The Fire, the Water and Maudie McGinn by Sally J. Pla

The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn by Sally J. Pla
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Maudie is an autistic middle schooler who looks forward to spending her summers with her Dad and the rest of the time with her mom and stepfather. This summer she has to keep a secret from her Dad & as soon as she arrives there are California wildfires that destroy his home. Her Dad decides to take them back to where he grew up, a beach town with waves and surfers beckoning to her. I loved Maudie, she was relatable as she tries to find strength to surf & tell the secret her mother warns her she must keep. I could not stop turning the pages; middle school kids will be turning those pages as they see & root for Maudie to succeed again and again.

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Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many thanks to Michelle Romash for continuing to bring this book up through 2023 as one to read. I still cannot stop thinking about it!!! I was so drawn in by William's upbringing (or not), his friend, Kent and others as he played basketball and of course, the Padavano sisters!!! This family has so much history together (while William has none). Julia targets him in college and from there it is Julia and Walter as a couple becoming a part of the Padavano family. But even more, I loved their father, Charlie so much with his poetic soul, calling his daughter Julia (and all the other sisters, Hello Beautiful). This book deals with so much, I could not put it down! I loved the family issues, the basketball theme, so much going on there, and the tenderness of love within all these characters. This will be a favorite book of mine!

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The Aquanaut: A Graphic Novel by Dan Santat

The Aquanaut: A Graphic Novel by Dan Santat
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this winner of the Nerdie 2022 Graphic Novels- Sophia misses her dad who died in an underwater accident but she still has the water park, Aqualand, her dad and uncle created to wander around in...until the Aquanaut appears and there is a race to save Aqualand and the sea creatures living there. I loved the fantasy aspect, the sea creatures inhabiting the dive suit, the many places they go (school, Aqualand etc) while trying to save the theme park animals. Middle grade readers will tremendously enjoy this graphic novel, highly recommended---awesome illustrations, too!

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Ride On by Faith Erin Hicks

Ride On by Faith Erin Hicks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this author so much and this was given a 2022 Nerdie Graphic Novel Award and I see why! Victoria is a 12 year old who rides horses & has a best friend. When the competition of competing & her best friend pressures are too much, Victoria goes to a new stable. But she has vowed not to get too close to anyone and that proves a mistake! Edgewood Stables is a great place with a wonderful owner, trainer and committed riders who want to befriend the new girl. I loved the differing personalities of Norrie, Sam, and Hazel---how will they deal with the new rider they see as competition? A must read & enjoyable!

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Miss Quinces by Kat Fajardo

Miss Quinces by Kat Fajardo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was an award winner in the 2022 Nerdie Book Awards Graphic Novels and I enjoyed Suyapa's summer in Honduras and her journey as she navigates family, expectations, traditions, and culture. I laughed out loud at Sue's hair, clothes choices that her family bugged her about and her "surprise" quinceañera. I loved her beloved, quirky Abuelita who always has Suyapa's back. A must read!

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Invisible by Chrsitina Diaz Gonzales & illustrated by Gabriela Epstein

Invisible by Christina Diaz Gonzalez
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An award winner for 2022 Nerdy Book Club Graphic Novels a group of students considered "invisible" are thrown together for a community service project in their school. What evolves are friendships, empathy, and outreach to others. I loved Gabriela Epstein's illustrations! A must read graphic novel!

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A Sitting in St. James by Rita Garcia-Williams

A Sitting in St. James by Rita Williams-Garcia
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many Thanks to Reading Rants for recommending this book as one of her favorites for 2021. I enjoyed reading about the white family with slaves, it's past and it's present, as Williams-Garcia writes with feeling, authenticity, and empathetic in the brutal way Madame Sylvie Guilbert treats and talks to her family, her servants, and those in her community, as she strives to marry off grandsons, ignore granddaughters who are mixed race, and still tell her own story of being married off to a brutal man. I loved many of the characters, Byron, Pearce, Thisbe, Eugenie, Jane, Lily and the painter and hated Lucien, Sylvie, and all those who ignored the hard work of the slaves on their plantations and took all the glory themselves. A mesmerizing read!

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Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, just as I finished Dark Horses by Susan Mihalic (adult book about child sexual abuse) I read this as part of #BitAboutBooks Spring Reading Challenge because my librarian friend, MaryAlice, recommended it along with another book I will be reading for this challenge! Della and Suki are burned into my heart; they have had a tough life and it is about to get much more difficult. When their drug addled mother has a psychotic break and burns a hotel room down while doing meth---Della and Suki were there. When they are taken into protective custody their mother's boyfriend arrives and sweeps them away. Clifton drives a tractor trailer all week and comes home Friday nights. the way Kimberly Brubaker Bradley unfolds this story about sisters is gripping...When Clifton tries to sexually abuse Della, Suki sweeps in with a cell phone taking pictures and quickly sends to next door neighbor, Teena. The girls are placed in a foster home with Francine, going to a new school, a trial and trying to deal---but as we learn from Della---her sister Suki is always her protector, singing to her and taking care of her since age 6---but who is taking care of Suki? As Suki gets a job at Food Giant, tries to ignore her friend, Teena, and keep her away from Della, Della begins noticing/remembering things (both past and present) about Suki and she grows concerned, so is foster mother, Francine but no one seems to hear their cries and act on it. This was a harrowing book to read, process, and follow along as these traumatized sisters deal with abandonment, drug abuse and sexual abuse, suicide, the foster system, bullying in the classroom, consent and much more...but the author's words, characters, and plot are all strong, important, authentic, and compassionate. A must read for all in the school system teachers, guidance counselors, school nurses and principals and the middle grade and YA reader and parents. This book tells the reader how often this occurs, urges healing through therapists and doctors, and encourages speaking up (sometimes maybe again and again until you are heard) and always the power of love in healing. A must read!!!

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Legendborn (Legendborn, #1) by Tracy Deonn

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this awesome debut as part of my 2nd #BitAboutBooks Winter Reading Challenge since it is a Book with a one word title and equals 10 points. There was so so so much to like about this book--the depth of the characters, the suspenseful plot, and the worldbuilding. Once I finished this thriller, I was so excited to see there is a 2nd book so a series it will be. I happen to LOVE series and this is one that I will be biting my nails about until the 2nd book comes out!!! Bree and her best friend, Alice have plans to attend her mother's alma mater in a special program (which her mother does not want). Her mother is angry with Bree's decision and then she dies in a hit and run. Bree and her father are devastated, grief makes her into angry Bree with walls she shuts off and only shares with the reader. Imagine her surprise when she sees magic being used which leads to the most awesome, suspenseful story combining magic, fantasy, elements of the Knights of the Round Table, Root Magic, Legendborns and Onceborns and all kinds of horrid creatures like attacking hellhounds. Bree's journey was deep; she was definitely traumatized by her mother's death, going to this school has her looking into her heritage while dealing with racism, bullies, and keeping too many secrets. I LOVED Bree; she is tough, doesn't back down, and runs fast forward into trouble or answers she desperately needs. As she navigates college life, pledging a secret society and growing ever closer to Nick, she also sees a therapist to deal with her grief. I loved this book's diversity, the different friendships, and LGBTQ relationships. I though everything was authentic, researched and spun in such a way that I wanted to learn so much more! Highly recommended, can't wait for the 2nd book!!!

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#Murderfunding (MurderTrending, #2) by Gretchen McNeil

#Murderfunding by Gretchen McNeil
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This 2nd book in the MurderTrending series has Becca devastated by her mother's sudden death, a teen (Steph) stalking her who informs her that her mom was Molly Mauler, one of the true serial killers on the Alcatraz 2.0 show. Yearning to prove Stef wrong about her mom, Becca and Steph, become contestants on the WELCOME TO WHO WANTS TO BE A PANIAC? reality show, becoming friendly with the other contestants, until the awful "reality" of this show makes them targets. Will the teens be triumphant and how much will be taken from them? This mystery received 2020 Teens' Top Ten and is a book I read as part of the #BitAboutBooks Winter Reading Challenge.

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Fable (Fable1) by Adrienne Young

Fable by Adrienne Young
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh did I love this book! The character of Fable kept me turning those pages. Despite her father, his ruthlessness, and his 4 rules to live by in order to survive, Fable makes a hardscrabble life in The Narrows and can't wait to leave and make her way back to her rightful place on her father's boat. To get there, Fable pays for passage aboard the Marigold while the helmsman, West, has been buying her pyre for the last 2 years. This boat is different and Fable soon learns more than she should, all the while, trying to prove herself to the 5 members of the Marigold. Young's descriptions of the sea, the storms, boats, diving, kept me turning the pages as I rooted for Fable every page, while life turned against her at every turn. With Covid, sometimes this book was tough to read---Fable and the crew of the Marigold, had enemies at every turn and I ached for this awful world they lived in (and loved, but did they really all love this world, Willa???) and hope the final book, Namesake, is redemptive because the ending of Fable certainly WAS NOT! An intense, thrilling, gripping read!

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The Huntress by Kate Quinn

The Huntress by Kate Quinn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Excellently narrated by Saskia Maarleveld (loved all of her voices both male and female!!!), thanks so much to Pat Graham for recommending The Alice Network and then others telling me I must read The Huntress. OMG, it was 18 hours long and I still did not want it to end. I was thoroughly invested in the story, the characters, the suspense and Kate Quinn delivered! Written back and forth between WWII and years later in Boston and narrated back and forth by Ian, Nina and Jordan, Ian and Tony are hunting for a cool, heartless killer (the Huntress) who shot Polish children and Tony's brother after befriending them and feeding them. Jordan's dad has fallen for Anna and her daughter Ruth, proposing marriage. Nina's story was thoroughly crazy, Russian Dad who tried to drown her, crazy pilot skills and "family" of sisters she flies with. The hunt for the huntress was full of suspense, psychological daring do, lots of angst and the way these characters lived and breathed made me fall in love with them all, except the bad ones! This is a must read for any who love WWII stories, Holocaust stories, and the hunt for justice after the Holocaust!

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Eyes Bottle Dark With a Mouthful of Flowers by Jake Skeets

Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers by Jake Skeets
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Beautiful, brutal, and needed poetry; an award winner, a must read!

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Royal City Vol. 3: We All Float On by Jeff Lemire

Royal City, Vol. 3: We All Float on by Jeff Lemire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Using a surprise member of the family and magical realism, Jeff Lemire sympathetically works with all the characters in the Pike family to lay beare answers and reasons to persevere as each sorts through life and how Tommy's death affects each of them many years later. An ending that is both honest, bittersweet; once again I am in awe of Lemire's graphic novels and his view of cities, families, and dead-ends.

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Hillbilly Elegy: a Memoir of a family and culture in Crisis) by J.D. Vance

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh did I love this book; JD Vance's writing style about the hillbilly predicament (poor white Americans) was funny, sad, filled with honesty, facts, and the horror that was JD Vance's life (and other middle class Americans). Thank god for his grandparents, especially his Mamaw---yet she was one scary lady too. Highly recommended!

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#NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women edited by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale

#Notyourprincess: Voices of Native American Women by Lisa Charleyboy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this award winner for the 2019 HUB Reading Challenge and it received the American Indian Youth Literature Award. What an awesome book; the beauty, fierceness and so many other strong feelings are voiced by many indigenous women (unknown and famous) through art work, poetry, pictures and words. It is a timely book; not easily read but fiercely put together by strong women who will be heard and seen and proud of their heritage and angry and honest about what has happened throughout history.

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They Call Me Guero: A Border Kid's Poems by David Bowles

They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid's Poems by David Bowles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this Belpre Author Honor Book as part of the 2019 HUB Reading Challenge and this slim yet important novel in verse about a border kid, twelve-year-old, nicknamed Guero, who lives his life on both sides of the river; has 3 best friends called Bobby, a wonderful family, and he loves to write poetry! Eye opening, funny, and blending the culture of Mexico, kids will enjoy his life, poems, and language!

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Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Front Desk by Kelly Yang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this APALA Award Winner as part of the 2019 HUB Reading Challenge. A great book but very disturbing as middle schooler Mia Tang migrates to America with her father and mother and the trials of managing the Calavista Motel for a racist, mean, underhanded Mr. Yao. Mia is kind, supportive, and having a difficult time at the motel and at school. But she uses her mind to always come up with a better plan while helping others and calling out those who make trouble or are dishonest toward others. Mia works really hard to become a better person and writer; she does not let the teacher's red pen stop her from writing; she picks up the dictionary and thesaurus and betters herself and her writing. What I really liked was the Author Note at the end and much of what she writes in this book, she lived.

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Picture Us In The Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert

Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this Stonewall Honor Award (first & most enduring award for GLBT books is the Stonewall Book Awards, sponsored by the American Library Association's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table) as part of the 2019 HUB Reading Challenge. I read and loved Kelly Loy Gilbert's first book, Conviction, and like her debut---this 2nd book deals with many issues and themes that still continue to fill my brain. As the narrator, Danny Cheng is flawed, insecure, and a child/teen with VERY secretive parents. The reader knows how much they love their only son, but how they show it...Danny is a gifted artist and I loved the way the author let us see Danny's world and his introspections through his mind's eye. I liked the way the book was set up, I don't want to give away anything but I rooted for Danny as he got a scholarship to RISD, ached for him as he struggled personally and with his art. But through all this drama, Danny has friends like Harry and Regina (though there are tense times, they remain true to one another) and also Danny himself as he tries to figure out just what is going on with his parents and his life after high school. I also liked the Asian American teens, their families, and high school life--totally mesmerizing, yet authentic, and true. There were so many quotes in this book I could not stop putting in the little post-its to mark them. Now I need to put them all in Goodreads quotes- if they are not already in there- so memorable about Danny, loved ones, his art, his friends. This book MUST be read--teens, guidance counselors, parents will all come away with enduring feelings about family, friendship, suicide, adoption, and diversity!

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My Brother's Husband, Volume 2 (My Brother's Husband Omnibus, #2) by Tagame Gengoroh

My Brother's Husband, Volume 2 by Gengoroh Tagame
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this award winner (Great Graphic Novels) as part of the 2019 HUB Reading Challenge and oh did I love this 2nd book in the series! Tagame's illustrations of all three individuals (Kana, Yaichi & Mike) were done in B&W pencil and so realistic--Kana is a smart, sweet girl who loves Mike with all her heart and helps to change her father's (Yaichi) thoughts on being gay as she whole heartedly loves her Uncle Mike. I also liked Kana's mom, she was a truly remarkable, even character and it was interesting to see her dynamic with her ex. This is manga and high school students will learn much as they find not all cultures are accepting of "differences" in others. A must read!

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