Category Archives: Young Adult/Teen 12-18

Review: Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Nonfiction, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,
Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons

Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls
Rachel Simmons
Mariner Books
Published August 3, 2011

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Odd Girl Out

When ODD GIRL OUT was first published, it became an instant bestseller and ignited a long-overdue conversation about the hidden culture of female bullying. Today the dirty looks, taunting notes, and social exclusion that plague girls’ friendships have gained new momentum in cyberspace.

In this updated edition, educator and bullying expert Rachel Simmons gives girls, parents, and educators proven and innovative strategies for navigating social dynamics in person and online, as well as brand new classroom initiatives and step-by-step parental suggestions for dealing with conventional bullying. With up-to-the-minute research and real-life stories, ODD GIRL OUT continues to be the definitive resource on the most pressing social issues facing girls today.

REVISED AND UPDATED
WITH NEW MATERIAL ON CYBERBULLYING AND
HELPING GIRLS HANDLE THE DANGERS OF LIFE ONLINE

My Review

I’ve been trying to remember how long this book has been on my reading list. Probably since it came out. I’m sure I saw another blogger talking about it, but I haven’t been able to track down who it was. At any rate, I’ve had a copy of the book for years and around the end of 2022 finally got down to reading it.

I think the most startling thing about the book for me was thinking about the women I know who still behave the way she describes in the book. ODD GIRL OUT talks a lot about how girls have been socialized to avoid direct conflict. We’re taught that it’s not nice. Not feminine. Not appropriate behavior. And so instead, a culture of indirect, often cruel or opaque conflict has emerged.

It’s the silent treatment. The refusal to talk through a conflict directly, instead pretending it didn’t happen or imagining the other person can read the body language or covert signals we send about our feelings.

When I Was the Odd Girl Out

Anyway. I remember being the odd girl out in sixth grade. I wasn’t sure how it happened, since my best friend from fifth grade and I ended up in the same class. She’d been the new girl in fifth, and I think by sixth grade, she’d decided she wanted to be friends with the cool girls, and not friends with me. It was a painful, lonely year.

In tenth grade, we had a class together. We hadn’t spoken since sixth grade, but she apologized. We didn’t become friends again, but I feel very lucky that she reached out like she did. Many people don’t get that kind of… validation? Closure? Whatever it is, I remember feeling that it lifted a weight off my shoulders that I didn’t realize I still carried.

At any rate. This book. ODD GIRL OUT. I love the way Simmons carefully peels back the layers of what’s happening between girls. The book contains tons of interviews with individual girls or group discussions from the three schools she visited regularly. It’s clear that she really tried to listen to the girls and put aside her preconceived ideas.

This Book Has References for Parents

I think my favorite chapter is the one on how to talk to your child if she’s being bullied. There are suggestions for things to say and why you should or should not take certain steps. I love that this list has been compiled from her conversations with girls experiencing bullying. When I spoke with my own daughter about some of the things in the book, she agreed with the book’s assessments. I like the idea of having something of a roadmap to help you navigate having those conversations with your kids.

One thing she mentions in that chapter, too, is how important it is to take stock of your own experiences with bullying in school. That way those feelings don’t leak into the conversation or drive you to make choices that are really about what happened to you, not about what’s going on with your child. Very wise stuff.

Ophelia Project

In the book, they reference the Ophelia Project, which I wasn’t familiar with. It’s a national nonprofit organization that teaches and promotes self-worth and self-confidence in girls. I’m hoping to learn more about the project and find some ways to contribute and maybe bring the curriculum to our schools or libraries where I live.

At any rate, I think ODD GIRL OUT is a necessary read for teachers, parents, and anyone who works with kids. I think readers who enjoy books on social issues or child development will love this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Simmons is herself a white woman. She relates stories as told to her by girls of color and white girls.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to kissing between boy and girl. Brief reference to sexual abuse– one girl interviewed is an abuse survivor.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
References to domestic violence and abuse. References to fist-fighting. Many descriptions of cruel bullying behavior, especially psychologically or emotionally abusive behavior.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik

Biography, Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Nonfiction, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik
Dey Street Books
Published October 27, 2015

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Notorious RBG

You can’t spell truth without Ruth.
Only Ruth Bader Ginsburg can judge me.
The Ruth will set you free.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg never asked for fame—she was just trying to make the world a little better and a little freer. But along the way, the feminist pioneer’s searing dissents and steely strength have inspired millions. NOTORIOUS RBG: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF RUTH BADER GINSBERG, created by the young lawyer who began the internet sensation and an award-winning journalist, takes you behind the myth for an intimate, irreverent look at the justice’s life and work. As America struggles with the unfinished business of gender equality and civil rights, Ginsburg stays fierce. And if you don’t know, now you know.

My Review

I’ve been looking for a biography about Ruth Bader Ginsburg for a while, and I’m super excited to have found this one. It’s upbeat, filled with facts and personal stories from Ginsburg’s life. I really enjoyed reading about her career as a lawyer and law professor as well as her relationship with her husband Marty, who not only believed in her and celebrated her successes with her but also seemed like a really fun and wonderful person, too.

I thought it was cool to learn that Justice Ginsburg had such a close relationship with Justice Scalia even though they had vastly different views. Her work ethic is legendary, but the compliments from her clerks and the people she worked with say so much about the kind of person she was.

It’s worth pointing out that the book was written before Justice Ginsburg passed away, so some of the wording is still in present tense. I don’t know if there are plans to release an updated version of the book, but I would love to see that and would definitely buy it!

All in all, I loved THE NOTORIOUS RBG. It only reinforced my admiration of Justice Ginsburg for her careful way with words and her unwavering commitment to human rights.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is Jewish.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Mentions of her marriage to Marty Ginsburg.

Spiritual Content
Mentions of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Jewish faith and the fact that when she was a child, she would not have had the option to celebrate her Bat Mitzvah with a big ceremony, though boys had ceremonies for their Bar Mitzvah celebrations.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: How to Go Anywhere (And Not Get Lost) by Hans Aschim

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Middle Grade 8-12, Nonfiction, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

How to Go Anywhere (And Not Get Lost)
Hans Aschim
Workman Publishing Company
Published March 30, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About How to Go Anywhere (And Not Get Lost)

From journalist and adventurer extraordinaire Hans Aschim, here’s a lively and interactive book that gets kids unplugged and out of the house—and teaches them cool navigation techniques to use while hiking, camping, or just exploring the backyard or nearby park. 

With lively full-color illustrations and full-color photos throughout, HOW TO GO ANYWHERE (AND NOT GET LOST) combines fascinating history with fun hands-on activities that bring critical science, geography, and astronomy concepts to life. Readers will discover explorers and the tools they developed through the ages: from the ancient Polynesians who crafted stick charts to learn swell patterns in the water to navigate precise paths through the ocean; to Age of Discovery navigators who used compasses and maps to reach the New World; to the modern-day pilots who wield radar and GPS to soar across continents. Kids will also learn skills like taking their bearings with a compass; finding their way with dead reckoning; and locating their own latitude and longitude. 

And best of all: 17 activities—making their own sextant, compass, stick chart, chip log, and more—will turn all young adventurers into young navigators.

My Review

This book is part history, part DIY, and part love for the outdoors. Even though I’m not really a camping/hiking kind of person, I found I loved this book. I liked the approach the author took, walking readers through the history of navigation and navigational equipment. At each stage, the author describes how people used clues from nature and the stars, combined with basic math to figure out where they were and also where they were going.

The activities are integrated pretty seamlessly into the book, too. They’re directly related to concepts the author has explained, so they read like a, “now you know, go try it,” type of thing. I loved that, and I also really want to try out some of the activities myself and with my kids.

On the whole, this book was very easy to read. The sections of text are short and often broken up with sidebars or other short bits of information. The author scaled the information really well for young readers. I think anyone, nature enthusiast or not, could benefit from this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Representation
Briefly covers history of famous explorers or groups with a focus on navigational methods.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

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 this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: I Will Find You Again by Sarah Lyu

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

I Will Find You Again
Sarah Lyu
Simon & Schuster
Published March 14, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About I Will Find You Again

All the Bright Places meets Ace of Spades in this twisty teen thriller about finding a way to live after losing the one person who feels like home.

Welcome to Meadowlark, Long Island—expensive homes and good schools, ambition and loneliness. Meet Chase Ohara and Lia Vestiano: the driven overachiever and the impulsive wanderer, the future CEO and the free spirit. Best friends for years—weekend trips to Montauk, sleepovers on a yacht—and then, first love. True love.

But when Lia disappears, Chase’s life turns into a series of grim snapshots. Anger. Grief. Running. Pink pills in an Altoids tin. A cheating ring at school. Heartbreak and lies. A catastrophic secret.

And the shocking truth that will change everything about the way Chase sees Lia—and herself.

My Review

For some reason, I find I’m always drawn to books about complicated grief. This one is no exception. It’s an intense story, both in its exploration of grief, but also in the way that it’s written like a thriller. I feel like all the stories I want to compare it to give things away about the plot, though.

After Lia’s death, Chase finds herself trying to sift through her memories and those of her friends to piece together what happened and understand why. She feels someone must be responsible, or that there must be an explanation that will make Lia’s death make sense, and she’ll do whatever it takes to find the truth.

I liked those things about her. Her desperation was palpable. Her grief exploded off the page. I couldn’t help rooting for her, even though sometimes she did self-destructive things.

The story explores the pressure that Chase and her friends feel at school. All of them have ambitious AP course loads plus extracurriculars. They decide that drugs and a cheating ring, in which one person completes an assignment or test and distributes the work to the others, is the only reasonable way to survive.

While obviously cheating is wrong, I couldn’t help pausing to think about why they chose that course and whether certain high-achieving academic programs do push kids too hard. I don’t know. It’s still something I’m thinking about.

All in all, I WILL FIND YOU AGAIN has perfect pacing in a deep, emotional landscape. Fans of E. Lockhart or Matthew Quick totally want to check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Chase is Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Taiwanese. Lia is Korean and adopted by white parents.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used pretty frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Mentions of suicidal thoughts. Brief mention of a suicide attempt.

Drug Content
Chase takes an upper called Focentra (a fictional drug) which she buys from a classmate.

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 I WILL FIND YOU AGAIN in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Castelon by Alyssa Roat

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

Castelon (Wraithwood #3)
Alyssa Roat
Mountain Brook Ink
Published March 15, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Castelon

Fifteen hundred years of Arthurian legend come to a head in the final installment of The Wraithwood Trilogy.

The sword of legend, ancient magic, and a dead man’s secrets—together they could save Brinnie’s world or end it forever.

Brinnie barely escaped Mordizan with her life. Battered and broken in body and soul, she knows she’s running out of time. And though she has discovered the identity of Mordred’s bane, no one knows where to find the legendary weapon.

To discover the truth, she and Marcus must journey to Castelon and seek the aid of the Council. However, their actions at Mordizan brand them as enemies and war criminals. Between Mordred’s armies engaged in full-scale war and the political machinations of the Council, Brinnie struggles to balance the battlefield and the courtroom while estates fall before Mordred’s wrath.

As magic ravages her own body, threatening her survival, the allure of ancient, forbidden power grows brighter. And only one man holds the knowledge of the weapon that could destroy Mordred once and for all—a man they buried in the gardens of Wraithwood.

My Review

CASTELON is the last book in a series I’ve closely followed. I love the way the author reimagined or was inspired by Arthurian legend. I also loved Brinnie and some of the other characters, too.

In CASTELON, we get to know Brinnie’s mom a bit more, and see the return of a character we thought was lost. We also say tough goodbyes to a few beloved characters. I liked the way the relationships between each character unfolded and especially the ones that I didn’t expect. In the second book in the series, MORDIZAN, Brinnie befriends a girl named Lana. I really liked the friendship between them, so I was excited to see her in this book, too.

The first two books in the series have built up to a battle against Mordred and his forces, which are bent on ruling the wizard world and destroying the human one. Brinnie and her allies struggle to find the weapon a prophecy calls Mordred’s Bane, believing only it holds the power to kill their enemy. The search takes them behind enemy lines, and gives Brinnie lots of opportunities to make brave but reckless moves.

Her bond with Marcus grows stronger chapter by chapter. Though he disagrees with her choices sometimes, he always respects her as her own person. They are partners in war and love. I adored him.

The conclusion of the book was both really exciting and also different than I expected, in a good way. I loved the wedding scene and all that represented, and the sort of open-ended way that the last pages concluded.

All in all, I thought this was a fantasy series both fierce and sweet. I think it’s perfect for readers just dipping their feet into young adult fantasy, especially those who enjoy reimagined fairy tales or Arthurian legends.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Some characters reference their Christian faith. Brinnie draws battle inspiration from Bible stories like the story of Gideon.

Some characters have the ability to perform magic.

Violent Content
Battle scenes and some references to torture.

Drug Content
None.

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 CASTELON in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway by Ashley Schumacher

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

The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway
Ashley Schumacher
Wednesday Books
Published March 14, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway

Since her mother’s death, Madeline “Gwen” Hathaway has been determined that nothing in her life will change ever again. That’s why she keeps extensive lists in journals, has had only one friend since childhood, and looks forward to the monotony of working the ren faire circuit with her father. Until she arrives at her mother’s favourite end-of-tour stop to find the faire is under new management and completely changed.

Meeting Arthur, the son of the new owners and an actual lute-playing bard, messes up Maddie’s plans even more. For some reason, he wants to be her friend – and ropes her into becoming Princess of the Faire. Now Maddie is overseeing a faire dramatically changed from what her mother loved and going on road trips vastly different from the routine she used to rely on. Worst of all, she’s kind of having fun.

Ashley Schumacher’s THE RENAISSANCE OF GWEN HATHAWAY is filled with a wise old magician who sells potion bottles, gallant knights who are afraid of horses and ride camels instead, kings with a fondness for theatrics, a lazy river castle moat with inflatable crocodile floaties, and a plus-sized heroine with a wide-open heart… if only she just admits it.

My Review

Is there anyone who writes complicated grief like Ashley Schumacher? I’ve read all three of her books, and loved all of them. THE RENAISSANCE OF GWEN HATHAWAY introduces Madeline, a girl who’s approaching the first anniversary of her mom’s death– and her mom’s favorite Renaissance Fair, which has been redesigned by new owners. So, her grief over losing her mom and how it’s changed her life irreversibly gets kind of mirrored by this other big event. I thought it was really clever to pair those two things so closely together.

I really liked Maddie’s character, too. She’s a loner, but not in a sad, get-that-girl-some-friends kind of way. She’s an introvert who treasures close relationships with a few people.

The only thing that worried me at first was Arthur’s approach to Madeline. He gives her a nickname she doesn’t like, and plays the “I know what you need better than you do” card, which tends to rub me the wrong way. It’s a little too close to refusing to respect someone’s “no.”

However, in several scenes, Arthur listens to Madeline’s preferences and quickly adjusts his behavior in response to her boundaries, so I liked that. And I liked that it became clear that wasn’t his whole approach to relationships with girls.

One of the subplots of the story is the evolution of how Madeline feels about her body and how she behaves in response to those feelings. She’s a curvy girl who still carries some hurts from unkind things people have said to her. When Arthur first asks her to be the Fair princess, she has a hard time believing he’s serious, or that accepting the role won’t open her up to ridicule. But as she begins to explore what makes her comfortable in her own skin, she realizes that some of the things she’s been thinking about herself aren’t reality-based. And she finds ways to shop and dress that make her feel good. I liked that journey, and I especially liked that while it didn’t happen in a vaccuum– there were people who influenced her here and there– it was still her journey.

Conclusion

All in all, I loved this book. It had lots of goofy moments and starry-eyed love. I think fans of Jenn Bennett should definitely check out THE RENAISSANCE OF GWEN HATHAWAY.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Arthur has two dads.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Madeline carries a coin that, according to family lore, predicts the future. She flips the coin before making big decisions. She feels bound by the coin’s predictions, especially since it predicted her mom’s death from cancer.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

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 RENAISSANCE OF GWEN HATHAWAY in exchange for my honest review.