Category Archives: Young Adult/Teen 12-18

Review: Frida Kahlo: Her Life, Her Work, Her Home by Fransisco de la Mora

Biography, Book Review and Content, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Middle Grade 8-12, Nonfiction, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,
Frida Kahlo: Her Life, Her Work, Her Home by Fransisco de la Mora

Frida Kahlo: Her Life, Work, Her Home
Fransisco de la Mora
SelfMadeHero
Published April 11, 2023

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About Frida Kahlo: Her Life, Her Work, Her Home

Endorsed by the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City, writer, and illustrator Francisco de la Mora’s full-color graphic novel explores the public and private faces of the iconic artist.

Frida Kahlo, remembered as one of the most inspiring personalities of the 20th century, was a woman of two intertwined: she was both a charismatic and empowered artist exploring themes of resistance, authenticity, cruelty, and suffering and a more private person whose wounded body caused her a lifetime of pain that underpinned the many successes and disappointments that marked her time in the world.

Revealing and exploring these two Fridas, Francisco de la Mora’s graphic biography allows the reader to see just how far ahead of her time this complex artist was in her understanding of gender inequality and the culture of machismo, topics that remain relevant to this day and continue to lend resonance to Kahlo’s painting. Diego Rivera, Kahlo’s husband and fellow artist, described her work as “acid and tender, hard as steel but delicate and fine as a butterfly’s wing.” His words might apply equally to Frida herself.

My Review

One of the reasons I read so many graphic novels is that my niece and nephew love them, so I’m always looking for things they’re interested in. Usually, they lean toward fiction, but they’re both artists, so I thought maybe they might like this one for something different.

I loved the detailed descriptions of events from Frida Kahlo’s life– there was so much that I didn’t know before about her life, her family, and her work. I had no idea she was disabled, and from such a young age. The fact that she created so much while in so much pain is incredible to me. As a migraine sufferer, I can’t imagine what personal cost those efforts must have been for her.

The descriptions of her work and people’s reactions to it made me want to find a gallery showing Frida Kahlo’s paintings and see them in person. That would be really cool.

The only drawback for me reading this book is that some of the drawings of people in the panels are very small, so it’s hard to see their faces. There were moments when I wished the illustrations of faces had been more detailed so that the images were more emotionally evocative. On the whole, I enjoyed the book, though.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Representation
Frida is a Latina woman born in Mexico. Her father was German.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to Frida and her husband Diego having affairs, including her husband’s affair with Frida’s younger sister.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some descriptions of the extensive injuries Frida suffered after she was involved in a bus accident and her chronic health issues afterward.

Drug Content
A few panels show adults drinking alcohol.

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

Review: This Town is On Fire by Pamela N. Harris

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

This Town is On Fire
Pamela N. Harris
Quill Tree Books
Published June 20, 2023

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About This Town is On Fire

From the critically acclaimed author of When You Look Like Us comes a page-turning YA contemporary novel about what happens when the latest “Becky” on the internet is your best friend.

A lot is up in the air in Naomi Henry’s her spot as a varsity cheer flier, her classmates’ reaction to the debut of her natural hair, and her crush on the guy who’s always been like a brother to her. With so much uncertainty, she feels lucky to have a best friend like Kylie to keep her grounded. After all, they’re practically sisters—Naomi’s mom took care of Kylie and her twin brother for years. But then a video of Kylie calling the cops on two Black teens in a shopping store parking lot goes viral. Naomi is shaken, and her town is reeling from the publicity.

While Naomi tries to reckon with Kylie, the other Black students in their high school are questioning their friendship, and her former friends are wondering where this new “woke” Naomi came from. Although Naomi wants to stand by her best friend, she now can’t help but see everything in a different light. As tensions in her town escalate, Naomi finds herself engaging in protests that are on the cusp of being illegal. And then a bomb explodes, and someone is found dead.   Will Naomi be caught in the center of the blast? 

Golden Kite Award winner Pamela N. Harris has crafted a taut novel that delves into big issues, and is the perfect next read for fans of I’m Not Dying with You Tonight and The Black Kids.

My Review

My only gripe with this book at all is that it’s over 400 pages long, which is on the long side for a contemporary YA novel.

That said, the book doesn’t really feel that long. It jumps back and forth between the past (the start of Naomi’s senior year of high school) and the present (immediately after rescue workers pulled her from the wreckage caused by a bomb at a bowling alley). This made the story feel really urgent. You’re piecing together what happened from clues in the scenes reflecting the past.

The characters in the book have a lot of depth and layers to them. Kylie’s ignorance goes viral, sure. And she doesn’t truly seem to understand why people react the way they do. Naomi can’t unsee that ignorance. But does it completely erase all the connection there is between the girls? This is something Naomi has to figure out for herself.

She forms connections with other Black students, and for the first time, she feels truly seen. Those relationships energize her in a new way and make her feel unguarded and free in ways she didn’t expect. But those aren’t simple relationships, either. She experiences betrayal among these new friends, too.

Harris does a phenomenal job of showing the complexities of relationships and reminding us that the people involved are the only ones who get to decide what the relationship means to them. The writing is razor-sharp and raw with honesty. This is a story I won’t soon forget.

Content Notes for This Town is On Fire

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

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.

Review: The Other Lola by Ripley Jones

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The Other Lola (Missing Clarissa #2)
Ripley Jones
Wednesday Books
Published March 12, 2024

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About The Other Lola

The sequel to Ripley Jones’s unforgettable YA thriller MISSING CLARISSA, THE OTHER LOLA is about what happens when the people you love the most are the people you can trust the least.

In the months after Cam and Blair broke their small hometown’s legendary missing-girl story and catapulted to accidental fame, they vowed never to do it again. No more mysteries, no more podcasts, and no more sticking their heads where they don’t belong.

Until Mattie Brosillard, a freshman at their high school, shows up on their doorstep, begging Cam and Blair for help. Mattie’s sister Lola disappeared mysteriously five years ago. No trace of her was ever found. Now, she’s back–but Mattie is convinced the girl who returned is an impostor. Nobody believes Mattie’s wild story–not Mattie’s brother, not Mattie’s mother, and not even Cam and Blair. But something is definitely wrong in the Brosillard family. And Blair has her own reasons for wanting to know what really happened to Lola while she was gone.

With Cam and Blair still struggling with the aftermath of their first mystery—and with new secrets swirling between them—the stakes are higher than ever in this can’t-miss sequel to MISSING CLARISSA.

My Review

I really appreciated how the author acknowledges the trauma that Cam and Blair’s experiences in the first book caused for them. Cam has night terrors and panic attacks and is not sure what to do about them. Blair has her own fears and feels a lot of pressure to use those experiences for something.

When they encounter a new possible mystery, Blair is eager and excited. Cam is scared and feels like getting involved is a terrible idea. That struck me as so realistic. These are teenage girls with no special training for these situations. It makes sense that they would have really different feelings and unprocessed trauma.

The story includes both Cam and Blair’s perspectives, but it also adds some journal entries from Lola’s journal and a few scenes that follow Mattie. I liked the way that contributed to the feeling of putting the pieces of a mystery together.

The pacing of the story kept me reading. New things kept happening, and I really wanted to know what happened to Lola. I had a theory early on that turned out to be pretty close to the truth, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the ride as Cam and Blair figured out what happened and faced down the people responsible. I think it was more of a lucky guess than anything.

All in all, this was a tense, fun read. I hope there are more Cam and Blair mysteries to come.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Cam is dating another girl and is neurodivergent. Mattie is nonbinary.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A few F-bombs and a sprinkling of other swear words.

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

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to someone pointing a gun at others.

Drug Content
References to drug use that happened off-scene.

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

Review: Fortune’s Kiss by Amber Clement

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

Fortune’s Kiss
Amber Clement
Union Square & Co.
Published November 12, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Fortune’s Kiss

The legendary Fortune’s Kiss has returned to Ciudad Milagro for the first time in ten years. The magical gambling house shows up twice a year in a new city during the solstices to lure those worthy enough to wager their souls for wealth, the realization of their greatest desires, and, even, immortality.

Known by many names throughout the years, it returns to Milagro as El Beso de la Fortuna . . . and the game is Lotería. And best friends Mayté Robles and Lorena (Lo) de León are determined to change their lives, escape the dangerous men who threaten them, and gain riches.

Mayté, the sole daughter of the disgraced Robles family, wishes to leave her family and become a successful painter, while Lo suffers at the hands of her powerful and abusive father and seeks to find her mother, who escaped to Fortune’s Kiss years ago but never returned.

When Fortune’s Kiss finally returns to their city, the pair follow on their childhood blood pact to enter the gaming salon. But once inside, Mayté and Lo quickly realize that beneath the marvelous glamour, the salon is hiding dangerous secrets and the house always wins. And the game of Lotería is not the children’s game they grew up playing—it is a deadly lottery of chance.

With the help of a young, handsome croupier, the girls embark on a mission to unravel the mystery of the salon’s magic, find Lo’s mother, and try to win a nearly impossible game as their friendship is put under the greatest of tests.

My Review

This book has a lot going on in it! The relationship between Lo and Mayté sits at its center, though, and I loved that celebration of friendship and sisterhood.

In some places, I thought the narrative was a little heavy-handed, reminding readers or repeatedly dropping hints that the bad guys are bad and the good guys are good. Once Lo and Mayté entered the game, I thought that smoothed out, though.

Some elements of the book reminded me of Hotel Magnifique or The Splendor. The chaos of the game reminded me a bit of The Marvelous, which also invites its players into shifting alliances and rivalries with one another.

The world in which the girls live before the game has some references to colonialism and a very patriarchal society which leaves them both no choice but to find husbands to care for them in order to secure a future– something Lo desperately wants to avoid, and Mayté isn’t sure she can achieve with her family’s fallen status.

Entering the game not only offers the girls a chance to change their destinies but also forces them to face secrets and betrayals from their pasts. I liked the way the tension built and ultimately led to the story’s resolution. This is a really ambitious debut, and I’m excited to see what Amber Clement writes next.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Most characters are Latine. A few are from a colonizer class.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild swearing used infrequently. There are a few places in which Spanish swears are used.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
References to God and other deities. Some characters have the ability to use magic. The game enacts curses and other consequences on its players, both negative and positive.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. A girl stabs someone with a knife multiple times. A girl uses a piece of broken glass to kill an injured person. References to abuse and domestic violence. A man hints that he would kidnap a girl and traffick her because her family owes him money.

Drug Content
Some characters drink potions which cause positive or negative effects. For example, a potion puts someone to sleep. Another heals someone’s wounds.

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.

MMGM Review: Take It From the Top by Claire Swinarski

Young Adult/Teen 12-18

Take It From the Top
Claire Swinarski
Quill Tree Books
Published November 19, 2024

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About Take It From the Top

Set at a camp over the course of six summers, this novel dives into the falling-out of two girls from different backgrounds who thought they’d be friends forever. Claire Swinarski, regional indie bestseller of the ALA Notable What Happened to Rachel Riley?, tackles privilege, perspective, and the power of friendship in this page-turning puzzle that readers will devour.

Eowyn Becker has waited all year to attend her sixth summer at Lamplighter Lake Summer Camp. Here, she’s not in the shadow of her Broadway-star older brother; she’s a stellar performer in her own right. Here, the pain of her mom’s death can’t reach her, and she gets to reunite with her best friend, Jules Marrigan—the only person in the world who understands her.

But when she gets to camp, everything seems wrong. The best-friend reunion Eowyn had been dreaming of doesn’t go as planned. Jules will barely even look at Eowyn, let alone talk to her, and Eowyn has no idea why.

Well, maybe she does…

There are two sides to every story, and if you want to understand this one, you’ll need to hear both. Told in a series of alternating chapters that dip back to past summers, the girls’ story will soon reveal how Eowyn and Jules went from being best friends to fierce foils. Can they mend ways before the curtains close on what was supposed to be the best summer of their lives?

My Review

I love summer camp books, so it was a joy to discover this one that came out all the way in November, just when it’s getting cool enough outside to for me (in Florida) to miss the summer again. I’ve been a long-time fan of Swinarski’s books, so that also made me feel pretty confident about reading this one.

Like her other books, Take It From the Top explores complicated grief. For Eowyn, this comes in the form of grief over a lost friendship but also her feelings of isolation an rejection in her family. One of the ways this manifests for her is through pretty intense anxiety on stage. It’s not until a new director comes to camp that an adult seems to notice Eowyn’s struggle and create opportunities to help her.

Jules has been a star at camp for several years, and she feels great about the fact that it’s her talent that have brought her to the top. Learning that she had unexpected help behind-the-scenes calls her self-confidence into question. Even with her abilities, Jules has to work hard because of her family’s financial circumstances and her dad’s disability. She can’t help resenting it when others’ privilege hands them things she has to struggle for.

There Is More Than One Form of Privilege

The story examines some of the different forms of privilege, from financial privilege to the benefits of an emotionally present and supportive family. The narrative alternates between Eowyn and Jule’s perspectives, so we witness their challenges and their versions of the events that led to their friendship crumbling.

The frank exploration of these feelings and circumstances made me think a lot about the expression about not judging others because they fight battles we know nothing about. Each character faced hardships the other couldn’t imagine.

All that makes the story sound like it’s pretty grim. It’s really not! There’s a lot of the fun and joy of summer camp and theater performances. We get to celebrate successes and see some relationships mended or at least end on a hopeful note.

If you’re missing summer days or love summer camp books, I think this is a great one to put on your reading list!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Not a lot of race or other representation details. I think both the main characters are white, though Eowyn is described as tanned with brown hair.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Eowyn has a crush on a boy at camp.

Spiritual Content
Eowyn’s brother makes a brief comment about his mom watching them from Heaven.

Violent Content
References to the death of a parent from cancer.

Drug Content
Eowyn’s dad and brother drink wine at a fancy dinner.

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 Monday

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

Fall 2024 Backlist Reading Check-In

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Fall 2024 Backlist Reading Check-In

Normally, I start a post like this at the beginning of the season and add to it as I finish reading each book. That gives me a diary-like record of my experience with each book, which I enjoy looking back at later.

This time, I forgot to start the post and only remembered about it in mid-November when I began making my calendar of list posts for next year. At any rate, I did manage to get my Fall 2024 backlist reading list together, and I’m excited to talk about some of these books.

I somehow managed to get to a lot more backlist titles than I thought I did. My guess is that this is because I read many of them as audiobooks. A few that I read as ebooks or hard copies were basically mood reads.

I’ve had some of these books high on my reading list for quite a while, like Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews, Show Me a Sign by Ann-Clare LeZotte, and Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley. Others, like Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price, The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich, and We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride, are newer to my reading list, but I am really glad I got to them.

Note: This post contains affiliate links that do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. Thanks for using them to do your shopping.

Fall 2024 Backlist Reading Check-In

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: This is one of the top ten most frequently banned books in the US. It’s about two best friends who learn that a classmate has been diagnosed with cancer.

Published March 1, 2012 | My Review to Come

Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: stuff stuff

Published April 6, 2021 | My Review to Come

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: This feels like a convention-setting novel, and I’m glad I read it. Some of the commentary about the characters is very dated, which might make it challenging for today’s readers. It’s a fascinating mystery, though.

Published June 1, 1997 (Orig. 1978) | My Review to Come

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Weirdly, I read Warrior Girl, Unearthed before I read Fire Keeper’s Daughter, so there were a couple of elements of the plot that I already knew about. I did enjoy getting to see Pauline and her sister as younger kids and reading Daunis’s story. It’s a tightly plotted, intense book. Highly recommended.

Published March 16, 2021 | My Review to Come

The Betrayal of Anne Frank by Rosemary Sullivan

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: I read Anne Frank’s diary earlier this year, and I immediately put this book on my reading list after that. The book carefully tracks an intricate investigation into who betrayed the Frank family. It’s an amazing book.

Published January 17, 2023 | My Review to Come

Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Five teenagers spread across the US who become involved in human trafficking. This one is pretty dark with fairly straightforward characters. It’s one of the most frequently banned books in the US.

Published August 25, 2009 | My Review to Come

The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart #2) by Stephanie Garber

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: Evangeline’s adventures continue! This might have been my favorite book of the three. We learn more about the fairytale for which Evangeline is named and what Jacks is truly after. It’s a pretty wild ride.

Published September 13, 2022 | Review to Come

We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A powerful novel-in-verse about magic, depression, and the power of the stories we tell ourselves. Amber McBride is pretty much an auto-buy author for me. She’s amazing.

Published January 10, 2023 | My Review to Come

A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart #3) by Stephanie Garber

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: The finale of the series. I think the second book was my favorite, but I definitely wanted to know how things turned out for Evangeline and her love. If you like Garber’s work, I am pretty sure you’ll like this series.

Published October 24, 2023 | My Review to Come

The Game of Silence (The Birchbark House #2) by Louise Erdrich

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: Omakayas’s story continues as her family faces new threats to their way of life. Her dreams prove a powerful force, but is she brave enough to listen to them? I am loving this series so far.

Published June 16, 2006 | Review to Come

Show Me a Sign by Ann-Clare LeZotte

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: This is the first book about Mary and her community on Martha’s Vineyard. I wish I’d read this one first, though I don’t think you have to in order to follow the series. Reading this book made the areas of focus in the other books make more sense to me. It’s a fabulous historical fiction book.

Published March 3, 2020 | My Review to Come

Coyote Queen by Jessica Vitalis

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: The back cover copy calls this book moving and voice-driven, and boy is it both of those things! An unforgettable tale of a girl with a troubling home life finding her voice.

Published October 10, 2023 | My Review to Come

Those Pink Mountain Nights by Jen Ferguson

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: The story of three friends and their connection to a local pizza parlor and a missing girl. Moving, thoughtful, and intense. Each point of view has amazing characterization.

Published September 12, 2023 | My Review to Come

This Town is on Fire by Pamela N. Harris

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: An incisive exploration of relationships and activism and the opportunity to continue to learn and grow. Powerful storytelling here.

Published June 20, 2023 | My Review to Come

Did you read any books in the past few months that came out before 2024?

Did you do any reading over the fall season? If so, what were your favorite books?

Have you read any of the books on my Fall 2024 Backlist Reading list? Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!