Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango

Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this debut novel in verse which do well with middle school and YA with the issues (PTSD, death, grief, anger, mental illness) Iveliz presents. Iveliz has a journal which the reader knows is from her heart and since her father's death, which she blames herself for, she is suffering, feels she can't talk to anyone (especially Mami) and even though she looked forward to a newer better year in 7th grade, she has run ins with friends and family and school. I rooted for Iveliz to share her burdens with others like her psychologist, friend Amir and her grandmother. A must read!

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The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher

The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I relistened to this book on Audible with awesome dual narrations by Fiona Hardingham as Emily, Shaun Grindell as Damon. I found this 2nd time around gripping, haunting and relevant as the GAME becomes clearer and sicker. Teens will find this a great story packed with suspense and a lesson about the mistakes that can be made.
I received this ARC at ALA Philadelphia in January. I loved the mystery, drama and how the reader sees Damon's perspective and Emily's in the alternating chapters. I was totally surprised to learn about The Game(s)and was glad Emily and Damon both figure out (together) what happened to Ashlee. The PTSD that Emily's dad suffered from alienated her mom but Emily still believed and loved her dad. Damon was fighting his own demons with the loss of his dad and the final night he can't remember with Ashlee. I couldn't put this book down, it had the right amount of mystery to drag you in and keep on turning those pages. The only thing I think teens in the US will not enjoy is the dialect the author and her characters use; I found it foreign (and I understood all the words, phrases, etc.) and American teens will notice as well.

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Closer to Nowhere by Ellen Hopkins

Closer to Nowhere by Ellen Hopkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hannah has a cousin, Cal who comes to live with them and upsets her life with her parents, gymnastics, and school, because his sense of humor is not always appreciated. Once again Hopkins brings the reader a raw real book about the meaning of family and what it takes to become family. I especially liked Hannah's mom, Taryn, as she accepts Cal into the family after her sister's death and her evil husband's incarceration. Cal has many problems Hannah is unaware of because of his abusive, drug addicted and alcoholic father. But with Cal coming to live with Hannah's family fissures in her mom and dad's relationship becomes even more fractured. Their grandmother dislikes Cal and compares him to his father and this also aggravates Cal's behavior and responses. I could not stop turning the pages as Hannah's POV and Cal's POV, both real and haunting, reveal their staunch desire to keep their family together. I can't wait to read Hopkins next middle grade novel in verse, What About Will, when it comes out in September 2021.

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The Empire of Dreams (Fire and Thorns #4) by Rae Carson

The Empire of Dreams by Rae Carson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just as I loved The Girl of Fire and Thorns series, oh did I really LOVE Red Sparkle Stone. She was a dynamo who survived so much in her life, that she has some left over issues like startling when she hears loud sounds, sleeping on the floor or not sleeping at all. As her life with Elisa and Hector and Rosario and Mena is upended when her adoption is thwarted; Red decides to join the elite Royal Guard while the Queen takes a journey. Leaving behind Rosario on the throne, Red pledges her support while she trains for the guard. But something is wrong...and it takes all of Red's strength, fighting ability, and sleuthing to find out what is going on. What I liked about her training with the guard: many were against her for being a woman, being part of the royal family, and people assuming she is part of a lower caste, but Red's fighting ability soon begins to help her recruit friends and garner her some admiration. Even though Red is prickly, she can't tell a lie, so I enjoyed getting to know her from her past up to her time with Elisa and Hector. She is a strong presence, she fights for what she believes in, yet she also doesn't see herself the way others see her and that trait helped her time and time again as she tried to help Rosario and her friends in the Royal Guard. Can't wait to read the next book!!! Rae Carson has done it again!.

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I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OMG, could not put this book down; on my TBR & I decided to read it as part of June #YearofYA twitter chat topic, Monday 6/27 at 8PM EST. Skylar and Josh Mitchell have a few things in common. They both live in dead-end Creek View and want to leave ASAP. They both have worked at the Paradise Motel for a few years. But that is where it ends... but the Paradise is the place where Skylar, just graduated and looking forward to going to art college in San Francisco in 3 months & Josh, a Marine, home from the war and wracked by nightmares, anger, insecurity - work side by side. They discuss, kid around and ultimately begin to become really good friends depending on each other when life collapses around them. I LOVED THESE 2 TEENS! Skylar does not drink, does not really go out much and has few friends (and she likes it that way) Josh is good looking, blue eyes that melt, and a great maintenance worker who can do just about anything to repair things at the Paradise Motel (and it seems be there for Skylar when her mom loses her job). I learned so much about PTSD from author Heather Demetrios with her depictions of Josh's dreams and leg problems since he walked on an IED device in Afghanistan. But even better and VERY IMPORTANT to read were the author's notes and acknowledgments at the end of the book. She had family in wars and she did extensive research and interviews with Marines to realistically depict Josh as a wounded warrior. I will end this review with words from the author but this is a must read for teens and adults...very important... From Heather Demetrios at the end of her acknowledgments, "Finally to the Josh's out there: I wish you sleep without nightmares, laughter every day, cold beer on warm summer nights, and love -so much love.


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The Journey of Hannah Woods by Helene Forst

The Journey of Hannah Woods by Helene Forst
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was so happy to receive this book from the author; what a compelling, satisfying read. Hannah Woods is the kind of protagonist the reader will enjoy getting to know. When we meet first meet her, she is inwardly freaking out at her father’s funeral. As a fourteen year old, Hannah lets the reader know she is suffering from panic attacks, hears voices cruelly putting her down, and relies heavily on drugs. After the funeral, this Hannah will leave the only home she has ever known and go to live with grandparents she didn’t realize she had. It is in this “new” home with down-to- earth grandparents, and a very strong, knowledgeable network of doctors where Hannah begins her epic journey. We learn from Hannah that she did not have a loving father or mother (they were very neglectful), was constantly under the care of nannies, home-schooled by tutors, and had only one person she could count on as a child, the head housekeeper, Winnie. Nothing was normal in her life; Hannah grew up alone, afraid, and always anxious. What I really loved about Hannah as I read this book was her positive attitude. She may have been terrified, but she did not give up hope. On the cusp of adolescence, she must attend high school, participate in class, and meet friends while she withdraws from heavy duty drugs and lives a normal life. It is this Hannah who learns how to surf, play volleyball, ice skate, become active in a Save the Earth Club, and begin to heal, express herself (through poetry) and learn how to savor life and love. I enjoyed the authentic characters Forst provides in Hannah’s loving, working grandparents, high school friends Emma and Eli, and remarkable Drs. Weinstein and Hope. This book was a journey for the reader and Hannah, and one I am very happy I made. As Hannah explores her new life in Crystal Cove, the reader is learning what it is like to have Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, fears, and anxieties. The reader roots for Hannah as she fights valiantly to control her life without drugs and learns to welcome the real Hannah Woods, “perfectly balanced” and “courageously dreaming.”

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