Samira Surfs by Rukhsanna Guidroz

Samira Surfs by Rukhsanna Guidroz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I so enjoyed this middle grade novel in verse about Samira and her family who flee from Burma to Bangladesh while she valiantly tries to repair her trauma of the journey, losing her grandparents and slowly rebuild her life. With her brother, she learns the alphabet and how to read; she makes friends, learns to swim and surf, while keeping it a secret from her parents. I rooted for Samira, loved the illustrations, and think kids who read this will be encouraged to try surfing! There was beauty in learning about her culture, sadness in sharing her losses with her friends, and seeing how the townspeople react to others being persecuted (her people, the Rohingya) and moving into their town.

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The Magical Imperfect by Chris Baron

The Magical Imperfect by Chris Baron
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

another awesome middle grade novel in verse by Chris Baron which touches on so many important themes and topics. Set in 1989 San Francisco the book begins with earthquake drills, they are the norm but no one ever takes them for granted. Etan is a boy who has lost his ability to speak since his mother went away (a mental institution) but he has the strong relationship with his jeweler grandfather, as well as community members who understand Etan. Delivering a package to a remote island home, he hears Malia singing and begins a friendship. Both Etan and Malia understand what it is like to be alone--- Etan because of his silence and Malia because of her skin condition that has cruel people referring to her as "The Creature" I loved their way with each other; I loved Malia's grandmother just like I loved Etan's grandfather but I was riveted by the parents and their treatment/relationship with their children. There was so much to learn about in this book--the immigrants to Angel Island, the exciting World Series, the debilitating aspects of eczema, Etan's grandfather's religion. Such a great story---I recommend all readers will love this book!

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Unsettled by Reem Faruqi

Unsettled by Reem Faruqi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Nurah's story of her family moving from Pakistan to Georgia contains some autobiographical elements of author Reem Faruqi's life when she moved to America. In the Author Notes, her experiences are explained. This novel in verse was about finding your place in a new place, making friends, dealing with racism and bullies, and finding your voice and using it for good. My heart broke for Nurah as she struggled to adapt to her new life, it broke further when her brother was attacked and Nurah feels responsible, but my heart began to feel joy as Nurah learned and grew from her new experiences in America---school bus problems, bullies, parental abuse into friends helping each other, Nurah's mom helping Stahr's mom, learning to swim competitively, Owais learning tennis, her father having Breakfast Club friends, learning and expressing in art class, and found her own special voice.

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The Elephant in the Room by Holly Goldberg Sloan

The Elephant in the Room by Holly Goldberg Sloan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH! I read it for #BitAboutBooks Spring Challenge with a non-human character. Readers will fall in love with Sila, her dad, Apt, and Gio, the elderly lottery winner. When Sila's mom must return to Turkey her 8 days becomes a year. Sila and her father are devastated; she turns away from her friends, school activities, and is sad all the time (but she feels it is no one's business). When her father takes Sila to fix a truck, she meets Gio and her life and Gio's changes. What follows is such an enjoyable, heartwarming story about friendship, family, empathy and second chances. With the introduction of classmate Mateo and his mom, the story just gets better and better. There was so much wonder when Gio, Sila, and Mateo save and care for an elephant, Veda. The information on the elephant dung showed the nature connection, the animal connection and the importance of caring for others. This is a book ALL should read; just like her book, Counting by 7s, Sloan is an awesome author and her message is real, timely, and authentic. A must read!

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Three Keys (Front Desk, #2) by Kelly Yang

Three Keys by Kelly Yang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just love Kelly Yang books! Three Keys, continuing The Front Desk series was superior in every way! Mia, Lupe and Jason traverse life and school and friendship drama all the while growing while suffering indignities simply because they are immigrants in an election year in California. The bravery of these three middle school students shows as they struggle to navigate life. Mia and her parents have been very successful running the hotel, but her parents are beginning to shows signs of wanting other things, like maybe returning to the kind of jobs they held before coming to America. Mia's mom wants to get a credit card while her dad is very much opposed. Mia's love of writing takes a hit when the English teacher, Mrs Welch continues to give her Cs on her writing assignments. Lupe's mom has to return to Mexico when her mother dies, what will happen when she tries to return? Jason wants to be Mia's friend but Lupe does not like him. Jason wants to be a chef but his father does not see this as a viable career option. Even worse for the three friends is the governor running for office again promising immigration reform, much to Mia and Lupe's shock! Yang is a gifted author who writes with honesty, sincerity and grit with well developed characters and plot. I could not put this book down, I loved every word and rooted for the families of Mia and Lupe, even Mr. and Mrs. Yao! A must read---as all Kelly Yang books are!!!

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Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai

Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to #BookJunkies and Henry Holt and Company for the advance reader copy of Pie in the Sky by debut author, Remy Lai, in exchange for an honest review. What a delicious middle-grade book from debut author, Remy Lai. Using a funny yet poignant plot, glorious illustrations, and two main characters (brothers- Jingwen and Yanghao) you will never forget, Remy weaves a moving yet humorous (thanks to little brother, Yanghao) story of immigrating to a new country, the uncertainties of being the new student faced with a language barrier, and trying valiantly to make pies in order to “fix” things and make everything better. Bickering brothers constantly calling each other “boogers” are alone after school and into the night as their mom works in a bakery. Older brother, Jingwen, has a harder time grasping the English language, but he also fights committing himself to learning English, and once he hears classmates calling him “slow,” Jingwen isolates himself even more with his nose in a book inside school. But Jingwen and Yanghao have plans to make all the cakes their father was going to make in his bakery, Pie in the Sky, even though their mother has refused to let them use the oven and made them promise. Younger brother, Yanghao, is funny, but he is also positive, loves life, and has a better, quicker command of English than Jingwen, and he has made friends in school. As the two brothers bake the special cakes, Jingwen reveals their father died before they immigrated (it was on Sundays with his father that they baked the cakes); they have relatives and friends from back home, and the constant lies and omissions to their mother is wearing on Jingwen. As he sinks into despair (Jigwen blames himself for his father’s death), he also refuses to see/listen to his little brother about situations the language barrier is creating, further causing Jingwen to make rules they must adhere to each time they bake another special cake. I ached for Jingwen and rooted for his happiness becoming a good missing his father whenever he is happy. I loved the ending as the dread Jingwen feels, lifts, and becomes a happy, positive motivation where brothers, mother, and friends share “cake time.” A must read; highly recommended!

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The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Dan Brown

The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this Great Graphic Novel Award Winner and Nonfiction Award Winner as part of the 2019 HUB Reading Challenge. Brown's illustrations and accompanying words/stories of the Syrian Refugees was horror filled with immigrants suffering death, beatings, and racism as they flee because of the reign of terror of the Syrian President, Bashar Al-Assad. Neighboring countries extend aid but it becomes too much for many and they stop allowing the refugees to enter and extend them aid. A must read as this crisis continues to unfold.

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Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, Giovanni Rigano (illustrator)

Illegal by Eoin Colfer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Goodreads description reads "a book for all children" & I read it as part of #yearofYA twitter chat topic, middle school books, but this timely graphic novel really calls to be read by EVERYONE. Beginning with a touching, truthful quote from Elie Weisel, this devastating fictional story uses Ebo's harrowing journey detailed with awesome artwork to show what illegal immigration, fleeing to find family in other countries, and the desperation of being a refugee look like in our world today. A compelling social issue that breaks your heart.

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Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson

Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book as part of the #yearofYA Middle Grade topic for our Sept chat to be held 10/9/ at 8PM EST; join us! This book is also considered a crossover for middle and YA. Students are given a chance to talk freely in a room for the last hour of school on Fridays and what evolves is friendship of the truest sort. But these kids vow to only share in this room and on Haley's recorder- an immigrant father in danger of being deported, a father in prison, family fortunes rising and falling and racial profiling are safely/richly explored in the ARTT room A Room to Talk. These students will grow, cry, laugh, and share deeply. A must read from awesome Jacqueline Woodson!!!

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The Good Braider by Terry Farish

The Good Braider by Terry Farish
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I re-read this popular paperback as part of the 2017 Hub Challenge & loved it even more that when I read it in 2013!!! Viola's harrowing journey with her family from the war torn country of Sudan to Portland, Maine. Before laving Juba, Viola is raped by a soldier; her self worth and her bride price are stripped. Farish does a superb job painting the fear, anguish and despair of Viola and those in her community in fear for their lives while trying to flee a country gripped in civil war. Once Viola, her mother and little brother escape, Juba, they begin a long perilous journey to Khartoum. Once Viola arrives in Portland, Maine settling into a community of African immigrants, attending school and working a job there is the clash of the new American culture and preserving the Sudanese culture. This novel in verse achieves the beauty of Viola's new American world and harsh reminders of the brutal civil war, Viola's voice is strong, happy, conflicted, scared, and hopeful. I loved the braiding title, which symbolized Viola's African world of beauty and how once in the US, she does not braid anymore and will not have her own hair braided. It is through her friends and family from the Sudan as well as her American friends that Viola finds her place in her new world of Portland, Maine. This is a must read for young adults; they will learn about the genocide the Sudanese suffered through, they will appreciate the customs and community that are so important to Viola. What is even more important for teens is to see the world through Viola's eyes and the positive and negative impact of American culture on immigrant communities. Powerful, this book is beautiful!

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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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Audacity by Melanie Crowder

Audacity by Melanie Crowder
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was my 27th book read as part of The 2016 Hub Challenge and it is a compelling historical fiction novel in verse about Clara Lemlich who came to the US from Russia with her family in the early 1900s. Clara is a spirited girl who loves learning and wants to make a difference. As a garment worker in NY who toils long hours for meager pay and realizes very quickly she wants to be a voice to help those suffering. Clara has "audacity" and spunk and gives, gives, gives to the workers during this dark time for the working masses. Students will love the Clara's zeal and unrepentant spirit when comes to helping workers better their working conditions.

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The Good Braider by Terry Farish

The Good Braider by Terry Farish
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Viola's harrowing journey with her family from the war torn country of Sudan to Portland, Maine. Before laving Juba, Viola is raped by a soldier; her self worth and her bride price are stripped. Farish does a superb job painting the fear, anguish and despair of Viola and those in her community in fear for their lives while trying to flee a country gripped in civil war. Once Viola, her mother and little brother escape, Juba, they begin a long perilous journey to Khartoum. Once Viola arrives in Portland, Maine settling into a community of African immigrants, attending school and working a job there is the clash of the new American culture and preserving the Sudanese culture. This novel in verse achieves the beauty of Viola's new American world and harsh reminders of the brutal civil war, Viola's voice is strong, happy, conflicted, scared, and hopeful. I loved the braiding title, which symbolized Viola's African world of beauty and how once in the US, she does not braid anymore and will not have her own hair braided. It is through her friends and family from the Sudan as well as her American friends that Viola finds her place in her new world of Portland, Maine. This is a must read for young adults; they will learn about the genocide the Sudanese suffered through, they will appreciate the customs and community that are so important to Viola. What is even more important for teens is to see the world through Viola's eyes and the positive and negative impact of American culture on immigrant communities. Powerful, this book is beautiful!


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The Orange Houses by Paul Griffin

The Orange Houses by Paul Griffin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It took me awhile to get around to reading this book, but I was determined since it was listed on 2010 Best Books for Young Adults...

All of the characters were important, even Shanelle and her gang as Griffin tells of harsh urban life in the Bronx, where three people's lives intersect, they become friends, and the environment just crushes people. I want to say this book has a redemptive ending, but it falls a short---but that is just life and Griffin wants us to know about living on the mean streets of an urban, decaying city. Each chapter covers one of the friends; Jimmi Sixes is a schizophrenic war veteran who has love in his soul for poetry and the beautiful artwork of Tamika and Fatima. Tamika is hearing impaired and uses a bad set of hearing aids which she likes to "turn off" rather than listen to the loud, nasty insults and jeers of those who taunt her. Fatima is fresh off the boat from Africa where she has lost most of her family and she knows she has to be almost invisible to stay off the radar of the immigration police. Jimmi befriends Fatima, gets her a volunteer job at the veterans hospital when she is not selling newspapers and introduces her to Tamika. It is true friendship that develops between Fatima and Tamika. But Tamika is taunted, pushed and chased by bully Shanelle and she gets more and more in her gang to "take care of Tamika." Fatima meets her at school and walks her home but life is about to take an even nastier turn. For a look at real life on the streets of New York, Griffin's book does not disappoint.



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