True Blue by Robert Baldacci

True Blue by David Baldacci
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a great stand alone novel about 2 sisters, one a cop unjustly imprisoned, Mace, and her sister, the top cop, Beth, who stands by her even when everyone believes she was guilty. After she spends 2 years in prison, all Mace wants to do when she gets out of prison is get back onto the force. There is no easy way to do that---solve a case or prove she was innocent (this will not happen---since the DA has been making sure Mace will never get to the truth) and the DA also wants to get her sister in trouble and get rid of her as well. There was alot going on and Mace and a lawyer who found a dead co-worker, work together to try and find out what happened. But there are forces out to silence them (murder them). Luckily Mace and Beth are a fore to be reckoned with! A fantastic could not put it down mystery, who done it thriller with enough suspense to keep me up to finish this awesome book!

View all my reviews

My Time Will Come : Amemoir of Crime, Punishment, Hope and Redemption by Ian Manuel

My Time Will Come: A Memoir of Crime, Punishment, Hope, and Redemption by Ian Manuel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As Just Mercy floored me, so did Ian Manuel's gripping biography about his young life in Florida in the slums and with no guidance. Beloved by his grandmother, a father not around and a drug addicted mother, Ian suffers at home, in school and in his neighborhood. With a group of boys at age 14, he holds up a white man and woman in a parking lot, shooting the woman in the face and continuing to shoot as she runs away. Given life without parole, he spends the next 20 years in many jails and many of those years in solitary confinement (enduring unimaginable abuse). Ian's words are harrowing, powerful, beseeching, powerful and he loses hope many times but through reading a bible, writing poetry, he dreams of a day he will go home. I could not put this book down, everyone must read this and they will be changed. Highly reocmmended!

View all my reviews

Reading With Patrick: A Teacher, a Student, and a Life-Changing Friendship by MIchelle Kuo

Reading with Patrick: A Teacher, a Student, and a Life-Changing Friendship by Michelle Kuo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many thanks to my wild librarian group for this gripping read! Michelle Kuo is a very special, committed teacher who working in the Delta as a Teach America teacher, who has a life changing experience as she struggles to reach the poor, reluctant students in Helena, Arkansas. Over the disagreeing, but loving immigrant parents, Michelle becomes entrenched with Patrick, a student who has a poor attendance in school, a father with questionable parenting, and a mother he loves very much (she also is the only working parent). As Michelle begins to see Patrick as special and promising, she leaves for law school. When she finds out Patrick is in jail for murder, she returns and tries to help him through reading, writing and poetry. I could not put this heart breaking book down and it was due to Michelle's writing, her personality and her commitment that she and Patrick connect and begin a life long friendship.

View all my reviews

Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon

Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I saw this title was really cheap for a hardback on Amazon, highly touted so I purchased it and oh was it GOOD!!! The 2 girls (seniors in HS) come from 2 different (but the same) worlds. Tourmaline (love this name) is the "sheltered" daughter of motorcycle "gang", the Wardens and inadvertently put her mom and her sleazy boyfriend in jail for drugs and dealing. Virginia (OMG so tough, beautiful, & hard life) who is "owned" by sleazy lawyer, Hazard is commanded to find out all she can & bring down the Wardens. So she goes straight to Tourmaline and oh do their worlds collide!!! I loved Lemon's writing, her characters, the world of these girls who are so conflicted, searching for their lives and loves and oh those motorcycle guys are just so gorgeous, off limits, and so enticing to Tourmaline and Virginia. For a wild ride you will not want to put down, this debut novel will achieve so much when it comes to friendship and family!!!

View all my reviews

All Day: A Year of Love and Survival Teaching Incarcerated Kids at Rikers Island by Liza Jessie Peterson

All Day: A Year of Love and Survival Teaching Incarcerated Kids at Rikers Island by Liza Jessie Peterson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Liza Jessie's memoir is stunning, compelling honest, and real. Her love for these incarcerated youth on Riker's Island is passionate, unflinching, and loud. The youth's lives are heartbreaking but Liza roots for each and every inmate & pushes them to be their best self despite the insurmountable odds. She urges Black & Latino youth need to know more about their true history in America and the world. The reader is plunged into the prison, the inmates, and how things (their lives) work. Liza's artistic side (acting & theatre) really helps her connect (reach/reach out) with kids many want to forget. I read this for June nonfiction twitter chat Thursday 6/29 at 8PM with #yearofya JOIN US with any YA nonfiction titles you want to share.

View all my reviews