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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A Well-Tempered Heart (The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, #2) by Jan-Philipp Sendker

A Well-Tempered Heart by Jan-Philipp Sendker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Awesomely narrated by Cassandra Campbell, Julia flees to Burma when she begins hearing the voice of a woman who is afraid of black boots. In Burma reunited with her brother after 10 years, U Ba, she finds out who the woman is and tries to find out what happened to the woman (whose voice she hears) and her two sons. I loved Julia's growth in this 2nd book, U Ba is my favorite- he is just the most sensible, kind, loving human being. The story of Nu Nu, her husband and two sons leveled me; I could not stop listening to this compelling story!

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rez dogs by Joseph Bruchac

Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This middle grade novel in verse about a young girl who visits her grandparents (on their reservation) and must stay because the COVID 19 pandemic breaks out was mesmerizing. I loved the beauty of Malian's life with her grandparents and a dog, Malsum, who becomes her protector (as well as her grandparents) but also the horror of what Malian's grandparents and parents endured simply because they were Native Americans. The stories her grandparents tell her change Malian and will change the reader too! Highly recommended, a must read!

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Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Re-read this as part of my Albright College Zoom book discussion and I loved it even more the 2nd time!

My mother gave this book to me and my reader friend Ruth recommended it years ago. I loved seeing Major Pettigrew grow, become bold, become forthright and fall in love with Mrs. Ali. The English village was beautiful but very tough on who and what they considered outsiders. There was humor, sadness, grief and so much more to enjoy in this book about older characters who change, grab at life, and turn their backs on tradition. Readers will enjoy the Major, Mrs. Ali, Grace, Alice, George, Amina, Sandy, and the Vicar and be chagrined with The Major's son, neighbors, Abdul and lots of others. It was a tug of war to see who could win the war of religion, race, and real estate, and I am so glad I was surprised by this book!

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Vespertine (Vespertine, #1) by Margaret Rogerson

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Awesomely narrated by Caitlin Davies; I loved this enthralling fantasy with Artemesia of Naimes, a socially crippled nun in training who would rather keep to herself than interact with others. When she unwittingly unleashes a revenant (yes Artemesia can hear and talk to spirits) her life as she knew is thrown into chaos. I loved the history, the too powerful Church's involvement, both good and evil, the spirits, and the characters---too many to name, but the Revenant was my favorite and the voice Caitlin Davies used was perfect and I loved the comedy it lent to this fast-paced thriller. I also loved Artemesia's roommate, and the gargantuan possessed soldier (his friends and captain shield him from the people's fear and hysteria) and the characters that seemed good but were evil or vice versa. Rogerson adeptly used magic, saints, evil, secrets, mysteries, and Artemesia's bravery to craft a rich historical fantasy I could not put down & can't wait for the next book in the series. I will be listening to the next book as well- Caitlin Davies was awesome with her compelling voices. YA readers will LOVE this book, highly recommended!

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Room to Dream (Front Desk) by Kelly Yang

Room to Dream by Kelly Yang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Once again, I just reveled in this new Front Desk series! Mia and her friends are as strong as ever, but Lupe is going up to the high school for classes as Mia and Jason miss her! Mia is getting too many writing rejections and for the first time she is not telling Lupe or Jason... but she is super excited to return to China to visit her grandparents, cousins and aunts and uncles. While there, Mia makes friends with a beloved aging teacher who encourages Mia to submit her articles to youth newspaper in China. Her articles are an instant hit, she gets fan letters, and she begins to confide what she is feeling towards her friends (they will never read it, they are in America!) and her love of writing is
energized. But back at home, the new hotel next door is using dirty tactics to undermine the Calavista and Mia, Hank, and the shareholders are approached to sell the Calavista, what is Mia to do? I just love Kelly Yang's writing; it is real, authentic and students reading this series will find this 3rd book packs alot of punch and will LOVE it---friendship, family, big business, journalism, bias, racism, consent, and adaptability. A must read!

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The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to my friend, Michelle for recommending this a few times. Awesomely narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, this was a spell binding, gripping, lyrical, and mesmerizing romance of two people in Burma, who end up saving each 0ther. I loved the way Sendker told this awesome historical fiction story---his writing was beautiful, the way Tin Win views the world as a blind man and his romance with Mimi (how he details their lovemaking, his comfort and solace with carrying her on his back, the beauty of MiMi and Kalaw. I loved how this story unfolded and have not been able to stop thinking about the series of events in U Ba's story to Julia about Tin Win and MiMi's life and how affecting it was to Julia and her thinking and her outlook on her life and her father's life in Kalaw. A must read!!!

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