Category Archives: Young Adult/Teen 12-18

Spotlight and Top Ten: Organize Your Way by Katie and Kelly McMenamin

Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

If you’re like me, organizing is a soothing thing. Bringing a little order to the chaos always makes me feel better. So I’m really interested in checking out this book Organize Your Way which covers lots of different ways to organize because, hey, we’re all different, and different methods work better for each of us. Read on for a little more about the book, a list of top ten organizational tips from the authors, and a chance to win a finished copy!

Organize Your Way: Simple Strategies for Every Personality
Katie McMenamin and Kelly McMenamin
Sterling
Published March 14, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Stressing over the mess? Discover YOUR personal organizing style—and stay organized forever!
Organization isn’t one-size-fits-all. Different people need different solutions. Fortunately, Katie and Kelly McMenamin—the organizing gurus behind PixiesDidIt!®—have found the key to making organization stick, with strategies that work for every personality.

Whether you’re OCD or a little less fastidious, Katie and Kelly will help you discover your organizational style, using unconventional approaches or sticking to what already works. Along with personality-based solutions for every space in your home, they offer advice on solving strife between different “PixieTypes.” So you can keep the stuff you love . . . and the peace!

About Katie and Kelly McMenamin

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Katie McMenamin and Kelly McMenamin are sisters, professional organizers, personality-type experts, and founders of PixieDidIt! Their business is an outgrowth of buttoned-up hedge fund analyst Kelly spending 30-odd years trying and failing to get her messy older sister Katie, a writer, to be more organized. Countless fights ensued until they had an idea: What if there is more than one way to organize? Today, they spend the bulk of their time organizing for clients, writing for their website, and giving talks on how to organize according to your personality type. Kelly lives in NYC with her husband and three sons and Katie lives in their hometown, the Land of Champions, aka Cleveland, OH, with her husband and three daughters.

Top Ten Organizational Tips from Organizing Your Way Authors Katie and Kelly

1. Knowing who you are is the key to organization mainly because if you’re pretending to be someone else, it’s hard to remember where that pretend person put something!

2. Change is hard, so be honest about organizing tasks. People who never hang up their coats in a closet, probably never will; get a coat rack and call it a day.

3. Perfect isn’t real. Magazine perfection is styled by a professional whose job it is to make everything perfection for the millisecond it takes to snap a photo.

4. No shame, no blame! You liking clear, spotless surfaces doesn’t make you OCD (it’s not a personality disorder), it’s your personality type.

5. Later Box It. When you can’t part with a useless item, store it away in a box and revisit that box in a few months (a year), whatever you missed keep, whatever you forgot … dude, let it go.

6. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Change is hard (see #2!) so if storing TP right next to the toilet works for you, do it, but for heaven’s sake try to make it look nice—unless you live alone on Antarctica then who cares.

7. Organizing at its core is about retrieval. Period. Can you easily find and get things when you need them. Everything else is an argument about aesthetics.

8. One-step solutions are golden. Hanging up your coat is a five-step process whereas popping it on a hook is one-step. Light bulb (at least it was for us!)

9. Be loud & proud. So, you write important To Do’s on your hand in a pinch. Who cares? Don’t apologize, defend it and tell any scolds where they can go.

10. There’s no best way to organize—just the best one for you!

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Top Ten Tuesday: Top YA Books Coming in Spring 2017

Lists, Middle Grade 8-12, Young Adult/Teen 12-18,

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s theme: books coming out in spring 2017 I can’t wait to read. Here’s my list…

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett – April 4, 2017

A teen spin on You’ve Got Mail? Sign me up! Film geeks who’ve been happily chatting it up online end up in the same town– only she can’t stand him. She doesn’t know it’s him she’s been pouring her heart out to via the web, but eventually, she starts to feel, well, something. Is it worth trading in her perfect online romance for an imperfect reality?

It Started with Goodbye by Christina June – May 9, 2017

A girl with an online graphic design business who uncovers secrets in her house? Yes, please. Also, I’m totally intrigued by the feisty step-abuela-slash-fairy-godmother. Sounds like a story with a unique protagonist that explores blended family relationships.

 

A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi – March 28, 2017

Since I read Chokshi’s debut The Star-Touched Queen, I’ve been desperate to read more. She called this book more a sister than a sequel, so it’s totally fair to read it without reading The Star-Touched Queen first. (Though I’m not sure why you would want to, since the first was SO good.)

Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan – March 14, 2017

I saw this book on Aisha Saeed’s blog listed as a must-read, and lo, I was able to get my very own review copy! It’s a little more serious than It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel, but I love Amina’s relationships with her family and her tender heart. This is a perfect story to encourage a shy kid.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor – March 28, 2017

I fell in love with Taylor’s writing in the opening pages of her debut novel, Daughter of Smoke and Bone. This story– about the aftermath of a war between gods and men– promises to have the same sort of fascinating twist on myth, tortured heroes, strong heroine and heartbreaking, gorgeous storytelling as the other series. I. Can’t. Wait.

Gem and Dixie by Sara Zarr – April 4, 2017

If you love sister books, you need to check this one out. Two sisters grow up in an unstable home where they can only count on each other realize they may have to sever their relationship in order to survive. Zarr has an amazing ability to write characters so that you feel like you’re sitting inside them. This is a must-read for contemporary YA fans looking for an emotional story.

A Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh – May 16, 2017

Samurai, bandits, assassins, politics, and secrets. This looks absolutely delicious. When a girl promised in marriage to raise her family’s fortune journeys to meet her future husband, she’s attacked by bandits sent to kill her. She disguises herself as a boy and infiltrates their ranks, only to learn terrible secrets which make her question everything she’s ever known.

Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray – April 4, 2017

A girl desperate to save her planet from a robot army finds help in an unlikely place: an advanced prototype whose programming commands him to obey her. As they work together, she begins to think maybe there’s more to him and his loyalty than programming. Definitely looks like a brain-bendy, action-packed sci-fi adventure.

Hit the Ground Running by Mark Burley – April 25, 2017

A suspenseful novel featuring a parkour expert? Yup! When Eric’s family goes missing, he teams up with unlikely new friends to uncover dangerous secrets.

One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus – May 30, 2017

The Breakfast Club plus a murder. Five strangers walk into detention. Only four walk out alive. So, who did it? The brain? The beauty? The criminal? The athlete? They all have something to hide. I can’t wait to read this!

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas – February 28, 2017

Okay, technically I’m cheating since this came out the last day of February and that isn’t really spring. But, seriously. I’ve heard nothing but praise for this daring, timely novel about a girl who witnesses the shooting of an unarmed boy.

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner – March 7, 2017

A simple text kills his three best friends. As if that’s not horrible enough, Blake learns he’ll be under a criminal investigation. When his best friend’s grandmother asks him to spend a day with her saying goodbye to her grandson, he hesitates. But as he begins to try to help others deal with their grief, he begins to find his own path toward healing.

Review: The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

The Lost Girl of Astor Street
Stephanie Morrill
Blink
Published February 7, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Eighteen-year-old Piper Sail’s best friend Lydia goes missing from a neighborhood street in 1924 Chicago. Piper vows to find her friend, even if she has to take up the investigation herself. As Piper begins to hunt for Lydia, she soon learns everyone in her neighborhood hides a secret, even her father and the handsome detective who’s working the case. Piper realizes finding the truth may cost her newfound love, her respect for her family, and possibly, her own life.

I loved this book! I was hooked from the first page. Immediately we meet interesting (and funny!) characters and see complex relationships. There were a few elements of the mystery that I kind of saw coming, and I worried that would make the ending too obvious. It did not. The Lost Girl of Astor Street had plenty of twists and turns to keep me guessing at the real story behind Lydia’s disappearance and the odd behavior of some of the other characters.

The plot elements tied together well enough to be believable but also not feel too convenient—which I think is a delicate balance in a mystery. Piper kept busy with a lot of sub-plots, all interesting stuff that ultimately provided other pieces in the grander puzzle of the story.

One really random thing I enjoyed a lot was all the hats. It seemed like whenever anyone went anywhere, there were great hats involved. I loved that!

I definitely recommend this book. I loved the characters, found the mystery elements well-paced, and seriously enjoyed the adventure in 1920s Chicago. This one is a must-read for mystery and historical lovers.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
Piper learns a little bit about the Irish and Italian mafia. She dates an Italian detective, and some friends/family members disapprove of the relationship. Piper’s friend Lydia has seizures.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A few brief male-female kisses. Piper hears a story about a girl her age rescued from a human trafficking ring. She visits some places that prostitutes frequent as part of her search for Lydia.

Spiritual Content
At one point, Piper feels discouraged, feeling like she’ll never find Lydia. She says the only thing left to do is cry out to God, if you believe He’s there.

A couple of scenes are set in a church—funeral and wedding.

Violent Content
A young woman is shot. A captor interrogates a young woman, hitting her and shoving her underwater when the girl refuses to answer questions.

Drug Content
Piper’s family enjoys wine with dinner, despite Prohibition laws. (Piper herself doesn’t drink.) Piper’s brother comes home drunk and says some unkind things to her.

 

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Review and Giveaway: Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham

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

I’m today’s stop on the Irish Banana Blog Tour for Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham, and I can’t wait to tell you about the book. Stick around for my review, a list of the other tour stops and where you might find great stuff like Q&A with the author, AND don’t miss the chance to win one of three hardcover copies of the book in the giveaway below!

Dreamland Burning
Jennifer Latham
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Available February 21, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Dreamland Burning

When seventeen-year-old Rowan Chase finds a skeleton on her family’s property, she has no idea that investigating the brutal century-old murder will lead to a summer of painful discoveries about the past… and the present.

Nearly one hundred years earlier, a misguided violent encounter propels seventeen-year-old Will Tillman into a racial firestorm. In a country rife with violence against blacks and a hometown segregated by Jim Crow, Will must make hard choices on a painful journey towards self discovery and face his inner demons in order to do what’s right the night Tulsa burns.

Through intricately interwoven alternating perspectives, Jennifer Latham’s lightning-paced page-turner brings the Tulsa race riot of 1921 to blazing life and raises important question about the complex state of US race relations – both yesterday and today.

My Review

It took me some time to get into the characters. I kind of wanted the past part of the story to be told from the point-of-view of this spunky little girl named Ruby instead of from William’s perspective. He makes some bad choices especially at the beginning, and even he knows it. It took me a while to get over that and begin to really get into his character. Eventually, I felt like he found his courage and that helped a lot.

I kind of felt the same about Rowan, too, though for different reasons. I really liked her relationship with James and the deep (but not romantic) connection they shared. The fact that they both felt like misfits made them really sympathetic characters. I found it easy to root for them to find their places and solve the mystery of the unidentified body found on Rowan’s family’s property.

One of my favorite elements of the story was the fact that it focuses on a little-known or discussed event in American history– the Tulsa race massacre. Having that story juxtaposed against a present-day setting featuring current race relations issues made for a powerful and moving tale. The writing style is a little less artful and more frank, occasionally bordering on preachy, but the story is no less important and necessary for it. The diverse character cast and spotlight on history would make this an interesting choice for a high school project. Overall, I recommend this book to historical fiction and mystery fans as well as readers looking for books that explore race relations.

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Cultural Elements
Rowan’s mother is African American and her father Caucasian. Her best friend James is part Native American, part black and identifies as asexual. William’s mother is Native American and his father Caucasian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity and crude language used with moderate frequency. Racial epithets used a few times.

Romance/Sexual Content
James and Rowan pretend to be a couple to irritate an older couple watching them disapprovingly.

Spiritual Content
Brief references to prayer. At one point Rowan exclaims that James is a god because he’s found important information.

Violent Content
A KKK member describes brutalizing young black men and brags about killing them.

Drug Content
William and his friend get drunk on beer. William picks a fight while drunk and breaks his wrist. Rowan recalls the night she and James swiped a bottle of liquor and drank it together over shared secrets.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

About Jennifer Latham

website | twitter | facebook

I’m a grown-up army brat with two kids, two dogs, and a husband. After working in a morgue, a maximum-security prison, a heroin detox, and assorted middle and high schools, I decided to try may hand at writing. Happily, it stuck.

I love watching people.

And I love writing about the characters who live inside my head—even when they don’t play nice.

Visit the Other Tour Stops!

Week 1:

2/13: He Said Books or Me – Review
2/14: Bookmark Lit – Cover Colors
2/15: Megnificient Books – Review
2/16: Here’s to Happy Endings – Guest Post
2/17: The Story Sanctuary – Review – You are here!

Week 2:

2/20: Awkwordly Emma – Q&A
2/21: Rattle the Pages – Review
2/22: Such A Novel Idea – Guest Post
2/23: Lekeisha the Bookworm – Review
2/24: The Irish Banana Review – Fast 5

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Three winners will receive a hardcover copy of Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham. (US/Canada only)

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Review: Denton Little’s Still Not Dead by Lance Rubin

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Denton Little’s Still Not Dead
Lance Rubin
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published February 7, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Denton Little is supposed to be dead. Mandatory testing that accurately predicts date of death set his deathdate as the same day as his senior prom, only instead of dying, Denton broke out in a bizarre purple and red rash and, um, didn’t actually die. Turns out, Denton might be the key to ending the stranglehold the DIA (Death Intelligence Agency) has on everyone. A rebel group led by someone Denton thought he’d never see again seems to have answers he desperately wants, but they also have a poorly concealed agenda that Denton doesn’t trust. What he really wants is to find out why he lived and use that information to save his best friend Paolo, whose deathdate is less than a month away.

I heard of this series in Charleston at YALLFest last November when I went to an author panel and heard Lance Rubin speak. He’s pretty much hilarious, and I felt like, okay, if his book is half as funny as he is, I definitely want to read it. Truth? It’s more than half as funny. Denton’s voice is fantastic—feels like spending an afternoon with a goofy, awkward kid in all the most amazing ways. Also, I loved Paolo. I think you’d have to be actually dead not to like him. He’s kind of the unfettered heart of the story and the loyal best friend. I loved him.

I wished there wasn’t so much profanity and other content in the story because that’s a thing for me and because I know it’s a thing for some of the people who I think would otherwise totally love this book. I also kept forgetting that Denton was a high school senior and thinking he was younger—which I think is just me.

The friendship and humor made this book a super fun read. The suspense elements blended pretty well with the humor (does that seem weird? I guess it does, but I thought it worked.) and gave it a cross-genre feel that I liked. I definitely recommend this to readers looking for a laugh-out-loud book or a less serious dystopian tale. If you liked Away We Go by Emil Ostrovski but want something lighter, this is probably the right speed for you.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
Denton’s best friend Paolo and his sister are Hispanic. (Did I mention I love Paolo?)

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used pretty frequently. Some crude language.

Romance/Sexual Content
Denton slept with his best friend’s sister before this book begins and mentions it without giving details other than that he was not sober and they both thought was about to die. He has a couple of sexual experiences described in moderate detail. One instance leaves behind some physical evidence that’s discussed a bit by Denton. There are several instances of boy/girl kissing and one boy/boy kissing.

Spiritual Content
At first Denton wonders if he really did die and is having a really strange experience in heaven (totally not the kind of heaven he was expecting).

Violent Content
Denton’s on the run from a governmental agency pretty determined to capture him and rumored to plan on torturing or killing him. Some brief chase scenes, bad guys with guns, that sort of thing.

Drug Content
Denton’s brother provides him with a fake ID that allows him to buy alcohol. Denton and his friends drink on more than one occasion. Paolo and Denton smoke pot. Paolo buys it from a kid at his school. It seems like maybe it began as a thing to do because they were going to die soon, so why not? But they do smoke more often than that.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Review: Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Piecing Me Together
Renée Watson
Bloomsbury
Published February 14, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Piecing Me Together

Jade believes the only way she’ll find success is to get out of her neighborhood. That’s why she accepts a scholarship to a privileged, mostly white school. It’s why she puts her studies first—no time for boys, no time for goofing around. As a girl from a poor neighborhood, Jade knows she must appreciate the opportunities that come her way, even those that treat her as less-than. When she joins a mentorship program meant to help “at-risk” (read: black) girls, Jade’s frustration mounts. How is her so-called mentor supposed to teach her anything when she doesn’t have her own life together? How are the group’s pointless activities supposed to change anything for her?

My Review

As Jade wrestles with the injustices in her life, she begins to realize the only way things will change is for her to find her own voice, to speak up, and challenge the people around her. Her courage and vulnerability make her story deeply moving and accessible. When she shares her experiences with racism with a white friend, at one point her friend sort of shrugs and says, “I don’t know what you want me to say.” Jade’s ability to articulate this response—support me, believe me, she tells her friend—opens conversation and dialogue about race relations issues.

Overall, this is a rich story. It’s easy to connect with Jade through her experiences, to love her, and to understand how she feels and why. It’s easy to cheer for her victories, as a young woman and an artist. I loved that she’s a collagist, and I loved the way her art was a key component of the story. I loved the way history (the story relates some information about York, an African American man who traveled with Lewis and Clark) and poetry played a key role in the story as well.

I definitely recommend this book to readers who enjoy contemporary fiction or novels about art and friendship.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Jade, her family, and her best friend Lee Lee are African American. Her mentor comes from a wealthy African American family. Her friend Sam is a white girl being raised by her grandparents. Jade is studying Spanish hoping for an opportunity to travel in an educational program. Each chapter begins with a Spanish word translated to English.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Jade attends a meeting with her mentorship group that focuses on dating and relationships. She’s not interested in either one, and the conversation stays pretty vague.

Spiritual Content
Jade comes home to her mom listening to gospel music and cleaning. Following a terrible event, Jade asks her uncle to say a prayer. He calls prayer a “poor man’s drug,” and tells Jade the person she needs to be talking to isn’t God but politicians who can make changes. Jade prays anyway.

Violent Content
Four police officers beat up an unarmed fifteen-year-old black girl when they break up a party. Jade and her friend hear about it on the news, but feel shaken up.

Drug Content
None.

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