Category Archives: Contemporary

The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson

Review: The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson

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The Scammer
Tiffany D. Jackson
Quill Tree Books
Published October 7, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Scammer

A ripped-from-the-headlines thriller, following a freshman girl whose college life is turned upside down when her roommate’s ex-convict brother moves into their dorm and starts controlling their every move.

Out from under her overprotective parents, Jordyn is ready to kill it in prelaw at a prestigious, historically Black university in Washington DC. When her new roommate’s brother is released from prison, the last thing Jordyn expects is to come home and find the ex-convict on their dorm room sofa. But Devonte needs a place to stay while he gets back on his feet—and how could she say no to one of her new best friends?

Devonte is older, as charming as he is intelligent, pushing every student he meets to make better choices about their young lives. But Jordyn senses something sinister beneath his friendly advice and growing group of followers. When one of Jordyn’s roommates goes missing, she must enlist the help of the university’s lone white student to uncover the mystery—or become trapped at the center of a web of lies more tangled than she can imagine.

My Review

I’m posting about a lot of books that are my first time reading books by authors this week, and this is no exception. Tiffany D. Jackson has been on my reading list for a LONG time, but I finally managed to read one of her books.

And, wow. You know that feeling on a roller coaster, where you’re being propelled upward, and you know the fall is coming any minute? That’s how it felt reading this book. It’s called The Scammer, and the back cover copy offers some pretty strong clues about what kind of story this is, so I had no reason to be surprised by Devonte’s behavior. But I felt like I wanted to jump between him and those girls, or at least to tell Jordyn to listen to herself so many times.

It was easy to feel Devonte’s magnetism, both in how people responded to him and in the way his character was written. While I wanted Jordyn to escape, I also felt how affected she was by his words and ideas.

I thought it was a really interesting choice to set the story on an HBCU campus. This posed some interesting questions and introduced ideas that a different setting may not have centered as easily.

The story is timely and bold. Jordyn’s hunger for connection with her peers, especially her roommates, was so powerful. Her grief was also easy to sense. The balance between the mystery/suspense elements and the romance was perfect. I felt like both fit well within the story.

I’m a huge fan of this author now, and I want to read everything else she’s written. I think I already own several more of her books, so hopefully I’ll get to those this year.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used pretty frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. References to sex. One character tells another that their family abused them, even if they don’t remember it.

Spiritual Content
One character shares some brief information about her Christian faith. Another character directs others to refer to him as a god.

Violent Content
References to death by suicide (happens off-scene). Some scenes show domestic abuse and a group attacking one person at another’s direction. References to gun violence resulting in death.

Drug Content
Some scenes show teens (college students) drinking alcohol. Someone drugs another person’s drink.

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: Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian

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Only This Beautiful Moment
Abdi Nazemian
HarperCollins
Published May 9, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Only This Beautiful Moment

From the Stonewall Honor–winning author of Like a Love Story comes a sweeping story of three generations of boys in the same Iranian family. Perfect for fans of Last Night at the Telegraph Club and Darius the Great Is Not Okay.

2019. Moud is an out gay teen living in Los Angeles with his distant father, Saeed. When Moud gets the news that his grandfather in Iran is dying, he accompanies his dad to Tehran, where the revelation of family secrets will force Moud into a new understanding of his history, his culture, and himself.

1978. Saeed is an engineering student with a promising future ahead of him in Tehran. But when his parents discover his involvement in the country’s burgeoning revolution, they send him to safety in America, a country Saeed despises. And even worse—he’s forced to live with the American grandmother he never knew existed.

1939. Bobby, the son of a calculating Hollywood stage mother, lands a coveted MGM studio contract. But the fairy-tale world of glamour he’s thrust into has a dark side.

Set against the backdrop of Tehran and Los Angeles, this tale of intergenerational trauma and love is an ode to the fragile bonds of family, the hidden secrets of history, and all the beautiful moments that make us who we are today.

My Review

I read this book as part of a kidlit book club. I’d read Desert Echoes by Abdi Nazemian before and have Like a Love Story on my reading list. As I’m writing this review, his next book, Exquisite Things comes out shortly. I have to say that so far, I’m really loving all the selections we’ve read for our book club.

One of the powerful things about this book is that it follows three generations of young Iranian/Iranian-American men from three different time periods. How often do we really get to know a teen character and then see their parent and grandparent’s experiences up close in this way? I thought that was really cool.

The story opens with Moud in 2019. We meet his dad in this opening chapter, and I know I made some assumptions about him. To then zip back through time to witness Saeed as a teenager in Tehran challenged a few of the preconceptions I’d made about who he was and why he was that way. The extra time periods added a lot of layers to his and Bobby’s characters.

This is a heavily male-dominated story, but I think this is one of the instances in which that’s necessary to make the point the author is making here about generational relationships between men. Each time period shows strong women who defy gender expectations in their own ways, too, though those relationships are not the focus of the book.

All in all, Only This Beautiful Moment is a powerful story that sets a tall goal for itself and delivers on every promise.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used fairly infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. A couple of short scenes show a couple touching each other. One character walks into a bathroom where a stall door gets kicked open, briefly revealing two men having sex. The description is very brief and startling to the character.

Spiritual Content
References to prayer in a life-and-death situation along with an acknowledgement that the person praying isn’t sure they believe in the God they pray to in that moment. A couple of characters repeat religion-based homophobic claims.

Violent Content
Soldiers break up a political protest, shooting into the crowd and hitting people. Bobby encounters homophobic beliefs prevalent in the 1930s. A couple of characters react with anger after discovering that people close to them are gay. One scene shows someone arrested for being gay. Moud learns of friends arrested for being gay.

Drug Content
Saeed reluctantly drinks alcohol at a party. A doctor gives Bobby a prescription medication and tells him it will help with performance nerves. (The doctor also tries to pass the pill off as a decongestant.) Another character warns Bobby about taking the pills or drinking alcohol.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I purchased a copy of this book and borrowed the audiobook version from my library. All opinions are my own.

Review: A Wolf Called Fire by Rosanne Parry

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

A Wolf Called Fire (A Voice of the Wilderness #4)
Rosanne Parry
SparkPress
Published February 4, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About A Wolf Called Fire

The stand-alone companion to Rosanne Parry’s New York Times bestseller A Wolf Called Wander tells the wilderness survival story of the wolf pup known as Warm and is illustrated in black and white throughout. This Voice of the Wilderness Novel features extensive back matter, including a map.

Warm is the smallest pup, the one his father calls the heart of the pack. But all Warm sees is his bigger brothers Sharp and Swift, even his sisters Pounce and Wag, winning all the wrestling matches. Just as Warm is finding his place, enemy wolves destroy and scatter the pack. Warm helps lead the pups away from the fight, only to find himself alone with four pups to defend and feed. Can he be both the heart and the head of a new pack? Does he have to choose the aggressive leadership style of his father and brothers? Or is there another way?

A Wolf Called Fire is a stand-alone companion novel to A Wolf Called Wander . It’s inspired by Wolf 8, a real Yellowstone wolf who was the smallest of his pack and constantly bullied by his bigger brothers. Wolf 8 survived a tumultuous first year and grew up to be a different sort of leader—one who fought many rival wolves to submission but never killed any. He had a rare talent for mentoring young wolves and became the patriarch of the largest and most successful pack in Yellowstone by choosing a more collaborative and generous leadership style. 

Features black-and-white illustrations throughout and extensive back matter, including a map.

My Review

I started reading A Wolf Called Wander last spring. My copy went back to the library before I had a chance to finish it. A Wolf Called Fire begins similarly to the other book. A litter of wolf pups in a den wait for their mother to return and practice their hunting skills on one another.

From the beginning, Warm, the main character, doesn’t like the rough way that one of his siblings plays. Instead of being the fastest or biggest, Warm will have to cultivate other virtues to survive, like wisdom and ingenuity.

One of my favorite things about this book is that the story was inspired by a wolf who led his pack with values and methods similar to Warm’s. The story deftly explores what character traits make a good leader. Those get put to the test when an invading pack threatens Warm’s home and family.

Frequent illustrations give readers context for some of Warm’s descriptions. He describes other animals using words that references how they move or where they live. The illustrations clues readers into what kinds of animals he refers to.

There’s also a section in the back of the book that tells readers about the real wolf who inspired the story. There’s information about the landscape where the story takes place as well. A section offers more details about American wolves and other animals found in the habitat described in the book. There’s a list of additional resources, too. I could see readers who, after reading this book, want to check out some nonfiction about animal communication or wolves in general loving that section.

Conclusion

I think this is a great series for jumpstarting conversations about conservation and animal life. The frequent illustrations make it a great pick for readers just beginning to read middle grade fiction.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
An older wolf comments that it will soon be his time to go to the great beyond, indicating he is nearing the end of his life.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Descriptions of wolves hunting other animals and battling one another for dominance and territory. No wolf deaths depicted on scene.

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: One Word, Six Letters by Adib Khorram

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One Word, Six Letters
Adib Khorram
Henry Holt & Co
Published March 17, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About One Word, Six Letters

Two teen boys grapple with identity and accountability and set off a ripple effect within their community after a school assembly is disrupted by a shouted slur.

Freshmen Dayton and Farshid couldn’t be more different—or so it seems.

When Dayton takes a dare and shouts the f-slur at a visiting author during a school event, it sets off a chain reaction that forces both boys to face parts of themselves they’d rather ignore.

Dayton, grappling with the fallout of his actions, faces rejection from his friends, disappointment from his parents, and a growing awareness of the harm he’s caused. Meanwhile, Farshid is left to untangle his own feelings—about himself and about the quiet struggle of coming to terms with his queerness in a world steeped in heteronormativity.

As their lives unexpectedly intersect, Dayton and Farshid must reckon with what kind of men they want to become and whether they have the courage to defy toxic masculinity and societal expectations.

Timely, raw, and deeply thought-provoking, this novel is perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Nic Stone.

My Review

I think the way that the author chose to write this book is really interesting. First, it’s in second-person point of view (“You do this; you do that…”), which is an uncommon choice. Here, it really works to keep the narrative feeling immediate and to bring the reader as close to the story as possible. We are the protagonists, and the narrative never lets us forget that.

Additionally, the story alternates between Dayton and Farshid’s perspectives. We see both the circumstances that led Dayton to make a terrible choice and the harm that it causes.

I like that the story also highlights Farshid’s interest in boxing, a sport that not a lot of middle grade books explore. We also witness his battle with dysmorphia and how entangled that is with his identity and his fears about being outed.

I imagine it wasn’t easy to write Dayton’s perspective. While his viewpoint offers a deeper understanding into his behavior and his deep regret afterward, we are never asked to excuse what he did.

This is the kind of book that will start meaningful conversations about language and bullying and the harm that can come from using words carelessly. One Word, Six Letters is the first book by Adib Khorram that I’ve read, but it won’t be the last.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
References to a slur. The slur itself never appears in the text.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to a crush.

Spiritual Content
References to faith and Muslim prayer practices.

Violent Content
References to a homophobic slur. Some homophobic comments and behavior. Bullying behavior.

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.

MMGM Review: Hafsa’s Way by Aisha Saeed

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Hafsa’s Way
Aisha Saeed
Nancy Paulsen Books
Published March 10, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Hafsa’s Way

In this inspiring stand-alone companion to New York Times bestseller Amal Unbound , Hafsa defies her family’s patriarchal expectations by pursuing her dreams and insisting that her married sister pursue hers.

Hafsa intends to be a doctor one day, so she’s thrilled to be accepted into Bukhari Summer Science Camp for kids who share her dream. Her parents, however, do not share her enthusiasm. They don’t support the idea of girls being doctors, the camp is expensive, and they don’t want to send her off to the big city of Lahore unsupervised. But when her brother-in-law offers to pay, and he and her sister invite her to stay at their house instead of in the dorms, her parents grudgingly give in.

Hafsa couldn’t be more excited, but things get off to a shaky start when it immediately becomes apparent that she accidentally signed up for the wrong program. And since she’s the only one not staying in the dorms, her fellow students treat her like an outsider—and a country bumpkin. On top of all that, she’s worried about her sister, who seems to have set aside her own career goals to please her in-laws.

But Hafsa’s way is to forge ahead, whether that means finding ways to pursue her medical studies, immersing herself in the climate studies program, or taking a pivotal field trip to the zoo—where an encounter with an elephant leads to several unexpected outcomes. It’s not easy to negotiate being part of a community—and a family—that doesn’t support her dreams, but Hafsa’s never been the type to take no for an answer. She’s determined to grab any chance she can for a better future, no matter what the odds are stacked against her.

My Review

I had no idea where this story was headed as I read the first few chapters. Hafsa has big ideas, and I love that there were people in her life who supported her dreams. I like that her dreams shifted a little bit as the story progressed, too. That feels very relatable to me, and definitely something that seems relatable to a lot of young readers.

The story includes many different types of characters. I think readers who aren’t very familiar with life in Pakistan will appreciate that. Some scenes showed Hafsa with her family in their small town. Other scenes showed Hafsa walking through a big city. Still others showed her experiencing a privileged life in a fancy house with hired help.

Yet, in all those places, she faces different kinds of challenges. Some of the girls at the camp were less invested in the curriculum than she was. Others were even more interested. Hafsa made judgments about some of the people she met. She had to reevaluate those ideas as she learned more about each person.

I also really appreciated the relationship between Hafsa and her older sister. While Shabnam’s life was more complicated than Hafsa realized, she still felt a strong connection to her sister, and a desire to see her sister happy. I like that the story made them consider each other’s perspectives more, and to lean into one another’s strengths.

One thing that’s interesting to me is how gradually the plight of the elephant emerges as a central component of the story. At first, Hafsa doesn’t even realize she’s made this connection with the animal. That relationship grows as the story moves forward.

I also really appreciate that the effort to help the elephant wasn’t limited to Hafsa’s labor. What made the experience so powerful was that it brought to fruition all the relationships that Hafsa had invested in throughout the story. It celebrated the power of community and working together.

The author’s note at the back of the book relates the real-life story that inspired Hafsa’s Way. I love the book even more knowing that it was inspired by real events. If you liked The Elephant’s Girl by Celesta Rimington or The Boy Who Met a Whale by Nizrana Farook, be sure to check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Hafsa spends time at her newly married sister’s house and watches her sister interact with her new husband. She hears them laugh, sees them hug one another, and is glad they’re happy.

Spiritual Content
References to Muslim prayer practices.

Violent Content
A devastating storm sweeps through the town where Hafsa is staying, damaging buildings and homes. Some people are left carrying belongings through floodwaters.

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.

Review: Front Desk by Kelly Yang

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Front Desk (Front Desk #1)
Kelly Yang
Arthur A. Levine Books
Published May 29, 2018

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Front Desk

Mia Tang has a lot of secrets.

Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests.

Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they’ve been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the Tangs will be doomed.

Number 3: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language?

It will take all of Mia’s courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams?

My Review

I am amazed at how much Kelly Yang successfully weaves into this short novel. It’s under 300 pages, and the plot moves along at a reasonable pace. I felt like I got to know some of the motel residents, Mia’s family, and her friends from school.

During the story, Mia begins writing letters. She writes to someone’s potential employer. She writes to an employer who has been abusing his workers, demanding that he give back the passport and ID card to the worker. Her letters make a difference, even while Mia’s mom keeps reminding her that she wasn’t born in America, and that she’ll never speak “native English,” like the people who were. Mia’s letters prove that her voice matters, and her words have power, despite the other messages in her life.

Mia is also a first-class community builder. She connects with the motel residents, those there for a short while and those who stay much longer. She reaches out to the other business owners around the motel. Soon the Calivista is known up and down the coast.

Some parts of the book are sad. Her parents’ employer is cruel and takes advantage of them. Kids at school make fun of her for her clothes and her identity. She witnesses racial prejudice against a Black man who lives at the motel. Someone attacks another person, leaving them injured and bleeding. Mia is the first to find and help them.

But those sad moments only make Mia’s triumphs more impactful. They show the depth of her spirit and the strength of her heart. By the end of the book, I was cheering for her and her family. I definitely want to read more of this series.

One of the amazing things about the series is that the author drew inspiration for Mia’s story from her own experiences helping manage a motel with her parents when she was Mia’s age. This explains the story’s 1990s setting, too.

This is a great fit for readers looking for pre-2000s novels, especially middle grade books on the shorter side.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Two instances of mild profanity. A few instances of racist comments.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A drunk man scares Mia. One scene shows someone who has been attacked by two people. (The attack happens off scene.) References to threats from loan sharks.

Drug Content
A drunk man scares Mia. He’s quickly dealt with.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from my library. All opinions are my own.