friends and a close-knit family, and she's dating cute, popular, and sweet Wells Henderson. One problem: Wells's father is Jack Henderson, America's most famous conservative shock jock...and Allie hasn't told Wells that her family is Muslim. It's not like Allie's religion is a secret, exactly. It's just that her parents don't practice and raised her to keep her Islamic heritage to herself. But as Allie witnesses ever-growing Islamophobia in her small town and across the nation, she begins to embrace her faith—studying it, practicing it, and facing hatred and misunderstanding for it. Who is Allie, if she sheds the façade of the "perfect" all-American girl? What does it mean to be a "Good Muslim?" And can a Muslim girl in America ever truly fit in?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">ALL-AMERICAN MUSLIM GIRL is a relevant, relatable story of being caught between two worlds, and the struggles and hard-won joys of finding your place.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhutTPqfBsp2tp04xaLC1vDRX-UUK-jRZf67X5BCRWZ_9sp6aHISPUqZC2rfd5cwt9jc5W3qMY7Sc8yCf3SiYZq1YgHEDFvYnePh6vWM1MBZdt7_AkgXbBotyrREyu6gg6ZZKtET7nqoTmW/s1600/martin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhutTPqfBsp2tp04xaLC1vDRX-UUK-jRZf67X5BCRWZ_9sp6aHISPUqZC2rfd5cwt9jc5W3qMY7Sc8yCf3SiYZq1YgHEDFvYnePh6vWM1MBZdt7_AkgXbBotyrREyu6gg6ZZKtET7nqoTmW/s200/martin.jpg" width="132" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Dear Martin </i>by Nic Stone </b><i>(7th grade and up) </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Blurb:</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers as she boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning debut.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Justyce McAllister is top of his class and set for the Ivy League—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. And despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can't escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates. Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up—way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it's Justyce who is under attack.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (Adapted for </i></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSTfKaMKrSdiXusyzQgGz2Ck7M1aq3QauYPos3yo64fCRXb-9x6JexhPRj7EIuuTXZWLj-5g-jkphGbFhxN22_QudSs09mARZkWShQDOLS4Hy56SFJMMGUKLjGlPb32hi_bUW0bdLe7T7U/s1600/born+a+crime.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></i></b></span></span></div>
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Young Readers) </i>by Trevor Noah </b><i>(7th grade and up) </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqw6akA9ceswCKJ7Yg4RJhdLsi1RnNn6n-3tv6kxhIs5vd3xmlgJKapwt5Nm-s9dDTq-sj4ivTH81rxz-O3IXjMuiPGE3qVtWIPNg9-L3_j9u211tz3zzQmFpExUS-tQV9StzOtKRU3NU/s1600/born+a+crime.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqw6akA9ceswCKJ7Yg4RJhdLsi1RnNn6n-3tv6kxhIs5vd3xmlgJKapwt5Nm-s9dDTq-sj4ivTH81rxz-O3IXjMuiPGE3qVtWIPNg9-L3_j9u211tz3zzQmFpExUS-tQV9StzOtKRU3NU/s200/born+a+crime.jpg" width="131" /></a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Blurb:</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></b></span><b style="color: #181818; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">The host of <i>The Daily Show, </i>Trevor Noah, tells the story of growing up half black, half white in South Africa under and after apartheid in this young readers' adaptation of his bestselling adult memoir <i>Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood</i>.</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span id="freeText6575815062229167187" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br />Trevor Noah shares his story of growing up in South Africa, with a black South African mother and a white European father at a time when it was against the law for a mixed-race child like him to exist. But he did exist--and from the beginning, the often-misbehaved Trevor used his smarts and humor to navigate a harsh life under a racist government.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjnJASHWc1Y_d4O75W5x2xPL7842kqmBKPSGUTet_u365qL0xx2YWqZT2UQpYhZI7fwCdbIjTPl7_gJK1muniYLEiDXwUZxN0yJ4bJYVnFkCvExX59c5bzzum2JJWYM5c3tP7dbcGs8LpB/s1600/jackpot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjnJASHWc1Y_d4O75W5x2xPL7842kqmBKPSGUTet_u365qL0xx2YWqZT2UQpYhZI7fwCdbIjTPl7_gJK1muniYLEiDXwUZxN0yJ4bJYVnFkCvExX59c5bzzum2JJWYM5c3tP7dbcGs8LpB/s200/jackpot.jpg" width="131" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Jackpot </i>by Nic Stone </b><i>(mature 7th graders and up)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Blurb:</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></b></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b>From the author of the </b><b><i>New York Times</i></b><b> bestseller </b><b><i>Dear Martin</i></b>--comes a pitch-perfect romance that examines class, privilege, and how a stroke of good luck can change an entire life.</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Meet Rico: high school senior and afternoon-shift cashier at the Gas 'n' Go, who after school and work races home to take care of her younger brother. Every. Single. Day. When Rico sells a jackpot-winning lotto ticket, she thinks maybe her luck will finally change, but only if she--with some assistance from her popular and wildly rich classmate Zan--can find the ticket holder who hasn't claimed the prize. But what happens when have and have-nots collide? Will this investigative duo unite...or divide?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Nic Stone, the </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">New York Times</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> bestselling author of </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Dear Martin</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> and </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Odd One Out, </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">creates two unforgettable characters in one hard-hitting story about class, money--both too little and too much--and how you make your own luck in the world.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Hey, Kiddo </i>by Jarrett Krosoczka </b>(7th grade and up) </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6O2K4BhiUD8PYgDFrzpygfOX9pErC7TBLcvDvvRH4bqi_vxyScEaLYP1xGjTY-tAOHsn27LDLvCTiZP4JQExJELBWH4MDgBO_UzhFSj7VE3XIa-PusY4K2sX8Gquy5OZdMKAkWhPudsJg/s1600/kiddo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6O2K4BhiUD8PYgDFrzpygfOX9pErC7TBLcvDvvRH4bqi_vxyScEaLYP1xGjTY-tAOHsn27LDLvCTiZP4JQExJELBWH4MDgBO_UzhFSj7VE3XIa-PusY4K2sX8Gquy5OZdMKAkWhPudsJg/s200/kiddo.jpg" width="140" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Blurb:</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In kindergarten, Jarrett Krosoczka's teacher asks him to draw his family, with a mommy and a daddy. But Jarrett's family is much more complicated than that. His mom is an addict, in and out of rehab, and in and out of Jarrett's life. His father is a mystery -- Jarrett doesn't know where to find him, or even what his name is. Jarrett lives with his grandparents -- two very loud, very loving, very opinionated people who had thought they were through with raising children until Jarrett came along.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span id="freeText7461741413247084171" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br />Jarrett goes through his childhood trying to make his non-normal life as normal as possible, finding a way to express himself through drawing even as so little is being said to him about what's going on. Only as a teenager can Jarrett begin to piece together the truth of his family, reckoning with his mother and tracking down his father.<br /><br /><i>Hey, Kiddo</i> is a profoundly important memoir about growing up in a family grappling with addiction, and finding the art that helps you survive.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCjaBf2i4VQnwe5RRIB7AyqDXtrpKH_fNrQguxVyuWiNYjlXlEJ4V3a9yixA2YAJ8Vxo1r5rzZb2vM94PRcekB5O8SqJDcUbu3KncQtb-MFThBfa1qTQjrvHHwBfbhSjSLNtEQZg0GLZ8G/s1600/lovely+war.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCjaBf2i4VQnwe5RRIB7AyqDXtrpKH_fNrQguxVyuWiNYjlXlEJ4V3a9yixA2YAJ8Vxo1r5rzZb2vM94PRcekB5O8SqJDcUbu3KncQtb-MFThBfa1qTQjrvHHwBfbhSjSLNtEQZg0GLZ8G/s200/lovely+war.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Lovely War </i>by Julie Berry </b><i>(8th grade and up)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Blurb:</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's 1917, and World War I is at its zenith when Hazel and James first catch sight of each other at a London party. She's a shy and talented pianist; he's a newly minted soldier with dreams of becoming an architect. When they fall in love, it's immediate and deep--and cut short when James is shipped off to the killing fields.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Aubrey Edwards is also headed toward the trenches. A gifted musician who's played Carnegie Hall, he's a member of the 15th New York Infantry, an all-African-American regiment being sent to Europe to help end the Great War. Love is the last thing on his mind. But that's before he meets Colette Fournier, a Belgian chanteuse who's already survived unspeakable tragedy at the hands of the Germans.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Thirty years after these four lovers' fates collide, the Greek goddess Aphrodite tells their stories to her husband, Hephaestus, and her lover, Ares, in a luxe Manhattan hotel room at the height of World War II. She seeks to answer the age-old question: Why are Love and War eternally drawn to one another? But her quest for a conclusion that will satisfy her jealous husband uncovers a multi-threaded tale of prejudice, trauma, and music and reveals that War is no match for the power of Love.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All </i>by Laura Ruby </b><i>(mature 7th grade and up) </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Njml6ek_cS71jDz8X48GH-WR-z9QvG6-x898qu5wsAclf-oAiB4XsbTLu2STC7dyiEt-JRSgDe4_psKhl_RphoUM8Y0IKKyXYXBb_a3AnzlXL8MuZgU7KXanOlwnO2_bubfKkr93duh0/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Njml6ek_cS71jDz8X48GH-WR-z9QvG6-x898qu5wsAclf-oAiB4XsbTLu2STC7dyiEt-JRSgDe4_psKhl_RphoUM8Y0IKKyXYXBb_a3AnzlXL8MuZgU7KXanOlwnO2_bubfKkr93duh0/s200/13.jpg" width="132" /></a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Blurb:</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The unforgettable story of two young women—one living, one dead—dealing with loss, desire, and the fragility of the American dream during WWII.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Frankie’s mother died and her father left her and her siblings at an orphanage in Chicago, it was supposed to be only temporary—just long enough for him to get back on his feet and be able to provide for them once again. That’s why Frankie's not prepared for the day that he arrives for his weekend visit with a new woman on his arm and out-of-state train tickets in his pocket.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Now Frankie and her sister, Toni, are abandoned alongside so many other orphans—two young, unwanted women doing everything they can to survive.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">And as the embers of the Great Depression are kindled into the fires of World War II, and the shadows of injustice, poverty, and death walk the streets in broad daylight, it will be up to Frankie to find something worth holding on to in the ruins of this shattered America—every minute of every day spent wondering if the life she's able to carve out will be enough.</span></span><br />
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<strong style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><em><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will admit I do not know the answer. But I will be watching, waiting to find out.</span></em></strong></span><br />
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<strong style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><em>That’s what ghosts do.</em></strong></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjFM-Yh7o3CoSvgORw3b0cpEQFgUudCr0noHPcIIde8yW3VNPWtWHQq_HIFqJN6iiv0fTBEn3qZLuKJox_A6_nr5r_zqjRuBHC5L-OBZ6RZsMf7VfNcllIeDHU8usGVLhBkif-dLMUFJ6/s1600/eight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="296" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjFM-Yh7o3CoSvgORw3b0cpEQFgUudCr0noHPcIIde8yW3VNPWtWHQq_HIFqJN6iiv0fTBEn3qZLuKJox_A6_nr5r_zqjRuBHC5L-OBZ6RZsMf7VfNcllIeDHU8usGVLhBkif-dLMUFJ6/s200/eight.jpg" width="124" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><em>We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy </em>by Ta-Nehisi Coates </strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>(adult book)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Blurb: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">"We were eight years in power" was the lament of Reconstruction-era black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. Now Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the tragic echoes of that history in our own time: the unprecedented election of a black president followed by a vicious backlash that fueled the election of the man Coates argues is America's "first white president."</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But the story of these present-day eight years is not just about presidential politics. This book also examines the new voices, ideas, and movements for justice that emerged over this period--and the effects of the persistent, haunting shadow of our nation's old and unreconciled history. Coates powerfully examines the events of the Obama era from his intimate and revealing perspective--the point of view of a young writer who begins the journey in an unemployment office in Harlem and ends it in the Oval Office, interviewing a president.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">We Were Eight Years in Power </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">features Coates's iconic essays first published in </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The Atlantic, </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">including </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Fear of a Black President, The Case for Reparations</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> and </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, along with eight fresh essays that revisit each year of the Obama administration through Coates's own experiences, observations, and intellectual development, capped by a bracingly original assessment of the election that fully illuminated the tragedy of the Obama era. </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">We Were Eight Years in Power</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is a vital account of modern America, from one of the definitive voices of this historic moment.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><em>Loveboat, Taipei </em>by Abigail Hing Wen </strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>(mature 7th grade and up) </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRcu_fDIcGC2D6myN3UmaF6fSnvShMcjpfk50VlvoKPPXoZqZfME6LTz42Myt8dd2dHK-mk3I0FLgBfPKKofpnqquNkwAzCgtUHyIpvQQsTsKKyfkGmPkwdF50dhCBbSfZmihbqht5LCYm/s1600/loveboat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRcu_fDIcGC2D6myN3UmaF6fSnvShMcjpfk50VlvoKPPXoZqZfME6LTz42Myt8dd2dHK-mk3I0FLgBfPKKofpnqquNkwAzCgtUHyIpvQQsTsKKyfkGmPkwdF50dhCBbSfZmihbqht5LCYm/s200/loveboat.jpg" width="133" /></a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Blurb: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the Yale-bound prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine—and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span id="freeText5891712817941483968" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br />Unbeknownst to her parents, however, the program is actually an infamous teen meet-market nicknamed Loveboat, where the kids are more into clubbing than calligraphy and drinking snake-blood sake than touring sacred shrines.<br /><br />Free for the first time, Ever sets out to break all her parents’ uber-strict rules—but how far can she go before she breaks her own heart?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9nCmf53bzvM0oHPuez7ZUZYbvbOWEGawMsAaFgrQzrGemR1mPR6HRBBcynn_gvdKJqwFFeZiHZUuSKSBNEHeKPdpCeF7eRa4ZhQSwzvH4Lxnrx9XsCatiYJjdJXu3dv-MJycxpB4OFtdF/s1600/spaceship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9nCmf53bzvM0oHPuez7ZUZYbvbOWEGawMsAaFgrQzrGemR1mPR6HRBBcynn_gvdKJqwFFeZiHZUuSKSBNEHeKPdpCeF7eRa4ZhQSwzvH4Lxnrx9XsCatiYJjdJXu3dv-MJycxpB4OFtdF/s200/spaceship.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>The Spaceship Next Door </i>by Gene Doucette </b>(adult book - completely fine for 7th grade and up)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Blurb:</span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">The world changed on a Tuesday.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When a spaceship landed in an open field in the quiet mill town of Sorrow Falls, Massachusetts, everyone realized humankind was not alone in the universe. With that realization, everyone freaked out for a little while.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Or, almost everyone. The residents of Sorrow Falls took the news pretty well. This could have been due to a certain local quality of unflappability, or it could have been that in three years, the ship did exactly nothing other than sit quietly in that field, and nobody understood the full extent of this nothing the ship was doing better than the people who lived right next door.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Sixteen-year old Annie Collins is one of the ship’s closest neighbors. Once upon a time she took every last theory about the ship seriously, whether it was advanced by an adult ,or by a peer. Surely one of the theories would be proven true eventually—if not several of them—the very minute the ship decided to do something. Annie is starting to think this will never happen.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">One late August morning, a little over three years since the ship landed, Edgar Somerville arrived in town. Ed’s a government operative posing as a journalist, which is obvious to Annie—and pretty much everyone else he meets—almost immediately. He has a lot of questions that need answers, because he thinks everyone is wrong: the ship is doing something, and he needs Annie’s help to figure out what that is.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Annie is a good choice for tour guide. She already knows everyone in town and when Ed’s theory is proven correct—something is apocalyptically wrong in Sorrow Falls—she’s a pretty good person to have around.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">As a matter of fact, Annie Collins might be the most important person on the planet. She just doesn’t know it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Apeirogon </i>by Colum McCann </b>(adult book) </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ffQVJZSIFwUVVgegIS-2UvrmDTKX4k9hwJ4KXbF64dQtV2P31fh8k8XDbQ89mr8usKylEJCA0s0PKnaEOvJ3tf-ad0i9dTRKiB0h_901DYsN_lhXGT9tprOo6e-4thxiIjv5ndjSFZ72/s1600/apeirogon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="262" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ffQVJZSIFwUVVgegIS-2UvrmDTKX4k9hwJ4KXbF64dQtV2P31fh8k8XDbQ89mr8usKylEJCA0s0PKnaEOvJ3tf-ad0i9dTRKiB0h_901DYsN_lhXGT9tprOo6e-4thxiIjv5ndjSFZ72/s200/apeirogon.jpg" width="130" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>They Went Left </i>by Monica Hesse </b><i>(7th grade and up)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Blurb:</span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Germany, 1945. The soldiers who liberated the Gross-Rosen concentration camp said the war was over, but nothing feels over to eighteen-year-old Zofia Lederman. Her body has barely begun to heal; her mind feels broken. And her life is completely shattered: Three years ago, she and her younger brother, Abek, were the only members of their family to be sent to the right, away from the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Everyone else--her parents, her grandmother, radiant Aunt Maja--they went left.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Zofia's last words to her brother were a promise: Abek to Zofia, A to Z. When I find you again, we will fill our alphabet. Now her journey to fulfill that vow takes her through Poland and Germany, and into a displaced persons camp where everyone she meets is trying to piece together a future from a painful past: Miriam, desperately searching for the twin she was separated from after they survived medical experimentation. Breine, a former heiress, who now longs only for a simple wedding with her new fiancé. And Josef, who guards his past behind a wall of secrets, and is beautiful and strange and magnetic all at once.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But the deeper Zofia digs, the more impossible her search seems. How can she find one boy in a sea of the missing? In the rubble of a broken continent, Zofia must delve into a mystery whose answers could break her--or help her rebuild her world.</span></span><br />
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Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-70557260401498531182020-02-23T16:34:00.002-08:002020-02-23T16:44:17.858-08:00TBR List Keeps Growing!<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">My TBR list has 844 books on it, and it only seems to be growing. With all of the fabulous middle grade and YA authors out there, it's easy for me to add books to my list! I definitely know which books I tend to prefer more than others, but I am willing to give all books a chance - which is what I ask of my students. There are books I've abandoned - few and far between, but I will not read books that stress me out too much or books I can't keep my eyes open for. Still. I have 844 books on my TBR list. I need a job where all I do is read. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">At least I have a job where I am expected to read - 8th grade English teacher! This way I stay in the know about books my kids might be interested in. Here are the books I have read since the end of December (with a few adult books thrown in).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>The Fountains of Silence </i>by Ruta Sepetys </b><i>(8th grade and up) </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>From Goodreads: </b><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A portrait of love, silence, and secrets under a Spanish dictatorship.</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Madrid, 1957. Under the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, Spain is hiding a dark secret. Meanwhile, tourists and foreign businessmen flood into Spain under the welcoming promise of sunshine and wine. Among them is eighteen-year-old Daniel Matheson, the son of an oil tycoon, who arrives in Madrid with his parents hoping to connect with the country of his mother's birth through the lens of his camera. Photography--and fate--introduce him to Ana, whose family's interweaving obstacles reveal the lingering grasp of the Spanish Civil War--as well as chilling definitions of fortune and fear. Daniel's photographs leave him with uncomfortable questions amidst shadows of danger. He is backed into a corner of difficult decisions to protect those he loves. Lives and hearts collide, revealing an incredibly dark side to the sunny Spanish city.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Includes vintage media reports, oral history commentary, photos, and more.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>A Crack in the Sea </i>by H. M. Bouwman </b><i>(6th grade and up)</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtrdEO2STZt93bCpnuxIVMmts3lR2sDUws3xU2psImLJI95NVsSmmki_kb5noHTFZPwib9jpviZ6kf0iRV9SM5tx05uWDHzUSrkF0HOgBTJReTrctBZYonz7SreDgr5OLDn5JGkaoRVp8q/s1600/crack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtrdEO2STZt93bCpnuxIVMmts3lR2sDUws3xU2psImLJI95NVsSmmki_kb5noHTFZPwib9jpviZ6kf0iRV9SM5tx05uWDHzUSrkF0HOgBTJReTrctBZYonz7SreDgr5OLDn5JGkaoRVp8q/s200/crack.jpg" width="131" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>From Goodreads: </b></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">An enchanting historical fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Thanhha Lai's Newbery Honor-winning <i>Inside Out and Back Again</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i> </i></b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">No one comes to the Second World on purpose. The doorway between worlds opens only when least expected. The Raft King is desperate to change that by finding the doorway that will finally take him and the people of Raftworld back home. To do it, he needs Pip, a young boy with an incredible gift—he can speak to fish; and the Raft King is not above kidnapping to get what he wants. Pip’s sister Kinchen, though, is determined to rescue her brother and foil the Raft King’s plans.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">This is but the first of three extraordinary stories that collide on the high seas of the Second World. The second story takes us back to the beginning: Venus and Swimmer are twins captured aboard a slave ship bound for Jamaica in 1781. They save themselves and others from a life of enslavement with a risky, magical plan—one that leads them from the shark-infested waters of the first world to the second. Pip and Kinchen will hear all about them before their own story is said and done. So will Thanh and his sister Sang, who we meet in 1976 on a small boat as they try to escape post-war Vietnam. But after a storm and a pirate attack, they’re not sure they’ll ever see shore again. What brings these three sets of siblings together on an adventure of a lifetime is a little magic, helpful sea monsters and that very special portal, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A Crack in the Sea.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><i>Educated </i>by Tara Westover </b>(mature 8th graders and up)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b>From Goodreads: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag". In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Educated</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty and of the grief that comes with severing the closest of ties. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one's life through new eyes and the will to change it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><i>Call Down the Hawk </i>by Maggie Stiefvater </b><i>(mature 8th graders and up)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="color: #181818;">From Goodreads: </b><i style="color: #181818;">The dreamers walk among us . . . and so do the dreamed. Those who dream cannot stop dreaming – they can only try to control it. Those who are dreamed cannot have their own lives – they will sleep forever if their dreamers die.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="freeText3328309741936733639" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i><br />And then there are those who are drawn to the dreamers. To use them. To trap them. To kill them before their dreams destroy us all.</i><br /><br />Ronan Lynch is a dreamer. He can pull both curiosities and catastrophes out of his dreams and into his compromised reality.<br /><br />Jordan Hennessy is a thief. The closer she comes to the dream object she is after, the more inextricably she becomes tied to it.<br /><br />Carmen Farooq-Lane is a hunter. Her brother was a dreamer . . . and a killer. She has seen what dreaming can do to a person. And she has seen the damage that dreamers can do. But that is nothing compared to the destruction that is about to be unleashed. . . .</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><i>How to Be an Antiracist </i>by Ibram X. Kendi </b><i>(adults)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b>From Goodreads: </b></span><span id="freeText12607586076563155500" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Ibram X. Kendi's concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America--but even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. In <i>How to be an Antiracist</i>, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="freeText12607586076563155500" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br />In this book, Kendi weaves together an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science, bringing it all together with an engaging personal narrative of his own awakening to antiracism. <i>How to Be an Antiracist</i> is an essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond an awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a truly just and equitable society.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><i>Pet </i>by Akwaeke Emezi </b><i>(7th grade and up)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b>From Goodreads: </b></span><span id="freeText8412532975992367300" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>Pet is here to hunt a monster.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="freeText8412532975992367300" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>Are you brave enough to look?</i><br /><br />There are no more monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. With doting parents and a best friend named Redemption, Jam has grown up with this lesson all her life. But when she meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colours and claws, who emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question-How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?<br /><br />In their riveting and timely young adult debut, acclaimed novelist Akwaeke Emezi asks difficult questions about what choices a young person can make when the adults around them are in denial.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><i>The Bridge Home </i>by Padma Venkatraman </b>(6th grade and up)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b>From Goodreads: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Viji and her sister, Rukku, whose developmental disability makes her overly trusting and vulnerable to the perils of the world, run away to live on their own, the situation could not be more grim. Life on the streets of the teeming city of Chennai is harsh for girls considered outcasts, but the sisters manage to find shelter on an abandoned bridge. There they befriend Muthi and Arul, two boys in a similar predicament, and the four children bond together and form a family of sorts. Viji starts working with the boys scavenging in trash heaps while Rukku makes bead necklaces, and they buy food with what little money they earn. They are often hungry and scared but they have each other--and Kutti, the best dog ever. When the kids are forced from their safe haven on the bridge, they take shelter in a graveyard. But it is now the rainy season and they are plagued by mosquitos, and Rukku and Muthu fall ill. As their symptoms worsen, Viji and Arul must decide whether to risk going for help--when most adults in their lives have proven themselves untrustworthy--or to continue holding on to their fragile, hard-fought freedom.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Not the Girls You're Looking For </i>by Aminah Mae Safi </b><i>(mature 8th graders and up)</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>From Goodreads: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Lulu Saad doesn't need your advice, thank you very much. She's got her three best friends and nothing can stop her from conquering the known world. Sure, for half a minute she thought she’d nearly drowned a cute guy at a party, but he was totally faking it. And fine, yes, she caused a scene during Ramadan. It's all under control. Ish.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Except maybe this time she’s done a little more damage than she realizes. And if Lulu can't find her way out of this mess soon, she'll have to do more than repair friendships, family alliances, and wet clothing. She'll have to go looking for herself.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine </i>by Gail Honeyman </b><i>(adults)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>From Goodreads: </b></span></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine.</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Meet Eleanor Oliphant: she struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding unnecessary human contact, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen, the three rescue one another from the lives of isolation that they had been living. Ultimately, it is Raymond’s big heart that will help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one. If she does, she'll learn that she, too, is capable of finding friendship—and even love—after all.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Smart, warm, uplifting, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes. . .</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">the only way to survive is to open your heart.</b></span>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-25723973363624261662019-12-26T14:33:00.001-08:002019-12-26T14:33:14.857-08:00No "Best of" List Here <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKProsGKqp_tPPfyaVVrdihVZ4D1xOxz6hArXd_KKCQYvZzSauS06n0ZbNIvbgJNgvoaNKa4N7PJxNHQXJZTKjxlxHp1nUegy3wrPuCl1vT-kg6j5JfFhp4Y1Dx-3oLB8uIzuqCetCmX-i/s1600/read.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="224" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKProsGKqp_tPPfyaVVrdihVZ4D1xOxz6hArXd_KKCQYvZzSauS06n0ZbNIvbgJNgvoaNKa4N7PJxNHQXJZTKjxlxHp1nUegy3wrPuCl1vT-kg6j5JfFhp4Y1Dx-3oLB8uIzuqCetCmX-i/s200/read.jpeg" width="199" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">If it's not obvious from my posts, I eat, sleep, and breathe books. With a week and a half left of winter break, I have hours upon hours to spend leisurely reading incredible middle grade and YA books. Lots of folks are sharing their end of year and end of decade "best of" lists, but I'm still sticking with what I have read recently. In the last month, I've read some pretty amazing books, and I'd like to share them with you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What are you reading? Share them in the comments section. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>You're Welcome, Universe </i>by Whitney Gardner </span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKYBMePwXAGFhi2CnxqnnIiK5LbR2d2gSAFQNuMQJDuHTgDt1ZJJnJp2xjpfH2mdz1E7keLy7yXjIYs6pUew7N09F06TlFLI5ejBxSSrmCl5PjIiv56E1qcjVvWlORgfVFv2f7jdlyJzMY/s1600/universe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKYBMePwXAGFhi2CnxqnnIiK5LbR2d2gSAFQNuMQJDuHTgDt1ZJJnJp2xjpfH2mdz1E7keLy7yXjIYs6pUew7N09F06TlFLI5ejBxSSrmCl5PjIiv56E1qcjVvWlORgfVFv2f7jdlyJzMY/s320/universe.jpg" width="219" /></a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My rating = 4 stars; for 7th grade and up</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText8251169084205675612" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Julia finds a slur about her best friend scrawled across the back of the Kingston School for the Deaf, she covers it up with a beautiful (albeit illegal) graffiti mural.<br /><br />Her supposed best friend snitches, the principal expels her, and her two mothers set Julia up with a one-way ticket to a “mainstream” school in the suburbs, where she’s treated like an outcast as the only deaf student. The last thing she has left is her art, and not even Banksy himself could convince her to give that up.<br /><br />Out in the ’burbs, Julia paints anywhere she can, eager to claim some turf of her own. But Julia soon learns that she might not be the only vandal in town. Someone is adding to her tags, making them better, showing off—and showing Julia up in the process. She expected her art might get painted over by cops. But she never imagined getting dragged into a full-blown graffiti war.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Children of Virtue and Vengeance </i>(Legacy of Orisha #2) by Tomi Adeyemi</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My rating = 5 stars; for 7th grade and up</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText14651518288388983511" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">After battling the impossible, Zélie and Amari have finally succeeded in bringing magic back to the land of Orïsha. But the ritual was more powerful than they could’ve imagined, reigniting the powers of not only the maji, but of nobles with magic ancestry, too.<br /><br />Now, Zélie struggles to unite the maji in an Orïsha where the enemy is just as powerful as they are. But when the monarchy and military unite to keep control of Orïsha, Zélie must fight to secure Amari's right to the throne and protect the new maji from the monarchy's wrath.<br /><br />With civil war looming on the horizon, Zélie finds herself at a breaking point: she must discover a way to bring the kingdom together or watch as Orïsha tears itself apart.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Get Up or Give Up: How I Almost Gave Up on Teaching</i> by Michael Bonner </span></b></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkgZDPaeemyLzPAIZ5WzqZGYYmpkqf4OEg842wEtXOXBPmsRyFEexrFmcf422UzOFGXppSrTvSaUVS6MpMV7q0ZIBljRECDNjRmvL5lKWrQFUyGrZi-414FcrcD0yd-w73qh2OfQ19IB7N/s1600/get+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkgZDPaeemyLzPAIZ5WzqZGYYmpkqf4OEg842wEtXOXBPmsRyFEexrFmcf422UzOFGXppSrTvSaUVS6MpMV7q0ZIBljRECDNjRmvL5lKWrQFUyGrZi-414FcrcD0yd-w73qh2OfQ19IB7N/s320/get+up.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My rating = 4 stars; for any adult interested in education</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">As he watched poverty wreak havoc throughout his classroom and nearly break him too, Michael Bonner knew something would have to change—so he changed <i>himself</i>, before he quit being a teacher. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Michael Bonner knew he wanted to be a teacher after his favorite college professor, Dr. Poulson, inspired him. The professor’s passion and love for teaching prompted Michael to change his major and his life’s direction. But nothing prepared Michael for the reality of a Title One school.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Teaching is fun until a 7-year-old is assaulting you or you’re dodging furniture being thrown at you. When you mix the craziness of a classroom with a marriage that was about to implode, anyone might want to quit. Smiling on the outside while feeling dead on the inside took this dedicated teacher to the breaking point. Michael knew he </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">must</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> change what was inside </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">him</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, in his approach to life, or nothing would change anywhere else.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">So Michael took matters into his own hands to make four key paradigm shifts that helped him create a world of successful learning for his students and love within both the classroom and beyond. The result has been a transformation that’s taken Michael far beyond the classroom as he inspires thousands across the country.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Many agree teaching is an amazing profession but there’s little discussion why so many teachers are leaving the profession. </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Get Up or Give Up:</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">How I Almost Gave Up on Teaching</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> shines a light into the internal battles and decisions educators face daily, and how we must make a conscious decision either to give in—or push through.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><i>Genesis Begins Again </i>by Alicia D. Williams</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>My rating = 5 stars; for 6th grade and up</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">There are ninety-six things Genesis hates about herself. She knows the exact number because she keeps a list. Like #95: Because her skin is so dark, people call her charcoal and eggplant—even her own family. And #61: Because her family is always being put out of their house, belongings laid out on the sidewalk for the world to see. When your dad is a gambling addict and loses the rent money every month, eviction is a regular occurrence.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">What’s not so regular is that this time they all don’t have a place to crash, so Genesis and her mom have to stay with her grandma. It’s not that Genesis doesn’t like her grandma, but she and Mom always fight—Grandma haranguing Mom to leave Dad, that she should have gone back to school, that if she’d married a lighter skinned man none of this would be happening, and on and on and on. But things aren’t all bad. Genesis actually likes her new school; she’s made a couple friends, her choir teacher says she has real talent, and she even encourages Genesis to join the talent show.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The War Outside </i>by Monica Hesse </span></b></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhftm-Kd6ONJTm-juA_ehRExMPo6XY0cCJl_2_GH35sguZzNA9nR51OgkcA-m0GpWrKPVybOGB1X6lsZ_zUcbwHyywV9c8SId2AE1WwHq362f3q_phfqEbuKwc-7s2rNrCX6H4mOuinJBHK/s1600/war.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhftm-Kd6ONJTm-juA_ehRExMPo6XY0cCJl_2_GH35sguZzNA9nR51OgkcA-m0GpWrKPVybOGB1X6lsZ_zUcbwHyywV9c8SId2AE1WwHq362f3q_phfqEbuKwc-7s2rNrCX6H4mOuinJBHK/s320/war.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My rating = 5 stars; for 8th grade and up</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">It's 1944, and World War II is raging across Europe and the Pacific. The war seemed far away from Margot in Iowa and Haruko in Colorado--until they were uprooted to dusty Texas, all because of the places their parents once called home: Germany and Japan.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Haruko and Margot meet at the high school in Crystal City, a "family internment camp" for those accused of colluding with the enemy. The teens discover that they are polar opposites in so many ways, except for one that seems to override all the others: the camp is changing them, day by day, and piece by piece. Haruko finds herself consumed by fear for her soldier brother and distrust of her father, who she knows is keeping something from her. And Margot is doing everything she can to keep her family whole as her mother's health deteriorates and her rational, patriotic father becomes a man who distrusts America and fraternizes with Nazis.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">With everything around them falling apart, Margot and Haruko find solace in their growing, secret friendship. But in a prison the government has deemed full of spies, can they trust anyone--even each other?</span></span>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-1424965435594968862019-12-07T09:46:00.000-08:002019-12-07T09:46:47.963-08:00Need Some Gift Ideas? Check Out These Books!With Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa this month, I thought it would be a good time to share some of the books I have read in the last month and a half, so take a look and find a book to give.<br />
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Please share a book you think would make a great gift in the comments. Thank you!<br />
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<b><i>Maybe He Just Likes You </i>by Barbara Dee (I recommend this book for grades 6-8.)</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNGkPbprtjSekd-xK0PJPODZB54Tqg6_9Ts2ZQV0aRaThQEKm-vQNYjrkYspe5Kb9cS-h1uvocMyg1iByMJJIrpqVOGmB-R-xrozSkTYZWbydZ8MqVa8IKUCSII36zzcCITbBL0ZnIJDm/s1600/maybe+he+just+likes+you.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNGkPbprtjSekd-xK0PJPODZB54Tqg6_9Ts2ZQV0aRaThQEKm-vQNYjrkYspe5Kb9cS-h1uvocMyg1iByMJJIrpqVOGmB-R-xrozSkTYZWbydZ8MqVa8IKUCSII36zzcCITbBL0ZnIJDm/s200/maybe+he+just+likes+you.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">For seventh grader Mila, it starts with an unwanted hug on the school blacktop.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The next day, it’s another hug. A smirk. Comments. It all feels…weird. According to her friend Zara, Mila is being immature, overreacting. Doesn’t she know what flirting looks like?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But it keeps happening, despite Mila’s protests. On the bus, in the halls. Even during band practice-the one time Mila could always escape to her “blue-sky” feeling. It seems like the boys are EVERYWHERE. And it doesn’t feel like flirting–so what is it?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Mila starts to gain confidence when she enrolls in karate class. But her friends still don’t understand why Mila is making such a big deal about the boys’ attention. When Mila is finally pushed too far, she realizes she can’t battle this on her own–and finds help in some unexpected places.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">From the author of STAR-CROSSED, HALFWAY NORMAL and EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT YOU comes this timely story of a middle school girl standing up and finding her voice.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Time Bomb </i>by Joelle Charbonneau ( I recommend this book for 8th grade and up.)</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText17886986565377774950" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A congressman's daughter who has to be perfect. A star quarterback with a secret. A guy who's tired of being ignored. A clarinet player who's done trying to fit in. An orphaned rebel who wants to teach someone a lesson. A guy who wants people to see <i>him,</i> not his religion.<br /><br />They couldn't be more different, but before the morning's over, they'll all be trapped in a school that's been rocked by a bombing. When they hear that someone inside is the bomber, they'll also be looking to one another for answers.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><i>All the Bright Places </i>by Jennifer Niven (This was my second read of this book, and I would say </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjpUJJIVJ54l9NK7d3MSrFDjC_9s7WyAs01yKg6Ib4FNJQx5s3ZPXJtRJbcEfG35nL47vpe4QHGNUZau96DBFL5cERDu3FDSXxqMA0MKdLUN6DvZXqLV1bvNFaIWY53MVo9uhYz0V1BMli/s1600/all.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjpUJJIVJ54l9NK7d3MSrFDjC_9s7WyAs01yKg6Ib4FNJQx5s3ZPXJtRJbcEfG35nL47vpe4QHGNUZau96DBFL5cERDu3FDSXxqMA0MKdLUN6DvZXqLV1bvNFaIWY53MVo9uhYz0V1BMli/s200/all.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></span></div>
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>this book is appropriate for 8th grade and up.)</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Theodore Finch</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Violet Markey</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>An Uninterrupted View of the Sky </i>by Melanie Crowder (I would say this book is good for 6th grade and up.)</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">It's 1999 in Bolivia and Francisco's life consists of school, soccer, and trying to find space for himself </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJsxA5faP0hk2ED3u3M4bnXwh43VQLBtDhBHW1wfPwpIV8v8c6Yo9md7YDEzC4afxGG-BV5GskijDyOD7EcBypCD-cAUEpKzhyphenhyphenYb-rcrf6WCA4dH84iu_HyrxwZSD2Fvh3_wekf3e2THB7/s1600/view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJsxA5faP0hk2ED3u3M4bnXwh43VQLBtDhBHW1wfPwpIV8v8c6Yo9md7YDEzC4afxGG-BV5GskijDyOD7EcBypCD-cAUEpKzhyphenhyphenYb-rcrf6WCA4dH84iu_HyrxwZSD2Fvh3_wekf3e2THB7/s200/view.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">in his family's cramped yet boisterous home. But when his father is arrested on false charges and sent to prison by a corrupt system that targets the uneducated, the poor, and the indigenous majority, Francisco's mother abandons hope and her family. Francisco and his sister are left with no choice: They must move into the prison with their father. There, they find a world unlike anything they've ever known, where everything—a door, a mattress, protection from other inmates—has its price.<br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Prison life is dirty, dire, and dehumanizing. With their lives upended, Francisco faces an impossible decision: Break up the family and take his sister to their grandparents in the Andean highlands, fleeing the city and the future that was just within his grasp, or remain together in the increasingly dangerous prison. Pulled between two equally undesirable options, Francisco must confront everything he once believed about the world around him and his place within it.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In this heart-wrenching novel inspired by real events, Melanie Crowder sheds light on a little-known era of modern South American history—where injustice still darkens the minds and hearts of people alike—and proves that hope can be found, even in the most desperate places.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>The Toll (Arc of a Scythe #3) </i>by Neal Shusterman (I'd recommend for 7th grade and up - the entire series.)</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">It’s been three years since Rowan and Citra disappeared; since Scythe Goddard came into power; since the Thunderhead closed itself off to everyone but Grayson Tolliver.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In this pulse-pounding conclusion to Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe trilogy, constitutions are tested and old friends are brought back from the dead.</span></span><br />
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<b><i>The Nickel Boys </i>by Colson Whitehead (This is an adult book, but I think mature 8th graders </b><br />
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<b>and up could handle it. It is a must-read.)</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText4880190069271929866" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Colson Whitehead brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida.<br /><br />As the Civil Rights movement begins to reach the black enclave of Frenchtown in segregated Tallahassee, Elwood Curtis takes the words of Dr. Martin Luther King to heart: He is "as good as anyone." Abandoned by his parents, but kept on the straight and narrow by his grandmother, Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But for a black boy in the Jim Crow South in the early 1960s, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy the future. Elwood is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called The Nickel Academy, whose mission statement says it provides "physical, intellectual and moral training" so the delinquent boys in their charge can become "honorable and honest men."<br /><br />In reality, The Nickel Academy is a grotesque chamber of horrors, where the sadistic staff beats and sexually abuses the students, corrupt officials and locals steal food and supplies, and any boy who resists is likely to disappear "out back." Stunned to find himself in such a vicious environment, Elwood tries to hold on to Dr. King's ringing assertion "Throw us in jail and we will still love you." His friend Turner thinks Elwood is worse than naive, that the world is crooked and the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble.<br /><br />The tension between Elwood's ideals and Turner's skepticism leads to a decision whose repercussions will echo down the decades. Formed in the crucible of the evils Jim Crow wrought, the boys' fates will be determined by what they endured at The Nickel Academy.<br /><br />Based on the real story of a reform school in Florida that operated for one hundred and eleven years and warped the lives of thousands of children, <i>The Nickel Boys</i> is a devastating, driven narrative.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-37249123867060440442019-10-31T17:43:00.000-07:002019-10-31T17:43:02.038-07:00Can I Just Go Trick-or-Treating and Ask for Books? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Don't get me wrong. I love candy - chocolatey, fruity, caramel-y, you name it. I'm a sugar fanatic, but I'm also a book fanatic! I've read so many great middle grade and YA books lately, and I didn't realize until today that I haven't written a post about my reading life since July - when it was hot and humid and I had the luxury of sitting on my front porch reading my days away. Well, I'm not sitting on my front porch anymore, too cold, but I'm still living the reading life because I have 8th grade students who need good reading role models and need knowledgeable adults to help guide them on their paths toward a reading life.<br />
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Tonight, many of my 8th grade students are out enjoying Halloween - the scares, the candy, and the fun! They are being kids. Just kids. Not worrying about anything but having a good time. That's what being a kid is about. Tomorrow, I will coax them back into their reading lives after they've spent the evening (and most likely the morning) inhaling sugary treats because being a kid should involve reading as well. Reading allows kids (and adults) to just be kids. Immersing yourself into a world that is different from your current reality, getting lost in a book about a historical event, and finding yourself in a book. We have been in school for two months now, and most of my 8th graders have become readers - at least in my classroom - even of they told me, "I hate reading," at the beginning of the year. Peruse the books - perfect for teens and adults - listed below.<br />
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Here are some of my favorite books I've read in the last three months.<br />
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<b><i>Frankly in Love </i>by David Yoon </b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText15048628508830093450" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">High school senior Frank Li is a Limbo–his term for Korean-American kids who find themselves caught between their parents’ traditional expectations and their own Southern California upbringing. His parents have one rule when it comes to romance–“Date Korean”–which proves complicated when Frank falls for Brit Means, who is smart, beautiful–and white. Fellow Limbo Joy Song is in a similar predicament, and so they make a pact: they’ll pretend to date each other in order to gain their freedom. Frank thinks it’s the perfect plan, but in the end, Frank and Joy’s fake-dating maneuver leaves him wondering if he ever really understood love–or himself–at all.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>To Night Owl From Dogfish </i>by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer</b></span></span><br />
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<span id="freeText3705872851768869836" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">From two extraordinary authors comes a moving, exuberant, laugh-out-loud novel about friendship and family, told entirely in emails and letters.</b><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Avery Bloom, who's bookish, intense, and afraid of many things, particularly deep water, lives in New York City. Bett Devlin, who's fearless, outgoing, and loves all animals as well as the ocean, lives in California. What they have in common is that they are both twelve years old, and are both being raised by single, gay dads.<br /><br />When their dads fall in love, Bett and Avery are sent, against their will, to the same sleepaway camp. Their dads hope that they will find common ground and become friends--and possibly, one day, even sisters.<br /><br />But things soon go off the rails for the girls (and for their dads too), and they find themselves on a summer adventure that neither of them could have predicted. Now that they can't imagine life without each other, will the two girls (who sometimes call themselves Night Owl and Dogfish) figure out a way to be a family?</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>Hope and Other Punch Lines </i>by Julie Buxbaum </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghOXzGsHqM8h_Nwcs1myUs8nnmbZXr1vaW7ydukvNuVj4Y1pj_4DReEIeCkFvAlfDzpjF1qVjDU0S3jKzB49pEGG-wwmjayRGi-2rXU7Zq9rRHQXxsgMwhUD5OamtXc24Qt7uMPXrayhke/s1600/hope.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghOXzGsHqM8h_Nwcs1myUs8nnmbZXr1vaW7ydukvNuVj4Y1pj_4DReEIeCkFvAlfDzpjF1qVjDU0S3jKzB49pEGG-wwmjayRGi-2rXU7Zq9rRHQXxsgMwhUD5OamtXc24Qt7uMPXrayhke/s200/hope.jpg" width="132" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText9056917934271458140" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>Sometimes looking to the past helps you find your future.</i><br /><br />Abbi Hope Goldstein is like every other teenager, with a few smallish exceptions: her famous alter ego, Baby Hope, is the subject of internet memes, she has asthma, and sometimes people spontaneously burst into tears when they recognize her. Abbi has lived almost her entire life in the shadow of the terrorist attacks of September 11. On that fateful day, she was captured in what became an iconic photograph: in the picture, Abbi (aka "Baby Hope") wears a birthday crown and grasps a red balloon; just behind her, the South Tower of the World Trade Center is collapsing.<br /><br />Now, fifteen years later, Abbi is desperate for anonymity and decides to spend the summer before her seventeenth birthday incognito as a counselor at Knights Day Camp two towns away. She's psyched for eight weeks in the company of four-year-olds, none of whom have ever heard of Baby Hope.<br /><br />Too bad Noah Stern, whose own world was irrevocably shattered on that terrible day, has a similar summer plan. Noah believes his meeting Baby Hope is fate. Abbi is sure it's a disaster. Soon, though, the two team up to ask difficult questions about the history behind the Baby Hope photo. But is either of them ready to hear the answers?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Waiting for Normal </i>by Leslie Connor</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">This poignant and joyful novel is filled with meaningful moments and emotional resonance.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Addie is waiting for normal. But Addie's mother has an all-or-nothing approach to life: a food fiesta or an empty pantry, her way or no way.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Addie’s mother is bipolar, and she often neglects Addie. All-or-nothing never adds up to normal, and it can't bring Addie home, where she wants to be with her half-sisters and her stepfather. But Addie never stops hoping that one day, maybe, she'll find normal.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora </i>by Pablo Cartaya </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEYhK-6OKDc1JSvoJJ6kLy7qoF_sI5hGu3MAFGfnuK6JOl0btDjwyuITIcMOcfwiDk2L9ykddgYryi04LSichdk23Q3127rb4Ima7O4KWet0-Ol3quOQ-QluELmfpYmDFF0w_jWK2N3QII/s1600/epic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEYhK-6OKDc1JSvoJJ6kLy7qoF_sI5hGu3MAFGfnuK6JOl0btDjwyuITIcMOcfwiDk2L9ykddgYryi04LSichdk23Q3127rb4Ima7O4KWet0-Ol3quOQ-QluELmfpYmDFF0w_jWK2N3QII/s200/epic.jpg" width="131" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Save the restaurant. Save the town. Get the girl. Make Abuela proud. Can thirteen-year-old Arturo Zamora do it all or is he in for a BIG, EPIC FAIL?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">For Arturo, summetime in Miami means playing basketball until dark, sipping mango smoothies, and keeping cool under banyan trees. And maybe a few shifts as junior lunchtime dishwasher at Abuela's restaurant. Maybe. But this summer also includes Carmen, a cute poetry enthusiast who moves into Arturo's apartment complex and turns his stomach into a deep fryer. He almost doesn't notice the smarmy land developer who rolls into town and threatens to change it. Arturo refuses to let his family and community go down without a fight, and as he schemes with Carmen, Arturo discovers the power of poetry and protest through untold family stories and the work of Jose Marti.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>The Astonishing Color of After </i>by Emily X. R. Pan</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, hope and despair, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The Astonishing Color of After</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is a novel about finding oneself through family history, art, grief, and love.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>The Benefits of Being an Octopus </i>by Ann Braden </b></span></span><br />
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<span id="freeText17878091057164344615" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Some people can do their homework. Some people get to have crushes on boys. Some people have other things they’ve got to do.</b><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Seventh-grader Zoey has her hands full as she takes care of her much younger siblings after school every day while her mom works her shift at the pizza parlor. Not that her mom seems to appreciate it. At least there’s Lenny, her mom’s boyfriend—they all get to live in his nice, clean trailer.<br /><br />At school, Zoey tries to stay under the radar. Her only friend Fuchsia has her own issues, and since they're in an entirely different world than the rich kids, it’s best if no one notices them.<br /><br />Zoey thinks how much easier everything would be if she were an octopus: eight arms to do eight things at once. Incredible camouflage ability and steady, unblinking vision. Powerful protective defenses.<br /><br />Unfortunately, she’s not totally invisible, and one of her teachers forces her to join the debate club. Even though Zoey resists participating, debate ultimately leads her to see things in a new way: her mom’s relationship with Lenny, Fuchsia’s situation, and her own place in this town of people who think they’re better than her. Can Zoey find the courage to speak up, even if it means risking the most stable home she’s ever had?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>A Place to Belong </i>by Cynthia Kadohata</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText10260070091720550604" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>A Japanese-American family, reeling from their ill treatment in the Japanese internment camps, gives up their American citizenship to move back to Hiroshima, unaware of the devastation wreaked by the atomic bomb in this piercing look at the aftermath of World War II by Newbery Medalist Cynthia Kadohata.</b><br /><br />World War II has ended, but while America has won the war, twelve-year-old Hanako feels lost. To her, the world, and her world, seems irrevocably broken.<br /><br />America, the only home she’s ever known, imprisoned then rejected her and her family—and thousands of other innocent Americans—because of their Japanese heritage, because Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.<br /><br />Japan, the country they’ve been forced to move to, the country they hope will be the family’s saving grace, where they were supposed to start new and better lives, is in shambles because America dropped bombs of their own—one on Hiroshima unlike any other in history. And Hanako’s grandparents live in a small village just outside the ravaged city.<br /><br />The country is starving, the black markets run rampant, and countless orphans beg for food on the streets, but how can Hanako help them when there is not even enough food for her own brother?<br /><br />Hanako feels she could crack under the pressure, but just because something is broken doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed. Cracks can make room for gold, her grandfather explains when he tells her about the tradition of <i>kintsukuroi</i>—fixing broken objects with gold lacquer, making them stronger and more beautiful than ever. As she struggles to adjust to find her place in a new world, Hanako will find that the gold can come in many forms, and family may be hers.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Scythe </i>by Neal Shusterman </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrRo6uZ3SG_AXMsa4pcfoLLrJIeSF0y34z77hyphenhyphen-3gR3-4tHXJoR3KqE-6IIK4gvSGPQib6qnjQKgkAwgdonizgagjSLO1BF3aq9qeRv2lpdnp3Ufrp6HeeVk_Mgvsbm5BDH_O_5YjpwZJM/s1600/scythe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrRo6uZ3SG_AXMsa4pcfoLLrJIeSF0y34z77hyphenhyphen-3gR3-4tHXJoR3KqE-6IIK4gvSGPQib6qnjQKgkAwgdonizgagjSLO1BF3aq9qeRv2lpdnp3Ufrp6HeeVk_Mgvsbm5BDH_O_5YjpwZJM/s200/scythe.jpg" width="131" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Thou shalt kill.</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br /><br />This moving debut novel explores the cultural divides around class and the gun debate through the eyes of one girl, living on the edges of society, trying to find her way forward.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Restart </i>by Gordon Korman</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText7398813268152084934" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Chase's memory just went out the window.<br /><br />Chase doesn't remember falling off the roof. He doesn't remember hitting his head. He doesn't, in fact, remember anything. He wakes up in a hospital room and suddenly has to learn his whole life all over again . . . starting with his own name.<br /><br />He knows he's Chase. But who is Chase? When he gets back to school, he sees that different kids have very different reactions to his return.<br /><br />Some kids treat him like a hero. Some kids are clearly afraid of him.<br /><br />One girl in particular is so angry with him that she pours her frozen yogurt on his head the first chance she gets.<br /><br />Pretty soon, it's not only a question of who Chase is--it's a question of who he was . . . and who he's going to be.<br /><br /><i>From the #1 bestselling author of Swindle and Slacker, Restart is the spectacular story of a kid with a messy past who has to figure out what it means to get a clean start.</i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>House Arrest </i>by K.A. Holt </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWMKZbLt_Hq_6kUhBvoBb8I1j70TZbyWjF1DYJjLInDW9gszYnD3wGpDwhW5g9Qim6k0i2oIIP932TCf2dTDT3RkU9sdmu6Zb7jCO-6iNwe68j7ZxHaVAydzi_p8sjl-Vs8F81VSffwtv/s1600/house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="459" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWMKZbLt_Hq_6kUhBvoBb8I1j70TZbyWjF1DYJjLInDW9gszYnD3wGpDwhW5g9Qim6k0i2oIIP932TCf2dTDT3RkU9sdmu6Zb7jCO-6iNwe68j7ZxHaVAydzi_p8sjl-Vs8F81VSffwtv/s200/house.jpg" width="138" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText8854822647589794734" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>Stealing is bad.</i><br />Yeah.<br />I know.<br />But my brother Levi is always so sick, and his medicine is always so expensive.<br /><br />I didn’t think anyone would notice,<br />if I took that credit card,<br />if, in one stolen second,<br />I bought Levi’s medicine.<br /><br />But someone did notice.<br />Now I have to prove I’m not a delinquent, I’m not a total bonehead.<br /><br />That one quick second turned into<br />juvie<br />a judge<br />a year of house arrest,<br />a year of this court-ordered journal,<br />a year to avoid messing up<br />and being sent back to juvie<br />so fast my head will spin.<br /><br />It’s only 1 year.<br />Only 52 weeks.<br />Only 365 days.<br />Only 8,760 hours.<br />Only 525,600 minutes.<br /><br />What could go wrong?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3xXt-5cNOqGBxpts2C_ejG6Qhuf6gIobYYKcwxC8uSaSY7vps0Kn6HNYDvZVD1xqnOH44HwOTQh0EI7lV4g9H4-J3p09QCiLAq5tZubIie5s0NWN59pgjVahdo-9D7KL7TN4wgA1GbH-3/s1600/sorry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3xXt-5cNOqGBxpts2C_ejG6Qhuf6gIobYYKcwxC8uSaSY7vps0Kn6HNYDvZVD1xqnOH44HwOTQh0EI7lV4g9H4-J3p09QCiLAq5tZubIie5s0NWN59pgjVahdo-9D7KL7TN4wgA1GbH-3/s200/sorry.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Sorry For Your Loss </i>by Jessie Ann Foley</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Printz Honor winner and William Morris Award finalist Jessie Ann Foley’s latest YA novel is a comitragic coming-of-age story about an awkward teenage guy who, after the loss of his brother, finds healing and a sense of self where he least expected to.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">As the youngest of eight, painfully average Pup Flanagan is used to flying under the radar. He’s barely passing his classes. He lets his longtime crush walk all over him. And he’s in no hurry to decide on a college path. The only person who ever made him think he could be more was his older brother Patrick, the family’s golden child. But that was before Patrick died suddenly, leaving Pup with a family who won’t talk about it and acquaintances who just keep saying, “sorry for your loss.”</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But when Pup excels at a photography assignment he thought he’d bomb, things start to come into focus. His dream girl shows her true colors. An unexpected friend exposes Pup to a whole new world, right under his nose. And the photograph that was supposed to show Pup a way out of his grief ultimately reveals someone else who is still stuck in their own. Someone with a secret regret Pup never could have imagined.</span></span>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-4244409837573815842019-07-23T13:52:00.001-07:002019-07-23T13:52:54.506-07:00#DisruptTextsI'm gonna get preachy here, friends, but we all need to do better and not stick with the same white canon we all grew up with. Our kids deserve to see themselves in books - mirrors, and they need to experience books that are not their lived experiences - windows, too. (Thanks to Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop and her work on this.)<br />
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If you are looking for places to find books for your kids or your students that are "windows and mirrors" and/or some information about diverse texts, here are a few places you can look.<br />
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<ul>
<li>Twitter</li>
<ul>
<li>#DisruptTexts</li>
<li>@diversebooks</li>
<li>@YA_Pride</li>
<li>@triciaebarvia </li>
<li>@WeAreKidLit</li>
<li>@TchKimPossible</li>
<li>@Lit_Bark</li>
<li>@nenagerman</li>
<li>@CleartheAirEdu</li>
<li>@biblio_phile</li>
<li>@DulceFlecha</li>
<li>@mochamomma</li>
<li>And many more . . . </li>
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<li>Websites</li>
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<li><a href="https://diversebooks.org/">https://diversebooks.org/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ala.org/yalsa/">http://www.ala.org/yalsa/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://bookriot.com/">https://bookriot.com/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.epicreads.com/">https://www.epicreads.com/</a></li>
<li>And many more . . . </li>
</ul>
</ul>
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Feel free to follow me on Goodreads (Allison Sirovy) as well. I share all of the books I've read and want to read, which means I will need to live until I'm 100 years old. </div>
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Also, if you would like to buy a t-shirt to help purchase books for my classroom, please check out this link: <a href="https://www.customink.com/fundraising/wed-rather-be-reading?ref=copy-link_social_desktop-campaign-page-share-top-v3&utm_campaign=desktop-campaign-page-share-top-v3&utm_content=wed-rather-be-reading&utm_medium=social&utm_source=copy-link&side=front&type=2&zoom=false">We'd Rather Be Reading</a>.</div>
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Here is a list of a few of my favorite reads that aren't your typical white canon - not in any order.</div>
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<b><i>Patron Saints of Nothing </i>by Randy Ribay <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLbJmhArzKBqP3JN00-zW9gfbQP8HpCdX6WOObPLJN7ObHfS89yQ7H3Kf0yDL4AyhKRx0nXC4KccPjSoVFtgQYOU7YmZuZMPg0d8yvDjYc0TlKIwv4fkaDHtxcxmtfatWH8iWg_6_sP2B-/s1600/Patron.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLbJmhArzKBqP3JN00-zW9gfbQP8HpCdX6WOObPLJN7ObHfS89yQ7H3Kf0yDL4AyhKRx0nXC4KccPjSoVFtgQYOU7YmZuZMPg0d8yvDjYc0TlKIwv4fkaDHtxcxmtfatWH8iWg_6_sP2B-/s200/Patron.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">A powerful coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin's murder.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Jay Reguero plans to spend the last semester of his senior year playing video games before heading to the University of Michigan in the fall. But when he discovers that his Filipino cousin Jun was murdered as part of President Duterte's war on drugs, and no one in the family wants to talk about what happened, Jay travels to the Philippines to find out the real story.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Hoping to uncover more about Jun and the events that led to his death, Jay is forced to reckon with the many sides of his cousin before he can face the whole horrible truth -- and the part he played in it.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">As gripping as it is lyrical, Patron Saints of Nothing is a page-turning portrayal of the struggle to reconcile faith, family, and immigrant identity.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Summer Bird Blue </i>by Akemi Dawn Bowman <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNU2gfY2pN9IiQEz6R6KM8Mx0mA6wJ_IjPobLll4LQczQH7f3oGYptkxb3ZxoQRYwvupZUBm4iWa0FgUx51YEMWAJkBqdL8PZJZOwLMondwh5OvAUY7s7NAdLz7z6fr0QdGSHMsBn3bYhX/s1600/summer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNU2gfY2pN9IiQEz6R6KM8Mx0mA6wJ_IjPobLll4LQczQH7f3oGYptkxb3ZxoQRYwvupZUBm4iWa0FgUx51YEMWAJkBqdL8PZJZOwLMondwh5OvAUY7s7NAdLz7z6fr0QdGSHMsBn3bYhX/s200/summer.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Rumi Seto spends a lot of time worrying she doesn’t have the answers to everything. What to eat, where to go, whom to love. But there is one thing she is absolutely sure of—she wants to spend the rest of her life writing music with her younger sister, Lea.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Then Lea dies in a car accident, and her mother sends her away to live with her aunt in Hawaii while she deals with her own grief. Now thousands of miles from home, Rumi struggles to navigate the loss of her sister, being abandoned by her mother, and the absence of music in her life. With the help of the “boys next door”—a teenage surfer named Kai, who smiles too much and doesn’t take anything seriously, and an eighty-year-old named George Watanabe, who succumbed to his own grief years ago—Rumi attempts to find her way back to her music, to write the song she and Lea never had the chance to finish.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>The Belles </i>by Dhonielle Clayton</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite—the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orléans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie—that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined. And when the queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">With the future of Orléans and its people at stake, Camellia must decide—save herself and her sisters and the way of the Belles—or resuscitate the princess, risk her own life, and change the ways of her world forever.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Tight </i>by Torrey Maldonado <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span id="freeText14532103371456835982" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Tight: Lately, Bryan's been feeling it in all kinds of ways . . .<br /><br />Bryan knows what's tight for him--reading comics, drawing superheroes, and hanging out with no drama. But drama is every day where he's from, and that gets him tight, wound up.<br /><br />And now Bryan's friend Mike pressures him with ideas of fun that are crazy risky. At first, it's a rush following Mike, hopping turnstiles, subway surfing, and getting into all kinds of trouble. But Bryan never really feels right acting so wrong, and drama really isn't him. So which way will he go, especially when his dad tells him it's better to be hard and feared than liked?<br /><br />But if there's one thing Bryan's gotten from his comic heroes, it's that he has power--to stand up for what he feels . . .<br /><br />Torrey Maldonado delivers a fast-paced, insightful, dynamic story capturing urban community life. Readers will connect with Bryan's journey as he navigates a tough world with a heartfelt desire for a different life.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>If I Ever Get Out of Here </i>by Eric Gansworth</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Lewis "Shoe" Blake is used to the joys and difficulties of life on the Tuscarora Indian reservation in 1975: the joking, the Fireball games, the snow blowing through his roof. What he's not used to is white people being nice to him -- people like George Haddonfield, whose family recently moved to town with the Air Force. As the boys connect through their mutual passion for music, especially the Beatles, Lewis has to lie more and more to hide the reality of his family's poverty from George. He also has to deal with the vicious Evan Reininger, who makes Lewis the special target of his wrath. But when everyone else is on Evan's side, how can he be defeated? And if George finds out the truth about Lewis's home -- will he still be his friend?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Acclaimed adult author Eric Gansworth makes his YA debut with this wry and powerful novel about friendship, memory, and the joy of rock 'n' roll.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>A Land of Permanent Goodbyes </i>by Atia Abawi <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span id="freeText6856654189420979302" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">In a country ripped apart by war, Tareq lives with his big and loving family . . . until the bombs strike. His city is in ruins. His life is destroyed. And those who have survived are left to figure out their uncertain future.<br /><br />In the wake of destruction, he's threatened by Daesh fighters and witnesses a public beheading. Tareq's family knows that to continue to stay alive, they must leave. As they travel as refugees from Syria to Turkey to Greece, facing danger at every turn, Tareq must find the resilience and courage to complete his harrowing journey.<br /><br />But while this is one family's story, it is also the timeless tale of all wars, of all tragedy, and of all strife. When you are a refugee, success is outliving your loss.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Darius the Great Is Not Okay </i>by Adib Khorram</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He's about to take his first-ever trip to Iran, and it's pretty overwhelming--especially when he's also dealing with clinical depression, a disapproving dad, and a chronically anemic social life. In Iran, he gets to know his ailing but still formidable grandfather, his loving grandmother, and the rest of his mom's family for the first time. And he meets Sohrab, the boy next door who changes everything.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Sohrab makes sure people speak English so Darius can understand what's going on. He gets Darius an Iranian National Football Team jersey that makes him feel like a True Persian for the first time. And he understands that sometimes, best friends don't have to talk. Darius has never had a true friend before, but now he's spending his days with Sohrab playing soccer, eating rosewater ice cream, and sitting together for hours in their special place, a rooftop overlooking the Yazdi skyline.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Sohrab calls him Darioush--the original Persian version of his name--and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he's Darioush to Sohrab. When it's time to go home to America, he'll have to find a way to be Darioush on his own.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>You Know Me Well </i>by Nina LaCour and David Levithan <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Who knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A stranger you meet on a crazy night? No one, really?</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">That is, until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other—and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Told in alternating points of view by Nina LaCour and David Levithan, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">You Know Me Well</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> is a story about navigating the joys and heartaches of first love, one truth at a time.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqV6dNGsIPInaFCpTGB80PFtnMmOPsu0alkE40g-GS5VItSVkFcSL6qw1QvXuRl0aqtCXv4lPP189lkdiztKdT6obEx1P8hryy57LWPFv2wCJvwz0nScVd8bXzdYkguP_AZNhmeC8s9TFY/s1600/highly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="160" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqV6dNGsIPInaFCpTGB80PFtnMmOPsu0alkE40g-GS5VItSVkFcSL6qw1QvXuRl0aqtCXv4lPP189lkdiztKdT6obEx1P8hryy57LWPFv2wCJvwz0nScVd8bXzdYkguP_AZNhmeC8s9TFY/s200/highly.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Highly Illogical Behavior </i>by John Corey Whaley</b></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">From a Printz and Morris Award-winning author comes a quirky story of coming-of-age, coming out, friendship, love...and agoraphobia.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Sixteen-year-old Solomon has agoraphobia. He hasn't left his house in 3 years. Ambitious Lisa is desperate to get into a top-tier psychology program. And so when Lisa learns about Solomon, she decides to befriend him, cure him, and then write about it for her college application. To earn Solomon's trust, she introduces him to her boyfriend Clark, and starts to reveal her own secrets. But what started as an experiment leads to a real friendship, with all three growing close. But when the truth comes out, what erupts could destroy them all. Funny and heartwarming, Highly Illogical Behavior is a fascinating exploration of what makes us tick, and how the connections between us may be the most important things of all.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZGv2Lzsq7Wh5uV6eBWEXM9wOVQq_vdSiqpCeyPLq3Ho1M2B6kP7rREie3NNso98o78zS-cnY2dLXL2TTOBVcuVB8uupiMoVphNyU2auJFrqPvOa8RTAAnGD45qpEpbbYoKNguCn0NQZnq/s1600/children.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZGv2Lzsq7Wh5uV6eBWEXM9wOVQq_vdSiqpCeyPLq3Ho1M2B6kP7rREie3NNso98o78zS-cnY2dLXL2TTOBVcuVB8uupiMoVphNyU2auJFrqPvOa8RTAAnGD45qpEpbbYoKNguCn0NQZnq/s200/children.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b><i>Children of Blood and Bone </i>by Tomi Adeyemi</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">They killed my mother.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">They took our magic.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">They tried to bury us.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Now we rise.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.</span></div>
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Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-12435816590896293942019-07-07T14:47:00.001-07:002019-07-07T14:47:08.690-07:00July Reading Challenge - We Can Do Better!Over and over, I see requests on social media for book recommendations, much like this one: "Help! I need book ideas for books for my 8th graders!"<br />
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And . . . time and time again, teachers (mind you, these are middle school and high school English teachers) share many of the same books. You know, the books that have been around for years, the books that have been taught for years, the books that we teachers love and can't give up: The Outsiders, Hatchet, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Holes, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies.<br />
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While I, too, love these books, we must do better for our students and expand our reading base, which means . . . WE, AS TEACHERS, MUST READ BOOKS that our middle school and high school students would find interesting. Books that are windows, mirrors, and sliding-glass doors for our students. We cannot say we are English teachers and not read. (We cannot say we are English teachers and not write either, but that is another post.)<br />
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<b>July Challenge:</b> <i>Please read through the books below (or from any of my posts) and find one book that would be a "window" for you - a book that offers you a view into somebody else's world.</i> <i>If you are willing, please share what book you chose in the comments. When you are finished reading, tell us what you thought in the comments, share it on social media, and/or share with another teacher. Let's spread the love of reading middle grade and YA books this summer with teachers! </i><br />
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The books below are the order in which I have read them - oldest to most recent - since the end of May.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStZZER5x0dIeOG8o41tcXBiajLC5MSk2JHF-0DPx9gJofXzcW0frnZedU993DIN8d_Qhx8CrPo-PijEY4f2I__DyL87RoaqsVKqEEk92qXVima9ZZ_i86-c2gFUhcr59nC9IoeB0FF14g/s1600/Opposite+Always.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStZZER5x0dIeOG8o41tcXBiajLC5MSk2JHF-0DPx9gJofXzcW0frnZedU993DIN8d_Qhx8CrPo-PijEY4f2I__DyL87RoaqsVKqEEk92qXVima9ZZ_i86-c2gFUhcr59nC9IoeB0FF14g/s200/Opposite+Always.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<b><i>Opposite of Always </i>by Justin A. Reynolds</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Jack Ellison King. King of Almost.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">He almost made valedictorian.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">He almost made varsity.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">He almost got the girl . . . </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Jack and Kate meet at a party, bonding until sunrise over their mutual love of Froot Loops and their favorite flicks, Jack knows he’s falling—hard. Soon she’s meeting his best friends, Jillian and Franny, and Kate wins them over as easily as she did Jack. Jack’s curse of almost is finally over.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But this love story is . . . complicated. It is an almost happily ever after. Because Kate dies. And their story should end there. Yet Kate’s death sends Jack back to the beginning, the moment they first meet, and Kate’s there again. Beautiful, radiant Kate. Healthy, happy, and charming as ever. Jack isn’t sure if he’s losing his mind. Still, if he has a chance to prevent Kate’s death, he’ll take it. Even if that means believing in time travel. However, Jack will learn that his actions are not without consequences. And when one choice turns deadly for someone else close to him, he has to figure out what he’s willing to do—and let go—to save the people he loves.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>With the Fire on High </i>by Elizabeth Acevedo </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ls4npJgmNt_BVtIUkLebzKpXTLwAbFIGaI3Os7ibiPaX71ulGKq0M_e4zl2E07WOpBBXUZjNJquiCvDJ6OVI6WjvlXl1T3VD79njRexuz6jMShR1Ajt9zj4h2DrYYLpW4ntLhzXb-l_z/s1600/with+the+fire+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1060" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ls4npJgmNt_BVtIUkLebzKpXTLwAbFIGaI3Os7ibiPaX71ulGKq0M_e4zl2E07WOpBBXUZjNJquiCvDJ6OVI6WjvlXl1T3VD79njRexuz6jMShR1Ajt9zj4h2DrYYLpW4ntLhzXb-l_z/s200/with+the+fire+.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">With her daughter to care for and her abuela to help support, high school senior Emoni Santiago has to make the tough decisions, and do what must be done. The one place she can let her responsibilities go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness. Still, she knows she doesn’t have enough time for her school’s new culinary arts class, doesn’t have the money for the class’s trip to Spain — and shouldn’t still be dreaming of someday working in a real kitchen. But even with all the rules she has for her life — and all the rules everyone expects her to play by — once Emoni starts cooking, her only real choice is to let her talent break free.</span></span><br />
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<b style="font-style: italic;">Does My Head Look Big in This? </b><b>by Randa Abdel-Fattah</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText438586115254667349" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When sixteen-year-old Amal decides to wear the hijab full-time, her entire world changes, all because of a piece of cloth...<br /><br />Sixteen-year-old Amal makes the decision to start wearing the hijab full-time and everyone has a reaction. Her parents, her teachers, her friends, people on the street. But she stands by her decision to embrace her faith and all that it is, even if it does make her a little different from everyone else.<br /><br />Can she handle the taunts of "towel head," the prejudice of her classmates, and still attract the cutest boy in school? Brilliantly funny and poignant, Randa Abdel-Fattah's debut novel will strike a chord in all teenage readers, no matter what their beliefs.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Dream Country </i>by Shannon Gibney </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBpAXSHF01y-PpxLQiqDtupSLMmLCRuVstxQrcTbvDYQ7mqtKTcTHvmH3jm2_DjNZEE_rjSnfX0L7Jw7EqEP2Ak2hgLIAXhyXXyuO1cwx_IMSz8G0ds8izS9vLZAFqlH74z0f71p5xBcum/s1600/dream+country.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBpAXSHF01y-PpxLQiqDtupSLMmLCRuVstxQrcTbvDYQ7mqtKTcTHvmH3jm2_DjNZEE_rjSnfX0L7Jw7EqEP2Ak2hgLIAXhyXXyuO1cwx_IMSz8G0ds8izS9vLZAFqlH74z0f71p5xBcum/s200/dream+country.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText10543484525641367946" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The heartbreaking story of five generations of young people from a single African-and-American family pursuing an elusive dream of freedom.<br /><br />The novel begins in suburban Minneapolis at the moment when seventeen-year-old Kollie Flomo begins to crack under the strain of his life as a Liberian refugee. He's exhausted by being at once too black and not black enough for his African American peers and worn down by the expectations of his own Liberian family and community. When his frustration finally spills into violence and his parents send him back to Monrovia to reform school, the story shifts. Like Kollie, readers travel back to Liberia, but also back in time, to the early twentieth-century and the point of view of Togar Somah, an eighteen-year-old indigenous Liberian on the run from government militias that would force him to work the plantations of the Congo people, descendants of the African-American slaves who colonized Liberia almost a century earlier. When Togar's section draws to a shocking close, the novel jumps again, back to America in 1827, to the children of Yasmine Wright, who leave a Virginia plantation with their mother for Liberia, where they're promised freedom and a chance at self-determination by the American Colonization Society. The Wrights begin their section by fleeing the whip and by its close, they are then ones who wield it. With each new section, the novel uncovers fresh hope and resonating heartbreak, all based on historical fact.<br /><br />In <i>Dream Country, </i>Shannon Gibney spins a riveting tale of the nightmarish spiral of death and exile connecting America and Africa, and of how one determined young dreamer tries to break free and gain control of her destiny.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeEe7suvPAQNLtTLzNGFOIcdTuHZMzhsdbIx222dQUysIWga7RIC2cU7MeIAwnlu3SCA0HOrDMKQCdGTo2_F1-mb-cY5Y7hPitNMF7-5_wR4iNVxFIH14ZXeox8AiquitFYRonX2vtyuJr/s1600/let+me+hear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeEe7suvPAQNLtTLzNGFOIcdTuHZMzhsdbIx222dQUysIWga7RIC2cU7MeIAwnlu3SCA0HOrDMKQCdGTo2_F1-mb-cY5Y7hPitNMF7-5_wR4iNVxFIH14ZXeox8AiquitFYRonX2vtyuJr/s200/let+me+hear.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<b><i>Let Me Hear a Rhyme </i>by Tiffany D. Jackson</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In this standalone novel, Tiffany D. Jackson tells the story of three Brooklyn teens who plot to turn their murdered friend into a major rap star by pretending he is still alive.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Biggie Smalls was right. Things done changed. But that doesn’t mean that Quadir and Jarrell are okay letting their best friend Steph’s tracks lie forgotten in his bedroom after he’s killed—not when his beats could turn any Bed-Stuy corner into a celebration, not after years of having each other’s backs.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Enlisting the help of Steph’s younger sister, Jasmine, Quadir and Jarrell come up with a plan to promote Steph’s music under a new rap name: The Architect. Soon, everyone in Brooklyn is dancing to Steph’s voice. But then his mixtape catches the attention of a hotheaded music rep and—with just hours on the clock—the trio must race to prove Steph’s talent from beyond the grave.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Now, as the pressure—and danger—of keeping their secret grows, Quadir, Jarrell, and Jasmine are forced to confront the truth about what happened to Steph. Only each has something to hide. And with everything riding on Steph’s fame, together they need to decide what they stand for before they lose everything they’ve worked so hard to hold on to—including each other.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>A Good Kind of Trouble </i>by Lisa Ramee </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2JuYSBV8N1QZNIOAPSq1Ff1Mb3zZsmGXwLCiMPIsmGeYcg_Ap7x-2V15ywwzgu69jFNPJL2R44eZGEE-dy7bDJBg7bZGExjsW_YOyiydDC44Z9rpC4IRkakBwpGLc4AV4zK8-e9D0o2E/s1600/a+good+kind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1059" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2JuYSBV8N1QZNIOAPSq1Ff1Mb3zZsmGXwLCiMPIsmGeYcg_Ap7x-2V15ywwzgu69jFNPJL2R44eZGEE-dy7bDJBg7bZGExjsW_YOyiydDC44Z9rpC4IRkakBwpGLc4AV4zK8-e9D0o2E/s200/a+good+kind.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText17841278528012161572" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Twelve-year-old Shayla is allergic to trouble. All she wants to do is to follow the rules. (Oh, and she’d also like to make it through seventh grade with her best friendships intact, learn to run track, and have a cute boy see past her giant forehead.)<br /><br />But in junior high, it’s like all the rules have changed. Now she’s suddenly questioning who her best friends are and some people at school are saying she’s not black enough. Wait, <em>what</em>?<br /><br />Shay’s sister, Hana, is involved in Black Lives Matter, but Shay doesn't think that's for her. After experiencing a powerful protest, though, Shay decides some rules are worth breaking. She starts wearing an armband to school in support of the Black Lives movement. Soon everyone is taking sides. And she is given an ultimatum.<br /><br />Shay is scared to do the wrong thing (and even more scared to do the right thing), but if she doesn't face her fear, she'll be forever tripping over the next hurdle. Now that’s trouble, for real.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFVO_pMu773k8_ID8vWaTtdENgEdIh8-UM6PW-aee0e_UXMZq3O7SYUdOKUVtDmSp8FzOsDUYvrJ8rgzPxktil2ryGli8jsnSAavPbtdD_UZO1Ykzo_qE9vWHPc8xvUWEc4mcmg-J0rlXX/s1600/little+do+we.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="998" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFVO_pMu773k8_ID8vWaTtdENgEdIh8-UM6PW-aee0e_UXMZq3O7SYUdOKUVtDmSp8FzOsDUYvrJ8rgzPxktil2ryGli8jsnSAavPbtdD_UZO1Ykzo_qE9vWHPc8xvUWEc4mcmg-J0rlXX/s200/little+do+we.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Little Do We Know </i>by Tamara Ireland Stone</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Next-door neighbors and ex-best friends Hannah and Emory haven’t spoken in months. Not since the fight—the one where they said things they couldn’t take back.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Now, Emory is fine-tuning her UCLA performing arts application and trying to make the most of the months she has left with her boyfriend, Luke, before they head off to separate colleges. Meanwhile, Hannah’s strong faith is shaken when her family’s financial problems come to light, and she finds herself turning to unexpected places—and people—for answers to the difficult questions she’s suddenly facing.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">No matter how much Hannah and Emory desperately want to bridge the thirty-six steps between their bedroom windows, they can’t. Not anymore.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Until their paths cross unexpectedly when, one night, Hannah finds Luke doubled over in his car outside her house. In the aftermath of the accident, all three struggle to understand what happened in their own ways. But when a devastating secret about Hannah and Emory’s argument ultimately comes to light, they must all reexamine the things they hold true.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In alternating chapters, a skeptic and a believer piece together the story of their complex relationship and the boy caught somewhere in the middle. New York Times best-selling author Tamara Ireland Stone deftly crafts a moving portrait of faith, love, and friendship.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Summer Bird Blue </i>by Akemi Dawn Bowman </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGRPiwS_6Nqm6gyEeXxUdTzUa4ajnR4J6lSvC1z6T5HBNfRzle88GmZO73GI5V0xnibMi9qotrThPPZz_lwUJNVLIJJnjaPyRzQ2i7XjANdgxzgLQg8MC-C1D36lEAj7m1FbuB1UCSb10E/s1600/summer+bird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="906" data-original-width="599" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGRPiwS_6Nqm6gyEeXxUdTzUa4ajnR4J6lSvC1z6T5HBNfRzle88GmZO73GI5V0xnibMi9qotrThPPZz_lwUJNVLIJJnjaPyRzQ2i7XjANdgxzgLQg8MC-C1D36lEAj7m1FbuB1UCSb10E/s200/summer+bird.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText12754779466787539983" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Rumi Seto spends a lot of time worrying she doesn’t have the answers to everything. What to eat, where to go, whom to love. But there is one thing she is absolutely sure of—she wants to spend the rest of her life writing music with her younger sister, Lea.<br /><br />Then Lea dies in a car accident, and her mother sends her away to live with her aunt in Hawaii while she deals with her own grief. Now thousands of miles from home, Rumi struggles to navigate the loss of her sister, being abandoned by her mother, and the absence of music in her life. With the help of the “boys next door”—a teenage surfer named Kai, who smiles too much and doesn’t take anything seriously, and an eighty-year-old named George Watanabe, who succumbed to his own grief years ago—Rumi attempts to find her way back to her music, to write the song she and Lea never had the chance to finish.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-52749274048063354632019-05-19T14:44:00.001-07:002019-05-19T14:44:03.116-07:00Summer Is Near!Yikes! I've not written a post for a few months now. Last time I wrote, it was the middle of March and winter. As I write today, in the middle of May, it is winter-like in Minnesota - temps in the 30s, but no snow at least. Although today's weather is not-so-great, the forecast improves quickly, and summer-like temps are coming back.<br />
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Summer is a time for me to re-charge, but it's also a time when I worry about my students and all students - specifically, their reading lives. As the overwhelming majority of my eighth graders have embraced reading this school year, I worry that they will lose their love of reading. Technology is always on the forefront for my students, and the majority of American students, so I have to hope and pray that my students remember how they became engrossed in their books and didn't want to put their books down when their stories got good.<br />
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To help keep students reading over the summer, please check out the following books that I've recently read and all of my blog posts for books that will entice your adolescent to read over the summer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTVGaGS21bU_Srcr-oxOE3nM5ZFTaWCgWVnt6yqCzs6Zbv1-RDXLwaboPIMYlCXVrfWS5i4ogJMFPlCSeA3ie6bE_GqfeM_OPq6daL1ITZ4LzfLDiOMFaljci1ZFFIoDyUiDX7jhdFOxk4/s1600/teen.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="289" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTVGaGS21bU_Srcr-oxOE3nM5ZFTaWCgWVnt6yqCzs6Zbv1-RDXLwaboPIMYlCXVrfWS5i4ogJMFPlCSeA3ie6bE_GqfeM_OPq6daL1ITZ4LzfLDiOMFaljci1ZFFIoDyUiDX7jhdFOxk4/s200/teen.jpeg" width="200" /></a><br />
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Happy Reading!<br />
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<b><i>The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle </i>by Leslie Connor </b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Mason Buttle is the biggest, sweatiest kid in his grade, and everyone knows he can barely read or write. Mason’s learning disabilities are compounded by grief. Fifteen months ago, Mason’s best friend, Benny Kilmartin, turned up dead in the Buttle family’s orchard. An investigation drags on, and Mason, honest as the day is long, can’t understand why Lieutenant Baird won’t believe the story Mason has told about that day.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Both Mason and his new friend, tiny Calvin Chumsky, are relentlessly bullied by the other boys in their neighborhood, so they create an underground club space for themselves. When Calvin goes missing, Mason finds himself in trouble again. He’s desperate to figure out what happened to Calvin, and eventually, Benny.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But will anyone believe him?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Saints and Misfits by S. K. Ali</i></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText9361682273517955991" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>Saints and Misfits</i> is an unforgettable debut novel that feels like a modern day My So-Called Life…starring a Muslim teen.<br /><br />How much can you tell about a person just by looking at them?<br /><br />Janna Yusuf knows a lot of people can’t figure out what to make of her…an Arab Indian-American hijabi teenager who is a Flannery O’Connor obsessed book nerd, aspiring photographer, and sometime graphic novelist is not exactly easy to put into a box.<br /><br />And Janna suddenly finds herself caring what people think. Or at least what a certain boy named Jeremy thinks. Not that she would ever date him—Muslim girls don’t date. Or they shouldn’t date. Or won’t? Janna is still working all this out.<br /><br />While her heart might be leading her in one direction, her mind is spinning in others. She is trying to decide what kind of person she wants to be, and what it means to be a saint, a misfit, or a monster. Except she knows a monster…one who happens to be parading around as a saint…Will she be the one to call him out on it? What will people in her tightknit Muslim community think of her then?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<b><i>The Girl with More Than One Heart </i>by Laura Geringer Bass </b><br />
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZjgD8ce1vK08Asi9wLasBZ2tWACkTNj-KKwWdSHbCwkQ2q6Z4RCwVu8hk_5KDIU0b4wl3QJ5RHehd1iWo4F3UuI8hjOn2VoDwvzZKjNvzBxh6wQRRb46O3j6_oExrHDMBZJztA9MaWXHl/s1600/girl+with+more+than+one+heart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZjgD8ce1vK08Asi9wLasBZ2tWACkTNj-KKwWdSHbCwkQ2q6Z4RCwVu8hk_5KDIU0b4wl3QJ5RHehd1iWo4F3UuI8hjOn2VoDwvzZKjNvzBxh6wQRRb46O3j6_oExrHDMBZJztA9MaWXHl/s200/girl+with+more+than+one+heart.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">There are times we all feel we need more than one heart to get through. When Briana’s father dies, she imagines she has a new heart growing inside her. It speaks to her in her Dad’s voice. Some of its commands are mysterious. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Find Her! </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">it says. </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Be Your Own! </i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">How can Briana “be her own” when her grieving mother needs her to take care of her demanding little brother all the time? When all her grandpa can do is tell stories instead of being the “rock" she needs? When her not-so-normal home life leaves no time to pursue her dream of writing for the school literary magazine? When the first blush of a new romance threatens to be nipped in the bud? Forced by the loss of her favorite parent to see all that was once familiar with new eyes, Briana draws on her own imagination, originality, and tender loving heart to discover a surprising path through the storm. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>The Parker Inheritance </i>by Varian Johnson</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText1119412784686359552" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The letter waits in a book, in a box, in an attic, in an old house in Lambert, South Carolina. It's waiting for Candice Miller.<br /><br />When Candice finds the letter, she isn't sure she should read it. It's addressed to her grandmother, after all, who left Lambert in a cloud of shame. But the letter describes a young woman named Siobhan Washington. An injustice that happened decades ago. A mystery enfolding the letter-writer. And the fortune that awaits the person who solves the puzzle. Grandma tried and failed. But now Candice has another chance.<br /><br />So with the help of Brandon Jones, the quiet boy across the street, she begins to decipher the clues in the letter. The challenge will lead them deep into Lambert's history, full of ugly deeds, forgotten heroes, and one great love; and deeper into their own families, with their own unspoken secrets. Can they find the fortune and fulfill the letter's promise before the summer ends?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Golden Boy </i>by Tara Sullivan </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGyRHp1WAEG3CUTGyoLSJIN7JfHuHobNoABazrUEOVjPuDc36vodREugwdJwd3Pq2hYVttIhH-hhSwmXyyeOBpqmth0tcvWsMmJ4NTKJdjUJwfHpzO0LkJ195Xcgxikcrhl7EFOLSRBCZ/s1600/golden+boy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGyRHp1WAEG3CUTGyoLSJIN7JfHuHobNoABazrUEOVjPuDc36vodREugwdJwd3Pq2hYVttIhH-hhSwmXyyeOBpqmth0tcvWsMmJ4NTKJdjUJwfHpzO0LkJ195Xcgxikcrhl7EFOLSRBCZ/s200/golden+boy.jpg" width="132" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span id="freeText5832708947300932157" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">A shocking human rights tragedy brought to light in a story of heartbreak and triumph.</b><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Thirteen-year-old Habo has always been different— light eyes, yellow hair and white skin. Not the good brown skin his family has and not the white skin of tourists. Habo is strange and alone. His father, unable to accept Habo, abandons the family; his mother can scarcely look at him. His brothers are cruel and the other children never invite him to play. Only his sister Asu loves him well. But even Asu can’t take the sting away when the family is forced from their small Tanzanian village, and Habo knows he is to blame.<br /><br />Seeking refuge in Mwanza, Habo and his family journey across the Serengeti. His aunt is glad to open her home until she sees Habo for the first time, and then she is only afraid. Suddenly, Habo has a new word for himself: Albino. But they hunt Albinos in Mwanza because Albino body parts are thought to bring good luck. And soon Habo is being hunted by a fearsome man with a machete.<br /><br />To survive, Habo must not only run but find a way to love and accept himself.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>The Belles (The Belles #1) </i>by Dhonielle Clayton</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite—the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orléans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie—that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined. And when the queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">With the future of Orléans and its people at stake, Camellia must decide—save herself and her sisters and the way of the Belles—or resuscitate the princess, risk her own life, and change the ways of her world forever.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Internment </i>by Samira Ahmed </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUaaSpXihQOaz7-3qMLqBO9SeNC6Ls2FsELXCOetgtnEXG_dxAtVLLQH-wCwu_pXebPqKH3o_5igpdXMwuJwz01r7NkG-AF0JXqd3yJ0yFn6aphZRaIiYzCNz7Y9equeZqOMRi_58EXMv2/s1600/internment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUaaSpXihQOaz7-3qMLqBO9SeNC6Ls2FsELXCOetgtnEXG_dxAtVLLQH-wCwu_pXebPqKH3o_5igpdXMwuJwz01r7NkG-AF0JXqd3yJ0yFn6aphZRaIiYzCNz7Y9equeZqOMRi_58EXMv2/s200/internment.jpg" width="132" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Rebellions are built on hope.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Set in a horrifying near-future United States, seventeen-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim American citizens.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">With the help of newly made friends also trapped within the internment camp, her boyfriend on the outside, and an unexpected alliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom, leading a revolution against the internment camp's Director and his guards.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Heart-racing and emotional, Internment challenges readers to fight complicit silence that exists in our society today.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><i>How to Make Friends with the Dark </i>by Kathleen Glasgow</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Here is what happens when your mother dies.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">It’s the brightest day of summer and it’s dark outside. It’s dark in your house, dark in your room, and dark in your heart. You feel like the darkness is going to split you apart.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">That’s how it feels for Tiger. It’s always been Tiger and her mother against the world. Then, on a day like any other, Tiger’s mother dies. And now it’s Tiger, alone.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Here is how you learn to make friends with the dark.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Dreambender </i>by Ronald Kidd </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DryZp3uR3_1Sywvn41zuD8b3UNrwydyQl2AP7FWGvWK6ZRojp696UVSrUBPKB9JBKLLg06v-n6EgNMyMXT3Myp5-v5h8Kc-CGDh6A0S9iWC2AI02pXW3G6mYR5ypbJOhNfH5MYvz-HKY/s1600/dreambender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="255" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0DryZp3uR3_1Sywvn41zuD8b3UNrwydyQl2AP7FWGvWK6ZRojp696UVSrUBPKB9JBKLLg06v-n6EgNMyMXT3Myp5-v5h8Kc-CGDh6A0S9iWC2AI02pXW3G6mYR5ypbJOhNfH5MYvz-HKY/s200/dreambender.jpg" width="136" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText3280419023424930297" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Everyone in the City is assigned a job by the choosers--keeper, catcher, computer. Callie Crawford is a computer. She works with numbers: putting them together, taking them apart. Her work is important, but sometimes she wants more. Jeremy Finn is a dreambender. His job is to adjust people's dreams. He and others like him quietly remove thoughts of music and art to keep the people in the City from becoming too focused on themselves and their own feelings rather than on the world. They need to keep the world safe from another Warming. But Jeremy thinks music is beautiful, and when he pops into a dream of Callie singing, he becomes fascinated with her. He begins to wonder if there is more to life than being safe. Defying his community and the role they have established for him, he sets off to find her in the real world. Together, they will challenge their world's expectations. But how far will they go to achieve their own dreams?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Dry </i>by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText487358876770120309" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>When the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing story of survival from New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman.</b><br /><br />The drought—or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it—has been going on for a while now. Everyone’s lives have become an endless list of don’ts: don’t water the lawn, don’t fill up your pool, don’t take long showers.<br /><br />Until the taps run dry.<br /><br />Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation; neighbors and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. And when her parents don’t return and her life—and the life of her brother—is threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she’s going to survive.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><i>No Fixed Address </i>by Susan Nielsen </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlW55DOOQ9xQAG3fdfcwp6LxMsG1eA0Fzfmr_gdxtN6beWF6ZrhFMUlPEiVkL0_Esm1vZAXhg15vDKVe0i81EBCsZBjac0wt_JDGJn6kQzW-Pj8q6hLdpul8dmCm5RlkCeYmSFEYnSXF_r/s1600/no+fixed+address.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlW55DOOQ9xQAG3fdfcwp6LxMsG1eA0Fzfmr_gdxtN6beWF6ZrhFMUlPEiVkL0_Esm1vZAXhg15vDKVe0i81EBCsZBjac0wt_JDGJn6kQzW-Pj8q6hLdpul8dmCm5RlkCeYmSFEYnSXF_r/s200/no+fixed+address.jpg" width="132" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">From beloved Governor General Literary Award--winning author Susin Nielsen comes a touching and funny middle-grade story about family, friendship and growing up when you're one step away from homelessness.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Felix Knuttson, twelve, is an endearing kid with an incredible brain for trivia. His mom Astrid is loving but unreliable; she can't hold onto a job, or a home. When they lose their apartment in Vancouver, they move into a camper van, just for August, till Astrid finds a job. September comes, they're still in the van; Felix must keep "home" a secret and give a fake address in order to enroll in school. Luckily, he finds true friends. As the weeks pass and life becomes grim, he struggles not to let anyone know how precarious his situation is. When he gets to compete on a national quiz show, Felix is determined to win -- the cash prize will bring them a home. Their luck is about to change! But what happens is not at all what Felix expected.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Bronx Masquerade </i>by Nikki Grimes</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText5186152601083176552" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Wesley Boone writes a poem for his high school English class, some of his classmates clamor to read their poems aloud too. Soon they're having weekly poetry sessions and, one by one, the eighteen students are opening up and taking on the risky challenge of self-revelation. There's Lupe Alvarin, desperate to have a baby so she will feel loved. Raynard Patterson, hiding a secret behind his silence. Porscha Johnson, needing an outlet for her anger after her mother OD's. Through the poetry they share and narratives in which they reveal their most intimate thoughts about themselves and one another, their words and lives show what lies beneath the skin, behind the eyes, beyond the masquerade.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota </i>edited by Sun Yung Shin </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLz9v20AT3zcH1WYoEwRfntf9i6ULL9Gfbe5hAbuA4vrJ9Jjf6AG9rYurvwOM1nV0SxYba8oQEavP9nE2v0NQh-AkSwfOFLcel9drpkVdocV6kRpRrIWBkyA7aVRWecYjoN1nIq_yypx2R/s1600/good+time.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLz9v20AT3zcH1WYoEwRfntf9i6ULL9Gfbe5hAbuA4vrJ9Jjf6AG9rYurvwOM1nV0SxYba8oQEavP9nE2v0NQh-AkSwfOFLcel9drpkVdocV6kRpRrIWBkyA7aVRWecYjoN1nIq_yypx2R/s200/good+time.jpg" width="133" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Essays that challenge, discomfort, disorient, galvanize, and inspire all of us to evolve now, for our shared future.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">FYI - This is an adult book, but I think 10th graders and up would also find this book an important read.</span></span>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-18448163112925244462019-03-19T18:41:00.001-07:002019-03-19T18:42:27.112-07:00Spring Into a Good Book!After this arduous Minnesota winter, signs of spring abound: birds are singing, snow is melting, the temperature tops 40 degrees, and kids are out riding their bikes while dodging the snow and the puddles. This time of year always makes me hopeful. My students have grown tremendously - academically, socially, and emotionally - and will transition to the high school next year. I am proud to have been a part of their journey, especially their reading journey. Many of my students ask me for book recommendations, which I love, yet many others now have books in mind for what they want to read next. Several of my students will read anything I put in front of them because they trust me. Others need me to coax them a bit. No matter what, I love putting great books into the hands of my students. To make that work, I need to be a reader of middle grade and young adult books myself, so here are the latest books I have read since the beginning of February.<br />
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<b><i>The Tattooist of Auschwitz </i>by Heather Morris</b><br />
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Although this is an adult book, I have a few eighth grade students who can handle the tough topics in this book. The kids who have read it have thoughtfully read it.<br />
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<b>Blurb: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.</span></span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-a066dd21-7fff-eea8-fe51-da7f771eacc0"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov's experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Flame in the Mist </i>(Flame in the Mist series, Book # 1) by Renee Ahdieh </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtKCodjuN6LbQ7XupVWrTDKTyKV3ZCsE5qJ8j24PN9cspxW4xnDrd9lyEauLg8AwVlk0li06Ncx73o17FArNg8w0E_CuN-3UqxZePsJIi7tGqrxdajH1QdBdNG1p3G9eWp0_GDKVkK3wv/s1600/flame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtKCodjuN6LbQ7XupVWrTDKTyKV3ZCsE5qJ8j24PN9cspxW4xnDrd9lyEauLg8AwVlk0li06Ncx73o17FArNg8w0E_CuN-3UqxZePsJIi7tGqrxdajH1QdBdNG1p3G9eWp0_GDKVkK3wv/s200/flame.jpg" width="133" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A fun read! </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Blurb: </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The daughter of a prominent samurai, Mariko has long known her place--she may be an accomplished alchemist, whose cunning rivals that of her brother Kenshin, but because she is not a boy, her future has always been out of her hands. At just seventeen years old, Mariko is promised to Minamoto Raiden, the son of the emperor's favorite consort--a political marriage that will elevate her family's standing. But en route to the imperial city of Inako, Mariko narrowly escapes a bloody ambush by a dangerous gang of bandits known as the Black Clan, who she learns has been hired to kill her before she reaches the palace.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="freeText4207067851356570611" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Dressed as a peasant boy, Mariko sets out to infiltrate the Black Clan and track down those responsible for the target on her back. Once she's within their ranks, though, Mariko finds for the first time she's appreciated for her intellect and abilities. She even finds herself falling in love--a love that will force her to question everything she's ever known about her family, her purpose, and her deepest desires.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Lu </i>(Track series, Book #4) by Jason Reynolds </b> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Although the first two books in this series are my favorite, the last book, <i>Lu</i>, is a winner, too!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Blurb: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">Lu was born to be cocaptain of the Defenders. Well, actually, he was born albino, but that’s got nothing to do with being a track star. Lu has swagger, plus the talent to back it up, and with all that—not to mention the gold chains and diamond earrings—no one’s gonna outshine him.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">Lu knows he can lead Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and the team to victory at the championships, but it might not be as easy as it seems. Suddenly, there are hurdles in Lu’s way—literally and not-so-literally—and Lu needs to figure out, fast, what winning the gold really means. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">Expect the unexpected in this final event in Jason Reynold’s award-winning and bestselling Track series.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><b><i>On the Come Up </i>by Angie Thomas </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">Okay, I loved Ms. Thomas's first book, <i>The Hate U Give</i>, but I love her sophomore book even more! </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><b>Blurb: </b></span></span><span id="freeText17465731424347385083" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.<br /><br /><i>On the Come Up</i> is Angie Thomas’s homage to hip-hop, the art that sparked her passion for storytelling and continues to inspire her to this day. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; of the struggle to become who you are and not who everyone expects you to be; and of the desperate realities of poor and working-class black families.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><b><i>If I Ever Get Out of Here </i>by Eric Gansworth</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">This is the second book of Mr. Gansworth's that I've read, and it is similar to the first in that it took me a while to get used to his writing style and it took me almost 100 pages to start connecting with the characters. It's worth it. Keep going. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><b>Blurb: </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">Lewis "Shoe" Blake is used to the joys and difficulties of life on the Tuscarora Indian reservation in 1975: the joking, the Fireball games, the snow blowing through his roof. What he's not used to is white people being nice to him -- people like George Haddonfield, whose family recently moved to town with the Air Force. As the boys connect through their mutual passion for music, especially the Beatles, Lewis has to lie more and more to hide the reality of his family's poverty from George. He also has to deal with the vicious Evan Reininger, who makes Lewis the special target of his wrath. But when everyone else is on Evan's side, how can he be defeated? And if George finds out the truth about Lewis's home -- will he still be his friend?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">Acclaimed adult author Eric Gansworth makes his YA debut with this wry and powerful novel about friendship, memory, and the joy of rock 'n' roll.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><b><i>Dreamland Burning </i>by Jennifer Latham </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8rTveX0-GRNJPB5HZ13smMIxFcVSHfZayf29D9BdO-XnsJt71Eof9GQYSUiwV0Oz3H5LoomxayDFFPM-NA9lVtIxIOjU9AfUgV2VfoaVL9Z6K2TJQIukatS_QzIBzR_vTnuZRY-EbVu60/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8rTveX0-GRNJPB5HZ13smMIxFcVSHfZayf29D9BdO-XnsJt71Eof9GQYSUiwV0Oz3H5LoomxayDFFPM-NA9lVtIxIOjU9AfUgV2VfoaVL9Z6K2TJQIukatS_QzIBzR_vTnuZRY-EbVu60/s200/1.jpg" width="132" /></a></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">Historical fiction has become my favorite type of fiction lately. I can't get enough of it. This book will teach you much about the Tulsa Race Riots of 1921 - even though it was more of a massacre. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><b>Blurb: </b></span></span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">Some bodies won’t stay buried. Some stories need to be told.</i><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">When seventeen-year-old Rowan Chase finds a skeleton on her family’s property, she has no idea that investigating the brutal century-old murder will lead to a summer of painful discoveries about the past, the present, and herself.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">One hundred years earlier, a single violent encounter propels seventeen-year-old Will Tillman into a racial firestorm. In a country rife with violence against blacks and a hometown segregated by Jim Crow, Will must make hard choices on a painful journey towards self discovery and face his inner demons in order to do what’s right the night Tulsa burns.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><b><i>A Death-Struck Year </i>by Makiia Lucier</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Again, another historical fiction book and while I didn't enjoy this book as much as <i>Dreamland Burning</i>, it was still a solid book about the Spanish Influenza. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Blurb: </b></span></span><b style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">A deadly pandemic, a budding romance, and the heartache of loss make for a stunning coming-of-age teen debut about the struggle to survive during the 1918 flu.</b></div>
<span id="freeText1012454184732599849" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><br />For Cleo Berry, the people dying of the Spanish Influenza in cities like New York and Philadelphia may as well be in another country--that's how far away they feel from the safety of Portland, Oregon. And then cases start being reported in the Pacific Northwest. Schools, churches, and theaters shut down. The entire city is thrust into survival mode--and into a panic. Headstrong and foolish, seventeen-year-old Cleo is determined to ride out the pandemic in the comfort of her own home, rather than in her quarantined boarding school dorms. But when the Red Cross pleads for volunteers, she can't ignore the call. As Cleo struggles to navigate the world around her, she is surprised by how much she finds herself caring about near-strangers. Strangers like Edmund, a handsome medical student and war vet. Strangers who could be gone tomorrow. And as the bodies begin to pile up, Cleo can't help but wonder: when will her own luck run out?<br /><br />Riveting and well-researched, A Death-Struck Year is based on the real-life pandemic considered the most devastating in recorded world history. Readers will be captured by the suspenseful storytelling and the lingering questions of: what would I do for a neighbor? At what risk to myself?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><br />An afterword explains the Spanish flu phenomenon, placing it within the historical context of the early 20th century. Source notes are extensive and interesting.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><b><i>Tight </i>by Torrey Maldonado </b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDYQhwslZBmIVygqBL_bJZ4Ko3fZk1VqrL7E4FG2reepiispk8UOHPhF0d618qUv40cl1k8BXLuE6qBFuEIVOoQlIOeKFjTeWpOZT4KrRhyhjZCMFuNLtx138UPJFx5wBBBJf3ALmaz1uw/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDYQhwslZBmIVygqBL_bJZ4Ko3fZk1VqrL7E4FG2reepiispk8UOHPhF0d618qUv40cl1k8BXLuE6qBFuEIVOoQlIOeKFjTeWpOZT4KrRhyhjZCMFuNLtx138UPJFx5wBBBJf3ALmaz1uw/s200/1.jpg" width="133" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">Fantastic read for middle school kids! You won't be disappointed in this one!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><b>Blurb: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">Tight: Lately, Bryan's been feeling it in all kinds of ways . . .</span></div>
<span id="freeText9203290624527656701" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><br />Bryan knows what's tight for him--reading comics, drawing superheroes, and hanging out with no drama. But drama is every day where he's from, and that gets him tight, wound up.<br /><br />And now Bryan's friend Mike pressures him with ideas of fun that are crazy risky. At first, it's a rush following Mike, hopping turnstiles, subway surfing, and getting into all kinds of trouble. But Bryan never really feels right acting so wrong, and drama really isn't him. So which way will he go, especially when his dad tells him it's better to be hard and feared than liked?<br /><br />But if there's one thing Bryan's gotten from his comic heroes, it's that he has power--to stand up for what he feels . . .<br /><br />Torrey Maldonado delivers a fast-paced, insightful, dynamic story capturing urban community life. Readers will connect with Bryan's journey as he navigates a tough world with a heartfelt desire for a different life.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><b><i>From Twinkle, With Love </i>by Sandhya Menon</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">I enjoyed this book and think that the growing up Twinkle has to do will connect with teenagers.</span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">“Utterly charming.” —<i>NPR</i></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">“Cinematic.” —<i>Teen Vogue</i></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">“Funny and sweet.” —<i>Buzzfeed</i></b><br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">Three starred reviews for this charming romantic comedy about an aspiring teen filmmaker who finds her voice and falls in love, from the <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author of <i>When Dimple Met Rishi</i>.</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">Aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell and universes she wants to explore, if only the world would listen. So when fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for the upcoming Summer Festival, Twinkle is all over it. The chance to publicly showcase her voice as a director? Dream come true. The fact that it gets her closer to her longtime crush, Neil Roy—a.k.a. Sahil’s twin brother? Dream come true x 2.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">When mystery man “N” begins emailing her, Twinkle is sure it’s Neil, finally ready to begin their happily-ever-after. The only </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">slightly </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">inconvenient problem is that, in the course of movie-making, she’s fallen madly in love with the irresistibly adorkable Sahil.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">Twinkle soon realizes that resistance is futile: The romance she’s got is not the one she’s scripted. But will it be enough?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">Told through the letters Twinkle writes to her favorite female filmmakers, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">From Twinkle, with Love </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">navigates big truths about friendship, family, and the unexpected places love can find you.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><b><i>Jefferson's Sons </i>by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">Oh, this book captivated me! Everyone should read this book! I wish we knew more about the children of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings after the children were adults. </span><br />
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<span id="freeText5681068122843328803" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><b>Blurb:<span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span>The untold story of Thomas Jefferson's slave children</b><br /><br />Beverly, Harriet, Madison, and Eston are Thomas Jefferson's children by one of his slaves, Sally Hemings, and while they do get special treatment - better work, better shoes, even violin lessons - they are still slaves, and are never to mention who their father is. The lighter-skinned children have been promised a chance to escape into white society, but what does this mean for the children who look more like their mother? As each child grows up, their questions about slavery and freedom become tougher, calling into question the real meaning of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."<br /><br />Told in three parts from the points of view of three of Jefferson's slaves - Beverly, Madison, and a third boy close to the Hemings family - these engaging and poignant voices shed light on what life was like as one of Jefferson's invisible offspring.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"> </span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span><br />
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Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-13653719660013126132019-01-30T15:06:00.001-08:002019-01-30T15:06:39.948-08:00January in Minnesota . . . Perfect Time to Cuddle Up with a Good Book<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;">Well, here in Minnesota, we are in the midst of THE Polar Vortex. Three days of no school so far, and the fourth no school day will be tomorrow. It's been nice to sit at home and read to my heart's content, but I am missing talking to my eighth graders about what books they're reading and recommending books to them. We've seen a lot of growth since the beginning of the year in terms of kids challenging themselves to read out of their comfort zones, being willing to be hooked into a book, and sharing good books with each other. Talking to kids about books is my favorite thing about being a teacher, so I have to keep up with books to share with them. The list of books below were finished during the month of January; the first book listed is the first book I finished.</span><br />
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On a side note, I appreciate those of you who take the time to read my blog. I truly believe in the power of books to make us better human beings. Reading fiction research continues to show the importance fiction plays in our lives. Here is one of many articles that shares the benefits of reading fiction: <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/your-future-self/201806/the-real-life-benefits-reading-fiction">The Real-Life Benefits of Reading Fiction</a>. In our polarized, and sometimes hate-filled, country and world, reading can help us better understand each other. That's a must for everyone - all political parties, all races, all religions, all nationalities . . . To be fully human to each other, we need to understand and have empathy for the entire human race. </span><br />
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<b style="background-color: white;"><i>The Rest of Us Just Live Here </i>by Patrick Ness</b><br />
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<b>My take: </b>While I'm not one for fantasy books (typically), this one was part fantasy and part realistic fiction. It was a quick read, kept me engaged, and was entertaining. </span><br />
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<b>Blurb: </b><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">What if you aren’t the Chosen One?</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="color: #181818;">The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?</span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="color: #181818;">What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again.</span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="color: #181818;">Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.</span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="color: #181818;">Even if your best friend is worshipped by mountain lions...</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b style="background-color: white;"><i>What I Leave Behind </i>by Alison McGhee </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxJdE4z-itWOTWgi6-Krpxhs2j5YMAJd19GYitWpErZyK5SSaswr3xMCSY6vnMGOnTKCGDUDiarTB0NvFQyDiKkywFm2DIB1BCJmpA53wc_zoHBn5OUdKqkfH5qfOVPJQZnDMGTOATUAg/s1600/leave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxJdE4z-itWOTWgi6-Krpxhs2j5YMAJd19GYitWpErZyK5SSaswr3xMCSY6vnMGOnTKCGDUDiarTB0NvFQyDiKkywFm2DIB1BCJmpA53wc_zoHBn5OUdKqkfH5qfOVPJQZnDMGTOATUAg/s200/leave.jpg" width="134" /></a></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>My take: </b>This short novel melted my heart. We can make the world a better for place for everyone in it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b>Blurb: </b></span></span><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">After his dad commits suicide, Will tries to overcome his own misery by secretly helping the people around him in this story made up of one hundred chapters of one hundred words each.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="freeText538780639464497303" style="color: #181818;"><br />Sixteen-year-old Will spends most of his days the same way: Working at the Dollar Only store, trying to replicate his late father’s famous cornbread recipe, and walking the streets of Los Angeles. Will started walking after his father committed suicide, and three years later he hasn’t stopped. But there are some places Will can’t walk by: The blessings store with the chest of 100 Chinese blessings in the back, the bridge on Fourth Street where his father died, and his childhood friend Playa’s house.<br /><br />When Will learns Playa was raped at a party—a party he was at, where he saw Playa, and where he believes he could have stopped the worst from happening if he hadn’t left early—it spurs Will to stop being complacent in his own sadness and do some good in the world. He begins to leave small gifts for everyone in his life, from Superman the homeless guy he passes on his way to work, to the Little Butterfly Dude he walks by on the way home, to Playa herself. And it is through those acts of kindness that Will is finally able to push past his own trauma and truly begin to live his life again. Oh, and discover the truth about that cornbread.</span><span style="color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="background-color: white;"><i>A Land of Permanent Goodbyes </i>by Atia Abawi</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>My take: </b></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;">I have finished the book, and all I can think is, “Why?” and “How can I help?” </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="color: #181818;">A Land of Permanent Goodbyes should be a required read for every American. Every human. There are hundreds of instances in the book where the author, Atia Abawi, captures the essence of humans and what it means to be human - both the good and bad. One day, I hope we see only the good in humans. This book will stay in my heart and my mind. </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="color: #181818;">Read this book. Share this book. Pass on Tareq’s and Susan’s story to everyone because there are real Tareqs and Susans our there in our shared world. They deserve our understanding and help. </span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="color: #181818;">If you can, please donate to the IRC: </span><a href="https://www.rescue.org/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #00635d;" target="_blank">https://www.rescue.org/</a><span style="color: #181818;">.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Blurb: </b></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="freeText9600321772364742607" style="color: #181818;">In a country ripped apart by war, Tareq lives with his big and loving family . . . until the bombs strike. His city is in ruins. His life is destroyed. And those who have survived are left to figure out their uncertain future.<br /><br />In the wake of destruction, he's threatened by Daesh fighters and witnesses a public beheading. Tareq's family knows that to continue to stay alive, they must leave. As they travel as refugees from Syria to Turkey to Greece, facing danger at every turn, Tareq must find the resilience and courage to complete his harrowing journey.<br /><br />But while this is one family's story, it is also the timeless tale of all wars, of all tragedy, and of all strife. When you are a refugee, success is outliving your loss.</span><span style="color: #181818;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b style="background-color: white;"><i>Words We Don't Say </i>by K.J. Reilly </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>My take: </b>Teenagers will find this book relatable. Lots of good life lessons to learn from this book. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b>Blurb: </b></span><span id="freeText1036691886652910469" style="color: #181818;">Joel Higgins has 901 unsent text messages saved on his phone.<br /><br />Ever since the thing that happened, there are certain people he hasn't been able to talk to in person. Sure, he shows up at school, does his mandatory volunteer hours at the soup kitchen, and spends pretty much every moment thinking about Eli, the most amazing girl in the world. But that doesn't mean he's keeping it together, or even that he has any friends.<br /><br />So instead of hanging out with people in real life, he drafts text messages. But he never presses send.<br /><br />As dismal as sophomore year was for Joel, he doesn't see how junior year will be any better. For starters, Eli doesn't know how he feels about her, his best friend Andy's gone, and he basically bombed the SATs. But as Joel spends more time at the soup kitchen with Eli and Benj, the new kid whose mouth seems to be unconnected to his brain, he forms bonds with the people they serve there-including a veteran they call Rooster-and begins to understand that the world is bigger than his own pain.</span><span style="color: #181818;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b style="background-color: white;"><i>Marcelo in the Real World </i>by Francisco X. Stork</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>My take: </b>So much to learn from Marcelo, a young man, trying to be himself, learn about the world, and do what's right.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b>Blurb: </b></span><span style="color: #181818;">Marcelo Sandoval hears music no one else can hear--part of the autism-like impairment no doctor has been able to identify--and he's always attended a special school where his differences have been protected. But the summer after his junior year, his father demands that Marcelo work in his law firm's mailroom in order to experience "the real world." There Marcelo meets Jasmine, his beautiful and surprising coworker, and Wendell, the son of another partner in the firm.</span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="color: #181818;">He learns about competition and jealousy, anger and desire. But it's a picture he finds in a file -- a picture of a girl with half a face -- that truly connects him with the real world: its suffering, its injustice, and what he can do to fight.</span><br style="color: #181818;" /><br style="color: #181818;" /><span style="color: #181818;">Reminiscent of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" in the intensity and purity of its voice, this extraordinary novel is a love story, a legal drama, and a celebration of the music each of us hears inside.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b style="background-color: white;"><i>Becoming </i>by Michelle Obama</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>My take: </b>What's not to like? Fabulous read that makes me want to do more to help our country and my fellow citizens!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b>Blurb: </b></span><span id="freeText7959046361886543502" style="color: #181818;"><b>An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States.</b><br /><br />In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African-American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed <i>Carpool Karaoke</i>, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.<br /><br />In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms.<br /><br />Warm, wise, and revelatory, <i>Becoming</i> is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.</span><span style="color: #181818;"> </span><span style="color: #181818;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING? Leave a comment. </span></span></div>
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Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-49505153409118427872018-12-30T11:00:00.004-08:002018-12-30T11:00:52.931-08:00My Favorites of 2018<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">With all of the "Best of" lists coming out and the end of 2018, I thought I'd create my own list of favorites from 2018. This will be a challenge for me. While I don't read as much as some of the teacher-bloggers I follow, I have read 79 books to date. (I plan on reading one more before the year is up - 36 hours to make that happen.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Here are my favorite books - in no particular order. (I'm doing 18 books because my 15 year old daughter said, "The Top 18 in 2018.")</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Which books are your favorite from 2018? Share in the comments section. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Remember these are not in any particular order. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">1. <i>Long Way Down</i> by Jason Reynolds </span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFTZYHyGkV6BG907sICgaTKjAlmLN30Cr88cOvGGNMBA1vqjS3d3K-qJCZ69ydlGVPY9LkgaMPk4V8t1l77lWf0X4x8lecAJTqq3mhENSfr6n9eMY0h-0MZRfGv-kfHdtVQDRIVEQ56gg_/s1600/long+way+down.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFTZYHyGkV6BG907sICgaTKjAlmLN30Cr88cOvGGNMBA1vqjS3d3K-qJCZ69ydlGVPY9LkgaMPk4V8t1l77lWf0X4x8lecAJTqq3mhENSfr6n9eMY0h-0MZRfGv-kfHdtVQDRIVEQ56gg_/s200/long+way+down.jpg" width="131" /><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></b></a></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">(My students always want to talk about the ending of this book. But, what happened, Mrs. Sirovy? Me: Let's talk about what you think happened.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">1 hour, 43 minutes</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">An ode to Put the Damn Guns Down, this is </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">New York Times </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">bestseller Jason Reynolds’s fiercely stunning novel that takes place in sixty potent seconds—the time it takes a kid to decide whether or not he’s going to murder the guy who killed his brother.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A cannon. A strap.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A piece. A biscuit.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A burner. A heater.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A chopper. A gat.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A hammer</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A tool</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">for RULE</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Or, you can call it a gun. That’s what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Revenge</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">. That’s where Will’s now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brother’s gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who he’s after. Or does he? As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Buck, Will finds out, is who gave Shawn the gun before Will took the gun. Buck tells Will to check that the gun is even loaded. And that’s when Will sees that one bullet is missing. And the only one who could have fired Shawn’s gun was Shawn. Huh. Will didn’t know that Shawn had ever actually USED his gun. Bigger huh. BUCK IS DEAD. But Buck’s in the elevator? Just as Will’s trying to think this through, the door to the next floor opens. A teenage girl gets on, waves away the smoke from Dead Buck’s cigarette. Will doesn’t know her, but she knew him. Knew. When they were eight. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">And so it goes, the whole long way down, as the elevator stops on each floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows. A story that might never know an END…if WILL gets </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">off </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">that elevator.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Told in short, fierce staccato narrative verse, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Long Way Down</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is a fast and furious, dazzlingly brilliant look at teenage gun violence, as could only be told by Jason Reynolds.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>2. <i>The Marrow Thieves</i> by Cherie Dimaline</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">(This book still comes to mind even though I read it at the beginning of the year. It was the second book I read in 2018. It's a haunting futuristic story that you can't help but read and think of how Native people on the continent have been mistreated and almost forced out of existence.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In a futuristic world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, and the dreamlessness has led to widespread madness. The only people still able to dream are North America's Indigenous people, and it is their marrow that holds the cure for the rest of the world. But getting the marrow, and dreams, means death for the unwilling donors. Driven to flight, a fifteen-year-old and his companions struggle for survival, attempt to reunite with loved ones and take refuge from the "recruiters" who seek them out to bring them to the marrow-stealing "factories."</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>3. The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8zRubRlFFMp6UNoIkdtmQHxrkDgJIT7IyoNaBAH7081xC3RzVw_VsH1EzgpctSbIJUVa7kjkf2GsPw3YNhbluhwdCXUnmnJLSr5FqPO1Q-CGhVHfpp0QZrq75_zSWMKsVNTqi1O76VHX/s1600/best+we+could+do.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8zRubRlFFMp6UNoIkdtmQHxrkDgJIT7IyoNaBAH7081xC3RzVw_VsH1EzgpctSbIJUVa7kjkf2GsPw3YNhbluhwdCXUnmnJLSr5FqPO1Q-CGhVHfpp0QZrq75_zSWMKsVNTqi1O76VHX/s200/best+we+could+do.jpg" width="145" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">(Every time I recommend this book to one of my 8th grade students, they can't put it down.) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText13119049769616258012" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>An intimate and poignant graphic novel portraying one family’s journey from war-torn Vietnam from debut author Thi Bui</b>.<br /><br />This beautifully illustrated and emotional story is an evocative memoir about the search for a better future and a longing for the past. Exploring the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family, Bui documents the story of her family’s daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s, and the difficulties they faced building new lives for themselves.<br /><br />At the heart of Bui’s story is a universal struggle: While adjusting to life as a first-time mother, she ultimately discovers what it means to be a parent—the endless sacrifices, the unnoticed gestures, and the depths of unspoken love. Despite how impossible it seems to take on the simultaneous roles of both parent and child, Bui pushes through. With haunting, poetic writing and breathtaking art, she examines the strength of family, the importance of identity, and the meaning of home.<br /><br />In what Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen calls “a book to break your heart and heal it,” <i>The Best We Could Do</i> brings to life Thi Bui’s journey of understanding, and provides inspiration to all of those who search for a better future while longing for a simpler past.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>4. <i>Girl in Pieces</i> by Kathleen Glasgow</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">(Finished this book over winter break, and I cannot wait to recommend this book to students. Charlie breaks over and over in this book, but there is hope at the end. Plus, I like the beginning of the book with it's setting in Minneapolis and locations I know.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText7196564354252278276" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At seventeen she’s already lost more than most people lose in a lifetime. But she’s learned how to forget. The broken glass washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don’t have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you.<br /><br />Every new scar hardens Charlie’s heart just a little more, yet it still hurts so much. It hurts enough to not care anymore, which is sometimes what has to happen before you can find your way back from the edge.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>5. <i>Front Desk </i>by Kelly Yang </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7rCzubxRrTFWJp6rTM8R9rP8GjnQusRtpQrP_2Fuck8nhkqLO8P6mPQ4BQzcEHz8n_RG7J4X7tU6FWnQG_Vl3a-B9sok6wMnKM2d_o0IlR-9DHTGKAuIFmRBYKd2yVhaDyejbH7vS7dwJ/s1600/front+desk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7rCzubxRrTFWJp6rTM8R9rP8GjnQusRtpQrP_2Fuck8nhkqLO8P6mPQ4BQzcEHz8n_RG7J4X7tU6FWnQG_Vl3a-B9sok6wMnKM2d_o0IlR-9DHTGKAuIFmRBYKd2yVhaDyejbH7vS7dwJ/s200/front+desk.jpg" width="133" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">(One of my favorite middle grade books ever!)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Mia Tang has a lot of secrets.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they've been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the Tangs will be doomed.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Number 3: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">It will take all of Mia's courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>6. <i>Conviction </i>by Kelly Loy Gilbert</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">(This book drove me nuts - in a good way. Family, baseball, religion, and conviction. You won't forget this book.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText14482850546617981151" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Ten years ago, God gave Braden a sign, a promise that his family wouldn’t fall apart the way he feared.<br /><br />But Braden got it wrong: his older brother, Trey, has been estranged from the family for almost as long, and his father, the only parent Braden has ever known, has been accused of murder. The arrest of Braden’s father, a well-known Christian radio host, has sparked national media attention. His fate lies in his son’s hands; Braden is the key witness in the upcoming trial.<br /><br />Braden has always measured himself through baseball. He is the star pitcher in his small town of Ornette, and his ninety-four-mile-per-hour pitch al- ready has minor league scouts buzzing in his junior year. Now the rules of the sport that has always been Braden’s saving grace are blurred in ways he never realized, and the prospect of playing against Alex Reyes, the nephew of the police officer his father is accused of killing, is haunting his every pitch.<br /><br />Braden faces an impossible choice, one that will define him for the rest of his life, in this brutally honest debut novel about family, faith, and the ultimate test of conviction.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">7. <i>Ghost Boys </i>by Jewell Parker Rhodes </span></b></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOjLTknJVzqpZXZoaEEBQBNpqeQmFF85sniYekAvsze0K9zT3abIqq_fNf2K5J5bdu3-xansDe7ybB43KiRFYeWDd7x-MD_pavY1kCFXMOMQQ3Trmtbtv58NoyWfta_PoGfBku-QnZkto/s1600/ghost+boys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOjLTknJVzqpZXZoaEEBQBNpqeQmFF85sniYekAvsze0K9zT3abIqq_fNf2K5J5bdu3-xansDe7ybB43KiRFYeWDd7x-MD_pavY1kCFXMOMQQ3Trmtbtv58NoyWfta_PoGfBku-QnZkto/s200/ghost+boys.jpg" width="137" /></a></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">(When you get your most reluctant reader to read this book in only a few days and she asks for more books like it . . .)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that’s been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances. Emmett helps Jerome process what has happened, on a journey towards recognizing how historical racism may have led to the events that ended his life. Jerome also meets Sarah, the daughter of the police officer, who grapples with her father’s actions.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Once again Jewell Parker Rhodes deftly weaves historical and socio-political layers into a gripping and poignant story about how children and families face the complexities of today’s world, and how one boy grows to understand American blackness in the aftermath of his own death.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>8. <i>An Ember in the Ashes </i>series by Sabaa Tahir</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">(Ok, so this one is actually three books, but the entire series, so far, is amazing and I couldn't choose only one of the books. I am not a huge fantasy genre fan, but . . . yeah, read these books. I need the fourth book to come out now already.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Book 1 - </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its 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.</span></span><div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>9. <i>Children of Blood and Bone </i>by Tomi Adeyemi <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPXET4bQWWJbN8YZS9-IafHNR7ZjydY7FeuFO5t2yOeLizz1vIJ8eJyGLbN320_NJYUjs5V9AkZDdM2jKc86GqUTIG9gPxMDzhPVOwSavEtobGwdGuz2SLm3LaskswQXk6pVnd0cyRgi8/s1600/children+of+blood+and+bone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPXET4bQWWJbN8YZS9-IafHNR7ZjydY7FeuFO5t2yOeLizz1vIJ8eJyGLbN320_NJYUjs5V9AkZDdM2jKc86GqUTIG9gPxMDzhPVOwSavEtobGwdGuz2SLm3LaskswQXk6pVnd0cyRgi8/s200/children+of+blood+and+bone.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">(Again, I loved this fantasy book! Who knew? It is a monster of a book, love hefty books, that I couldn't stop reading. Anxiously awaiting the second book in the series.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">They killed my mother.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">They took our magic.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">They tried to bury us.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Now we rise.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>10. <i>Loser's Bracket </i>by Chris Crutcher</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">(Chris Crutcher has been one of my favorite young adult authors for many years now. He works with kids. He gets kids. He has a heart. Plus, I love Annie, the main character, in this book. She's smart, sassy, and kind. She, too, has a good heart.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText3930709290273071920" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When it comes to family, Annie is in the losers bracket. Don’t get her wrong, her foster parents are great, even if Pop is a little too concerned about Annie getting an athletic scholarship. But Nancy, her birth mom, and her sister, Sheila, are . . . less than ideal. And no matter how hard Annie tries to stay away from them, she always gets sucked back in to their lives and their messes. She tells herself she’s doing it for Sheila’s son, Frankie, but she knows her issues with her birth family are more deeply rooted. Then a family argument at one of Annie’s swim meets escalates and Frankie goes missing. Annie can’t help but think that Frankie’s disappearance is her fault. With help from her friends Leah, Walter, and Tim, and her social service worker, Annie searches desperately for her missing nephew, determined to find him and finally get him in a safe home. Annie’s story is quintessential Crutcher, by turns gripping, heartbreaking, hopeful, and unflinchingly honest, and will appeal to readers of Matt de la Peña and Andrew Smith.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>11. <i>Harbor Me </i>by Jacqueline Woodson <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju503zcfW0aFOvzPuBBteOvqpUuM4vHiJ4TnNLMyHTFIQg-YxYb7IPcPSFEVUuHqxIp4pHq4KlNW44aU9p9pVg_WetAiUVXS0EPpUlJdnhFObQdpgRZ1u_3r-3ZrN1mopjbX5oTTsDBS8W/s1600/harbor+me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju503zcfW0aFOvzPuBBteOvqpUuM4vHiJ4TnNLMyHTFIQg-YxYb7IPcPSFEVUuHqxIp4pHq4KlNW44aU9p9pVg_WetAiUVXS0EPpUlJdnhFObQdpgRZ1u_3r-3ZrN1mopjbX5oTTsDBS8W/s200/harbor+me.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">(I have read many Jacqueline Woodson books, but this book stands out for me because of it's honesty, heart, and hope. You will feel so much and love each of the characters in this book.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Jacqueline Woodson's first middle-grade novel since National Book Award winner <i>Brown Girl Dreaming</i> celebrates the healing that can occur when a group of students share their stories.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">It all starts when six kids have to meet for a weekly chat—by themselves, with no adults to listen in. There, in the room they soon dub the ARTT Room (short for "A Room to Talk"), they discover it's safe to talk about what's bothering them—everything from Esteban's father's deportation and Haley's father's incarceration to Amari's fears of racial profiling and Ashton's adjustment to his changing family fortunes. When the six are together, they can express the feelings and fears they have to hide from the rest of the world. And together, they can grow braver and more ready for the rest of their lives.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b>12. <i>Highly Illogical Behavior </i>by John Corey Whaley </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #181818;">(This book will have you from the start, and you won't be able to put it down.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Sixteen-year-old Solomon is agoraphobic. He hasn’t left the house in three years, which is fine by him.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Ambitious Lisa desperately wants to get into the second-best psychology program for college (she’s being realistic). But is ambition alone enough to get her in?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Enter Lisa.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Determined to “fix” Sol, Lisa steps into his world, along with her charming boyfriend, Clark, and soon the three form an unexpected bond. But, as Lisa learns more about Sol and he and Clark grow closer and closer, the walls they’ve built around themselves start to collapse and their friendships threaten to do the same.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b>13. <i>North of Happy </i>by Adi Alsaid <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #181818;">(A book about a teenager from Mexico that isn't an immigrant story? A book about a Mexican teenage boy that is about a Mexican teenage boy trying to do the best he can and figure out his life like other kids around the world? Yes! Please don't misunderstand what I am trying to say. I know immigrant stories are super important, but it's also important for our students to see that kids from different parts of the world do and feel normal, every day things.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText1334945531270942779" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>His whole life has been mapped out for him…</i><br /><br />Carlos Portillo has always led a privileged and sheltered life. A dual citizen of Mexico and the US, he lives in Mexico City with his wealthy family, where he attends an elite international school. Always a rule follower and a parent pleaser, Carlos is more than happy to tread the well-worn path in front of him. He has always loved food and cooking, but his parents see it as just a hobby.<br /><br />When his older brother, Felix—who has dropped out of college to live a life of travel—is tragically killed, Carlos begins hearing his brother’s voice, giving him advice and pushing him to rebel against his father’s plan for him. Worrying about his mental health, but knowing the voice is right, Carlos runs away to the United States and manages to secure a job with his favorite celebrity chef. As he works to improve his skills in the kitchen and pursue his dream, he begins to fall for his boss’s daughter—a fact that could end his career before it begins. Finally living for himself, Carlos must decide what’s most important to him and where his true path really lies.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><b>14. <i>Outrun the Moon </i>by Stacey Lee</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #181818;">(How can anyone not love the protagonist in this book - Mercy Wong? She's got spunk, drive, and a heart. Can you tell that I like these types of characters?)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">San Francisco, 1906: Fifteen-year-old Mercy Wong is determined to break from the poverty in Chinatown, and an education at St. Clare’s School for Girls is her best hope. Although St. Clare’s is off-limits to all but the wealthiest white girls, Mercy gains admittance through a mix of cunning and a little bribery, only to discover that getting in was the easiest part. Not to be undone by a bunch of spoiled heiresses, Mercy stands strong—until disaster strikes.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">On April 18, a historic earthquake rocks San Francisco, destroying Mercy’s home and school. With martial law in effect, she is forced to wait with her classmates for their families in a temporary park encampment. Though fires might rage, and the city may be in shambles, Mercy can’t sit by while they wait for the army to bring help—she still has the “bossy” cheeks that mark her as someone who gets things done. But what can one teenage girl do to heal so many suffering in her broken city?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>15. <i>Picture Us in the Light </i>by Kelly Loy Gilbert <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">(Once again, Ms. Gilbert packs a lifetime of lessons into one book, and the title, just like her book <i>Conviction</i>, has so many meanings.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText11978077438508386456" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>Danny Cheng has always known his parents have secrets. But when he discovers a taped-up box in his father's closet filled with old letters and a file on a powerful Silicon Valley family, he realizes there's much more to his family's past than he ever imagined.</i><br /><br />Danny has been an artist for as long as he can remember and it seems his path is set, with a scholarship to RISD and his family's blessing to pursue the career he's always dreamed of. Still, contemplating a future without his best friend, Harry Wong, by his side makes Danny feel a panic he can barely put into words. Harry and Danny's lives are deeply intertwined and as they approach the one-year anniversary of a tragedy that shook their friend group to its core, Danny can't stop asking himself if Harry is truly in love with his girlfriend, Regina Chan.<br /><br />When Danny digs deeper into his parents' past, he uncovers a secret that disturbs the foundations of his family history and the carefully constructed facade his parents have maintained begins to crumble. With everything he loves in danger of being stripped away, Danny must face the ghosts of the past in order to build a future that belongs to him.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>16. <i>Darius the Great Is Not Okay </i>by Adib Khorram</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">(This book was funny, heartwarming, and touching. You will fall in love with Darius, he's a great kid! Plus, how many books are out there about a kid like Darius?)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Darius doesn't think he'll ever be enough, in America or in Iran. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this unforgettable debut introduces a brilliant new voice in contemporary YA.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He's about to take his first-ever trip to Iran, and it's pretty overwhelming--especially when he's also dealing with clinical depression, a disapproving dad, and a chronically anemic social life. In Iran, he gets to know his ailing but still formidable grandfather, his loving grandmother, and the rest of his mom's family for the first time. And he meets Sohrab, the boy next door who changes everything.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Sohrab makes sure people speak English so Darius can understand what's going on. He gets Darius an Iranian National Football Team jersey that makes him feel like a True Persian for the first time. And he understands that sometimes, best friends don't have to talk. Darius has never had a true friend before, but now he's spending his days with Sohrab playing soccer, eating rosewater ice cream, and sitting together for hours in their special place, a rooftop overlooking the Yazdi skyline.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Sohrab calls him Darioush--the original Persian version of his name--and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he's Darioush to Sohrab. When it's time to go home to America, he'll have to find a way to be Darioush on his own.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>17. <i>A Very Large Expanse of Sea </i>by Tahereh Mafi <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhTSIo5NR7aDmv0muYIjiKsqlSQfEsNI0t6jpyp3d8hWY2cc4zjKXOutD25kRbDVOVvNz1RWTujODN8IBSvZfUgrjUoCuwAdsounQm_q2I8FvXLHe1eaJxvGSzalzau9TpzV6rgi_AjC8x/s1600/a+very.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhTSIo5NR7aDmv0muYIjiKsqlSQfEsNI0t6jpyp3d8hWY2cc4zjKXOutD25kRbDVOVvNz1RWTujODN8IBSvZfUgrjUoCuwAdsounQm_q2I8FvXLHe1eaJxvGSzalzau9TpzV6rgi_AjC8x/s200/a+very.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">(I was hooked on the very first page. No lie. One of my students was also hooked on the very first page. She said, "This book is goooooood!" You, too, will love it! Promise.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText16326221557046590572" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped.<br /><br />Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She’s tired of the rude stares, the degrading comments—even the physical violence—she endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab she wears every day. So she’s built up protective walls and refuses to let anyone close enough to hurt her. Instead, she drowns her frustrations in music and spends her afternoons break-dancing with her brother.<br /><br />But then she meets Ocean James. He’s the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her—they seem to come from two irreconcilable worlds—and Shirin has had her guard up for so long that she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to let it down.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>18. <i>Hearts Unbroken </i>by Cynthia Leitich Smith</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">(I read this book following <i>A Very Large Expanse of Sea</i>, so I was worried I would be disappointed because I loved that book so much. I shouldn't have worried. Everyone should read this book. Quick chapters, which many of my developing readers prefer, and good lessons to learn while reading the book. Life as a Native, American teenager. Loved. I will be reading more of this author's books.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith turns to realistic fiction with the thoughtful story of a Native teen navigating the complicated, confusing waters of high school — and first love.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Louise Wolfe’s first real boyfriend mocks and disrespects Native people in front of her, she breaks things off and dumps him over e-mail. It’s her senior year, anyway, and she’d rather spend her time with her family and friends and working on the school newspaper. The editors pair her up with Joey Kairouz, the ambitious new photojournalist, and in no time the paper’s staff find themselves with a major story to cover: the school musical director’s inclusive approach to casting The Wizard of Oz has been provoking backlash in their mostly white, middle-class Kansas town. From the newly formed Parents Against Revisionist Theater to anonymous threats, long-held prejudices are being laid bare and hostilities are spreading against teachers, parents, and students — especially the cast members at the center of the controversy, including Lou’s little brother, who’s playing the Tin Man. As tensions mount at school, so does a romance between Lou and Joey — but as she’s learned, “dating while Native” can be difficult. In trying to protect her own heart, will Lou break Joey’s?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Stay tuned for the books I'm looking forward to reading in 2019. So many GREAT books. Too little time. </i></b></span></span></div>
Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-31084269742195791402018-12-05T18:46:00.002-08:002018-12-05T18:46:44.578-08:00Slow down and . . . readSometimes, with the hustle and bustle of life, we forget to slow down and . . . read. Well, I have no problem with slowing down and reading, but I sometimes find it difficult to slow down and write my blog. I realized this past weekend that I haven't written a post since the beginning of September. Yikes! I have 15 amazing books, which I have read between September 1 and now, to share!<br />
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Remember . . . Books make great gifts, and so do gift cards to bookstores, especially your local, independent book stores. Support your local, indie book store today! (I support Buffalo Books and Coffee in Buffalo, MN!)<br />
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So . . . grab a mug of hot chocolate, a cozy blanket, and your favorite book and slow down and read.<br />
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FYI - The books are in the order in which I have read them since September 1.<br />
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<b><i>Nowhere Near You </i>(sequel to <i>Because You'll Never Meet Me</i>) by Leah Thomas</b><br />
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<b>Goodreads Blurb: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Ollie and Moritz might never meet, but their friendship knows no bounds. Their letters carry on as Ollie embarks on his first road trip away from the woods--no easy feat for a boy allergic to electricity--and Moritz decides which new school would best suit an eyeless boy who prefers to be alone.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Along the way they meet other teens like them, other products of strange science who lead seemingly normal lives in ways Ollie and Moritz never imagined possible: A boy who jokes about his atypical skeleton; an aspiring actress who hides a strange deformity; a track star whose abnormal heart propels her to victory. Suddenly the future feels wide open for two former hermits. But even as Ollie and Moritz dare to enjoy life, they can't escape their past, which threatens to destroy any progress they've made. Can these boys ever find their place in a world that might never understand them?</span></div>
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<b><i>Harbor Me </i>by Jacqueline Woodson </b></div>
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<b>Goodreads Blurb: </b><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Jacqueline Woodson's first middle-grade novel since National Book Award winner <i>Brown Girl Dreaming</i> celebrates the healing that can occur when a group of students share their stories.</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It all starts when six kids have to meet for a weekly chat—by themselves, with no adults to listen in. There, in the room they soon dub the ARTT Room (short for "A Room to Talk"), they discover it's safe to talk about what's bothering them—everything from Esteban's father's deportation and Haley's father's incarceration to Amari's fears of racial profiling and Ashton's adjustment to his changing family fortunes. When the six are together, they can express the feelings and fears they have to hide from the rest of the world. And together, they can grow braver and more ready for the rest of their lives.</span></span><div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>Damage Done </i>by Amanda Panitch</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Goodreads Blurb: </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">22 minutes separate Julia Vann’s before and after.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Before: Julia had a twin brother, a boyfriend, and a best friend.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">After: She has a new identity, a new hometown, and memories of those twenty-two minutes that refuse to come into focus. At least, that’s what she tells the police.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Now that she’s Lucy Black, she's able to begin again. She's even getting used to the empty bedroom where her brother should be. And her fresh start has attracted the attention of one of the hottest guys in school, a boy who will do anything to protect her. But when someone much more dangerous also takes notice, Lucy's forced to confront the dark secrets she thought were safely left behind.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">One thing is clear: The damage done can never be erased. It’s only just beginning. . . .</span></span><div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><i>Darius the Great Is Not Okay </i>by Adib Khorram <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Goodreads Blurb: </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Darius doesn't think he'll ever be enough, in America or in Iran. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this unforgettable debut introduces a brilliant new voice in contemporary YA.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He's about to take his first-ever trip to Iran, and it's pretty overwhelming--especially when he's also dealing with clinical depression, a disapproving dad, and a chronically anemic social life. In Iran, he gets to know his ailing but still formidable grandfather, his loving grandmother, and the rest of his mom's family for the first time. And he meets Sohrab, the boy next door who changes everything.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Sohrab makes sure people speak English so Darius can understand what's going on. He gets Darius an Iranian National Football Team jersey that makes him feel like a True Persian for the first time. And he understands that sometimes, best friends don't have to talk. Darius has never had a true friend before, but now he's spending his days with Sohrab playing soccer, eating rosewater ice cream, and sitting together for hours in their special place, a rooftop overlooking the Yazdi skyline.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Sohrab calls him Darioush--the original Persian version of his name--and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he's Darioush to Sohrab. When it's time to go home to America, he'll have to find a way to be Darioush on his own.</span></span><div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><i>Highly Illogical Behavior </i>by John Corey Whaley </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Goodreads Blurb: </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Sixteen-year-old Solomon is agoraphobic. He hasn’t left the house in three years, which is fine by him.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Ambitious Lisa desperately wants to get into the second-best psychology program for college (she’s being realistic). But is ambition alone enough to get her in?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Enter Lisa.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Determined to “fix” Sol, Lisa steps into his world, along with her charming boyfriend, Clark, and soon the three form an unexpected bond. But, as Lisa learns more about Sol and he and Clark grow closer and closer, the walls they’ve built around themselves start to collapse and their friendships threaten to do the same.</span></span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Anger Is a Gift </i>by Mark Oshiro <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw69m-_AoqybgIl_y7j-uwQE-9hw_NhBi69Y9gbg2tcI8H8Lmy7h3bTGEILRCpleyA_JxJxT4ufBCoPmV3WXT092FpsFhXPiIDHP1vSlmnZ5TuwwWFpc4LYpsM2VZrcBjq_aJ8NivHwGdL/s1600/anger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw69m-_AoqybgIl_y7j-uwQE-9hw_NhBi69Y9gbg2tcI8H8Lmy7h3bTGEILRCpleyA_JxJxT4ufBCoPmV3WXT092FpsFhXPiIDHP1vSlmnZ5TuwwWFpc4LYpsM2VZrcBjq_aJ8NivHwGdL/s200/anger.jpg" width="126" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Goodreads Blurb: </b></span></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A story of resilience and loss, love and family, Mark Oshiro's Anger is a Gift testifies to the vulnerability and strength of a community living within a system of oppression.</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Six years ago, Moss Jefferies' father was murdered by an Oakland police officer. Along with losing a parent, the media's vilification of his father and lack of accountability has left Moss with near crippling panic attacks.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Now, in his sophomore year of high school, Moss and his fellow classmates find themselves increasingly treated like criminals by their own school. New rules. Random locker searches. Constant intimidation and Oakland Police Department stationed in their halls. Despite their youth, the students decide to organize and push back against the administration.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift.</span></span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Beyond the Bright Sea </i>by Lauren Wolk</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Goodreads Blurb: </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">From the author of the critically acclaimed <i>Wolf Hollow</i> comes a moving story of identity and belonging.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Twelve-year-old Crow has lived her entire life on a tiny, isolated piece of the starkly beautiful Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. Abandoned and set adrift on a small boat when she was just hours old, Crow's only companions are Osh, the man who rescued and raised her, and Miss Maggie, their fierce and affectionate neighbor across the sandbar.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Crow has always been curious about the world around her, but it isn't until the night a mysterious fire appears across the water that the unspoken question of her own history forms in her heart. Soon, an unstoppable chain of events is triggered, leading Crow down a path of discovery and danger.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Vivid and heart wrenching, Lauren Wolk's </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Beyond the Bright Sea</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">is a gorgeously crafted and tensely paced tale that explores questions of identity, belonging, and the true meaning of family.</span></span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>The Home for Unwanted Girls </i>by Joanna Goodman (adult book) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Goodreads Blurb: </b></span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Philomena</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> meets </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Orphan Train</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> in this suspenseful, provocative novel filled with love, secrets, and deceit—the story of a young unwed mother who is forcibly separated from her daughter at birth and the lengths to which they go to find each other.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In 1950s Quebec, French and English tolerate each other with precarious civility—much like Maggie Hughes’ parents. Maggie’s English-speaking father has ambitions for his daughter that don’t include marriage to the poor French boy on the next farm over. But Maggie’s heart is captured by Gabriel Phénix. When she becomes pregnant at fifteen, her parents force her to give baby Elodie up for adoption and get her life ‘back on track’.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Elodie is raised in Quebec’s impoverished orphanage system. It’s a precarious enough existence that takes a tragic turn when Elodie, along with thousands of other orphans in Quebec, is declared mentally ill as the result of a new law that provides more funding to psychiatric hospitals than to orphanages. Bright and determined, Elodie withstands abysmal treatment at the nuns’ hands, finally earning her freedom at seventeen, when she is thrust into an alien, often unnerving world.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Maggie, married to a businessman eager to start a family, cannot forget the daughter she was forced to abandon, and a chance reconnection with Gabriel spurs a wrenching choice. As time passes, the stories of Maggie and Elodie intertwine but never touch, until Maggie realizes she must take what she wants from life and go in search of her long-lost daughter, finally reclaiming the truth that has been denied them both.</span></span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption </i>by Bryan Stevenson (adult book)</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Goodreads Blurb: </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Just Mercy</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Swing </i>by Kwame Alexander <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Goodreads Blurb: </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Things usually do not go as planned for seventeen-year-old Noah. He and his best friend Walt (aka Swing) have been cut from the high school baseball team for the third year in a row, and it looks like Noah’s love interest since third grade, Sam, will never take it past the “best friend” zone. Noah would love to retire his bat and accept the status quo, but Walt has big plans for them both, which include making the best baseball comeback ever, getting the girl, and finally finding cool.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText17032480544106194222" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br />To go from lovelorn to ladies’ men, Walt introduces Noah to a relationship guru—his Dairy Queen-employed cousin, Floyd—and the always informative Woohoo Woman Podcast. Noah is reluctant, but decides fate may be intervening when he discovers more than just his mom’s birthday gift at the thrift shop. Inside the vintage Keepall is a gold mine of love letters from the 1960s. Walt is sure these letters and the podcasts are just what Noah needs to communicate his true feelings to Sam. To Noah, the letters are more: an initiation to the curious rhythms of love and jazz, as well as a way for him and Walt to embrace their own kind of cool. While Walt is hitting balls out of the park and catching the eye of the baseball coach, Noah composes anonymous love letters to Sam in an attempt to write his way into her heart. But as things are looking up for Noah and Walt, a chain of events alters everything Noah knows to be true about love, friendship, sacrifice, and fate.<br /><br />In <em>Swing, </em>bestselling authors Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess (<em>Solo</em>) present a free-verse poetic story that will speak to anyone who’s struggled to find their voice and take a swing at life.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Louisiana's Way Home </i>by Kate DiCamillo</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Goodreads Blurb: </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">From two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo comes a story of discovering who you are — and deciding who you want to be.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText15575917776035094240" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br />When Louisiana Elefante’s granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they have to leave home immediately, Louisiana isn’t overly worried. After all, Granny has many middle-of-the-night ideas. But this time, things are different. This time, Granny intends for them never to return. Separated from her best friends, Raymie and Beverly, Louisiana struggles to oppose the winds of fate (and Granny) and find a way home. But as Louisiana’s life becomes entwined with the lives of the people of a small Georgia town — including a surly motel owner, a walrus-like minister, and a mysterious boy with a crow on his shoulder — she starts to worry that she is destined only for good-byes. (Which could be due to the curse on Louisiana’s and Granny’s heads. But that is a story for another time.)<br /><br />Called “one of DiCamillo’s most singular and arresting creations” by The New York Times Book Review, the heartbreakingly irresistible Louisiana Elefante was introduced to readers in Raymie Nightingale — and now, with humor and tenderness, Kate DiCamillo returns to tell her story.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>A Very Large Expanse of Sea </i>by Tahereh Mafi <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Goodreads Blurb: </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText13204987890938882251" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br />Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She’s tired of the rude stares, the degrading comments—even the physical violence—she endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab she wears every day. So she’s built up protective walls and refuses to let anyone close enough to hurt her. Instead, she drowns her frustrations in music and spends her afternoons break-dancing with her brother.<br /><br />But then she meets Ocean James. He’s the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her—they seem to come from two irreconcilable worlds—and Shirin has had her guard up for so long that she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to let it down.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Hearts Unbroken </i>by Cynthia Leitich Smith</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Louise Wolfe’s first real boyfriend mocks and disrespects Native people in front of her, she breaks things off and dumps him over e-mail. It’s her senior year, anyway, and she’d rather spend her time with her family and friends and working on the school newspaper. The editors pair her up with Joey Kairouz, the ambitious new photojournalist, and in no time the paper’s staff find themselves with a major story to cover: the school musical director’s inclusive approach to casting The Wizard of Oz has been provoking backlash in their mostly white, middle-class Kansas town. From the newly formed Parents Against Revisionist Theater to anonymous threats, long-held prejudices are being laid bare and hostilities are spreading against teachers, parents, and students — especially the cast members at the center of the controversy, including Lou’s little brother, who’s playing the Tin Man. As tensions mount at school, so does a romance between Lou and Joey — but as she’s learned, “dating while Native” can be difficult. In trying to protect her own heart, will Lou break Joey’s?</span></span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes </i>by Chris Crutcher </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Goodreads Blurb: </b></span><span id="freeText11445493525508154862" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Sarah Byrnes and Eric Calhoune have been friends for years. When they were children, his weight and her scars made them both outcasts. Now Sarah Byrnes—the smartest, toughest person Eric has ever known—sits silent in a hospital. Eric must uncover the terrible secret she’s hiding before its dark current pulls them both under. Will appeal to fans of Marieke Nijkamp, Andrew Smith, and John Corey Whaley.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Optimists Die First </i>by Susan Nielsen</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Goodreads Blurb: </b></span></span><i style="color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Life ahead: Proceed with caution.</span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText12925001971153435935" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><br />Sixteen-year-old Petula De Wilde is anything but wild. A family tragedy has made her shut herself off from the world. Once a crafting fiend with a happy life, Petula now sees danger in everything, from airplanes to ground beef.<br /><br />The worst part of her week is her comically lame mandatory art therapy class. She has nothing in common with this small band of teenage misfits, except that they all carry their own burden of guilt.<br /><br />When Jacob joins their ranks, he seems so normal and confident. Petula wants nothing to do with him, or his prosthetic arm. But when they’re forced to collaborate on a unique school project, she slowly opens up, and he inspires her to face her fears.<br /><br />Until a hidden truth threatens to derail everything.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-1083513728228637782018-09-01T07:01:00.001-07:002018-09-01T07:10:59.734-07:00#30booksummerWell, it's September 1, which means school starts here on Tuesday and summer has come to an end, but I am excited about my new group of students and the year ahead! In particular, I am thrilled to be able to share with my students the books I read this summer through the #30booksummer challenge.<br />
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The books listed below start with the first book I read and continue until the last book. All of the blurbs are from Goodreads.<br />
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<b><i>Children of Blood and Bone </i>by Tomi Adeyemi (FYI - Jimmy Fallon's Summer Book Club Pick)</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">They killed my mother.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">They took our magic.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">They tried to bury us.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Now we rise.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Sunny </i>(Track Series #3) by Jason Reynolds </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGDi3-M2CKJ9Hi24N71niXwu09kNTtgQ8dl-F0CtWWqY0ac-zIp4BBt5XI-x4UyFhwUnqQatkPRR5GYjKbYK_BPwazGC4gxUOSNlk8n3ATxFrfmTNX-3iBqz9qs2h6C0RSr5G5FsU_mNt/s1600/sunny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="304" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGDi3-M2CKJ9Hi24N71niXwu09kNTtgQ8dl-F0CtWWqY0ac-zIp4BBt5XI-x4UyFhwUnqQatkPRR5GYjKbYK_BPwazGC4gxUOSNlk8n3ATxFrfmTNX-3iBqz9qs2h6C0RSr5G5FsU_mNt/s200/sunny.jpg" width="127" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Sunny Lancaster is a winner. Wih-</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">winner</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">. When it comes to the 1600 meter, Sunny can beat anyone by, well, a mile. But for Sunny, winning is boring. Buh-</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">boring</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">. Truth is, Sunny doesn't like running. Never has. What Sunny really loves... is dancing.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">boom-bap bap</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> of his teacher. Aurelia's dance routines beats the </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">chick chick chick</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> of his track meets any day. Sunny loves his team, though, so he can't quit, but he also can't be on a track team </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">not run</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">. And he definitely can't be on a track team and </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">dance</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">. But it turns out track isn't just </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">chick chick chick</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">. It's also </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">whoosh whoosh ahh</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">If Sunny lets loose everything he's been holding inside, will it be his best move ever, or will it be his biggest mistake?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Before I Fall </i>by Lauren Oliver</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">With this stunning debut novel, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">New York Times</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> bestselling author Lauren Oliver emerged as one of today's foremost authors of young adult fiction. Like Jay Asher's </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Thirteen Reasons Why</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> and Gayle Forman's </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">If I Stay</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Before I Fall</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> raises thought-provoking questions about love, death, and how one person's life can affect so many others.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—"Cupid Day"—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is…until she dies in a terrible accident that night.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Named to numerous state reading lists, this novel was also recognized as a Best Book of the Year by Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The Daily Beast</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, NPR, and </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Publishers Weekly</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>A Reaper at the Gates (</i>An Ember in the Ashes #3) by Sabaa Tahir </b></span></span><br />
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<span id="freeText10170728227065675085" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">The highly anticipated third book in Sabaa Tahir's <i>New York Times</i> bestselling EMBER QUARTET.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Beyond the Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger.<br /><br />The Blood Shrike, Helene Aquilla, is assailed on all sides. Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable, while the Commandant capitalizes on his madness to bolster her own power. As Helene searches for a way to hold back the approaching darkness, her sister's life and the lives of all those in the Empire hang in the balance.<br /><br />Far to the east, Laia of Serra knows the fate of the world lies not in the machinations of the Martial court, but in stopping the Nightbringer. But while hunting for a way to bring him down, Laia faces unexpected threats from those she hoped would aid her, and is drawn into a battle she never thought she'd have to fight.<br /><br />And in the land between the living and the dead, Elias Veturius has given up his freedom to serve as Soul Catcher. But in doing so, he has vowed himself to an ancient power that will stop at nothing to ensure Elias's devotion--even at the cost of his humanity.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>The Way I Used to Be </i>by Amber Smith</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="freeText15312734543009012942" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In the tradition of <i>Speak</i>, this extraordinary debut novel shares the unforgettable story of a young woman as she struggles to find strength in the aftermath of an assault.<br /><br />Eden was always good at being good. Starting high school didn’t change who she was. But the night her brother’s best friend rapes her, Eden’s world capsizes.<br /><br />What was once simple, is now complex. What Eden once loved—who she once loved—she now hates. What she thought she knew to be true, is now lies. Nothing makes sense anymore, and she knows she’s supposed to tell someone what happened but she can’t. So she buries it instead. And she buries the way she used to be.<br /><br />Told in four parts—freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year—this provocative debut reveals the deep cuts of trauma. But it also demonstrates one young woman’s strength as she navigates the disappointment and unbearable pains of adolescence, of first love and first heartbreak, of friendships broken and rebuilt, and while learning to embrace a power of survival she never knew she had hidden within her heart.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>You Know Me Well </i>by Nina LaCour and David Levithan </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDthNr6WOQokpCTvaxtxYnzR9bIXWlDJ07sf1Mi1UCH-ZdquOz6VWoGJeWkWGeo2wgB6tbZVIQdNywbWTDN5aMVxuf1GI4SqCZRUu8raVKnuP1mum4B_ncl0o3LhcfF0C5BhgkNwljB2S/s1600/you+know+me+well.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDthNr6WOQokpCTvaxtxYnzR9bIXWlDJ07sf1Mi1UCH-ZdquOz6VWoGJeWkWGeo2wgB6tbZVIQdNywbWTDN5aMVxuf1GI4SqCZRUu8raVKnuP1mum4B_ncl0o3LhcfF0C5BhgkNwljB2S/s200/you+know+me+well.jpg" width="132" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Who knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A stranger you meet on a crazy night? No one, really?</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">That is, until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other—and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Told in alternating points of view by Nina LaCour and David Levithan, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">You Know Me Well</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is a story about navigating the joys and heartaches of first love, one truth at a time.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9HgMs6HJbiHBlyxP6z979Gl3Y8V0sqUP3z3NUvEXb878DXsNEWRStuqzoKuoNkEf4cl1yvavnY_YmPdAWL20UuXsYw5nIl9XIhqVJYT-P8CRUps9lzB-B4w7R-Alw9SVrgKXwS4P-K2EU/s1600/the+poet+x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9HgMs6HJbiHBlyxP6z979Gl3Y8V0sqUP3z3NUvEXb878DXsNEWRStuqzoKuoNkEf4cl1yvavnY_YmPdAWL20UuXsYw5nIl9XIhqVJYT-P8CRUps9lzB-B4w7R-Alw9SVrgKXwS4P-K2EU/s200/the+poet+x.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>The Poet X </i>by Elizabeth Acevedo</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother’s religion and her own relationship to the world. Debut novel of renowned slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out, much less speak her words out loud. But still, she can’t stop thinking about performing her poems.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Ghost Boys </i>by Jewell Parker Rhodes </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU3oBcHixpT5VcIM8w08bJnOWF0ZxrDsiZ3VkVoy7cchbIKi22PhZ_nvn47dtPnd32RTW0-OZ0Ur70Gbx2bGB2Zu75mg-DbtENaw7sBuBw7M80VQD3rBKlaQpaannIyOSSQfw0WS-HTVDu/s1600/Ghost+boys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU3oBcHixpT5VcIM8w08bJnOWF0ZxrDsiZ3VkVoy7cchbIKi22PhZ_nvn47dtPnd32RTW0-OZ0Ur70Gbx2bGB2Zu75mg-DbtENaw7sBuBw7M80VQD3rBKlaQpaannIyOSSQfw0WS-HTVDu/s200/Ghost+boys.jpg" width="137" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that’s been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances. Emmett helps Jerome process what has happened, on a journey towards recognizing how historical racism may have led to the events that ended his life. Jerome also meets Sarah, the daughter of the police officer, who grapples with her father’s actions.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Once again Jewell Parker Rhodes deftly weaves historical and socio-political layers into a gripping and poignant story about how children and families face the complexities of today’s world, and how one boy grows to understand American blackness in the aftermath of his own death.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Conviction </i>by Kelly Loy Gilbert</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="freeText1805992708793581259" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Ten years ago, God gave Braden a sign, a promise that his family wouldn’t fall apart the way he feared.<br /><br />But Braden got it wrong: his older brother, Trey, has been estranged from the family for almost as long, and his father, the only parent Braden has ever known, has been accused of murder. The arrest of Braden’s father, a well-known Christian radio host, has sparked national media attention. His fate lies in his son’s hands; Braden is the key witness in the upcoming trial.<br /><br />Braden has always measured himself through baseball. He is the star pitcher in his small town of Ornette, and his ninety-four-mile-per-hour pitch al- ready has minor league scouts buzzing in his junior year. Now the rules of the sport that has always been Braden’s saving grace are blurred in ways he never realized, and the prospect of playing against Alex Reyes, the nephew of the police officer his father is accused of killing, is haunting his every pitch.<br /><br />Braden faces an impossible choice, one that will define him for the rest of his life, in this brutally honest debut novel about family, faith, and the ultimate test of conviction.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Loser's Bracket </i>by Chris Crutcher </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKG94S33yF2BxSCoP3MLylu76gzIlbN7IdwG3kp9FG4qBomVcMkW6LLJj_094apyPPfCSs28dedP6B9CT8BsUIJtU8oBEh1-0LEtFt0IrmMoX3DntyvEu7JNt9Wk9CZ6kFH_2vprhqyADY/s1600/losers+bracket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKG94S33yF2BxSCoP3MLylu76gzIlbN7IdwG3kp9FG4qBomVcMkW6LLJj_094apyPPfCSs28dedP6B9CT8BsUIJtU8oBEh1-0LEtFt0IrmMoX3DntyvEu7JNt9Wk9CZ6kFH_2vprhqyADY/s200/losers+bracket.jpg" width="132" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When it comes to family, Annie is in the losers bracket. Don’t get her wrong, her foster parents are great, even if Pop is a little too concerned about Annie getting an athletic scholarship. But Nancy, her birth mom, and her sister, Sheila, are . . . less than ideal. And no matter how hard Annie tries to stay away from them, she always gets sucked back in to their lives and their messes. She tells herself she’s doing it for Sheila’s son, Frankie, but she knows her issues with her birth family are more deeply rooted. Then a family argument at one of Annie’s swim meets escalates and Frankie goes missing. Annie can’t help but think that Frankie’s disappearance is her fault. With help from her new boyfriend, Tim, and her social service worker, Annie searches desperately for her missing nephew, determined to find him and finally get him in a safe home. Annie’s story is quintessential Crutcher, by turns gripping, heartbreaking, hopeful, and unflinchingly honest, and will appeal to readers of Matt de la Peña and Andrew Smith.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Amal Unbound </i>by Aisha Saeed</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Life is quiet and ordinary in Amal's Pakistani village, but she had no complaints, and besides, she's busy pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher one day. Her dreams are temporarily dashed when—as the eldest daughter—she must stay home from school to take care of her siblings. Amal is upset, but she doesn't lose hope and finds ways to continue learning. Then the unimaginable happens—after an accidental run-in with the son of her village's corrupt landlord, Amal must work as his family's servant to pay off her own family's debt. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Life at the opulent Khan estate is full of heartbreak and struggle for Amal—especially when she inadvertently makes an enemy of a girl named Nabila. Most troubling, though, is Amal's growing awareness of the Khans' nefarious dealings. When it becomes clear just how far they will go to protect their interests, Amal realizes she will have to find a way to work with others if they are ever to exact change in a cruel status quo, and if Amal is ever to achieve her dreams.</span></span><br />
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<b><i>Save Me a Seat </i>by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan </b><br />
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj831E9rSTrydRU1FstPm61Z7m1eiZvGKnedgwxXhc3T9ULfxm4IJN1FI8Ko_LZzfaz4uSVFd_K3261_My6UKyRuCf2n8HE4sTqDhZoym5XBQ93Fx6yiFeaVUrH7ob2sWOr06ZvP4g05eId/s1600/save+me+a+seat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj831E9rSTrydRU1FstPm61Z7m1eiZvGKnedgwxXhc3T9ULfxm4IJN1FI8Ko_LZzfaz4uSVFd_K3261_My6UKyRuCf2n8HE4sTqDhZoym5XBQ93Fx6yiFeaVUrH7ob2sWOr06ZvP4g05eId/s200/save+me+a+seat.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Joe and Ravi might be from very different places, but they're both stuck in the same place: SCHOOL.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Joe's lived in the same town all his life, and was doing just fine until his best friends moved away and left him on his own.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Ravi's family just moved to America from India, and he's finding it pretty hard to figure out where he fits in.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Joe and Ravi don't think they have anything in common -- but soon enough they have a common enemy (the biggest bully in their class) and a common mission: to take control of their lives over the course of a single crazy week.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Picture Us in the Light </i>by Kelly Loy Gilbert</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Danny Cheng has always known his parents have secrets. But when he discovers a taped-up box in his father's closet filled with old letters and a file on a powerful Silicon Valley family, he realizes there's much more to his family's past than he ever imagined.</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Danny has been an artist for as long as he can remember and it seems his path is set, with a scholarship to RISD and his family's blessing to pursue the career he's always dreamed of. Still, contemplating a future without his best friend, Harry Wong, by his side makes Danny feel a panic he can barely put into words. Harry and Danny's lives are deeply intertwined and as they approach the one-year anniversary of a tragedy that shook their friend group to its core, Danny can't stop asking himself if Harry is truly in love with his girlfriend, Regina Chan.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Danny digs deeper into his parents' past, he uncovers a secret that disturbs the foundations of his family history and the carefully constructed facade his parents have maintained begins to crumble. With everything he loves in danger of being stripped away, Danny must face the ghosts of the past in order to build a future that belongs to him.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><i>Ahimsa </i>by Supriya Kelkar </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="freeText4826554978815722239" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In 1942, when Mahatma Gandhi asks Indians to give one family member to the freedom movement, ten-year-old Anjali is devastated to think of her father risking his life for the freedom struggle.<br /><br />But it turns out he isn't the one joining. Anjali's mother is. And with this change comes many more adjustments designed to improve their country and use "ahimsa"—non-violent resistance—to stand up to the British government. First the family must trade in their fine foreign-made clothes for homespun cotton, so Anjali has to give up her prettiest belongings. Then her mother decides to reach out to the Dalit community, the "untouchables" of society. Anjali is forced to get over her past prejudices as her family becomes increasingly involved in the movement.<br /><br />When Anjali's mother is jailed, Anjali must step out of her comfort zone to take over her mother's work, ensuring that her little part of the independence movement is completed.<br /><br />Inspired by her great-grandmother's experience working with Gandhi, New Visions Award winner Supriya Kelkar shines a light on the Indian freedom movement in this poignant debut.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Lions and Liars </i>by Kate Beasley</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="freeText8481404404233299915" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Frederick Frederickson has a food-chain theory about life. There are lions, like the school bully. Gazelles, like the bullied kids. There are meerkats, and the fleas that live on the butts of meerkats. Frederick's a flea.<br /><br />Fifth grade is off to a terrible start when Frederick is sent to a disciplinary camp for troublesome boys. His fellow troop mates—Nosebleed, Specs, The Professor, and little-yet-lethal Ant Bite—are terrifying. But in between trust-building exercises and midnight escape attempts, a tenuous friendship grows between them. Which is lucky, because a Category 5 hurricane is coming and everyone will have to work together—lions and fleas alike—to survive!</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and a Crime That Changed Their Lives </i>by Dashka </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOAUN8sTqd5zLlvHExc__eVeaA4mA8-T9nh0kMBAvTqE0h3rlkoAFGswMemLY340hKVMx3sT-xW6b-u-flJJhpcuawvw8nLomIJzco0Q0ZYn8PJEEZqgy-3ekiBWwrPBsDTfH7-yOjHC3e/s1600/the+57+bus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOAUN8sTqd5zLlvHExc__eVeaA4mA8-T9nh0kMBAvTqE0h3rlkoAFGswMemLY340hKVMx3sT-xW6b-u-flJJhpcuawvw8nLomIJzco0Q0ZYn8PJEEZqgy-3ekiBWwrPBsDTfH7-yOjHC3e/s200/the+57+bus.jpg" width="132" /></a></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Slater</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="freeText3777923004288910813" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">One teenager in a skirt.<br />One teenager with a lighter.<br />One moment that changes both of their lives forever.<br /><br />If it weren't for the 57 bus, Sasha and Richard never would have met. Both were high school students from Oakland, California, one of the most diverse cities in the country, but they inhabited different worlds. Sasha, a white teen, lived in the middle-class foothills and attended a small private school. Richard, a black teen, lived in the crime-plagued flatlands and attended a large public one. Each day, their paths overlapped for a mere eight minutes. But one afternoon on the bus ride home from school, a single reckless act left Sasha severely burned, and Richard charged with two hate crimes and facing life imprisonment. The case garnered international attention, thrusting both teenagers into the spotlight.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Sing, Unburied, Sing </i>by Jesmyn Ward</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">An intimate portrait of a family and an epic tale of hope and struggle, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Sing, Unburied, Sing</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> examines the ugly truths at the heart of the American story and the power – and limitations – of family bonds. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Jojo is thirteen years old and trying to understand what it means to be a man. His mother, Leonie, is in constant conflict with herself and those around her. She is black and her children’s father is white. Embattled in ways that reflect the brutal reality of her circumstances, she wants to be a better mother, but can’t put her children above her own needs, especially her drug use. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When the children’s father is released from prison, Leonie packs her kids and a friend into her car and drives north to the heart of Mississippi and Parchman Farm, the State Penitentiary. At Parchman, there is another boy, the ghost of a dead inmate who carries all of the ugly history of the South with him in his wandering. He too has something to teach Jojo about fathers and sons, about legacies, about violence, about love. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Give Me Some Truth </i>by Eric Gansworth </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTUHGlvYNHHkhG9G2JiyN0A7BXnex_LLLKJjpnG0PTn50tiRf0T1QX7-ljOGkRQg903Fe1Gl6vwbAxpHZMr4gargIU_VqHUAdtLC6QffZgc6jQua5_9rvRrTzQyZV619NmE-AZ10lAKEZ/s1600/give+me+some+truth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTUHGlvYNHHkhG9G2JiyN0A7BXnex_LLLKJjpnG0PTn50tiRf0T1QX7-ljOGkRQg903Fe1Gl6vwbAxpHZMr4gargIU_VqHUAdtLC6QffZgc6jQua5_9rvRrTzQyZV619NmE-AZ10lAKEZ/s200/give+me+some+truth.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Carson Mastick is entering his senior year of high school and desperate to make his mark, on the reservation and off. A rock band -- and winning the local Battle of the Bands, with its first prize of a trip to New York City -- is his best shot. But things keep getting in the way. Small matters like the lack of an actual band, or the fact that his brother just got shot confronting the racist owner of a local restaurant.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Maggi Bokoni has just moved back to the reservation from the city with her family. She's dying to stop making the same traditional artwork her family sells to tourists (conceptual stuff is cooler), stop feeling out of place in her new (old) home, and stop being treated like a child. She might like to fall in love for the first time too.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Carson and Maggi -- along with their friend Lewis -- will navigate loud protests, even louder music, and first love in this novel about coming together in a world defined by difference</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness </i>by Michelle Alexander</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">"Jarvious Cotton's great-great-grandfather could not vote as a slave. His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Klu Klux Klan for attempting to vote. His grandfather was prevented from voting by Klan intimidation; his father was barred by poll taxes and literacy tests. Today, Cotton cannot vote because he, like many black men in the United States, has been labeled a felon and is currently on parole."</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">As the United States celebrates the nation's "triumph over race" with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of young black men in major American cities are locked behind bars or have been labeled felons for life. Although Jim Crow laws have been wiped off the books, an astounding percentage of the African American community remains trapped in a subordinate status--much like their grandparents before them.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In this incisive critique, former litigator-turned-legal-scholar Michelle Alexander provocatively argues that we have not ended racial caste in America: we have simply redesigned it. Alexander shows that, by targeting black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community--and all of us--to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Monday's Not Coming </i>by Tiffany D. Jackson </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwL3u40keKlof88xe2SxclzlNWyIls-3_ePKMQlSO4Q7hMALTcVWcefrnQXXrujHUr74eM2fSFofQPc0bD7THE68Dw2R1SxVukvTAbdrs8KF2siYRB_f2V5huuIg6hfKgkZg01t5CgNB__/s1600/mondays+not+coming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwL3u40keKlof88xe2SxclzlNWyIls-3_ePKMQlSO4Q7hMALTcVWcefrnQXXrujHUr74eM2fSFofQPc0bD7THE68Dw2R1SxVukvTAbdrs8KF2siYRB_f2V5huuIg6hfKgkZg01t5CgNB__/s200/mondays+not+coming.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable—more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried. When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best—and only—friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives </i>by Caitlin Alifirenka, Martin Ganda, and Liz Welch</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The true story of an all-American girl and a boy from an impoverished </i><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">city in Zimbabwe and the letter that changed both of their lives forever.</i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">It started as an assignment. Everyone in Caitlin's class wrote to an unknown student somewhere in a distant place. All the other kids picked countries like France or Germany, but when Caitlin saw </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Zimbabwe</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> written on the board, it sounded like the most exotic place she had ever heard of--so she chose it. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Martin was lucky to even receive a pen pal letter. There were only ten letters, and forty kids in his class. But he was the top student, so he got the first one.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">That letter was the beginning of a correspondence that spanned six years and changed two lives.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In this compelling dual memoir, Caitlin and Martin recount how they became best friends --and better people--through letters. Their story will inspire readers to look beyond their own lives and wonder about the world at large and their place in it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>The Children of Willesden Lane - Beyond the Kindertransport: A Memoir of Music, Love, and </i></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO7tJR5qC734-gc4c_d_BdfJS9wSdy6coewFSLElfwR_OxkTz2gwX-_e4URVm6gBOnO9QweuuL_3NsURzTrAKsIgxPfbTRdk4I1thak-XzHPeMnMd6Ubvgm59ZR8p7Ajh_hu2YsdKYQ_Zj/s1600/the+children+of+willesden+lane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO7tJR5qC734-gc4c_d_BdfJS9wSdy6coewFSLElfwR_OxkTz2gwX-_e4URVm6gBOnO9QweuuL_3NsURzTrAKsIgxPfbTRdk4I1thak-XzHPeMnMd6Ubvgm59ZR8p7Ajh_hu2YsdKYQ_Zj/s200/the+children+of+willesden+lane.jpg" width="132" /></a></i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Survival </i>by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">This inspiring true story of how classical music saved a young girl's life during World War II is a book for history and music lovers and the perfect choice for book clubs.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Mona Golabek tells the tale of her mother Lisa Jura Golabek's escape from Nazi-controlled Austria to England on the infamous Kindertransport. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Jewish musical prodigy Lisa Jura has a wonderful life in Vienna. But when the Nazis start closing in on the city, life changes irreversibly. Although he has three daughters, Lisa's father is able to secure only one berth on the Kindertransport. The family decides to send Lisa to London so that she may pursue her dreams of a career as a concert pianist. Separated from her beloved family, Lisa bravely endures the trip and a disastrous posting outside London before finding her way to the Willesden Lane Orphanage.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Her music inspires the other orphanage children, and they, in turn, cheer her on in her efforts to make good on her promise to her family to realize her musical potential. Through hard work and sheer pluck, Lisa wins a scholarship to study piano at the Royal Academy. As she supports herself and studies, she makes a new life for herself and dreams of reconnecting with the family she was forced to leave behind. The resulting tale delivers a message of the power of music to uplift the human spirit and to grant the individual soul endurance, patience, and peace.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYIAOTA7R7ynCOS0cUjyFnzzpDPa4t1lONTCSiNAZw_dfa5lkLLeKMth9H0IQj0DZ5TEZtzpOaXp-BIvZPBM2q-5jFZ3BW85T-E0XhuvDdKzl6Fhvyk7TBB4_UgpDN-snWc-qgRmQp0Vv/s1600/lailahs+lunchbos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYIAOTA7R7ynCOS0cUjyFnzzpDPa4t1lONTCSiNAZw_dfa5lkLLeKMth9H0IQj0DZ5TEZtzpOaXp-BIvZPBM2q-5jFZ3BW85T-E0XhuvDdKzl6Fhvyk7TBB4_UgpDN-snWc-qgRmQp0Vv/s200/lailahs+lunchbos.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Lailah's Lunchbox: A Ramadan Story </i>by Reem Faruqi</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now that she is ten, Lailah is delighted that she can fast during the month of Ramadan like her family and her friends in Abu Dhabi, but finding a way to explain to her teacher and classmates in Atlanta is a challenge until she gets some good advice from the librarian, Mrs. Carman.</span></span><br />
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<b style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>Drawn Together </i>by Minh Le </b><br />
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<b style="color: #181818; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWQ60FK4jqMLqaaLox6jZ2iMPpX67xmix3jkG6UIjdahLmE6BupVLi3zw43YPjc8xWl8Z0UOXeM2X3Hw2fwhWYZ8NaUm9iD6PhQETIeQEWWw_gitbZRVgl4V70goOv9XkD277Rlx4HU_K0/s1600/drawn+together.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWQ60FK4jqMLqaaLox6jZ2iMPpX67xmix3jkG6UIjdahLmE6BupVLi3zw43YPjc8xWl8Z0UOXeM2X3Hw2fwhWYZ8NaUm9iD6PhQETIeQEWWw_gitbZRVgl4V70goOv9XkD277Rlx4HU_K0/s200/drawn+together.jpg" width="154" /></a></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When a young boy visits his grandfather, their lack of a common language leads to confusion, frustration, and silence. But as they sit down to draw together, something magical happens-with a shared love of art and storytelling, the two form a bond that goes beyond words.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">With spare, direct text by Minh Lê and luminous illustrations by Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat, this stirring picturebook about reaching across barriers will be cherished for years to come.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjyG5efoXwqy8vULI2fcSfP3R9Xh_2vRlYfZLOPW1bz09_EqQ0E17Q68ZFLZCf2O0g0nv4YdnTiQeNZujVD-munHegmGwm8kUOFLeju56DLVNhne0cMOODUyams57YgTDUVagcM3m6NLy/s1600/love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjyG5efoXwqy8vULI2fcSfP3R9Xh_2vRlYfZLOPW1bz09_EqQ0E17Q68ZFLZCf2O0g0nv4YdnTiQeNZujVD-munHegmGwm8kUOFLeju56DLVNhne0cMOODUyams57YgTDUVagcM3m6NLy/s200/love.jpg" width="173" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Love </i>by Matt de la Pena</b></span></span><br />
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<span id="freeText13184426728644745052" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>From Newbery Medal-winning author Matt de la Peña and bestselling illustrator Loren Long comes a story about the strongest bond there is and the diverse and powerful ways it connects us all.</b> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><br /></b>"In the beginning there is light<br />and two wide-eyed figures standing near the foot of your bed<br />and the sound of their voices is love.<br />...<br />A cab driver plays love softly on his radio<br />while you bounce in back with the bumps of the city<br />and everything smells new, and it smells like life."<br /><br />In this heartfelt celebration of love, Matt de la Peña and illustrator Loren Long depict the many ways we experience this universal bond, which carries us from the day we are born throughout the years of our childhood and beyond. With a lyrical text that's soothing and inspiring, this tender tale is a needed comfort and a new classic that will resonate with readers of every age.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Alma and How She Got Her Name </i>by Juana Martinez-Neal </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN2Hmbq-B6oc8keJJVkN-FsXti0TPDOpk9jigs0B8vQMstjb6tIJigP78fM3d98Wx4wF4gVzw_Kgi5l04BOALf99FlBpIVV0Cg5LdfbRQBCK3DunsZAKve7Nxn1imfZ57Nhyphenhyphene-f7fE3fW-/s1600/alma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="306" data-original-width="318" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN2Hmbq-B6oc8keJJVkN-FsXti0TPDOpk9jigs0B8vQMstjb6tIJigP78fM3d98Wx4wF4gVzw_Kgi5l04BOALf99FlBpIVV0Cg5LdfbRQBCK3DunsZAKve7Nxn1imfZ57Nhyphenhyphene-f7fE3fW-/s200/alma.jpg" width="200" /></a></b></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">What's in a name? For one little girl, her very long name tells the vibrant story of where she came from — and who she may one day be.</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">If you ask her, Alma Sofia Esperanza José Pura Candela has way too many names: six! How did such a small person wind up with such a large name? Alma turns to Daddy for an answer and learns of Sofia, the grandmother who loved books and flowers; Esperanza, the great-grandmother who longed to travel; José, the grandfather who was an artist; and other namesakes, too. As she hears the story of her name, Alma starts to think it might be a perfect fit after all — and realizes that she will one day have her own story to tell. In her author-illustrator debut, Juana Martinez-Neal opens a treasure box of discovery for children who may be curious about their own origin stories or names.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicL6fqfs3L4lFdbBA6MQ3Hfujmk9a-V47gUaMe8MQYPtGskBpdAgd5iRS6jGiIXm11wM_WnjqHg5Mb5EAEhKiKNHGjTSjlzHZLtQ7stpoWn9J0dewZdq4a0RS-s8SooYWuuWIluuZKkpJi/s1600/the+night+diary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="260" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicL6fqfs3L4lFdbBA6MQ3Hfujmk9a-V47gUaMe8MQYPtGskBpdAgd5iRS6jGiIXm11wM_WnjqHg5Mb5EAEhKiKNHGjTSjlzHZLtQ7stpoWn9J0dewZdq4a0RS-s8SooYWuuWIluuZKkpJi/s200/the+night+diary.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>The Night Diary </i>by Veera Hiranandani</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="freeText15844180135383588077" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders.<br /><br />Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home. The journey is long, difficult, and dangerous, and after losing her mother as a baby, Nisha can't imagine losing her homeland, too. But even if her country has been ripped apart, Nisha still believes in the possibility of putting herself back together.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Front Desk </i>by Kelly Yang </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi04K-kQIrxJ-lJnGIwyAP8bL-krpRMejB0w0F8yFMgI7mhZHh9nL7BA1ExQ1XAA876KIobWpZUzzcOxjMqXqS25NQMLlka5C7N7v1gAPABSRSJKTEfWG6N0znbombbCY6xpG3SnG1tmUxj/s1600/front+desk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi04K-kQIrxJ-lJnGIwyAP8bL-krpRMejB0w0F8yFMgI7mhZHh9nL7BA1ExQ1XAA876KIobWpZUzzcOxjMqXqS25NQMLlka5C7N7v1gAPABSRSJKTEfWG6N0znbombbCY6xpG3SnG1tmUxj/s200/front+desk.jpg" width="143" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Front Desk tells the story of 10-year-old Mia Tang. Every day, Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel while her parents clean the rooms. She’s proud of her job. She loves the guests and treats them like family. When one of the guests gets into trouble with the police, it shakes Mia to her core. Her parents, meanwhile, hide immigrants in the empty rooms at night. If the mean motel owner Mr. Yao finds out, they’ll be doomed!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Based on the author's life, the story follows Mia — the daughter of first generation Chinese immigrants.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtdcRIpaxxcJZGlwjnm1-UwZG7CPZwu55CVH7sD6hWyYIgykvsme-Zx3Vo239JOtwQHNYjJqr6S6WSgALDRqwgeO8JCm6-CYD5Maz3swPXQiWXKIVQr8uorKvcASnti_GF0W9Jg-e-QwtN/s1600/all+the+light.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtdcRIpaxxcJZGlwjnm1-UwZG7CPZwu55CVH7sD6hWyYIgykvsme-Zx3Vo239JOtwQHNYjJqr6S6WSgALDRqwgeO8JCm6-CYD5Maz3swPXQiWXKIVQr8uorKvcASnti_GF0W9Jg-e-QwtN/s200/all+the+light.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>All the Light We Cannot See </i>by Anthony Doerr</b></span><br />
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<span id="freeText7756068846744910165" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, a <i>New York Times Book Review</i> Top Ten Book, National Book Award finalist, more than two and a half years on the <i>New York Times</i> bestseller list</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant <i>New York Times</i> bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.<br /><br />Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.<br /><br />In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.<br /><br />Doerr’s “stunning sense of physical detail and gorgeous metaphors” (<i>San Francisco Chronicle</i>) are dazzling. Ten years in the writing, a National Book Award finalist, <i>All the Light We Cannot See</i> is a magnificent, deeply moving novel from a writer “whose sentences never fail to thrill” (<i>Los Angeles Times</i>).</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>The Girl from Everywhere </i>by Heidi Hellig </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDaa-NGMvplZ9TUk5RWGRRpk6PcbVrBh0fNlmi-fnjBRb0oQTl2QShjepXLXfkWUTiL7LI86yIArCxHn_XIB94zghzCnsHX2AvYzyQQs-AXpmMgZTILcJ_zqFdcyrRo-vcNFHEmTJKV9uE/s1600/girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDaa-NGMvplZ9TUk5RWGRRpk6PcbVrBh0fNlmi-fnjBRb0oQTl2QShjepXLXfkWUTiL7LI86yIArCxHn_XIB94zghzCnsHX2AvYzyQQs-AXpmMgZTILcJ_zqFdcyrRo-vcNFHEmTJKV9uE/s200/girl.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="freeText6860391540296403748" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Nix has spent her entire life aboard her father’s ship, sailing across the centuries, across the world, across myth and imagination.<br /><br />As long as her father has a map for it, he can sail to any time, any place, real or imagined: nineteenth-century China, the land from <i>One Thousand and One Nights</i>, a mythic version of Africa. Along the way they have found crewmates and friends, and even a disarming thief who could come to mean much more to Nix.<br /><br />But the end to it all looms closer every day.<br /><br />Her father is obsessed with obtaining the one map, 1868 Honolulu, that could take him back to his lost love, Nix’s mother. Even though getting it—and going there—could erase Nix’s very existence.<br /><br />For the first time, Nix is entering unknown waters.<br /><br />She could find herself, find her family, find her own fantastical ability, her own epic love.<br /><br />Or she could disappear.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-14204050777826868152018-06-02T07:06:00.001-07:002018-06-02T07:06:29.242-07:00My KidsWith four days left next week with students, I have mixed emotions about the end of the year. My students have become <i>my kids; </i>I feel like I know them as well and care about them as much as my own three children. My guiding philosophy in teaching is to teach my students how I would like my own children to be taught - with love, respect, and a passion for reading. For the majority of my students, reading has become engaging and not seen as something they are forced to do. Once the kids come into my classroom and settle down, reading happens - kids bent over their books, settled in comfy chairs, silence. Sometimes, while the kids are reading, I look around the classroom and feel an immense pride in my students because, for many of them, reading was seen as a chore at the beginning of the year and now reading is enjoyable. One of my students told me, "I didn't think you could get me to like a book, but you did." Win!<br />
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I worry, though. Will <i>my kids </i>continue to read when they leave my classroom? Will reading become a chore? Will reading become something to be done to earn a grade? I know for some that this may happen, so, if you teach, please remember that a love of reading needs to be fostered in your classroom. Students love choice, books that relate to them, and books that help them to see a world outside of their own.<br />
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As I close out the school year with <i>my kids</i>, I hope they continue reading and continue to love reading. Here are some books that might help with that.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNdH_XE_Jz1vrcZoZrpAo5d5rpHKAQ8j2hMhcc3Zz1YKiX5dGktcOtwpee0GqqDg8PFJsMD4pIGnoOb3Jz7mO9a30r9x4OLUJNx63KOWyNjva2PmE7_XXfXWvC-dglZtzTD155XTeS_FHw/s1600/t.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNdH_XE_Jz1vrcZoZrpAo5d5rpHKAQ8j2hMhcc3Zz1YKiX5dGktcOtwpee0GqqDg8PFJsMD4pIGnoOb3Jz7mO9a30r9x4OLUJNx63KOWyNjva2PmE7_XXfXWvC-dglZtzTD155XTeS_FHw/s200/t.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<b><i>Tyler Johnson Was Here </i>by Jay Coles</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText5121089521077097217" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When Marvin Johnson's twin, Tyler, goes to a party, Marvin decides to tag along to keep an eye on his brother. But what starts as harmless fun turns into a shooting, followed by a police raid.<br /><br />The next day, Tyler has gone missing, and it's up to Marvin to find him. But when Tyler is found dead, a video leaked online tells an even more chilling story: Tyler has been shot and killed by a police officer. Terrified as his mother unravels and mourning a brother who is now a hashtag, Marvin must learn what justice and freedom really mean.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<b><i>The First Rule of Punk</i> by Celia C. Perez </b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>From debut author and longtime zine-maker Celia C. Perez, <i>The First Rule of Punk</i> is a wry and heartfelt exploration of friendship, finding your place, and learning to rock out like no one's watching.</b><br /><br />There are no shortcuts to surviving your first day at a new school--you can't fix it with duct tape like you would your Chuck Taylors. On Day One, twelve-year-old Malu (Maria Luisa, if you want to annoy her) inadvertently upsets Posada Middle School's queen bee, violates the school's dress code with her punk rock look, and disappoints her college-professor mom in the process. Her dad, who now lives a thousand miles away, says things will get better as long as she remembers the first rule of punk: be yourself.<br /><br />The real Malu loves rock music, skateboarding, zines, and Soyrizo (hold the cilantro, please). And when she assembles a group of like-minded misfits at school and starts a band, Malu finally begins to feel at home. She'll do anything to preserve this, which includes standing up to an anti-punk school administration to fight for her right to express herself!<br /><br />Black and white illustrations and collage art throughout make <i>The First Rule of Punk</i> a perfect pick for fans of books like <i>Roller Girl</i> and online magazines like <i>Rookie</i>.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Orphan Monster Spy </i>by Matt Killeen</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText11601627484501293001" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>A Jewish girl-turned-spy must infiltrate an elite Nazi boarding school in this highly commercial, relentlessly nail-biting World War II drama!</b><br /><br />After her mother is shot at a checkpoint, fifteen-year-old Sarah--blonde, blue-eyed, and Jewish--finds herself on the run from a government that wants to see every person like her dead. Then Sarah meets a mysterious man with an ambiguous accent, a suspiciously bare apartment, and a lockbox full of weapons. He's a spy, and he needs Sarah to become one, too, to pull off a mission he can't attempt on his own: infiltrate a boarding school attended by the daughters of top Nazi brass, befriend the daughter of a key scientist, and steal the blueprints to a bomb that could destroy the cities of Western Europe. With years of training from her actress mother in the art of impersonation, Sarah thinks she's ready. But nothing prepares her for her cutthroat schoolmates, and soon she finds herself in a battle for survival unlike any she'd ever imagined.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Garvey's Choice </i>by Nikki Grimes </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcEmXMZJmcnVYlOdFMVRCQx05WCb7o1y6UOYcPqBxfzf8jbGsiUsWA205Kf3dG8bPd50TvHQKWmvKst2jl99eZ8wutelRMKeOvmadGJcBTc99s6hkDLdVDVJQVnm4U_mmVl0zKM6nzsupp/s1600/choice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcEmXMZJmcnVYlOdFMVRCQx05WCb7o1y6UOYcPqBxfzf8jbGsiUsWA205Kf3dG8bPd50TvHQKWmvKst2jl99eZ8wutelRMKeOvmadGJcBTc99s6hkDLdVDVJQVnm4U_mmVl0zKM6nzsupp/s200/choice.jpg" width="139" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText12968546300558548255" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Garvey’s father has always wanted Garvey to be athletic, but Garvey is interested in astronomy, science fiction, reading—anything but sports. Feeling like a failure, he comforts himself with food. Garvey is kind, funny, smart, a loyal friend, and he is also overweight, teased by bullies, and lonely. When his only friend encourages him to join the school chorus, Garvey’s life changes. The chorus finds a new soloist in Garvey, and through chorus, Garvey finds a way to accept himself, and a way to finally reach his distant father—by speaking the language of music instead of the language of sports.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood </i>by Marjane Satrapi</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">New York Times</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> Notable Book</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Time Magazine</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> “Best Comix of the Year”</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">San Francisco Chronicle </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">and </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Los Angeles Times</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> Best-seller</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Persepolis</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Persepolis</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane’s child’s-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Persepolis</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> is at once a story of growing up and a reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, with laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora </i>by Pablo Cartaya </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrpNV1XLXk93tak4e9y2OvEZYhbYSKn5mbLIIE_prdeyayRyT9S_ivuDanqUt7RHflx5Y89r2UQmnIVi5Fc1GlKXCygN-ICRDDLHuizhJ8wG6u7QcYeeznWaSGUIQXKva7PFQDATiq65qa/s1600/epic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrpNV1XLXk93tak4e9y2OvEZYhbYSKn5mbLIIE_prdeyayRyT9S_ivuDanqUt7RHflx5Y89r2UQmnIVi5Fc1GlKXCygN-ICRDDLHuizhJ8wG6u7QcYeeznWaSGUIQXKva7PFQDATiq65qa/s200/epic.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Save the restaurant. Save the town. Get the girl. Make Abuela proud. Can thirteen-year-old Arturo Zamora do it all or is he in for a BIG, EPIC FAIL? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">For Arturo, summetime in Miami means playing basketball until dark, sipping mango smoothies, and keeping cool under banyan trees. And maybe a few shifts as junior lunchtime dishwasher at Abuela's restaurant. Maybe. But this summer also includes Carmen, a cute poetry enthusiast who moves into Arturo's apartment complex and turns his stomach into a deep fryer. He almost doesn't notice the smarmy land developer who rolls into town and threatens to change it. Arturo refuses to let his family and community go down without a fight, and as he schemes with Carmen, Arturo discovers the power of poetry and protest through untold family stories and the work of Jose Marti.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Outrun the Moon </i>by Stacey Lee</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">San Francisco, 1906: Fifteen-year-old Mercy Wong is determined to break from the poverty in Chinatown, and an education at St. Clare’s School for Girls is her best hope. Although St. Clare’s is off-limits to all but the wealthiest white girls, Mercy gains admittance through a mix of cunning and a little bribery, only to discover that getting in was the easiest part. Not to be undone by a bunch of spoiled heiresses, Mercy stands strong—until disaster strikes.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">On April 18, a historic earthquake rocks San Francisco, destroying Mercy’s home and school. With martial law in effect, she is forced to wait with her classmates for their families in a temporary park encampment. Though fires might rage, and the city may be in shambles, Mercy can’t sit by while they wait for the army to bring help—she still has the “bossy” cheeks that mark her as someone who gets things done. But what can one teenage girl do to heal so many suffering in her broken city?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Allegedly </i>by Tiffany D. Jackson</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Mary B. Addison killed a baby.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: A white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it? She wouldn’t say.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Mary survived six years in baby jail before being dumped in a group home. The house isn’t really “home”—no place where you fear for your life can be considered a home. Home is Ted, who she meets on assignment at a nursing home.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary must find the voice to fight her past. And her fate lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But who really knows the real Mary?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>The Knife of Never Letting Go </i>by Patrick Ness</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText9912022972299645690" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee -- whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not -- stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden -- a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.<br /><br /><b>But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>The Poet X </i>by Elizabeth Acevedo </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4OYw9_3_T28JcpR5CoDH0xTTuYn22oN8fQPuSaywQRjA-hx6qB5I0F59jQb9L5pqQ17OVp_pM_1Cr_0t-6Qz7no6jKHSlTYSWwMlRNGZTEMBLdAxXZyfLNz4SesQw02dk96TDojqYIew_/s1600/poet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4OYw9_3_T28JcpR5CoDH0xTTuYn22oN8fQPuSaywQRjA-hx6qB5I0F59jQb9L5pqQ17OVp_pM_1Cr_0t-6Qz7no6jKHSlTYSWwMlRNGZTEMBLdAxXZyfLNz4SesQw02dk96TDojqYIew_/s200/poet.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Goodreads Blurb:</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother’s religion and her own relationship to the world. Debut novel of renowned slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out, much less speak her words out loud. But still, she can’t stop thinking about performing her poems.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b> </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Anger Is a Gift </i>by Mark Oshiro</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Goodreads Blurb:</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A story of resilience and loss, love and family, Mark Oshiro's Anger is a Gift testifies to the vulnerability and strength of a community living within a system of oppression.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Six years ago, Moss Jefferies' father was murdered by an Oakland police officer. Along with losing a parent, the media's vilification of his father and lack of accountability has left Moss with near crippling panic attacks.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Now, in his sophomore year of high school, Moss and his fellow classmates find themselves increasingly treated like criminals by their own school. New rules. Random locker searches. Constant intimidation and Oakland Police Department stationed in their halls. Despite their youth, the students decide to organize and push back against the administration.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Dread Nation </i>by Justina Ireland </b></span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwdoQWCeCNzgqgXeNAQHmlos81BcSkGHhxS1pv1ddK3lDVyW-tGVYVN0t45rrmp-x5tzm4jnri5FOb-b9VPlrTAacIDZkEwJs8RK-mWFTFxZBtiyXTMq2F407sQ1mUCwJDUl43LzLnIuM_/s1600/dread.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwdoQWCeCNzgqgXeNAQHmlos81BcSkGHhxS1pv1ddK3lDVyW-tGVYVN0t45rrmp-x5tzm4jnri5FOb-b9VPlrTAacIDZkEwJs8RK-mWFTFxZBtiyXTMq2F407sQ1mUCwJDUl43LzLnIuM_/s200/dread.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><br /></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Goodreads Blurb:</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeText9754432528142668678" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.<br /><br />But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjkzfq4ME6wjH0SYxm8S9j-x0HTn5Kz5FXhAmeyYOPwMSC6nYXkKfdMf1YDYXCdNYjI3j4_lEubmAohRzJ9DuukOklNAPYkvm9iiUL20_mKE0yj73bXdaPQYp7fGoNo1gnyZGd5NtXZpgb/s1600/land.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjkzfq4ME6wjH0SYxm8S9j-x0HTn5Kz5FXhAmeyYOPwMSC6nYXkKfdMf1YDYXCdNYjI3j4_lEubmAohRzJ9DuukOklNAPYkvm9iiUL20_mKE0yj73bXdaPQYp7fGoNo1gnyZGd5NtXZpgb/s200/land.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>A Land of Permanent Goodbyes </i>by Atia Abawi</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In a country ripped apart by war, Tareq lives with his big and loving family . . . until the bombs strike. His city is in ruins. His life is destroyed. And those who have survived are left to figure out their uncertain future.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In the wake of destruction, he's threatened by Daesh fighters and witnesses a public beheading. Tareq's family knows that to continue to stay alive, they must leave. As they travel as refugees from Syria to Turkey to Greece, facing danger at every turn, Tareq must find the resilience and courage to complete his harrowing journey.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But while this is one family's story, it is also the timeless tale of all wars, of all tragedy, and of all strife. When you are a refugee, success is outliving your loss.</span></span>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353344421040611023.post-36920100093092293292018-03-24T16:58:00.001-07:002018-03-24T16:58:16.026-07:00I Was Too Busy ReadingI apologize, folks. I did not write a blog about Black authors like I said I would, and I feel terrible about that. Sometimes, I forget about this blog because I am too busy reading, and I feel like reading middle grade and YA books is a requirement for my position as 8th grade English teacher because I need to keep up with amazing authors for my students. It's not a bad gig!<br />
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Because I failed in my attempt to celebrate Black authors, this blog will focus on a bunch of authors who are authors of color and write with young people of color as their main characters. It's such a great time to be a reader of middle grade and YA literature! Support your authors of color!<br />
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAvUa1tYrh4jvGUbYa0O68mvRtXTUSFw0G-KN6xcxmVNr-VA6JWejFLBltGYdqpEpvrpkkUEXXeQIgh10X75gaYfXpFcBDSvwZMjabVMk2euftPcMrDA4LLdbLUY34IfQhNgZvJftYlv-P/s1600/love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="307" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAvUa1tYrh4jvGUbYa0O68mvRtXTUSFw0G-KN6xcxmVNr-VA6JWejFLBltGYdqpEpvrpkkUEXXeQIgh10X75gaYfXpFcBDSvwZMjabVMk2euftPcMrDA4LLdbLUY34IfQhNgZvJftYlv-P/s200/love.jpg" width="128" /></a></b></div>
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<b><i>Love Hate & Other Filters </i>by Samira Ahmed</b><br />
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I finished this book a few minutes ago, and that's what prompted me to write a new blog post. This book is a must for all to read! Author Samira Ahmed creates a strong story with Maya Aziz as the protagonist. Maya is torn between two worlds: her parents world and what she wants for herself.<br />
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<b>Goodreads blurb:</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A searing #OwnVoices coming-of-age debut in which an Indian-American Muslim teen confronts Islamophobia and a reality she can neither explain nor escape--perfect for fans of Angie Thomas, Jacqueline Woodson, and Adam Silvera.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">American-born seventeen-year-old Maya Aziz is torn between worlds. There’s the proper one her parents expect for their good Indian daughter: attending a college close to their suburban Chicago home, and being paired off with an older Muslim boy her mom deems “suitable.” And then there is the world of her dreams: going to film school and living in New York City—and maybe (just maybe) pursuing a boy she’s known from afar since grade school, a boy who’s finally falling into her orbit at school.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">There’s also the real world, beyond Maya’s control. In the aftermath of a horrific crime perpetrated hundreds of miles away, her life is turned upside down. The community she’s known since birth becomes unrecognizable; neighbors and classmates alike are consumed with fear, bigotry, and hatred. Ultimately, Maya must find the strength within to determine where she truly belongs.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>An Ember in the Ashes </i>by Sabaa Tahir </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Okay, I finished this book in about a day once I had time to read it. I am not a fantasy fan, but . . . OMG! This book is amazing!! Romance (in all different directions), action, corruption, morality, magic - this book has it all! I am waiting anxiously for the second book, A Torch Against the Night, to be delivered to our local indie book store - Buffalo Books and Coffee. (FYI - Support your local book stores!) One of my 8th grade students and I are fighting over who gets to read the second book first since she is waiting for me to pick up the book when it comes in. (I might be selfish with this one and read it before her.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Goodreads blurb:</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its 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.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><i>American Panda </i>by Gloria Chao</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I was laughing out loud on the first page, so that was a good sign! Author Gloria Chao weaves parts of her life story and other's stories into one fictional story about Mei, who like Maya from <i>Love Hate & Other Filters</i>, has to determine if she wants to lead the life she wants or the life her parents want for her. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Goodreads blurb:</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">An incisive, laugh-out-loud contemporary debut about a Taiwanese-American teen whose parents want her to be a doctor and marry a Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer despite her squeamishness with germs and crush on a Japanese classmate.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">At seventeen, Mei should be in high school, but skipping fourth grade was part of her parents' master plan. Now a freshman at MIT, she is on track to fulfill the rest of this predetermined future: become a doctor, marry a preapproved Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer, produce a litter of babies.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">With everything her parents have sacrificed to make her cushy life a reality, Mei can't bring herself to tell them the truth--that she (1) hates germs, (2) falls asleep in biology lectures, and (3) has a crush on her classmate Darren Takahashi, who is decidedly </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">not</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> Taiwanese.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But when Mei reconnects with her brother, Xing, who is estranged from the family for dating the wrong woman, Mei starts to wonder if all the secrets are truly worth it. Can she find a way to be herself, whoever that is, before her web of lies unravels?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b><i>Watched </i>by Marina Budhos </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Sm2TMqPwyFN6l94Ji3xFtO7hEDoc41_AYbXMoQctK3Pxv5kNTyg0-DxAOiP08LSheSrVt24pNSap52qix8ueIVmNb3Mf-re7VDTq3HpwfExF6v9Xh3dnin6REgzzTpMf4hZL8Rgtb7X4/s1600/watched.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="260" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Sm2TMqPwyFN6l94Ji3xFtO7hEDoc41_AYbXMoQctK3Pxv5kNTyg0-DxAOiP08LSheSrVt24pNSap52qix8ueIVmNb3Mf-re7VDTq3HpwfExF6v9Xh3dnin6REgzzTpMf4hZL8Rgtb7X4/s200/watched.jpg" width="130" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">I didn't rate this book as high as the other three books in this post, but it is a decent book. It simplified things a bit too much for me, but I think that simplification would actually work for the 7th, 8th, and 9th graders who read it. It's a deep topic, so the simplification might help kids understand better. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Goodreads blurb:</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Marina Budhos’s extraordinary and timely novel examines what it’s like to grow up under surveillance, something many Americans experience and most Muslim Americans <i>know</i>. </b><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Naeem is far from the “model teen.” Moving fast in his immigrant neighborhood in Queens is the only way he can outrun the eyes of his hardworking Bangladeshi parents and their gossipy neighbors. Even worse, they’re not the only ones watching. Cameras on poles. Mosques infiltrated. Everyone knows: Be careful what you say and who you say it to. Anyone might be a watcher.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Naeem thinks he can charm his way through anything, until his mistakes catch up with him and the cops offer a dark deal. Naeem sees a way to be a hero—a protector—like the guys in his brother’s comic books. Yet what is a hero? What is a traitor? And where does Naeem belong? </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Acclaimed author</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Marina Budhos delivers a riveting story that’s as vivid and involving as today’s headlines.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>On a side note . . . </b>I read a few other books along with these since my last post, but they were just okay and I didn't find much value to them as an adult reader reading with kids in mind. Not gonna share those. </span></span>Allison Sirovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08425057890302376007noreply@blogger.com0