Ah, vacation reading, you let me do things like re-read a book so I can properly read the second and then the third in a series. So delightful.
Recommended
Picture books: The Undefeated
Middle grade: Genesis Begins Again
Young Adult: On the Come Up
Young Nonfiction: Biddy Madison Speaks Up
Picture books
When Spring Comes to the DMZ
Uk-Bae Lee
Read for Librarian Book Group
An odd and interesting little book about the wildlife that has flourished in Korea’s DMZ. The illustrations were not my style, but there is a lot to look at.
If you’re looking for Baby’s First DMZ book, this is it.
The Undefeated
Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson
Read for Librarian Book Group
When Kwame Alexander isn’t slaying you with his words, Kadir Nelson is slaying you with his illustrations.
Middle grade
The Moon Within
Aida Salazar
Read for librarian book group
While Are You There God, it’s me, Margaret was a seminal book when it was published, when I read it in 1985, it was already dated. There’s a whole section about buying belts to hold the pads and even though I hadn’t yet gotten my period, I suspected that wasn’t how things worked anymore. And so it came to pass that many authors stepped in and wrote more books about that time around when a girl gets her period.
Kidding! Where are all the fiction books on this topic? There should be one every decade or so to capture various menstruation trends/practices.
Enter The Moon Within, which gets a lot of stars for exploring the topic. It’s also written in verse, which will make for quick reading.
That said, I personally found the ceremonial aspect of this transition that was emphasized to be the kind of thing I distance myself from, so from that perspective, it wasn’t a book that worked for me. I did like the friendship changes and the navigating that stage where someone you like likes you back for the first time.
Genesis Begins Again
Alicia D. Williams
Read for Librarian Book Group
I don’t believe I’ve ever come across a book for kids that so thoroughly explores feelings about how dark or light one’s skin is.
Genesis has to move all the time. It’s not unusual for her to come home to find all her belongings on the street. While that’s an unfortunate situation, what really made me ache is how hard she tries to change the color of her very dark skin.
This book is set in the suburbs. Genesis’s father has moved them to a house in a school district with a lot of things she hasn’t had in her school before. One of them is a choir teacher who encourages Genesis to find her voice.
Genesis also makes friends for the first time. And yet, while those things are going on, she’s going to a lot of extremes to lighten her skin.
I loved this book, and it was hard to read. I highly recommend it. And it’s got a great cover.
Young adult
On the Come Up
Angie Thomas
Read for Librarian Book Group
This was a great book on so many levels. My notes list six different things, all with plus signs. They are: main character; rap battles; dilemma (selling out vs staying true); people interpreting your words; friendships; church
It’s not unusual for me to finish a book and then not think about it again. But Angie Thomas is so good at creating worlds that I think about different scenes, characters and situations many times after the book is done. I particularly love main character Bri, who has a lot to balance: the neighborhood legacy of her father; her desire to be a successful rapper; struggles with how she is perceived at school; worry about her mother’s health.
I particularly loved Bri’s friends and the many different ways they responded to escalating tensions at school. I also found Bri’s observations of church members to be quietly amusing. There’s also a good dose of observing how it is to be female and looking to break into the music business.
We are so lucky to have Angie Thomas. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
Every Day
David Levithan
I loved Every Day when it was first published I found it inventive and interesting. It was also a great book for introducing the concept of gender fluidity.
This was a re-read so I could read this and the two companion books in sequence. On second reading, it still held up.
Another Day
David Levithan
My plan to read this right after reading Every Day turned out to be not the best plan. It’s the same story, but from Rhiannon’s point of view. I knew this, but didn’t realize that 90% of the book is exactly the same book. Because I had finished Every Day the day before, entire passages were word-for-word familiar. I could picture Levithan’s copy/paste skills increasing as he wrote this book.
There were a few things worth reading for. I recommend reading this a month or so after Every Day.
Someday
David Levithan
This is the third book in the Every Day series. (Which I notice has a .5 digital-only book called Six Days Earlier.)
My book-loving friend mentioned that she had to put this book down because it was making her too anxious. I totally get it. The character X is not a good person.
And yet! This book is great! It’s got a complex plot: A and Rhiannon; A and X; A’s usual shifting from body to body. Plus there are other characters.
I think it’s a book-length exploration of what love is, when it can’t be love as we usually see it. There’s also a lot of drama, especially for David Leviathan.
I found the ending quite satisfying and well worth getting through the portions of the book that are X’s story.
Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss
Kasie West.
This was a perfectly serviceable YA romance. The main character was also a working actress, so there was that fame angle, which is always fun.
The Opposite of Always
Justin Reynolds
The first 100 pages of this book are marvelous, because Justin Reynolds knows how to write his way through a romance. [Main character] is so fun to watch while he’s working through quandaries, and his friends are very interesting. Plus, his parents are amusing. There’s even a time travel aspect hinted at.
And then. Once the time travel aspect kicks in we get shades of the same story three more times. Though there are variations, the repeat of the stories provides diminishing returns and the more pages I read, the more often I put the book down.
Still, the first 100 pages were fabulous. And my notes state: the best slog I’ve read in 2019!
There was so much to like about this book, I look forward to what Justin Reynolds can give us next.
Young nonfiction
Biddy Mason Speaks Up
Arisa White, Laura Atkins, and Laura Freeman
Read for librarian book group.
The story of Biddy Mason, who was a slave taken to California where she “spoke up” for her freedom.
I like how this series gives us the factual stuff. Words are defined on the page they are introduced and the layout is great with photos, illustrations and other supports. There’s very good back matter.
The one thing I wonder about is the alternating verse/nonfiction prose setup. While the verse is good for people who like stories told in verse, and the nonfiction is good for people who like fact-based books, I wonder if tumbling them both together might dilute the entire book?
