The Night War by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley My rating: 4 of 5 stars Another powerful story from WWII that isn’t often highlighted. Many know the story of Jews in Eastern Europe, but few know of those in Western Europe. In 1942, French police rounded up 13,000 Jews and deported them them to Auschwitz. This became known as the V’el d’Hiv and it is where The Night War begins. Kimberly Brubaker Bradley creates in the character of Miriam a girl torn between right and wrong, protector and protected. Her guilt for things that she had no control over was palpable at times. Like many of Bradley’s cha ..read more

What’s Eating Jackie Oh? by Patricia Park My rating: 5 of 5 stars Patricia Park has created a fabulous book that brings together food, family, expectations, aspirations, stereotypes, and prejudice. I fully enjoyed this novel on a lot of different levels. The main theme is about a girl being true to herself even when it means doing something that her family doesn’t necessarily approve of. Jackie Oh is Korean, which has the unspoken understanding that her parents expect her to have a high GPA and career aspirations. But what Jackie really wants is to be a chef, to feel the joy that she has wh ..read more

Wires Crossed by Beth Fantaskey My rating: 4 of 5 stars Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s for a digital review copy. All opinions are my own. I am always looking for good books for my fans of Raina Telgemeir and the Baby Sitter’s Club books. This definitely fits the bill. Mia is 12 years old and dealing with the normal girl issues of friends acting differently, cliques, first crushes, and middle school in general. She is concerned with how other people view her and with being true to who she is. At the start of her latest school year, her long time BFF is looking to be in ..read more

Barely Floating by Lilliam Rivera My rating: 4 of 5 stars 3 1/2 stars This is a big hearted middle grade novel about a Latinx girl in LA who lies to her family in order to join a synchronized swimming team. Nat is a strong girl with a huge personality but who sometimes lacks a filter. She challenges other kids to race her for money and surprises them when she wins. The money is then used to help pay her way to comicon with her best friend. Her parents are activists, but her mom is also anti-makeup and fashion which poses a challenge for fashion obsessed Nat who has her friend buy her Vogue a ..read more

I have long enjoyed books by Saadia Faruqi. She has a way of dealing with issues of multiculturalism that always seem to reverberate with me. Her newest book, The Partition Project, publishing on February 24, is no different. (I received a digital review copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review.) While the first few chapters did not immediately capture my attention, once the fire was lit it burned bright. The Partition Project is both the story of Maha, a 6th grader who is obsessed with journalism, and her dadi’s (grandmother’s) experience going through the Partition in 1947 ..read more

The Princess Protection Program by Alex London My rating: 4 of 5 stars *I received a digital ARC from NetGalley & the publisher in return for an honest review. I am unabashedly a fan of fractured fairy tales and while I wasn’t sure what this book had in store, it sounded like something I would enjoy. Little did I know that it was going to be one of those books that I had to highlight key lines. Fairy tales have always told stories with lessons and moral ideas, but how do we make that work when times have definitely changed? Is it a requirement for all princesses to marry a prince? Are we ..read more

I first heard of when I was looking for books related to Earth Day. Environmentalism? Dave Matthews? Definitely piqued my interest. When I saw this at my fall book fair it seemed like something I had to read. There is environmentalism in this, but in the end, it is only a minor part of the story. It’s bigger themes were about community, colonization, friendship, and believing in yourself. There is also a strong metaphor of the smaller people taking on the big (corporate) giants to save their world. If We Were Giants by Dave Matthews My rating: 3 of 5 stars Young Kirra is being trained by he ..read more

So my 12 year old decided to order herself a book from someone on Etsy who sends you a book based on preferences that you put in, sort of like what a librarian would do. The book comes beautifully wrapped and, whoever this woman is, she does a great job. This book was the first book of its kind that we have received. E’s current preferences are YA romance and dystopia. She is completely in love with The Selection by Kiera Cass if that is any reference point. Anyway, the book that we received was called Eve of Man and I listened to the audiobook version before she got a chance to read the book ..read more

So my home is currently on day 3 of a massive power outage thanks to a little domestic terrorism. I can’t call it vandalism no matter what the reason behind it turns out to be. I’m safe and warm with family out of my county, but 33,000 people remain without heat. The community is coming together, in some ways, but the whole thing is just awful. I don’t want to focus on that, but it is allowing me to take a little time to come back to my blog. I have been reading and reviewing like crazy, but most things blog-worthy have been handwritten in a journal and there simply hasn’t been time in my life ..read more

I don’t often post reviews about YA. I should probably do more. However, my daughter recently brought home the book Eliza and Her Monsters and has gushed over the fact that the main character is just like her. Talk about finding yourself in a book! I was finally able to read it myself and absolutely loved it. (Trigger warning – suicide) Eliza and Her Monsters is a story that focuses on friendships that are in person vs online. It touches on anxiety, anonymity, parental issues, and suicide, all while shining a light on the world that is fanfiction and online forums. There were times when I was ..read more