The Magic Fish

 Nguyen, Trung Le. The Magic Fish. 2020. Random House Graphic. New York, NY.

Traditional Vietnamese Folk Tales interweave throughout this graphic novel story of a young Vietnamese-American boy struggling to find the words to tell his parents of his sexual orientation. I love the beautiful retelling of these stories and how they tie together the plot points as Tien struggles to find the words to speak his own truth. 

I especially appreciate that while the entire work is written in English, I want to point out the work that the author/illustrator used with the text to indicate which conversations were in English, and which conversations were taking place in Vietnamese. It helped me feel like I was a part of a separate conversation that I would not normally have been allowed to hear.

This book is magic. If you haven't read it yet, add it to your list! It's an awesome tale!

Image: World Cat

Author Website:

http://www.trungles.com/

Clap When You Land

 Acevedo, Elizabeth. Clap When You Land. 2020. Harper Collins Publisher, New York, NY.

ISBN 13:  978-0062882769

Content Warning: Sexual Assault

This book took me by surprise with the open honesty throughout the book.  Two young girls: Yahaira and Camino with two different mothers in two different countries discover that they are related to each other when their mutual father dies.  Their father had spent 9 months of the year in New York with Yahaira and 3 months in the Dominican Republic with Camino.

Each daughter was very different from the other, and yet the father did his very best to give both girls the very best opportunities that he could. The day that their father boarded an airplane to the Dominican Republic to spend the summer with Camino, the plane crashed soon after take off.  As the families grieve the loss of a wonderful man, the girls learn of each other's existence.

The honesty of the girls and the women in the family as they struggled to come to terms with who their father actually was, the lies that had been told, and how to reinvent themselves in the face of great tragedy makes this book stellar. This novel in verse is a must-read.

Author Website: http://www.acevedowrites.com/

Teen Top Ten List

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has released their Teen Top Ten list of 2022. This is a fascinating list of literature that was nominated by teens and voted on by teens.  They picked their top choices of this year. I have only read one of these books. I am looking forward to reading all of them over the next few months!

You can read more about the Teens Top Ten List for 2022, Download this list with annotations, and find the nomination form for 2023 here: https://www.ala.org/yalsa/teenstopten

1) Ten Truths and a Dare by Ashley Elston.

2) Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé.

3) All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Herman.

4) All These Bodies by Kendare Blake.

5) Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas.

6) The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

7) Here's to Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera. 

8) The Ivies by Alexa Donne.

9) Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo.

10) We Can't Keep Running Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon.

Swim Team

 Christmas, Johnnie. Swim Team. Harper Alley Publishers. 2022.

Book Talk:

In this marvelous graphic novel, Bree and her father have moved to a new town.  She is looking forward to starting school at her new middle school, Enith Brigitha, home of the Mighty Manatees.  

Until - that fateful first day of school when Bree discovers that the only elective open to her is Swim 101. Bree is terrified of swimming and does not want her classmates to know that she doesn't know how to swim. But the day that Bree falls into the pool in her apartment complex and almost drowns... and is rescued by an elderly resident of the community named Etta becomes a turning point in Bree's life.

Etta was a swim team captain when she attended Enith Brigitha and she is determined to help Bree get over her fear of the water, learn how to swim, and participate in swim meets with the swim team. A rigorous training session helps Bree and Etta turn the team around.

As the Mighty Manatees become a swimming powerhouse, the question in everyone's mind is - will they be able to make it to States? And win?

My thoughts:

I think what struck me the most about this book was the history behind black children and swimming pools. Many black children find themselves denied access to swimming pools. In the past, it was segregation that kept the children out and now, it is economic segregation in that the pools are either priced too high or not located in neighborhoods where poor children can not access the pools and never learn how to swim or get over the fear of the water. Swim Team does a great job of exploring our history.

The plot of this story is so strong. I was rooting for Bree and the Manatees up until the very last page. I'm also a swimmer, and the author does an excellent job of capturing the work that goes into swimming, being part of a team, and participating in swim meets.  

*Keep an eye on this title. I think we're going to see it appear again on some award lists this winter.*

Five stars from me!

Author's Web Site: https://johnniechristmas.com/

Piecing Me Together

Watson, Renee.  Piecing Me Together. 2017. Bloomsbury Press. New York, NY.

Jade lives with her mother and uncle in the projects in Portland. She attends a prestigious private school on a scholarship.  She is also one of the few black students in the program. She is an artist who loves to collage. 

While Jade enjoys the opportunities she is being given, she resents feeling that she has become a project of the school.  Given opportunities to help her improve herself.  But when she is given a referral to a Mentorship program things begin to change. She finds her voice. She discovers that she can make a difference in her world. 

What I like about this book:

I love how this book takes a look at the micro aggressions that Jade faces in her everyday life, at school, at the mall, and out in the community. The author does a wonderful job of not only pointing out the micro aggressions but also making the reader aware of just how egregious they are through the powerful voice of Jade.

Most of all, I love how Jade harnesses her energy as an artist and the voice she has found with the aid of the mentorship program to hold a huge event with the aid of the mentors to hold a community event to benefit a young black girl who was beaten by police.

I'd like to note that I had a very difficult time writing this book up.

There is so much going on in the plot of this book, that I felt I couldn't write up a good book talk without basically giving away the entire novel.  There is so much more to this mentorship program, and the growth that Jade shows, and how her relationships with her friends and family changes as she grows is one of the things I enjoyed most. 

Seriously, you need to read this book.

Author’s Website: https://www.reneewatson.net/

Book Awards:

Coretta Scott King Award, Newberry Honor Book

Isla to Island

image: world cat

 Isla to Island by Alexis Castellanos

Publication Date: March 15, 2020

Publisher: Athenum Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 978-1534469242

This wordless picture graphic novel details Marisol's arrival in the United States from Cuba.  Images show the challenges Marisol faces as she struggles to learn a new language and a new culture. The depiction of Marisol's life in this new world is depicted in high quality illustrations that do a fantastic job of depicting Marisol's new life in New York City.

I particularly love that the wordless nature of this book does such a phenomenal job of shadowing the struggles of attempting to live in a country where you do not speak the language.  Without command of the language of the world she now lives in, Marisol's world is in many ways a wordless one.

I give this book 4 stars! 

Legacy, Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance

Annotation: 

Using Shovel Poetry, Nikki Grimes builds on the works of the black women poets of the Harlem Renaissance. 

 

Book Talk: 

Shovel Poetry is a style of poetry in which an author takes an existing line of poetry from another author and then uses that line to build an entirely new poem. 

 

In this work, Nikki Grimes takes a line of poetry, and highlights the words of the old poem in her new work. In most of her poetry, these words are at the end of each new line, and they are highlighted, going down the right-hand side of the page.  

What I love the most is the way that this book is laid out, with each poem commanding 3 pages. The original piece of poetry is included, with author attribution. Grimes’ new poem is just after the page turn with the original words of poetry highlighted. And then, a beautiful piece of visual art from the same time is on the facing page.  

There is information about every artist and poet whose work is shown in the book in the back matter. This inclusion helps to elevate their works and draw interest to their overall works. 

I loved this book. That is not a phrase I often utter about poetry... 

Nikki Grimes Website: https://www.nikkigrimes.com/

Nikk Grimes is the 2022 Recipient of the Coretta Scott King - Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.

The Harlem Renaissance

Image: Worldcat.org

Even When Your Voice Shakes

 TRIGGER WARNING: sexual assault

Even When Your Voice Shakes is based upon the true stories of young girls in Africa who are sent to the big city to serve as maids to support their family and are then raped by a member of the family. This story combines these stories into the character of Amerly, the oldest of 4 children who is "given" to a family in exchange for rent. 

Too poor to speak out, these young girls are left with no option but to continue in an untenable situation with their abuser. Not only do they fear the shame and stigma of being the victim of a sexual assault in a culture with a predominate “blame the victim” mentality, they fear that speaking out will lose them their jobs and income for their family. This compassionate story highlights the extreme poverty that forces these young women into difficult situations. Best of all, the author iterates again and again that sexual assault is NEVER the fault of the victim. 

The Beatryce Prophecy

image: taken by me.

 “It is written in the Chronicles of Sorrowing that one day there will come a child who will unseat a king. The prophecy states that this child will be a girl.  Because of this, the prophecy has long been ignored.”

The Monks of the Chronicles of Sorrowing fear Answelica the Goat more than anything else. She is a devious goat that likes to butt the monks across a great distance and then bite them. But one strange day, Brother Edik finds Answelica curled up on the floor of the barn with a young girl who has tight hold of her ear. As much as Answelica enjoyed bothering the monks, she loved and protected this young girl more.

But who is this young girl? Where did she come from? She remembers nothing about where she is from - but she does remember her name.  Beatryce. A name that frequently appears in the Chronicles of Sorrowing.

Meanwhile, the king is searching for this mysterious young girl named Beatryce. He thought he had destroyed her once, but somehow she managed to slip away and survive. He has all of his men out looking for her. Because she is the key to the prophecy.  If she is gone, he is convinced he  will be able to remain on the throne forever.

Beatryce sets out to confront the king with his dark deed accompanied by the most unlikely of companions - a stubborn goat, an old king, a monk, and a young boy with a terrible sword.

Is Beatryce the girl child who will bring about great change?

image: Penguin Random House

Just Roll With It

 

Maggie keeps a D-20 die with her at all times. She rolls it every time she needs to make a decision. Everything from whether to make a new friend to answering quesitons in class - it is detrmined by a roll of the die.

As Maggie settles into middle school she joins the RPG Club and makes a wonderful new group of friends who love Role Playing Games just as much as she does. 

But, there's a problem. A monster is stalking the grounds of Lilac Middle School. A mysterious monster that is rustling around the school grounds and eating bicycles. (no problem there, right?)

As the monster draws nearer to the school, will Maggie be able to conquer her fears and track down the monster?

I loved this book for so many reason - but most of all, I love the view of Maggie's struggle with OCD/Anxiety Disorder. The compulsions are very real, and the author and illustrator do a fantastic job of showing how Maggie struggles with her compulsions while showing very real bravery and tenacity. The family and friends support Maggie no matter what,  helping her grow into her very best version of herself. 

Veronica Agarwall Website: http://www.wisbafolio.com/store

Lee Durfey Twitter: https://twitter.com/leedurfey

Adora and the Distance

Adora is a young princess who must go on a journey to vanquish The Distance in order to save her people. Because when The Distance comes for you, it will stop at nothing to get you. It has been known to demolish entire cities and destryoed people along it's path to find the chosen person.

Adora decides that instead of waiting for the distance to come to her, she will meet it in order to save her people from a terrible fate. Adora has the help of her faithful servants and meets unexpected help in unusual places along her path. All the while knowing that the distance is waiting to devour her and that evil people are chasing her, hoping to stop her from completing her quest.

Will Adora be able to find the Distance and save her people?

Note from Bettina - I enjoyed every minute of this book.  From the phenomenal artwork, to the very strong story to the unexpected conclusion - it was a beautiful story that kept me spellbound.  

The Investi - GATORS

 The Investi - GATORS!

Note from Bettina: Okay, so this one is aimed at kids in 3rd - 5th grade, but the puns in this series are fabulous! I love a good pun, and this series is FULL of groan worthy puns!

Mango and Brash are the Special Undercover Investigation Team (suit) who fight crime with their Very Exciting Spy Technology and travel through toilets and sewers to capture the Bad Guys and save the day! 

In this installment of the series, Mango and Brash are attempting to find out what

is behind the mysterious disappearance of the Boulder Buddies across the city.

As Mango and Brash dig deeper into the mystery, they find themselves

face to face with the notorious Red, the Rock Mobster,

who is behind much of the crime in the town.  

Can Mango and Brash discover the secret behind the Boulder Buddies and save the day? 

Unplugged by Gordon Korman

 

Vladimir Baranov is the creator of Fuego and he is the richest man in the world. His son Jett has always gotten everything he wants and does whatever he wants. One of his favorite sayings is "fertilizer meet fan".

But Jett goes too far when he sends a drone into the flight path at the San Francisco International Airport and finds himself relegated to an out of the way camp in Arkansas known as the Oasis. Upon arrival, Jett has to surrender his electronics and become accustomed to the Oasis life, which is designed to make him "healthy and whole" with activities such as meditation and eating vegetarian foods. While the adults who attend the camp love Oasis and would do anything to keep it running, Jett is not a fan of anything about it.

Then comes the day when Jett finds a tiny little lizard in the hot springs. He rescues the lizard, and with the help of several other kids in the camp they hide him from the adults in charge and try to find food that he will eat.

As the baby lizard continues to grow, a question begins to emerge: Just what kind of lizard is he? Why does he love to lie submerged in the water with only his eyes showing? And what about that mouse?

The biggest questions of all? Who owns the mysterious mansion up the river from Oasis? And what, exactly, goes on in the special one on one meditation sessions that Ivory has with the adults?  

Be prepared for a wild and bumpy ride as Jett closes in on the answers to all of these questions and more!

The Queen of Nothing

 The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black.  

Published 2019.

ISBN: 978-0-316-31042-0

In this exciting conclusion to the Folk of the Air series, we open with Jude exiled to the 

mortal world while her ex-husband Candan rules over Faerie.  But things in Faerie are not 

going well. War is brewing, and Jude’s twin sister Taryn has been accused of murdering 

her husband. His murder, and the role she played in his murder could be the flashpoint 

that begins a war that will bring down the throne.

When Jude sneaks into Faerie to stand trial at her sister’s inquest, things immediately go against the plan and Jude finds herself kidnapped and taken deep into the heart of rebel territory where she comes face to face with the rebel leader.  Her father.

Forced to face her feelings about Candan, Jude finds herself once again drawn deep into the webs of lies and deceit that surround the throne.  Will Jude be able to save the lives of everyone that she holds dear? 

Authors Website: https://blackholly.com/

Note: While this is the end of the trilogy, I do feel that the author left room to come back and add more stories to this series in the future.

Also, this reads well as a standalone novel. Many questions about past events are explained. This helped me out, a lot. Because even though I have read all three of the books in the series it has been years since I read the last one. I was able to fall right into the story where it began and I felt that the author did a great job of explaining important events in the timeline prior to this book.

Links to my book talks of Previous Books in the Series

The Cruel Prince