I Am That Girl: How to Speak Your Truth, Discover Your Purpose, and #bethatgirl by Alexis Jones

I Am That Girl: How to Speak Your Truth, Discover Your Purpose, and #bethatgirl by Alexis Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book, thank you to Donna Compton for giving this to me. There are great chapters, personal stories and motivation galore from the authors and contributors. This will be a good book for teens and adults! Highly recommended.

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Coyote Lost and Found by Dan Gemeinhart

Coyote Lost and Found by Dan Gemeinhart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just as I loved The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise so so much, this new Coyote Lost and Found was just as wonderful! Coyote is honest, quirky, brash, and one of a kind. Her latest adventure will involve a journey yet again, fierce, hiding secrets, and sometimes not being nice to Candace, her father's friend & neighbor, along for the ride on Yager during Covid. Readers will love every character on this bus; they support one another, enjoy singing, laughing, and the awesome pets on this trip to find where to settle Coyote's mom's cremated remains. Coyote's insights are hysterical, fierce, and bold and the author treats us to many beautiful, sad and happy times as Coyote and Rodeo remember painfully their loved ones. A must read for all ages!

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Immortal Longings (Flesh and False Gods, #1) by Chloe Gong

Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A retelling of Antony and Cleopatra, also like Hunger Games, I loved the story of Calla and Anton, not so much August. I also liked the jumping of bodies, that made me want to sail through this lucious book of daring, danger, and backstabbing. Can't wait for #2!!!

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Forever Never by Lucy Score

Forever Never by Lucy Score
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this sizzling story about Remi returning home to her beloved family with a really big secret that will endanger anyone Remi cares about. I loved Brick and his big awesome body that knows something is wrong with Remi (the girl he can never have...) and will stop at nothing to protect her. Will Remi & Brick find each other??? Such a great romance!

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Maybe Someday (Maybe, #1) by Colleen Hoover

Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Great beginning for a romance series where Sydney in a happy relationship with Hunter finds out he has been cheating on her with her best friend who she lives with. But Sydney has also been listening on her balcony to a mystery man who plays beautiful music. This mystery man, Ridge, has seen the cheating, and he also is the one who rescues her. Great story, steamy, and lots of drama!

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The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D Jackson

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Awesomely Narrated by: JD Jackson , Sarah Mollo-Christensen , Joy Nash , Christopher Salazar , Karen Malina White, this is a Carrie retelling that includes a biracial girl, Maddie with a mean religious zealot white father in Georgia, with mean white high school students (do not forget the parents & police as well) who terrorize Maddie her whole life. When Maddie finds a book from her mother to her, she finally sees who she is and looks forward to going to the prom with Kenny (who has been put up to inviting her by his white girlfriend mean girl). But life is not that simple & oh do the racist people clash with the teens, their prom, and their lives. A must read!

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Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega

Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved Marlene and her aunt Tia and friend Camila; together they all help Marlene break the news to her mother that she detests going to the hair salon and having her her straightened (and everything else involved in the hours she spends there 1 day a week). This graphic novel will surely inspire girls that have problems expressing to their parents their misery over "hair" which is either good or bad and must be conquered! I cheered for Marlene and you will too!

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Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Once again Chloe Gong has penned an absorbing part of history---1931 in Shanghai, and interwoven the story of 2 spies of the Nationalists (while also keeping relatives and friends of her first duology in the plot as well) who are tasked with posing as a married couple and to expose who is murdering people with a syringe to the elbow and WHY? But Rosalind and Orion have many secrets that they keep, but as they draw closer to each other and what is really happening, they find so many lies, conspiracies, and mystery upon mystery. I have many questions for the second book- Oliver? Phoebe? Dao Feng? Rosalind? The Hong Family?!? Spies? SuperHuman Chemical? Jiemin? Alisa? Silas?

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Amari and the Great Game (Supernatural Investigations, #2) by B.B. Alston

Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I did not LIKE this ending at all! I kept turning the pages but was so overwhelmed and chagrined with the evil that happened in this WHOLE book; I think B.B. Alston needs to re-think Book 3 if he is going to once again shatter the reader time and time again (like he does to Amari throughout this book!!!) with threatening war, challenges that are meant to sink, dangers that are motivated by the WORST bad characters, and finally decisions that work against the characters and plot---too too bleak---give the reader a MORE POSITIVE story in Book 3, this reader begs you...

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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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I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another MUST READ from Ruta Sepetys; I have read and loved all her historical fiction books and this one was particularly hard to read, like Cristian Florescu I was forced to bear witness to the horrors of 1989 Romania and dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife for 24 years. Just like The Fountains of Silence, Cristin and all the Romanians live in abject fear and watch as the world is left in the dark about the horrors (starvation, forced to be informants against friends and family, monitored by security 24/7 ). Cristian's family has been held hostage by Ceausescu's spies, his mother and father have changed, his philosopher grandfather continues to rail and speak out (Cris loves his fight and honesty). When he is approached and forced to spy (hence the title!!!) he is determined to outwit them, but at every turn, the spies know what is going on...as Cris is plunged into self loathing, doubt and fear---he grows closer to Lilliana Pavel (whom he has cared for from afar for years). Cris is forced to spy on the American ambassador) VanDorn family son, Dan. After seeing Dan's notebook, Cris begins his own notebook of thoughts and poems, I loved this coping mechanism, and how he decides to use it. The informer top secret files were interspersed and were totally awful---who was undermining Cris and reporting back to Paddle Hands? This is such an important read for all; it is another example of people in history suffering under Communism, under a dictator that prospered while he sowed fear amongst his people. Such a thoroughly researched book, and I needed the epilogue and author notes for further knowledge.

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With a Star in My Hand: Ruben Dario, Poetry Hero by Margarita Engle

With a Star in My Hand: Rubén Darío, Poetry Hero by Margarita Engle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow I just continue to love all the novels in verse Margarita Engles writes and Ruben Dario's life was depicted authentically in this poetic rendering. I loved how Engle uses poetry to tell his story, also how he created the Modernismo literary movement blending poetry and prose. From his first beginnings as a cast away child, listening to the magical stories from his uncle and others and vowing to be like them wandering and speaking and writing like the storytellers who grew up listening to. With the passing of his uncle, life moves on and known as Felix Ruben Garcia Sarmiento as a lad, his adopted family decides to change his name to Ruben Dario and so begins his journey in nature, life and adventures in poetry. This is a must read!

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Grace and Glory (The Harbinger, #3) byt Jennifer L. Armentrout

Grace and Glory by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh did I love the relationship between Trin & Zayne; they were so there for each other, always and all the time and deeply. Most important is getting rid of the Harbinger BUT Trin cannot accept Zayne's death & when he FALLS for her and returns as a Fallen Angel, Zayne is harsh and wants to kill demons and hurts and threatens Trin as well---but when she kisses this Fallen Angel to see if Zayne is inside, SHE DOES know he is still in there and she goes to the Crone to get the old Zayne back. Only wanting Zayne, she doesn't care about the danger...and when she gets him back----OMG I loved their deep attachment and love for one another---but now the real getting down to business and going after Gabriel----I loved seeing Roth and Layla, Cayman, Bambi and Thumper and their bringing Lucifer into the mix to take down Gabriel. There was suspense, excitement, fingers crossed but I LOVED this series so much!

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Stone Cold Touch (The Dark Elements, #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this 2nd audiobook in the The Dark Elements Series that continues with Layla, Roth and Zayne all working together to find the Lilin. But Layla has new found powers; Abbott the head of the Wardens and Zane's father hate her. I could not stop listening to this heart pounding romantic series audiobook from acclaimed author, Jennifer L. Armentrout. Already going to listen to the final book in the series!!!

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A Wicked and Beautiful Garden by Katie McGarry

A Wicked and Beautiful Garden by Katie McGarry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A new and exciting series by Katie McGarry introduces Cassie and Orion--once lovers, Cassie has believed Orion died 9 years ago. With much determination, she had built a new life as a midwife. As a child her grandmother gave her a wonderful loving life which consisted of tales about faeries and the beauty of what nature holds. I can't wait for the next book in the series this fall!

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Gone to the Woods: Surviving a Lost Childhood by Gary Paulsen

Gone to the Woods: Surviving a Lost Childhood by Gary Paulsen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a crushing memoir from awesome author, Gary Paulsen. Aimed at middle grade readers, this book would also be very interesting to YA readers and adults. Referring to himself as the boy, Paulsen describes parts of his upbringing and how it shaped him---from a mother who used him in bars to sing at the young age of five, to a doting grandmother and awesome Aunt and Uncle who instilled love and the beauty of nature to his time in Manila, running from his alcoholic parents and school, finishing school with a vocation and then his time in the army. Paulsen's writing made me so angry at times due to what his parents did or did not do to him. But when he talked about his time on the farm with his aunt and uncle and his love of the woods and their farm I was enthralled with how much love and beauty this world and these people gave to Paulsen when he was six years old. Thankfully his awful childhood made him resilient due to the calming influence of his grandmother and aunt and uncle---those parts of the book transported me and I fell in love with Paulsen's descriptions of the food, animals, livestock, pastures, mushroom gathering and fishing in this part of his life. This book will interest many kinds of readers, Paulsen was not a student and reluctant readers will identify with Paulsen's feelings about school. A must read; this book will speak to many different people.

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If I Tell You the Truth by Jasmin Kaur

If I Tell You the Truth by Jasmin Kaur
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, I loved Kiran and Sahaara's voices as they relate their stories in prose, poetry and illustrations! The author, Jasmin Kaur weaves an all to real plot about being undocumented, sexual assault, fear, and deep seated anxiety. Kiran is Sahaara's mom, an undocumented immigrant. She never speaks of what happened to her daughter, but the reader knows Kiran was raped, thrown away by her mother who labels her a liar, and arrives in Canada to begin college. Staying with her aunt, Kiran reveals to her mother and aunt, she is pregnant. Her aunt will not help her and go against the Punjabi family rules and Kiran's awful mother does not believe her and blames her. Kiran wants to keep the baby and her mother orders her to get an abortion. Kiran wants something of her own, not to be judged as less than and with this in mind, Kiran confides in her friend, Joti, and Joti and her mother take her in where she lives in a real family (that she has never known) of strong, loving women and Sahaara has a best friend in Jeevan and a love of art as the best way to express herself. I ached as I read the lives of this mother and daughter; so many mysteries, secrets, and questions silenced. I could not put this deep examination of what it is to be a woman who does not matter in a man's world that includes lies. I loved being a part of Kiran and Sahaara's journeys and urge adults as well as young adults to read this story. Highly recommended!

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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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The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez

The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez by Adrianna Cuevas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book for my 2nd challenge of the #BitAboutBooks Winter Reading Challenge, Name in the Title for 20 points and there is so much GREATNESS in this book! Nestor is in middle school, he constantly moves around because his father is deployed (now in Afghanistan), he doesn't stay long enough to make friends, he can talk to animals (yes and they talk to him) and now living in New Haven, Texas (where his Dad grew up) with his Abuela and nurse Mom, Nestor's constant grief and fear for his Dad and missing him compounds his unease with what is going on in the neighborhood. This time, Nestor has two friends he really enjoys, Maria Carmen, and Talib, and together they investigate missing animals, a creature that terrorizes the woods as either a spider, snake or wolverine. How will Nestor and company solve the mystery and save the missing animals? It is a race against time and readers will not be able to put this book down! There is excitement, suspense, friendship and folklore that lure you in and what a wild ride, highly recommended!

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Micah: The Good Girl #2 (Flyy Girls) by Ashley Woodfolk

Micah: The Good Girl #2 by Ashley Woodfolk
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read and LOVED this 2nd book in a series, Flyy Girls, by Ashley Woodfolk as part of the #BitAboutBooks Winter Reading Challenge. I will also be reading the 3rd and 4th books in this series too! Micah is a good girl who goes to church all the time with her parents but she is also secretly seeing Ty at summer camp where they both have jobs. But the big part of this book is the anniversary of her brother's death which weighs heavy on Micah. She does not always want the attention, interest, or pity about her brother. When she sneaks into her brother's room and finds his sketchbook there is alot she did not know about her brother and she tries to find out. Teens will love this book, middle school will relate as well as it deals with friendship, family, romance, school and death. Despite the drama, there is redemption and the positive meanings throughout this series, I highly recommend it!

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