Sooley by John Grisham

Sooley by John Grisham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many thanks to Dean Looney for this awesome read! I loved the character of Sooley, a teen from war-torn Sudan and the plot contains some Philadelphia mentions (Jay Wright, Villanova Basketball) and reading this 2021 book in which South Sudan is in a war ---and also now in 2023 South Africa is suffering from tribal wars. I have read/known as a high school librarian refugees like Sooley and it is so painful to read/see how these shell shocked "boys" experience war, murder of family members, isolation and a new world to become used to in the United States. Grisham had me turning the pages as I fell in love with his best friend (in North Carolina) as he becomes Sooley's friend, roommate, then manager. The reader will root for Sooley, he is a great main character! I loved all the basketball games, players and challenges Sooley faces.

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Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card by Sara Saedi

Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card by Sara Saedi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved Sara Saedi's memoir of her teen years as an undocumented immigrant in the U.S. Teens will enjoy her humor, her family observations, her cultural references but be saddened by the fear she suffers on being deported if anyone finds out she is not a citizen of the United States.

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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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Refugee by Alan Gratz

Refugee by Alan Gratz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, what a must read for all; Alan Gratz crafts a heart stopping, gripping read about 3 young teens and their families as they become refugees trying to escape Nazi Germany in 1939, Cuba in 1995, and Syria in 2015- all devastating times in history where people are/were persecuted, preyed upon, murdered and desperately searching for freedom, acceptance, and a place to call home. I ached as I read Josef, Isabel and Mahmoud's courageous struggles with their close knit families as they fled homes they loved because of persecution and war. Gratz's use of different time periods to show how history keeps repeating itself in it's discrimination of cultures, genocide, and violence shows the refugee/immigrant plights keep continuing; wiping out families, communities, and homelands; this should be required reading for all students, teachers, parents, and leaders. Readers will not be able to put this book down; there is so much to discuss; things need to be remedied - this should not happen; the dangers are all too real; countries can't/won't handle the influx of refugees and people/families are disintegrating, suffering, losing hope. The Author's Note is essential, and What you Can Do just as important to read at the end of this book.

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Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate

Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Katherine Applegate's novel in verse is superior, Kek is a young boy from Africa trying to understand what it is like to live in America (without his Mother, Father & Brother). Due to the war, Kek has lost his father and brother and does not know if his mother is still alive. Will immigrant Kek be able to survive in Minnesota filled with snow, dead trees and a language he does not understand? With the help of his neighbor, Hannah, Kek will migrate the often hard path that life is while going to school. He also falls in love with a cow and works on the farm with his cousin Ganwar. I loved Applegate's African proverbs and how they help Kek strengthen his resolve to find find his mother and discover his new character in a new world. Highly recommended.

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American Street by Ibi Zoboi

American Street by Ibi Zoboi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book which I read for #2jennsbookclub in May & #yearofya Debut Authors topic for March broke my heart. After finishing The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, the shooting in this book devastated me. As a reader, I rooted for Fabiola's life in Detroit along side her mother. But her mother is detained at the airport & sent to NJ with no resolution in sight. Even though Fabiola wants to care for her aunt and 3 cousins, when she arrives at American Street, they are involved in their lives and Fabiola is left to figure things out for herself and that is just a real shame. When will Fabiola see her mother, why does Tray hit Donna, what will she tell the Detective to get her mother back to Detroit? The suspense, loneliness, violence, greed, and secrets all spell doom for Fabiola and her 3 Bees cousins. I loved Fabiola's Haitian culture, beliefs, and her native religion and how it sustained her but I ached for the mother she so needed, the American world & family that let her down, and the harshness of living between two worlds. A tough read, teens will love this urban fiction and diverse characters.

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