All posts by Kasey

About Kasey

Reads things. Writes things. Fluent in sarcasm. Willful optimist. Cat companion, chocolate connoisseur, coffee drinker. There are some who call me Mom.

Review: Three Summers by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess with Laura L. Sullivan

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Three Summers by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess with Laura L. Sullivan

Three Summers: A Memoir of Sisterhood, Summer Crushes, and Growing Up on the Eve of War
Amra Sabic-El-Rayess with Laura L. Sullivan
Farrar, Straus, & Giroux
Published April 9, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Three Summers

An epic middle-grade memoir about sisterhood and coming-of-age in the three years leading up to the Bosnian Genocide.

Three Summers is the story of five young cousins who grow closer than sisters as ethnic tensions escalate over three summers in 1980s Bosnia. They navigate the joys and pitfalls of adolescence on their family’s little island in the middle of the Una River. When finally confronted with the harsh truths of the adult world around them, their bond gives them the resilience to discover and hold fast to their true selves.

Written with incredible warmth and tenderness, Amra Sabic-El-Rayess takes readers on a journey that will break their hearts and put them back together again.

My Review

This memoir is broken into three sections, one for each of the summers Amra spends with her cousins. Before that first summer, her family experiences a terrible loss, and Amra sinks into a dark depression. As she gets to know her cousins, she begins to have hope again, confidence in herself, and the courage to form friendships with others.

Her love for her family is so clear in the pages of the book. It celebrates familial bonds, especially those between a child and their parents, and the bonds between siblings and cousins.

This is the first book I’ve ever read about the Bosnian Genocide, though it isn’t the author’s first memoir about that time. After reading this book, I ordered a copy of her YA memoir, THE CAT I NEVER NAMED, so hopefully I’ll be ready to share my review of that book soon, too.

Technically, this book focuses on the years leading up to the genocide, in which the government becomes more and more hostile, one slow step at a time. I’m not gonna lie; it is harrowing to read a story like this and see parallels in some of the dehumanizing rhetoric certain political leaders are using right now.

Those comments make stories like this critically important because we need to remember that genocide doesn’t begin with the targeted deaths of a group of people. It begins with the systematic dehumanization of them.

I’m so glad Sabic-El-Rayess continues to write about her experiences in a way that kids can read about. The scenes in this book stay focused on Amra’s experience as a child, looking through her eyes. This is an important book, especially now. I hope that many people will discover and read it.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Amra and her family are Muslim. Amra’s older brother has Marfan syndrome.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
References to different faith practices of different groups around Amra.

Violent Content
Death of a sibling on scene. References to Islamaphobia. References to torture and execution.

Drug Content
One teen character smokes cigarettes.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Disfigured: On Fairytales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc

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Disfigured: On Fairytales, Disability, and Making Space
Amanda Leduc
Coach House Books
Published March 3, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Disfigured

In fairy tales, happy endings are the norm—as long as you’re beautiful and walk on two legs. After all, the ogre never gets the princess. And since fairy tales are the foundational myths of our culture, how can a girl with a disability ever think she’ll have a happy ending?

By examining the ways that fairy tales have shaped our expectations of disability, DISFIGURED will point the way toward a new world where disability is no longer a punishment or impediment but operates, instead, as a way of centering a protagonist and helping them to cement their own place in a story, and from there, the world. Through the book, Leduc ruminates on the connections we make between fairy tale archetypes—the beautiful princess, the glass slipper, the maiden with long hair lost in the tower—and tries to make sense of them through a twenty-first-century disablist lens.

From examinations of disability in tales from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen through to modern interpretations ranging from Disney to Angela Carter, and the fight for disabled representation in today’s media, Leduc connects the fight for disability justice to the growth of modern, magical stories, and argues for increased awareness and acceptance of that which is other—helping us to see and celebrate the magic inherent in different bodies.

My Review

I heard about this book years ago from booktuber Jesse on YouTube, who read and recommended it. Sadly, it took me a long time to actually read the book myself, but I finally have! And I’m so glad I did.

This book explores fairytales through the lens of what it’s like to read them as a person with disabilities. The author not only shares her own experience as a girl with cerebral palsy, but she also quotes and shares stories of other writers and activists with disabilities as they share their own experiences as well.

One of the things I found the most impactful about DISFIGURED was seeing different fairytale characters and stories from this perspective. There were many things I hadn’t considered or was unaware of. It helped to break things down into tropes and themes and look at what those ideas say about the value or morality of those characters and through the characters the people represented.

For example, the author talks about how often in fairytales, characters with disabilities fall into two categories. Either they are noble characters whose disabilities become reversed because they were pure of heart or brave or noble. Or the disability is supposed to be evidence of an internal evil that remains a static part of the character’s nature.

There’s also some commentary about the differences in the roles of women versus men in fairytales, too. I enjoyed that a lot.

All in all, DISFIGURED is a really thoughtful book that explores familiar fairytales, where they came from, and what they teach us about who we are and what society should be. And asks whether we agree with those lessons and, if not, what we will do about it.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
The author has Cerebral Palsy. She quotes other disabled writers and activists.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Very infrequent extreme profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to fairytale romance/weddings. Leduc recounts an early version of what became the Sleeping Beauty fairytale in which a maiden pricks her finger on a flax seed and falls into a magical sleep. A traveling king sees her and is so overcome with lust that he rapes her (not described in any detail). The author points out that the story never addresses the king’s behavior as problematic, wrong, or illegal.

The author references an essay written by a man with disabilities who openly talks about hiring sex workers to meet his personal needs. (No details beyond this.)

Spiritual Content
Discusses the origins of the fairy godmother/fairies in fairytales. Examines the Christian (Calvinist, in the case of the Grimm Brothers) roots or edits to many fairytales in subsequent editions. Mentions of magic in stories.

In one tale, the devil tricks a man into promising his daughter to him. The girl thwarts the bargain several times.

Violent Content
References to some gory elements of especially early fairytales. Cinderella’s stepsisters mutilate their feet to fit into her shoe. The evil queen in Snow White is forced to dance in red-hot metal shoes until she dies at the tale’s end. See romantic content.

The author also discusses the changeling myths and how people would leave their babies or young children in the snow to die of exposure if they believed the baby was a changeling. She briefly tells a story about a man who burned his wife to death. He claimed she’d been replaced by a changeling after an illness.

Drug Content
Mentions of magical potions or poisoned fruit.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything but help support this blog.

Review: Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

Book Review and Content, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Never Never (Never Never 1-3)
Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher
Hoover Ink, Inc
Published July 25, 2016

Amazon | Goodreads

About Never Never

#1 New York Times bestselling author of Hopeless joins forces with the New York Times bestselling author of Mud Vein. Together, they have created a gripping, romantic tale unlike any other. “How odd to be made of flesh, balanced on bone, and filled with a soul you’ve never met.”

Charlize Wynwood and Silas Nash have been best friends since they could walk. They’ve been in love since the age of fourteen. But as of this morning…they are complete strangers. Their first kiss, their first fight, the moment they fell in love…every memory has vanished. “I don’t care what our real first kiss was,” he says. “That’s the one I want to remember.”

Charlize and Silas must work together to uncover the truth about what happened to them and why. But the more they learn about the couple they used to be…the more they question why they were ever together to begin with.

“I want to remember what it feels like to love someone like that. And not just anyone. I want to know what it feels like to love Charlie.”

My Review

Originally this book was released as three individual novellas. I read at least the first one when it came out, but I’d never finished the rest of the series until now. I’d been feeling pretty worn out and just wanted an easy read, so I picked up the e-book of the complete series of NEVER NEVER.

While it’s an easy read, and I enjoyed that, I struggled with some elements of the story. I felt like the romance kind of glorifies a pushy guy who doesn’t listen to his girlfriend and rationalizes that behavior as evidence that he loves her so much. That tends to make me uncomfortable in a story because it’s a red flag for a possible abusive relationship.

I liked that Charlie and Silas both face this constant time deadline, where their memories will reset, so they have to figure out how to leave clues for themselves or how to build on what they learned the last time with higher tension as they get closer to a reset.

On the whole, I am glad I finished the series– it’s one that I would think about now and then because I’d left it unfinished. So I’m glad I know how it ends. I feel like the themes and some of the ways Silas and Charlie relate to each other may have been more common or idealized at the time the book came out. I felt like Silas’s pushiness interfered with my ability to invest in the romance, so it was a bit of a miss for me in that respect.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Brief racial slur. Strong profanity used frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Sex between a boy and girl. Kissing and sexual situations. In one scene, a school guidance counselor tries to kiss a student she’s been having an affair with. (No mention of this being abusive in terms of her position, even though she uses her job to get him alone with her, even when he doesn’t want to be.) In another scene, a girl tells a boy he can’t touch her a certain way and he proceeds to try to do it anyway. The text treats this as kind of a “boys will be boys” sort of activity.

Spiritual Content
List.

Violent Content
Silas gets into several fistfights. References to bullying behavior. Charlie calls a girl she has a history of picking on “objectively ugly”. Charlie is held in a small room she at first believes is a mental hospital where she’s drugged.

Drug Content
Charlie’s mom is an alcoholic and can’t take care of Charlie or her sister. Charlie is held in a small room she at first believes is a mental hospital where she’s drugged.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog.

Review: Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , ,

Where Sleeping Girls Lie
Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Feiwel & Friends
Published March 19, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Where Sleeping Girls Lie

In Where Sleeping Girls Lie — a YA contemporary mystery by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, the New York Times-bestselling author of Ace of Spades — a girl new to boarding school discovers dark secrets and coverups after her roommate disappears.

It’s like I keep stumbling into a dark room, searching for the switch to make things bright again…

Sade Hussein is starting her third year of high school, this time at the prestigious Alfred Nobel Academy boarding school, after being home-schooled all her life. Misfortune has clung to her seemingly since birth, but even she doesn’t expect her new roommate, Elizabeth, to disappear after Sade’s first night. Or for people to think Sade had something to do with it.

With rumors swirling around her, Sade catches the attention of the girls collectively known as the ‘Unholy Trinity’ and they bring her into their fold. Between learning more about them—especially Persephone, who Sade is inexplicably drawn to—and playing catchup in class, Sade already has so much on her plate. But when it seems people don’t care enough about what happened to Elizabeth, it’s up to she and Elizabeth’s best friend, Baz, to investigate.

My Review

I really appreciated the author’s note at the front of the ARC of this book. It explains some of the author’s goals in writing the story, from characters living beyond their trauma to celebrating platonic friendships to talking about feeling unseen and unheard as a person of color at a private, white institution.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Àbíké-Íyímídé is a brilliant writer. In some of the scenes in this book, you could cut the tension with a knife. The characters feel so real, from the soft, sweet goofy ones, to the powerful, sinister ones.

I worked my way through this book slowly because of the heavier content. One thing I appreciated is that it doesn’t show graphic details of people being harmed. We understand what has happened. It’s jarring. Shocking. But the person involved retains her privacy. As someone who really struggled with stories like this, I appreciated that.

The book doesn’t have a neat, tidy ending either. I also appreciated that. Real life is messy. Complicated. Recovery is messy and complicated. The book makes space for that and allows the characters to celebrate in some ways while acknowledging the mountains yet to be climbed and wrongs yet to be righted.

All in all, I’d call this a haunting tale told with great care for its readers. Those looking for an unflinching story examining the fallout of unchecked toxic masculinity will find it here.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Sade is Black, Muslim, and queer. A couple other characters are queer as well. Other characters in the book are BIPOC.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to sexual assault. Descriptions are unsettling but not graphic, focusing on details aside from the assault itself. Kissing between two girls.

Spiritual Content
Sade does not drink alcohol as part of her faith practice.

Violent Content
References to assault and murder. Sade sees a dead girl in the water when she closes her eyes. Late in the book, a few quick scenes show people fighting. A boy attacks a girl.

See spoiler section below for some darker content.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol at a few parties and gatherings. Sade does not drink because of her religious practice. Someone gives drugs to other students without their knowledge or consent.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Spoilers

Violence
A group of boys uses a private chat channel to share private sexual images of and videos of girls. Some of these were collected without the girl’s consent. At least one member of the group assaults multiple girls (mostly happens off-scene). Several adults appear to cover up the boys’ bad behavior.

Favorite Series: The Deadlands Series by Skye Melki-Wegner

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The Deadlands Series by Skye Melki-Wegner

If you’re a returning visitor, chances are, you’ve heard me talk about The Deadlands series already. As a kid who grew up watching The Land Before Time (and too many of its sequels), these books made me remember why I loved those dinosaur movies. If you’d asked me whether I needed more dinosaur middle grade books in my life, I probably would have looked at you sideways, yet, as soon as I read the opening pages of the first book, I was hopelessly hooked. I knew it would be one of the few series I follow from beginning to end.

Though I follow young adult literature more closely than middle grade, I still expected to see more buzz about The Deadlands than I actually did. Maybe I don’t travel in the right MG circles, or maybe it’s just stayed very much under the radar, but I think these books are well worth checking out. The pacing moves pretty quickly. The characters are well-developed, but their personal stories don’t distract from the overall plot. They feel fresh and new to me in a way that I didn’t even know I needed.

At any rate, I had an excellent time reading them, so when the publisher offered a set of finished copies in exchange for posting about the series, that was a no-brainer for me. I don’t usually do promo posts, but this is a comfortable exception, since it really gives me an excuse to talk about a series I wanted to create more chances to recommend. Also, it was really fun to do a bookish photo shoot outside in my yard. Ha!

Note: This post contains affiliate links which do not cost you anything to use. I received free finished copies of the books in this series from the publisher to photograph for my post.

Books in the Deadlands Series by Skye Melki-Wegner

The Deadlands: Hunted (The Deadlands #1) by Skye Melki-Wegner

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I love the blend of familiar and unknown dinosaurs in this book. Eleri’s love for stories and misfit feelings hooked me immediately. Fabulous series opener.

Published April 4, 2023 | My Review

The Deadlands: Trapped (The Deadlands #2) by Skye Melki-Wegner

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: Book one may have hooked me, but this book made me fall in love. What a great cast of unforgettable characters, all with distinct voices and personalities. This is perfect for young animal lovers.

Published October 3, 2023 | My Review

The Deadlands: Survival (The Deadlands #3) by Skye Melki-Wegner

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I could not wait to read this action-packed conclusion to the series. I followed Eleri and his friends to the very last page. This book will very likely be on my top ten for the year.

Published April 2, 2024 | My Review

About Skye Melki-Wegner

Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Website

Skye Melki-Wegner started writing as soon as she could hold a pen. She was immediately drawn to fantasy — and soon her notebooks overflowed with dragons, pixies, wizards and various magical shenanigans. After graduating with an honours degree in law, she decided to pursue her passion and prioritised writing fantasy books over pursuing a legal career.

Skye’s YA fantasy novels include the Chasing the Valley trilogy, The Hush and the Agent Nomad books. Her first Middle Grade trilogy, The Deadlands, will be published in 2023.

Are You Familiar with The Deadlands Series?

Have you heard of this series before? Do you recall seeing other bloggers, book influencers, or educators talking about it? If you remember where you saw the books, let me know! I would love to expand the middle grade-centered blogs or bookish content that I follow.

If you’re familiar with the series, tell me who your favorite character in the comments. For me, it’s easily Eleri, the oryctodromeus. I love that he’s a storyteller, and the he uses stories to lead and problem-solve. Sorielle, the ankylosaur is my second-favorite.

Review: Trouble at the Tangerine by Gillian McDunn

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Trouble at the Tangerine
Gillian McDunn
Bloomsbury
Published April 2, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Trouble at the Tangerine

Award-winning author Gillian McDunn pens a delightfully quirky mystery that examines the meaning of home, perfect for fans of The Vanderbeekers series.

Simon’s family is always on the move. Every few months, they load up their van, “Vincent Van Go,” and set off for a new adventure. According to his dad, you can’t live an extraordinary life by staying in one place. But all Simon wants is to settle down, so he’s hatched a to make their latest apartment in the Tangerine Pines building his forever home.

When a priceless necklace is stolen, clues indicate the thief might actually be another neighbor. Simon worries he’ll have to move again if the thief isn’t caught. He usually doesn’t go looking for trouble, but if retrieving the necklace means establishing home, Simon is willing to risk it. With the help of his neighbor Amaya, pet-sitter, plant-waterer, and podcaster extraordinaire, Simon is determined to crack the case and finally put down roots.

My Review

I’ve read all the books Gillian McDunn has published so far, so I knew when I saw this one, that I had to read it. Her books are so great!

This one is a little different than the others. Maybe the one it’s most like is HONESTLY ELLIOT. I think TROUBLE AT THE TANGERINE reads a little bit younger than her other books, but I’m second-guessing that now. I’m not sure. That was my sense as I read the book, but I could be wrong.

TROUBLE also follows a mystery, which is something a little different. It’s also a story about making friends and being the new kid, so maybe it’s really half mystery, half new kid making friends. I liked the balance between those two things, and it made the mystery seem less intense, which I think is good.

I thought the story definitely had some very lighthearted, very upbeat Rear Window vibes. It’s not scary or tense at all like that movie, but it’s about a kid in an apartment building with a broken leg in the summer solving a mystery and observing his neighbors. So, there are a few similarities. (There are no hatboxes or scary things buried outside, though.)

On the whole, I think this will be a really fun summer read. It’s a perfect vacation or beach book or great for reading on a lazy, hot day.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
List.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
List.

Romance/Sexual Content
List.

Spiritual Content
List.

Violent Content
List.

Drug Content
List.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays. Check out other blogs posting about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle with Greg Pattridge.