Parachutes by Kelly Yang

Parachutes by Kelly Yang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a read; Kelly Yang as done it again! Her middle grade debut, Front Desk, was a winner and so is Parachutes. Telling the story of life in a high school in California that encourages students from China to get a leg up for college by going to high school in the U.S. Once they come, these "parachutes" are hosted by families. Dani, a Filipino American girl who is a scholarship student tutors and cleans houses to help her mother make ends meet. Her mom decides to host a student from Shanghai, Claire, who is rich, and privileged. Close to 500 pages, there is a lot going on in this important read. Dani and Claire are house mates only and travel in different crowds and many things happen to thwart their friendship. I loved Dani's debate qualities and Claire's search for friends. Many high school issues and family problems are dealt with as well as friendship, exploitation, and the importance of speaking up! Teens will relate to these girls, their lives, interests, and drama. Especially important is the author's notes and how she spoke up and was NOT heard! A must read!!!

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Killers of the Flower Moon: The Sage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OMG, what a riveting audiobook, awesomely narrated by: Will Patton , Ann Marie Lee , Danny Campbell. Grann's nonfiction book deals with the mystery of many Osage Indian deaths during the 1920s and 1930s in Oklahoma. When oil is discovered under their land, the Osage become rich and the targets of unsavory men, business men and racism in law enforcement, in the white community, and politics. How people could do this to anyone, much less the Osage Indian is despicable. Grann thoroughly researches the Osage Indian history, culture, community and what the "reign of Terror" did to them. The honesty and diligence of Tom White, a former Texas Ranger who is appointed by J. Edgar Hoover to solve the 24 Osage murders marks the beginning of the FBI. A must read! My thanks to Pat Graham for recommending this book!

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Admission by Julie Buxbaum

Admission by Julie Buxbaum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children’s and Delacorte Press for the advance reader copy of Admission by awesome author, Julie Buxbaum, in exchange for an honest review. I was riveted by this ripped from the headlines novel dealing with the college admissions bribery scandal. Julie Buxbaum writes a compelling story to shed light on Chloe’s life THEN and Chloe’s life NOW as she unlocks her front door to the FBI one fateful morning. Senior Chloe was her own worst enemy at times. Her family has money, her mother is a TV star, but Chloe struggles in school, at home, and internally. As she worries over getting into a college and getting the grades she needs, her parents jump to pay for coaches to help her in writing and tutoring. Chloe’s best friend, Shola, was my favorite, a strong female character, she was always honest with Chloe and frank about her struggles as a product of Nigerian immigrant parents and their struggles with money. The THEN chapters reveal Chloe as very insecure, vacillating between trying to go along with her parents’ wishes and speaking up about what she wants. I could not stop turning the pages in the NOW as Chloe learns/lives the stark loneliness of being reviled by the world, her friends, her school. Throughout the scandal her younger, smarter sister, Isla, pushes Chloe to face reality and contemplate what exactly Chloe knew and when she knew it. Buxbaum’s novels packs a punch; I rooted for Chloe’s growth, maturity, and self-acceptance. In our world of fierce competition, what makes people do what they do, what makes people accept dishonesty? Readers will be sharing this book and talking about it often!

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The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved the narration of Ruthie Ann Miles , Kimiko Glenn , Alexandra Allwine , Gabra Zackman , Jeremy Bobb , Joy Osmanski , Emily Walton , Erin Wilhelmi in this totally absorbing historical fiction taking place in China in a remote Akha village. Life is difficult until one day a man and his son come to their village in search of PUR tea. Li-yan translates for the village elders and her family, she also goes to school for higher education, marries and moves from her mountain village. This was such a compelling story about family, tradition, culture, the modern world, and how strong women in one family share their heritage with angel tea trees. I will not soon forget Li-yan, her mother, and the daughter she gave up for adoption---they were separated but their bonds were strong and lasting.

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Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty

Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved these three sisters, their mother, their humor and their lives. With beauty and larger than life personalities we meet Gemma, Lyn and Cat in their 33rd year. The family dysfunction (Mom and Dad divorced, Daniel's infidelity to Cat, Lynn's panic attacks, and Gemma's inability to maintain a relationship) kept me turning the pages as the sisters battled and loved one another. I also enjoyed the "episodes" where others see them from afar. I laughed, I understood, and I thoroughly enjoyed these girls!

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Something In the Water by Catherine Steadman

Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This mystery was not the psychological thriller I hoped it would be; Erin and Mark are in love, the next step is marriage but Mark loses his job. As they plan their wedding and honeymoon, the plans Erin has do not match what Mark has in mind. Even as they begin their honeymoon in Bora Bora there is something not quite right. On a dive, they find something in the water and the decisions they make (yet you see it all from Erin's POV) set in motion a series of events...As Erin began taking over and thinking large, making mistakes, but not quite caring...Erin's choices and Mark's become very questionable. I was not rewarded with suspense, I did not like the characters, this mystery shows how going to the dark side ends up.

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This Is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf

This Is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I usually LOVE Heather Gudenkauf mysteries but I found myself frustrated with the plot. As a detective mystery I felt there was more plot needed with going back and going over the old case of Eve Knox's murder. I really wanted to like Maggie more as both a person and a police detective; as a person she did not give people enough credit, as the reader follows her through the past and the present, she psyches herself out all the time in giving credit to how people (loved ones) will react if she tells the truth. As a police detective, she underestimates Nola Knox as every turn, both as a child and now as an adult. Why didn't Maggie ever go interview the psychologist Gonzales who met with Nola after the murder and her run in with Eve's old boyfriend? Why is Maggie taking chances when she is ready to have a baby? Of course, I could not put this book down, the suspense was thrilling but I was uncomfortable alot with Maggie, her professionalism as a cop, her choices, her secrets.

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