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: A Dangerous Idea: The Scopes Trial, the Original Fight Over Science in Schools by Debbie Levy

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A Dangerous Idea: The Scopes Trial, the Original Fight Over Science in Schools by Debbie Levy

A Dangerous Idea: The Scopes Trial, the Original Fight Over Science in Schools
Debbie Levy
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published January 14, 2025

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About A Dangerous Idea: The Scopes Trial, the Original Fight Over Science in Schools

One hundred years ago, a small-town science teacher ignited a nationwide debate over what students should learn in school–and who should decide.

  • “Compelling.” –School Library Journal, starred review
  • “Timely.” –Booklist, starred review
  • “Insightful.” –Horn Book, starred review

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

In 1925, when Tennessee lawmakers banned the teaching of evolution in public schools, teacher John Scopes challenged the law–and set off a gripping circus of a legal battle. Two masterminds faced off in a blistering courtroom debate over creationism and natural selection, each armed with the books they believed belonged in classrooms. Celebrity politician William Jennings Bryan relied on the Bible to make his case, while legal luminary Clarence Darrow defended Charles Darwin’s groundbreaking books On the Origin of Species and The Descent of Man. Their clash would go down in history as the Scopes Monkey Trial.

A century later, here is the riveting truth of what happened and why it matters. For a nation still arguing about the books and ideas that young people should encounter, award-winning author Debbie Levy delivers an important, insightful and expertly-researched account of our history that illuminates the challenges we face today.

  • “Compelling.” –School Library Journal, starred review
  • “Timely.” –Booklist, starred review
  • “Insightful.” –Horn Book, starred review

My Review

I’m not sure there’s any way to read this book and not see parallels to some of the challenges we’re still facing culturally and in our education system today. Many of these parallels were probably in the author’s mind as she wrote this book. Between the wild increase in book bans and challenges to the culture war over faith and science, I couldn’t help seeing earlier versions of some of those conflicts in A Dangerous Idea.

The book begins with a biographical sketch of each of the major players in the trial. Readers are introduced to John Scopes, a teacher in a small Tennessee town. Then, they meet William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow. Levy gives background information on Bryan and Darrow, so that when she shifts to describing the trial, readers can understand their behavior. They’re familiar with the personal beliefs of each man and the long-standing rivalry between them.

It’s kind of wild to think that this trial happened one hundred years ago this year. In some ways, our understanding of evolution has advanced. I can’t remember the last time I heard someone incorrectly gripe that it meant humans descended from monkeys. On the other hand, last year, a popular conservative commentator called science a cult. So, obviously, there’s still a lot of tension out there.

Readers looking to understand the Scopes Trial will find a comprehensive explanation in A Dangerous Idea. It may help add context to some current conflicts as science confirms and explores new ideas, and some resist updating their ideas.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used a few times in quotations from historical figures.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to marriages of historical figures.

Spiritual Content
References to William Jennings Bryan’s personal spiritual beliefs throughout his life. References to the beliefs of other people at the time concerning whether the Bible should be interpreted literally. The text also explores cultural thoughts and beliefs about whether and when faith and science intersect.

Violent Content
References to the fact that many people rejected Darwin’s research on evolution because it didn’t support their racist ideas. References to white supremacy. The author also quotes from a commonly used science textbook of the time, which states that the poor and unwell should not be allowed to have children. Levy points out that though the textbook received a lot of criticism for its reference to evolution, these ugly, wrong ideas were not mentioned as problematic.

Drug Content
References to the 18th Amendment, which prohibited the sale of alcohol.

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: Liar’s Kingdom by Christine Calella

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

Liar’s Kingdom
Christine Calella
Page Street YA
Published January 14, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Liar’s Kingdom

Ell has spent years slaving away for her cruel stepfamily. So when Prince Bayard—who seems to have difficulty recognizing faces—shows up at her door with a glass slipper, Ell allows him to believe she danced with him at the ball. There’s just one problem: Ell didn’t attend the ball and she’s never met the prince before in her life. But if it’s a choice between moving to the royal palace or staying home, Ell is willing to say anything to escape.

However, Ell finds that being royalty comes with its own problems. Bayard’s sister, the princess, has gone missing. The king is preparing for war against the fae. And Maxim, Bayard’s treacherous (and handsome) best friend, appears to know Ell is lying.

If Ell wants to keep this life she’s stolen, she’s going to have to roll up her sleeves and rescue herself.

My Review

This reimagining of the popular fairytale places Cinderella at the center of the action. Instead of a passive girl whose goodness magically opens a path to royalty, the lead character drives her story forward.

Though at first Ell thinks of nothing beyond her escape from imprisonment in an abusive home, she soon forms a deep friendship and cares for the prince with face blindness. She cares for the girl who becomes her first lady-in-waiting and her maid, wanting to know their true feelings and thoughts and to protect them from a volatile king.

I like that Ell makes choices that change the course of the story and that she still has the internal goodness that Cinderella is so classically known for. I also liked how the prince’s face blindness is handled throughout the story. There were moments when the narrative could have erased this part of his character and instead chose a different path forward. I appreciated that.

The pacing of the book was a little bit uneven for me. The first half of the book sets up a lot of dominoes that fall in the second half of the book. I like the idea of that, but there were things in the second half of the story that felt like they happened fast. I felt like I was supposed to have put together all the clues from the first half of the story and then been expecting some of the things in the second half. The romance, in particular, seemed to happen quickly. I would have liked to see a little more development there.

Overall, though, Liar’s Kingdom is a fresh, inspired reimagining of the story of Cinderella. I loved how the author transformed some of the story elements and preserved the heart of the classic tale.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some limited use of profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex.

Spiritual Content
Some characters are fairies and have some ability to do magic. Other fantastical and dangerous creatures exist in the book, such as ogres and giant spiders.

Violent Content
Ell’s stepmother is violent and abusive toward her. Her stepsisters also participated in abusing her. Ell has violent urges in which she wants to strike out at someone but stops herself. A few scenes contain brief battle violence in which someone uses a sword or crossbow to injure or kill someone.

Drug Content
References to alcohol. Some characters appear under a spell and are unable to control their bodies or voices.

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: A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber

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

A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart #3)
Stephanie Garber
Flatiron Books
Published October 24, 2023

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About A Curse for True Love

Two villains, one girl, and a deadly battle for happily ever after.

Evangeline Fox ventured to the Magnificent North in search of her happy ending, and it seems as if she has it. She’s married to a handsome prince and lives in a legendary castle. But Evangeline has no idea of the devastating price she’s paid for this fairytale. She doesn’t know what she has lost, and her husband is determined to make sure she never finds out . . . but first he must kill Jacks, the Prince of Hearts.

Blood will be shed, hearts will be stolen, and true love will be put to the test in A Curse for True Love, the breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Once Upon A Broken Heart trilogy.

My Review

After reading the first two books in the series, I wanted to know how Evangeline and Jacks would navigate the obstacles standing between them and whether they could craft their own happily ever after.

I wasn’t expecting some of the directions the series takes. There was a character who seemed like a pretty decent person, perhaps a bit spoiled, but who was beginning to make better choices. Then he took a hard right into serious evil, and I had to recalibrate how I thought about him. Which is okay—it just came as a bit of a surprise.

I can’t decide if I’m starting to outgrow the Bad Boy stories where someone has a pretty long list of wrongs and callous actions to their name, but somehow, I’m still rooting for the heroine to find a way to be with this person. I like Jacks, but I sometimes cringed at the way he treated other people. Reading certain scenes definitely required some willing suspension of disbelief as Evangeline, whose lost memories left her incredibly vulnerable and who knew someone was trying to kill her, didn’t question the reckless stranger who kept appearing out of nowhere.

I did appreciate the romantic tension between them and the continued themes about curses and true love in the fairytale-esque world Garber created. I love the way that the magic works, especially with regard to curses taking a life of their own and stories continually changing with each telling or reading.

All in all, I am glad to have stuck with the series all the way to the end. It was fun reading something so swoony and romantic. I think romantasy fans will like the sweeping fairytale magic of the story world and Evangeline’s starry-eyed commitment to find her happily ever after.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Main characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. In one scene, a boy and girl begin to undress one another. They fall asleep before getting fully undressed.

Spiritual Content
A group of immortal Fates have limited special abilities. The story also contains vampires. Some humans have the ability to perform spells or curses, which require magic to be broken.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Evangeline hears about a wolf attack that leaves a boy horribly scarred. A boy dies, apparently from some kind of poison. Someone poisons a girl. A large number of vampires bite people. Someone ties up another person and threatens to torture or kill them. A person starts a fire, endangering others’ lives. Someone punches a man repeatedly, breaking his nose and bruising his face.

Drug Content
Evangeline drinks wine at a social event.

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: Breath of the Dragon by Shannon Lee and Fonda Lee

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

Breath of the Dragon (Breathmarked #1)
Shannon Lee and Fonda Lee
Wednesday Books
Published January 7, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Breath of the Dragon

The first novel in a sweeping YA fantasy duology based on characters and teachings created by Bruce Lee!

Sixteen-year-old Jun dreams of proving his worth as a warrior in the elite Guardian’s Tournament, held every six years to entrust the magical Scroll of Earth to a new protector. Eager to prove his skills, Jun hopes that a win will restore his father’s honor—righting a horrible mistake that caused their banishment from his home, mother, and twin brother.

But Jun’s father strictly forbids him from participating. There is no future in honing his skills as a warrior, especially considering Jun is not breathmarked, born with a patch of dragon scales and blessed with special abilities like his twin. Determined to be the next Guardian, Jun stows away in the wagon of Chang and his daughter, Ren, performers on their way to the capital where the tournament will take place.

As Jun competes, he quickly realizes he may be fighting for not just a better life, but the fate of the country itself.

My Review

Jun displays a huge amount of growth as a character through this first book in the duology. He begins as a talented and ambitious kid whose interest in the tournament has more to do with proving his ability to others and finally making his dad proud of him. As the story progresses and he meets other fighters and allies, he begins to see the larger picture and the broader scope of responsibility in the role of the Guardian.

I thought that growth was really realistic and well-paced. I also enjoyed the ways that his relationships with other characters developed over the course of the story.

For some reason, I didn’t expect as much of the story to be centered on literal one-on-one fighting in a competitive setting. The early chapters show Jun competing for victory at his martial arts school, where the top student will go on to compete in a national tournament. Then, once he gets to the city, more scenes focus on the matches between fighters.

At some points, I could see why a scene was important to the larger story. The fights started to feel repetitive after a while, though.

Breath of the Dragon nicely wraps up the central plot of the book while setting up the major conflict in the sequel. We are left with new threads to pull in the next book, and I’m interested to see where the story goes.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some swearing and a few F-bombs.

Romance/Sexual Content
Jun feels attracted to a girl and jealous when someone else shows interest in her, too.

Spiritual Content
People revere the Dragon, whose breath gives extraordinary ability to certain people, and the Lady of Many Hands, who recorded his teachings in two indestructible scrolls. In the West, only the Guardian and those he permits to can look at the Dragon scroll.

Some characters have dragon scales on their bodies, which is evidence that they have special abilities from the Dragon. Others have a strong presence of Breath inside them, which they can draw on for energy and power.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle violence. Fatal combat. Soldiers kill unarmed workers. Reference to execution. Death of a parent.

Drug Content
None.

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: Let’s Talk About It by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan

Book Review and Content, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Nonfiction, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human
Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan
Random House Graphic
Published March 9, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Let’s Talk About It

An inclusive, accessible and honest graphic novel guide to growing up, from gender and sexuality to consent and safe sex. Perfect for any teen starting to ask…Is what I’m feeling normal? Is what my body is doing normal? Am I normal? How do I know what are the right choices to make? How do I fix it when I make a mistake?

Let’s talk about it.

Growing up is complicated.

How do you find the answers to all the questions you have about yourself, about your identity, and about your body? Let’s Talk About It provides a comprehensive, thoughtful, well-researched graphic novel guide to everything you need to know but might not know how to talk about.

Covering relationships, friendships, gender, sexuality, anatomy, body image, safe sex, sexting, jealousy, rejection, sex education, and more, this is the go-to handbook for every teen navigating adolescence, and the first in graphic novel form.

My Review

Growing up is complicated. Whew.

This book covers a lot of ground, so I’ve been struggling with how to write my review. I like that it tackles a wide range of topics in a conversational, relaxed way that normalizes having questions and seeking safe places to find answers to those questions, whether from an older mentor, sibling, or more experienced friend.

Each chapter centers around a specific topic, such as body image, safe sex, or aftercare. Some chapters have explicit content, while others do not. For example, the chapter on body image shows some cartoon images of characters in their underwear or naked. These illustrations support the points in the text. For instance, in the body image chapter, the characters represent different races, body sizes, and genders.

The information stays fairly basic. Each chapter is only about 13 pages long, and the pages are graphic novel panels, so the text is broken up by images, and some lines appear in speech bubbles.

Topics Overview

I like that the information is pretty basic. It offers readers a great place to begin with some of these topics. I also like that the book covers topics like what happens to friendships or how to maintain friendships while dating. It explores what to do with feelings of jealousy or rejection. There’s an infographic that helps readers identify an abusive partner or recognize abusive behavior patterns in themselves.

Illustrations show an inclusive group of teens, including teens of different races, disabled teens, and intersex/transgender teens.

Some chapters explore topics that will leave some parents squirming. This is stuff that a lot of us probably leave out of our explanations about intimate relationships, but these are topics that teens will probably have questions about, and it’s important to create safe spaces to find information.

Here are some of the more sex-specific topics covered: gender/sexual identity, body image, anatomy, masturbation, contraceptives and protection, climax, sexting (including safety concerns), and aftercare.

There is also a chapter about kinks, fantasies, and porn. It introduces what each topic means and encourages communication and safety between partners.

More Context Desired

A few things in the book would benefit from additional context or further conversation. I think that’s intentional. This book isn’t meant to answer every question or cover every scenario. It’s more of a guide to the basics or a conversation opener. One of the things I wish had more context, for example, is that on one page, the text encourages readers that the internet is a safe place to search for information about sex.

I mean, yeah, it’s safe from the standpoint that Google isn’t going to call you homophobic slurs because of your search terms. But there are internet viruses and other risks to be careful about. Sometimes what seems like innocent enough search terms can return results that are way more explicit than the user intended. I wish the text had at least encouraged thoughtfulness or included some parameters for search terms and basic virus avoidance or something.

Conclusion

Let’s Talk About It is one of the top ten most challenged books from 2023. If you follow book-ban conversations at all, it’s probably not hard to imagine why this one raises discomfort for some parents.

Kids need safe places to ask questions and gain information, though. I love the conversational style that the authors use in this book. I like that they keep information pretty basic and that they encourage safety and communication above all.

Perhaps some of these topics wouldn’t be so scary or uncomfortable for us to think about our kids reading if we were better at safe communication ourselves.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
F-bombs appear somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Cartoon illustrations show simple nude figures of different genders. Illustrations show kissing between characters. One simple illustration shows two people engaged in sex. Illustrated diagrams show sexual organs. A chart lists contraceptive options and their effectiveness. One chapter discusses pornography. Another talks about masturbation. In another, a couple share secret fetishes or fantasies with one another (readers are not privy to the details).

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
One section explains what consent is and is not. An infographic lists abusive behavior patterns one might recognize in oneself. Another shows behavior abusive behavior patterns one might recognize in a partner.

Drug Content
In the section discussing what consent is not, one panel shows someone unconscious and states that someone who is sleeping or inebriated cannot give consent.

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

Review: The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard

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

The Secret Year
Jennifer Hubbard
Viking Books for Young Readers
Published January 7, 2025 (Orig. 2010)

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Secret Year

For fans of Laura Nowlin’s If Only I Had Told Her, a deeply romantic novel that explores the raw emotions of love, pain and grief.

Colt and Julia were secretly together for a year . . . and nobody knew. Not that anyone would suspect–Colt and Julia were from two different crowds: Julia in her country club world on Black Mountain and Colt down in the flats. They’d meet in secret by the river–their chemistry electric, exhilarating, intoxicating.

Until everything came to a screaming halt.

Julia is pronounced dead from a car accident, and suddenly Colt’s memories come flooding back. One about the fight they’d had on their last night together . . .

When Julia’s diary falls into Colt’s hands, it gives him the chance to learn all her hidden thoughts, private details she refused to share with him. It might even answer his questions about what happened on the night she died.

Julia’s words have the power to mend Colt’s broken heart, or they can reveal a web of secrets that threaten to shatter his entire world.

My Review

I have so many questions.

It looks like this was first published in 2010 and has recently been re-released. I’m not sure when the story is supposed to take place. I think only the Black Mountain (wealthy neighborhood) kids have cell phones, so I assume maybe this was supposed to happen during the late 1990s when cell phones first became widely available. There’s no mention of texting, just calling. There are a couple of mentions of email, which could still track with the late 1990s timing. I don’t think the narrative specifies.

The story’s tone has a little bit of a Holden Caulfield vibe. Colt isn’t trying to be particularly likable. Neither is Julia, honestly. And that was fine. I mostly appreciated their frankness. After someone comes out as gay, Colt does a couple of things that are not great. I get that his reaction is realistic, but I wish the narrative had at least weighed in on his thoughts as negative.

Julia’s letters to Colt interrupt the scenes periodically, and sometimes, I got confused at the bouncing back and forth between her letters and Colt’s perspective. I also felt like the back cover copy implies that the story has a lot more suspense than it does. Colt does remember details about a fight he had with Julia. He does read letters she wrote to him. But I didn’t feel a sense of suspense about any of that. This isn’t a story about uncovering secret reasons for her death. This is the story of a boy who’s experiencing complicated grief because his relationship with a girl was a secret, and he can’t grieve publicly.

I found the story of his grief compelling, but it wasn’t really what I expected the book to be about.

For me, the uncertainty of the timeline (which could have contextualized some of the characters’ behavior) and the confusion over the genre of the story made this one a weird read. I read the book pretty quickly, so I’d say the writing is compelling.

Readers who like books by Matthew Quick might enjoy this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
One character comes out as gay in the story.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some f-bombs and other profanity used moderately.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex and making out. In a couple of scenes, characters remove their tops. One scene briefly references a girl pacing around a room naked. The story doesn’t focus on the romance. Mostly, it leads up to the start of a sexual encounter and then jumps ahead to afterward.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Colt learns that Julia died in a car accident. He briefly references thinking about her injuries. A group of boys attack another boy, seriously injuring him. Brief references to Colt’s mom smacking him or his brother.

One character comes out as gay, and his family reacts with homophobic comments and rejects him.

Drug Content
Julia mentions drinking alcohol. She calls her boyfriend an alcoholic and mentions that he abuses prescription drugs.

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.