Category Archives: Contemporary

Review: The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky by Josh Galarza

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,
The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky by Josh Galarza

The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky
Josh Galarza
Henry Holt & Co.
Published July 23, 2024

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About The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky

Perfect for fans of Mark Oshiro and Adam Silvera comes a fiercely funny and hopeful story of one boy’s attempts to keep everything under control while life has other plans.

Ever since cancer invaded his adoptive mother’s life, Brett feels like he’s losing everything, most of all control. To cope, Brett fuels all of his anxieties into epic fantasies, including his intergalactic Kid Condor comic book series, which features food constellations and characters not unlike those in his own life.

But lately Brett’s grip on reality has started to lose its hold. The fictions he’s been telling himself – about his unattractive body, the feeling that he’s a burden to his best friend, that he’s too messed up to be loved – have consumed him completely, and Brett will do anything to forget about the cosmic-sized hole in his chest, even if it’s unhealthy.

But when Brett’s journal and deepest insecurities are posted online for the whole school to see, Brett realizes he can no longer avoid the painful truths of his real-life narrative. As his eating disorder escalates, Brett must be honest with the people closest to him, including his new and fierce friend Mallory who seems to know more about Brett’s issues than he does. With their support, he just might find the courage to face the toughest reality of all.

My Review

This is an uncomfortable read. I don’t say that as a bad thing. One of the most important things literature can do is give us safe spaces to experience discomfort. By safe, I don’t mean that reading can’t be triggering– I know it can. Reading a book about physical danger is very different from experiencing that physical danger. (See content warnings below for possible triggers. Take care where needed.)

The story begins with Brett’s drunk-n-drive-thru routine. He’s been drinking the vodka he stashed in his room at his old house, and an Uber driver takes him through several drive-thru lines before dropping him off at one of his favorite scenic overlooks.

As the story progresses, we learn that Brett’s adoptive mom was diagnosed with cancer. He’s moved to his best friend’s house, and his best friend’s dad is now his guardian. Brett seems to be in a freefall. He’s trying to understand why he eats so much, but he’s so consumed with shame about it that he almost can’t even go there at all. It’s heartbreaking.

About halfway through the book, he becomes friends with a girl he’s heard people make fun of for years. She’s further ahead on her self-acceptance journey and takes him under her wing. There’s a little bit of a manic-pixie-dream-girl feel to her character, though the story subverts some parts of the stereotype. She’s a sort of all-knowing, wiser, chaotic artist who pulls Brett along and shows him a different way to think about his body.

Of course, things get much worse before they get better, and we go to those dark places with Brett, feeling his deep hurts and the weight of his shame. This is a really emotional book, but there’s so much heart on every page. It’s hard to believe this is a debut.

Older fans of Jarrett Lerner’s A Work in Progress or books that explore trauma, like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, will find this a gripping read.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Brett is Mexican American (the just right word he uses is mestizo). Another character is queer.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Lots of profanity. References to racist comments. Fatphobic comments.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brett ogles a girl and draws a sexy cartoon character based on her body. (He realizes this is wrong.) A girl undresses in front of Brett while doing an art project involving making prints of her body.

Spiritual Content
The mythic stories in Brett’s life that most impact him are the ones he wrote himself about a superhero and constellations in the sky. The constellation that represents his hero is called the Great Cool Ranch Dorito.

Violent Content
Some scenes explicitly show Brett experiencing symptoms of disordered eating, such as binging and purging. Other characters confess to anorexia and bulimia. Two boys break into school after hours to distribute copies of an anonymous comic book. Two boys fight each other. A boy is injured when a trampoline spring breaks.

Drug Content
Brett drinks vodka, which he keeps hidden in his room in his old house.

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: Grow Up Luchy Zapata by Alexandra Alessandri

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , ,

Grow Up Luchy Zapata
Alexandra Alessandri
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published July 23, 2024

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About Grow Up, Luchy Zapata

A funny, relatable middle school drama about two Colombian American girls who have always been BFFs—until sixth grade turns everything upside down.

Luchy Zapata is starting middle school, and she’s muy excited. She and her two best friends, Cami and Mateo, will finally be at the same school. Luchy and Mateo will be in art class together, and she and Cami can try out for the same soccer team! As long as they’re all together, Luchy can handle anything.

But Cami has been acting weird ever since she got back from visiting family in Colombia. She’s making new, “cool” friends who just seem mean. And suddenly, everything about Luchy and Mateo is too immature for her.

Luchy is determined to help Cami remember how special their friendship is. They’ve been BFFs their whole lives, and that can’t just disappear in a poof of glitter! But…what if Cami doesn’t even want to be friends anymore?

My Review

Middle grade stories that explore this moment in friendships hold a special place in my heart. I remember having a best friend with whom this happened, and I had many of the same hurt and confused feelings that Luchy does. Why was the friendship suddenly changing when I hadn’t changed at all?

I love Luchy’s family, especially her relationship with her grandmother. She takes care of Luchy, listens to her, and tells her things she needs to hear. She even backs Luchy up when she confronts her parents about something. I liked that. Most of Abui’s dialog is in Spanish, and the author does a great job helping unfamiliar readers understand the words through translation or context clues that don’t slow the story down. I love that the author includes some expressions and explains the literal interpretation and what they mean.

For sports fans, this book takes a little bit to get into the scenes showing soccer matches. She practices with her friends to prepare for team tryouts, but it isn’t until the tryouts themselves that we begin getting more of a play-by-play description of Luchy on the field. Luchy has to work really hard to balance her feelings about Cami with her commitment to her sport and her team. I thought that tug-of-war was another element the author handled well.

Grow Up, Luchy Zapata has a lot to love, from its Colombian representation to the close-up of a friendship transitioning to middle school to the joy of playing a team sport like soccer.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Luchy and her friend Cami are Colombian American. Matteo is Chilean American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Cami starts talking about who has a crush on whom. Luchy doesn’t feel ready to think about that.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some of the girls start taking things from each other. The pranks are hurtful and get out of hand until someone confesses to a teacher.

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.

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.

Review: Asking for a Friend by Kara H. L. Chen

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

Asking for a Friend
Kara H. L. Chen
Quill Tree Books
Published July 23, 2024

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About Asking for a Friend

This charming YA rom-com follows a strong-willed, ambitious teen as she teams up with her childhood frenemy to start a dating-advice column, perfect for fans of Emma Lord and Gloria Chao.

Juliana Zhao is absolutely certain of a few things:

1. She is the world’s foremost expert on love.

2. She is going to win the nationally renowned Asian Americans in Business Competition.

When Juliana is unceremoniously dropped by her partner and she’s forced to pair with her nonconformist and annoying frenemy, Garrett Tsai, everything seems less clear. Their joint dating advice column must be good enough to win and secure bragging rights within her small Taiwanese American community, where her family’s reputation has been in the pits since her older sister was disowned a few years prior. Juliana always thought prestige mattered above all else. But as she argues with Garrett over how to best solve everyone else’s love problems and faces failure for the first time, she starts to see fractures in this privileged, sheltered worldview. With the competition heating up, Juliana must reckon with the sacrifices she’s made to be a perfect daughter—and whether winning is something she even wants anymore.

My Review

There’s nothing like reading a great rom-com when you need an escape from the world. Reading this book cheered me up quite a bit. It does wrestle with some big issues as Juliana grapples with the pressure to win the AABC competition, which is her father’s legacy. Her mom expects her to partner with the boy she thinks is the smartest and hardest working, but when he drops Juliana as a partner, she has to improvise a new plan.

It took me a long time to realize that Juliana and Garrett had a history. I think it was vaguely alluded to when she decides to work with him, but I assumed they went to school together or knew each other from community events. I didn’t realize there was more to it until much later in the book.

The conflict between Juliana’s older sister and her mom is really sad, especially since they’ve already lost her dad. The book does a great job contextualizing Juliana and her mom’s choices. I never felt like I didn’t understand why they did what they did, even if I wished they did something different.

The slow-burn romance kept me reading and, when I wasn’t reading, thinking about the story. Garrett is a great character, and I love the way he encourages Juliana without trying to control her.

All in all, this is a fun, light romance. Readers who enjoyed Clementine and Danny Save the World (and Each Other) by Livia Blackburne or The Charmed List by Julie Abe will like this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Juliana and many other characters are Taiwanese Americans.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
About a half-dozen instances of profanity in the book.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Juliana’s older sister got pregnant unexpectedly while in college and dropped out.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Juliana’s mom disowned her sister after finding out about her pregnancy. Juliana’s dad passed away from cancer a few years before the story begins.

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: Joined at the Joints Marissa Eller

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Joined at the Joints
Marissa Eller
Holiday House
Published July 2, 2024

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About Joined at the Joints

When baking-obsessed Ivy meets a super-hot boy who shares her rare diagnosis, sparks fly outside of the kitchen for the first time in her life!

Chronically ill seventeen-year-old Ivy has stayed in watching the Food Network all summer—pies are better than people, and they don’t trigger her social anxiety. So when her (also) chronically ill mom and sister cook up a plan to get Ivy out of the house and into a support group, Ivy doesn’t expect to say more than a few words.

And she certainly doesn’t expect Grant. Grant is CUTE: class-clown cute, perfectly-messy-hair cute, will-always-text-you-back cute. There’s an instant connection between them. He has the same diagnosis as her–juvenille rheumatoid arthritis–and he actually understands Ivy’s world.

But just because he understands Ivy’s pain doesn’t mean he can take it away. And she wishes he could—because it’s getting worse. Ivy has always tried her best to appear pain-free, but between treatment plans, symptom management, and struggling with medical self-advocacy, being sick feels more and more difficult. Will Ivy’s delicious new romance pan out? Can she keep up the façade, for him and for the world… or should she be brave and let it go?

Marissa Eller serves up a sweet, satisfying romcom that tackles the realities of chronic illness—and coming-of-age milestones from friend breakups to first kisses—with wry humor, tons of heart, and a huge helping of honesty. Nuanced, poignant, and deeply enjoyable, readers will fall for Eller’s voice in this compelling debut that offers all the right ingredients.

My Review

This is such a sweet book. I loved that because both characters understand rheumatoid arthritis, there’s not a lot of one character educating the other. Both Ivy and Grant have some similarities and differences in their experiences, and they share enough common ground to offer support to one another when it’s needed.

Ivy is a great character. I love stories about baking or cooking, so the scenes in which she prepares food were great. When a character’s love language is food, I find it easy to connect with them. I also liked her relationship with her sister, Caroline. They look out for one another but give each other space and autonomy, too. They have a great balance. The descriptions of their younger brother, Ethan, made me laugh, too. He felt like such an energetic character, even when he was just in the periphery of a scene.

The relationship between Grant and Ivy is great, too. They like each other from the start, but it didn’t feel too insta-love-y to me. Maybe because Ivy is so shy and takes so long to admit that she likes him and that he seems to like her, too. I liked the progression of the relationship and how they leaned on one another.

In terms of a summer romance, Joined at the Joints hits all the right notes. It’s sweet, thoughtful, and full of fun. Definitely a good one for a weekend read.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Ivy and Grant have juvenile idiopathic arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis). Ivy also has social anxiety. Ivy’s sister, Caroline, has celiac disease. Her mom has lupus. Caroline and Ivy join a support group for teens with chronic illnesses.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
F-bombs used infrequently. Strong profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A baseball strikes a character, leaving an ugly bruise. Ivy experiences growing pain in her joints that becomes increasingly debilitating. Some references to ableist comments.

Drug Content
Just the drugs prescribed by Ivy’s doctor.

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: Andy and the Summer of Something by Jessica Foster

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

Andy and the Summer of Something (Andy and the Extroverts #2)
Jessica Foster
Winding Road Stories
Published July 16, 2024

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About Andy and the Summer of Something

It’s been a year since Andy Stevens attended leadership camp and changed her whole perspective. Now, she’s back at camp Follow the Leader as a counselor with the optimistic goal of helping campers just like she was: timid, withdrawn, and in need of a confidence injection. She’s even brought along her new
boyfriend Eric.

But when she arrives to find Lucas from last summer in a matching counselor vest, her plans go up in campfire smoke. Lucas helps her to lead her wild pack of extroverted campers, but he has an ulterior motive: to rekindle their romance and win Andy back.

Now she’s torn between the boy who stole her heart and the boy who is trying to fix it.

My Review

There is nothing like a fabulous summer camp book to really make me feel like I’m living the best parts of summer. I loved getting to go back to Camp Follow the Leader with Andy and see all the ways she’s grown and changed since the first book.

I like that the girls in Andy’s cabin aren’t all the quiet, meek girls she expected to have. Instead, she winds up with assertive girls who talk over one another and barely stop to listen to her. This means she has to figure out how to lead in a way they respect and understand while challenging them to listen to one another.

I kept forgetting that some of the girls in Andy’s cabin were only a year younger than she was. For some reason, I kept picturing middle school kids and being surprised that they were high schoolers. I don’t know why I kept making that mistake– possibly I just expected an age gap. Andy was a camper the year before this book takes place, so it does make sense that the kids would be only one year younger.

Andy has some fun moments in which she is hilariously not self-aware. In one scene, she mentally pats herself on the back for being a great listener and immediately tunes out what the camp director is saying. As she navigates her feelings for Eric and Lucas, she runs into more than one moment in which others seem to recognize her feelings before Andy herself.

In the first book, I found Andy’s anxiety and introversion incredibly relatable. This time around, her difficulty understanding her own wants and feelings and her awkward leadership faux pas had me remembering feeling those exact same emotions and making very similar choices and mistakes.

This was a fun summer book. I loved getting to revisit the camp and getting to see Andy figure out where her heart would lead her.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Most major characters are white. One is Asian American. One character is Black. One minor character has panic attacks.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. One scene leads up to characters having sex, but doesn’t show it.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Andy slaps a boy in the chest.

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: Unbecoming by Seema Yasmin

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

Unbecoming
Seema Yasmin
Simon & Schuster
Published July 9, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Unbecoming

Two Muslim teens in Texas fight for access to abortion while one harbors a painful secret in this funny and heartfelt near-future speculative novel perfect for fans of Unpregnant .

In a not-too-distant America, abortions are prosecuted and the right to choose is no longer an option. But best friends Laylah and Noor want to change the world. After graduating high school, they’ll become an OBGYN and a journalist, but in the meantime, they’re working on an illegal guide to abortion in Texas.

In response to the unfair laws, underground networks of clinics have sprung up, but the good fight has gotten even more precarious as it becomes harder to secure safe medication and supplies. Both Layla and Noor are passionate about getting their guide completed so it can help those in need, but Laylah treats their project with an urgency Noor doesn’t understand—that may have something to do with the strange goings-on between their mosque and a local politician.

Fighting for what they believe in may involve even more obstacles than they bargained for, but the two best friends will continue as they always together.

My Review

The book begins with a note from the author explaining that she began writing this story about a dystopian future in which girls and women could not access birth control or abortions before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. I don’t know how that change in the law impacted her journey writing the book, but I imagine there were some big, complicated feelings.

This was a hard book for me to read, but I think the author does an amazing job balancing the hard parts of the story with lighter parts, such as Laylah’s Bollywood blackouts. (I kind of wish there were more of those, honestly.) There are also lots of scenes showing baking and celebrating the joy of preparing and eating food together. The book also lifts up the power of support women offer other women. Most of the story’s central characters are female.

Unbecoming also shows the messy side of activism. It’s easy for anyone to believe claims that echo what we already believe to be true and to do harm by perpetuating unverified information. It’s also easy for us to reduce our understanding of people to one idea or one virtue/vice. And it’s easy amid fear and turmoil to forget that we need each other; we need community and a support network.

Though this story left me feeling more somber than many others I’ve read lately, I think it raises some really important questions and offers valuable insights about friendship, activism, and community.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Laylah and Noor are both Muslim. Noor is pansexual and in a relationship with a girl. Laylah’s little brother has Down Syndrome.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
F-bombs appear somewhat frequently with other profanity used here and there.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to sex. Kissing between girls.

Spiritual Content
Noor recalls attending events at the mosque and why she stopped going. Laylah is still connected to the mosque community and prays at different times of day.

Violent Content
References to the death penalty. References to police brutality against protestors.

Drug Content
Birth control and hormone therapy of any kind are outlawed in the book. Medications that cause an abortion or are used for IVF are also illegal.

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.