Category Archives: Contemporary

Review: Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , ,
Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow

Simon Sort of Says
Erin Bow
Disney Hyperion
Published January 31, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Simon Sort of Says

Simon O’Keeffe’s biggest claim to fame should be the time his dad accidentally gave a squirrel a holy sacrament. Or maybe the alpaca disaster that went viral on YouTube. But the story the whole world wants to tell about Simon is the one he’d do anything to forget: the story in which he’s the only kid in his class who survived a school shooting.

Two years after the infamous event, twelve-year-old Simon and his family move to the National Quiet Zone—the only place in America where the internet is banned. Instead of talking about Simon, the astronomers who flock to the area are busy listening for signs of life in space. And when Simon makes a friend who’s determined to give the scientists what they’re looking for, he’ll finally have the chance to spin a new story for the world to tell.

From award-winning author Erin Bow, Simon Sort of Says is a breathtaking testament to the lasting echoes of trauma, the redemptive power of humor, and the courage it takes to move forward without forgetting the past.

My Review

I drastically underestimated how deeply the themes in this book would affect me. My oldest daughter was in kindergarten the year that the shooting at Sandy Hook occurred, and I remember how hard it was to drop her off at school the next day. I kept thinking about the parents who would no longer be able to drop their children off. Heartbreaking barely begins to cover it.

My littlest isn’t quite Simon’s age, but as I read, I kept thinking about her classmates and their relationships with her, and the parents I know. Her teacher. I kept thinking about how hard it would be to navigate what Simon went through, both for Simon and for his parents. Heavy stuff.

Despite that, or perhaps in spite of it, the story has a lot of humor in it, too. Simon’s family’s new home comes with a peacock they name Pretty Stabby for his aggressive behavior. The squirrel situation at the church had me cackling. I loved the banter between Simon’s parents.

I also love the friendships Simon forms with Agate and Kevin. Each relationship is different, and the story really captures that weird dynamic that can happen when you bring two very different friends into each other’s orbit and have no idea if they’ll get along.

I like that this book makes space to wrestle with how someone’s faith might be impacted by the kind of tragedy Simon’s family experienced. His dad shares a message at one point that cuts through the platitudes and challenges his community to respond differently. I loved that.

All in all, this is a hard read, for sure. It’s also deeply moving, heartbreaking, and hilarious. I totally recommend this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Simon’s parents spell a couple of swear words. Simon points out that he knows how to spell, and therefore, his parents aren’t really being discreet.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Simon’s dad is a priest. Some scenes reference services, teachings, or holidays that Simon’s family celebrates or attends church. A squirrel eats the communion host, causing big feelings within the congregation. Simon’s mom jokes that the squirrel is now 30% Jesus by volume.

Violent Content
Simon survived a school shooting and carries some trauma from the experience. He panics at the sound of a tornado siren. He doesn’t like to be in a space with only one exit. Though some scenes reference what happened and let readers know that his friends did not survive the shooting, the shooting itself is never shown on the page.

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 copy of this book from the public library. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Ribbon Skirt by Cameron Mukwa

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , , , ,

The Ribbon Skirt
Cameron Mukwa
Graphix
Published November 12, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Ribbon Skirt

A joyful coming-of-age middle-grade graphic novel by debut Indigenous creator Cameron Mukwa about the journey of a two-spirit kid who wants to create a ribbon skirt for the upcoming powwow.

Ten-year-old Anang wants to make a ribbon skirt, a piece of clothing typically worn by women in the Anishinaabe tradition, for an upcoming powwow. Anang is two-spirit and nonbinary and doesn’t know what others will think of them wearing a ribbon skirt, but they’re determined to follow their heart’s desire. Anang sets off to gather the materials needed to make the skirt and turns to those around them — their family, their human and turtle friends, the crows, and even the lake itself — for help. And maybe they’ll even find a new confidence within themself along the way.

My Review

I was a little slow to connect to Anang as a character. In the first few pages of the book, I wasn’t sure what was going on. Some of that might simply be that a graphic novel format doesn’t leave room for much exposition. I found myself picking up hints about what was going on as the scenes unfolded.

Once I understood why Anang worried so much about making a ribbon skirt, everything clicked into place. This happens on page 9, so readers aren’t asked to invest much time before the story becomes clear. I just spent those early pages feeling like I’d missed something.

I loved the way the spiritual part of Anang’s journey is represented in the story. Mukwa crafts a very visual experience and even involves Anang’s companions. (Their reactions are funny, too.)

The storytelling is gentle and warm. Mukwa lets readers glimpse some of the bullying Anang has endured without letting those moments upstage their current experiences. The focus remains on Anang’s quest to find materials for and make a ribbon skirt for the upcoming powwow.

The backmatter has a helpful note to visitors who would like to attend a powwow on how to engage as a guest and behave respectfully. The author also includes a short note explaining the history and meaning of the two-spirit identity that readers will find informative.

All in all, this graphic novel is a lovely, uplifting read.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 9 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Anang asks spirits (two turtles and a lake) for guidance about making a ribbon skirt. The spirits help them find materials and remind them to be true to themself. Others with Anang see and interact with the spirits as well. Anang offers tobacco in thanks.

Violent Content
Some transphobic comments.

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: Wilderness Hacks by Joslin Brorsen

Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , , , ,

Wilderness Hacks
Joslin Brorsen
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published March 31, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Wilderness Hacks

Hatchet meets Survivor in this high-action, humor-filled middle grade adventure about two kids stranded in the wilderness, whose annoyance with each other rivals the roaring rapids and ferocious predators they must face.

12-year-old Sadie Hahn didn’t plan to eat grubs on camera to win a contest. And she definitely didn’t plan to win first prize—a guest appearance on a Youtube show hosted by America’s favorite 13-year-old survivalist Radley Shaw. But she’ll do anything to cheer up her little brother Silas, who’s too young to qualify.

Rad has millions of followers and exactly zero real-life friends, so the contest is a great chance for him to hang out with kids his own age. But it’s hate-at-first-sight when Silas throws a wrench in his plan and Sadie decides Rad is just a clueless poser who doesn’t know the first thing about survival.

Disaster strikes when their scripted rafting trip turns into a real fight for survival. Lost in the mountains, Rad and Sadie must find shelter, build a fire, forage for food and try not to become food for a hungry predator. But can they stop bickering long enough to hack it in the wilderness? And will that be enough to keep them alive?

My Review

I love it when a story with two points of view features characters whose personalities are very different from one another. In this book, Sadie is cautious and methodical, while Rad is working really hard to be cool on camera. Both of them are working through big feelings about their dads. Sadie is grieving her dad’s death. Rad misses his dad, who seems increasingly absent from his life.

The friendship between the two gets off to a rocky start. Sadie clocks Rad as attention-seeking and spots him cutting corners rather than practicing real survival skills. (For example, the fish dinner Rad’s team prepares includes a store-bought, filetted fish instead of the fresh catch Sadie pulled from the river.) Rad feels like he can’t get a break. No matter what he does, Sadie is angry with him.

Once the two are truly lost in the woods, they must put aside their grievances and find a way to work together. Sadie realizes that Rad knows a lot about survival and challenges him to showcase it more authentically on his channel. Rad encourages Sadie to explore her complicated feelings about being in the wilderness after her dad’s death.

I liked the character growth in both Sadie and Rad. The bond they formed through their experience felt authentic. There’s a scene near the end that reminded me a lot of Hatchet, which was a nice moment. I’m a little puzzled by the comparison to the show Survivor, since there is no competition element here. I guess it’s meant to be a reference to being in the woods with a stranger?

In any case, Wilderness Hacks is a fast-paced, entertaining story that will make a perfect summer read.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Sadie and Rad witness the death of an adult and find the body of another person. They hear what they think might be wolves eating someone’s remains. They don’t see anything, but they’re pretty creeped out. A mountain lion attacks hikers. Some brief description. References to the death of a parent.

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: Finish Lines by Sarah Broyles

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

Finish Lines
Sarah Broyles
First Second
Published June 16, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Finish Lines

Miranda needs something to write about in her college application essays. But what?

Miranda has a plan: ace her junior year, get into an Ivy League school, and skip anything that doesn’t look good on a college application. But the pressure is getting to her, and now her parents have cut her off from every club, competition, and committee she’s a part of.

Desperate to get back on track, Miranda sets her sights on the Texas Water Safari—a 260-mile canoe race her mom was set to do with her granddad. With her mom sidelined by an injury, Miranda joins her grandfather. It’s grueling, messy, and scorching hot.

Can a perfectionist survive the wild long enough to find out who she is outside of a college checklist?

My Review

I love seeing sports books celebrating activities beyond the traditionally represented ones, so I was especially excited to stumble upon this book about competitive canoeing. To describe this simply as a sports book, though, doesn’t leave room for some of the other wonderful components that Broyles has stitched together here.

At first, Miranda sees the canoe race with her grandfather as a way to skirt her parents’ new rule requiring her to take it easy and reduce her commitments. The race will make a great college essay topic, she reasons. Plus, it’ll be amazing if she and her grandfather win the race this year.

As Miranda and her grandfather prep for the race, Miranda realizes that the trek will be more challenging than she predicted. She’s also stunned to learn that her grandfather doesn’t approach the race with any intention of winning. Finishing the race, he reasons, is the real victory.

This attitude and some of the rules on the river challenge Miranda’s desire to push herself beyond what’s reasonable (and sometimes safe). She has to decide how to balance the elements of the race, her relationships with her family, and her school work.

I thought the parallel stories of Miranda’s overcommitment and her mom’s addiction recovery and chronic illness were really nicely done. We don’t think of socially acceptable forms of addiction as problematic, but they can be just as harmful to ourselves and our relationships with others.

This book made me want to get out on the river and spend time in nature. It also made me appreciate intergenerational relationships, especially those within families.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril on the river.

Drug Content
Miranda’s parents are recovered addicts. The story peripherally follows her mom’s struggle with chronic pain as an addict in recovery and frames Miranda’s tendency to overcommit as a kind of addiction.

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: Lake Life by Tanya Boteju

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

Lake Life
Tanya Boteju
Quill Tree Books
Published May 26, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Lake Life

Perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli, this charming, chaotic romance follows two teens who agree to fake-date when stuck together one summer in a quirky, scenic lake town.

This is definitely not how Maya wanted to spend the summer—depressed at her once-beloved cabin in Spruce Lake, and unable to avoid seeing her lifelong best friend, Rashida, after confessing her woefully unrequited love to her last year. Maya can’t decide if she wants to escape, or convince Rashida they’re still meant to be.

Gabe is sent to Spruce Lake by her mom in hopes she stays out of trouble. Gabe is NOT excited to be here. She does NOT like nature. She does NOT want to spend her summer in a tiny town with outdoorsy environmentalist types.

Gabe is pretty sure she’ll be spending this entire summer bored and alone…until she meets Maya. Together, they hatch a fake-dating scheme to make Rashida jealous and convince Gabe’s mom that Gabe has turned a wholesome new leaf.  

But as the plan plays out, and Gabe and Maya contend with protests, a relentlessly concerned community, and romantic twists, they start to realize that their assumptions about friendship and love might have led them completely astray. Can they find their way through this mess without hurting each other in the process?

My Review

There are so many fun summer themes in this book. I love the vacation setting and all the outdoor activities. The romance blossoms at just the right moment.

Far from simply being a summer romance, this book explores the impact of gentrification on natural spaces and the power of activism and allyship in support of an Indigenous group. Gabe, a girl thrust into a tiny lakeside community as punishment for causing trouble at home, finally finds her feet when an older Indigenous woman mentors her. Their relationship happens haltingly. It’s not something either of them necessarily looked for. But it’s clear they sense some kind of resonance in each other. And Gabe begins exploring new ways of seeing the small town and the potential for her to make a difference there.

The fake dating trope plays out in some charming and funny ways. Maya and Gabe aren’t an obvious fit, so they have to figure out how to enjoy activities together convincingly. I liked how each of them brings strengths to the relationship. For instance, Gabe’s zero tolerance for teasing Maya about things she finds painful helps give Maya a reprieve and space to heal from her heartache.

Maya’s passion for her community and her knowledge of the area help Gabe discover new outdoor activities that are surprisingly fun. The two of them ultimately make a great team, and it’s a lot of fun watching them discover that.

All in all, I enjoyed this book. I could see fans of Jennifer Dugan’s Summer Girls finding plenty to love in this summer romance.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
References to Indigenous spirituality and beliefs.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol in a few scenes.

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: If You Were Here by Abigail Johnson

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

If You Were Here
Abigail Johnson
HarperCollins
Published April 28, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About If You Were Here

A charming and emotional standalone grumpy/sunshine romance set during a Nantucket summer. Lili needs Wren’s help to complete her father’s research and save her family’s reputation–but working together leads to more discoveries than either of them bargained for.

Lili Gardner hasn’t been back to Nantucket, her dad’s favorite place, since her parents divorced six years ago. But Dad passed away recently, leaving her a house on the island and an unsolved mystery about a maligned Gardner ancestor. Lili is determined to finish his life’s work, and convinces her mom and sister to spend the summer in Nantucket with her while she looks for answers, and for a connection to her dad.

Wren McCleave has a passion for history, but his father refuses to showcase anything real in their tourist trap of a “museum.” So when Lili asks Wren for help with her research, Wren can’t resist the opportunity to throw himself into something real, even if he dislikes tourists on principle.

Lili and Wren only have a summer to find out the truth about Lili’s ancestor. But the most surprising truths they uncover aren’t about the distant past, but about themselves right here in the present, and about what they want out of the future.

My Review

If you’re looking for a summer beach or vacation read, this one would be perfect. It takes place during the summer on Nantucket, in a small island community. Expect pizza on the beach, boat trips, and plenty of simmering romance.

I really enjoyed Johnson’s debut novel, so when I saw that she had a new one coming out this summer, I really wanted to read it. I like the way that she writes tender moments and the scenes filled with yearning, where the characters haven’t figured out how to be together yet and aren’t even sure their feelings are reciprocated. It’s so easy to get lost in the anticipation of those moments.

Wren has needed a wheelchair since an accident years before the story begins. For the most part, though, this book really doesn’t focus on his disability. There are a couple of scenes where it becomes a focus. At one point, Lili invites him to a place that isn’t accessible. She feels horrible when she realizes, and the two have a conversation about that. For the most part, though, we are busy thinking of Wren as a potential museum curator who is struggling to set boundaries with and express his wishes to his family.

Lili also has some family relationship matters to sort out. She’s trying to solve a mystery her dad left behind, which leads her to grapple with some of the wounds in the relationships her dad left behind. The story doesn’t explore him as a character in depth beyond his obsession with his family history. Lili’s relationships with her mom and sister are important, and she wrestles with how to balance those connections with her passion to uncover the past.

Wren and Lili have a little bit of a grumpy/sunshine vibe going, especially at the beginning of their connection. I love that they bond over their shared love of history. The relationship isn’t without its bumps and flaws. I could see part of the story being challenging for some readers, especially those who prefer neat, simple romances. But I appreciate that mistakes were made, and consequences happened. I like that Lili and Wren each had to reckon with the fallout of their choices, and that leads them to reconnect with other characters in ways that they needed to. Sorry that’s so vague– I don’t want to spoil anything.

All in all, this was a fun summer romance. It feels like a perfect book to take on vacation or to the beach for an afternoon.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
References to an accident in which Wren broke his back. (Happened before the story began.)

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.