Category Archives: Contemporary

Review: The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

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The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

The Henna Wars
Adiba Jaigirdar
Page Street Kids
Published on May 12, 2020

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About The Henna Wars

WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI meets SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA in this rom com about two teen girls with rival henna businesses.

When Nishat comes out to her parents, they say she can be anyone she wants—as long as she isn’t herself. Because Muslim girls aren’t lesbians. Nishat doesn’t want to hide who she is, but she also doesn’t want to lose her relationship with her family. And her life only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life.

Flávia is beautiful and charismatic and Nishat falls for her instantly. But when a school competition invites students to create their own businesses, both Flávia and Nishat choose to do henna, even though Flávia is appropriating Nishat’s culture. Amidst sabotage and school stress, their lives get more tangled—but Nishat can’t quite get rid of her crush on Flávia, and realizes there might be more to her than she realized.

My Review

I think this is my favorite f/f romance that I’ve read so far. I love the relationship between Nishat and her sister Priti. I’m a huge fan of sister books and sister relationships in books, so theirs was an easy win for me. It felt so much like my relationship with my sister in school– that tug-of-war between needing each other and needing to do things on your own or needing to find your own way.

If I struggled with anything (big IF!) it was feeling like Flávia didn’t deserve Nishat. The heart wants what it wants, but sometimes I struggle with a book where someone is in love with someone who just doesn’t seem worthy of them. As the story went on, however, it became clear that there was more to Flávia than I originally gave her credit for, and ultimately, she won me over.

I also loved the evolution of Nishat’s relationships with her parents. It obviously wasn’t an easy journey, and I don’t want to give anything more away. But there were some great moments there for me, too. (My favorite was her mom’s comment about someone being pansexual, but the way she said it sounded like someone who was in romantic love with paan. I definitely laughed out loud at that!)

On the whole, HENNA WARS was exactly the book I needed right when I read it. It’s funny and heartwarming (and at times, heartbreaking) and packed with the high of first love and the strength of a sister bond.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Nishat and her family are Bengali. Flávia is Brazilian and Irish. They all live in Ireland.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls.

Spiritual Content
Some references to Muslim faith and beliefs.

Violent Content – Trigger Warning
Some instances of bullying. Someone sends a hateful text message outing a lesbian. Some property destruction as bullying and references to cruel comments. When other girls find out that one character is a lesbian, they refuse to change in the locker room with her. There aren’t any descriptions of events when anyone directly attacks the bullying victim (which doesn’t make any of the things that happen better or okay, just thinking in terms of triggers).

Drug Content
References to alcohol at a teen party.

Note: I received a free copy of THE HENNA WARS in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.

Review: The Elephant’s Girl by Celesta Rimington

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

The Elephant’s Girl
Celesta Rimington
Crown Books for Young Readers
Published May 19, 2020

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About The Elephant’s Girl

An elephant never forgets…but Lexington Willow can’t remember her past. When she was a toddler, a tornado swept her away from everyone and everything she knew and landed her near an enclosure in a Nebraska zoo, where an elephant named Nyah protected her from the storm. With no trace of her family, Lex grew up at the zoo with her foster father, Roger; her best friend, Fisher; and the wind whispering in her ear.

Now that she’s twelve, Lex is finally old enough to help with the elephants. But during their first training session, Nyah sends her a telepathic image of the woods outside the zoo. Despite the wind’s protests, Lex decides to investigate Nyah’s message and gets wrapped up in an adventure involving ghosts, lost treasure, and a puzzle that might be the key to finding her family. Can Lex summon the courage to hunt for who she really is–and why the tornado brought her here all those years ago?

My Review

I think magical realism is one of the toughest genres to write well, because there’s always the risk that instead of seeing magic, a reader will see something else– hallucinations? Inconsistent plot or world?

Lex has a special relationship with the elephant Nyah, who protected her after the tornado left her at the zoo. Nyah sends her messages– pictures in her mind– and Lex tries to send pictures back.

Ever since the tornado, Lex has been able to hear the wind speaking to her, too. This was the most difficult element in the story for me to get into. I liked that it gave voice to Lex’s fears, making them a sort of personified antagonist. I wondered if it diluted the power of Nyah being able to speak to her, though.

I loved Lex’s relationship with Roger and her best friend, Fisher– all of her zoo family, really, but especially those two. As Lex tries to help Nyah find her family, it makes her examine her feelings about living with Roger at the zoo, too. He’s patient and clearly loves her, though he never pushes her to accept him as family. She also learns a lot through her friendship with Fisher, who is really different than she is. He’s outgoing and loves baseball. She learns how to be a good friend to him even when it means stepping out of her comfort zone or doing things for him.

On the whole, I thought this book was a really sweet story about found families. I liked the characters and the relationships between them. If you liked FLORA & ULYSSES by Kate DiCamillo, you’ll want to check out THE ELEPHANT’S GIRL.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Fisher’s grandmother is from Thailand.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Lex meets a ghost and promises to help her solve a mystery so she can move on.

Violent Content
Situation of peril and some descriptions of a tornado.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of THE ELEPHANT’S GIRL in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.

Review: The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly by Jamie Pacton

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The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly
Jamie Pacton
Page Street Kids
Published on May 5, 2020

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About The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly

Kit Sweetly slays sexism, bad bosses, and bad luck to become a knight at a medieval-themed restaurant.

Working as a wench―i.e. waitress―at a cheesy medieval-themed restaurant in the Chicago suburbs, Kit Sweetly dreams of being a knight like her brother. She has the moves, is capable on a horse, and desperately needs the raise that comes with knighthood, so she can help her mom pay the mortgage and hold a spot at her dream college.

Company policy allows only guys to be knights. So when Kit takes her brother’s place and reveals her identity at the end of the show, she rockets into internet fame and a whole lot of trouble with the management. But the Girl Knight won’t go down without a fight. As other wenches join her quest, a protest forms. In a joust before Castle executives, they’ll prove that gender restrictions should stay medieval―if they don’t get fired first.

My Review

Oh. My. Gosh. This book! I love so many thing about THIS BOOK. I don’t even know where to start.

First off, the narrator, Kit, has this fantastic voice. She’s funny, awkward, determined and smart and I adored her from page one. Her friends and family members all stood out as distinct characters. I often get side characters mixed up, but I did not have that trouble here because they were all so memorable and different from each other.

You don’t have to read very far into the cover copy to guess that a theme of the story is feminism and gender roles. I was a little worried that that would dominate the story, but actually, I felt like it was integrated really well with the characters and other plot elements.

I also loved that Kit goes a lot broader than simply looking for female rights to work as Knight characters (a higher paying role) at her job. She quickly realizes that others– specifically her transgender and nonbinary friends– are also barred from applying for that position. So I thought it was cool that the story included a wider push for equal rights rather than falling into the sort of cliché story about a girl wanting to do something she’s been told she can’t do. It reminds us that those sorts of “men only” roles leave out more than women. I thought that was a great point and loved the inclusivity of the story in this way.

Another thing that I thought was well-balanced in the book with these elements was Kit’s relationships with her family and friends. She’s kind of an avoider, so her emotional journey involved some situations where things implode because she’s put off something important– from math homework to confrontation with a parent. She has to learn to live in balance, and I loved being on that journey with her, celebrating her victories and laughing or crying right there with her.

So, yes. If you need an uplifting story that will make you laugh and warm your heart, just go get this book right now. (Check the content notes– there’s some swearing and drinking, so know that’s there.)

I think the book is amazing, and I love it and can’t wait to read it all over again. Also I want more heroines like Kit Sweetly in my life immediately.

If you liked THIS ADVENTURE ENDS by Emma Mills or THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU by Lily Anderson, then I predict you’ll enjoy THE LIFE AND (MEDIEVAL) TIMES OF KIT SWEETLY, too!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Kit’s best friend is black. She also works with someone who is nonbinary (and uses they/them pronouns), and a transgender woman.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief kissing between boy and girl. Brief/vague reference to sex.

Spiritual Content
Kit’s dad works as a musician for a large church but is himself something of a con.

Violent Content
Some descriptions of jousting as a part of a medieval show. One worker falls from a horse and is seriously injured.

Drug Content
Scenes show teens drinking alcohol. A drunk adult tries to get children into the car with him, but they refuse. Some references and brief descriptions of drug use.

Note: I received a free copy of THE LIFE AND (MEDIEVAL) TIMES OF KIT SWEETLY in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.

Review: Hope is a Dangerous Place by Jim Baton

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, , , , , , ,

Hope is a Dangerous Place
Jim Baton
Published February 5, 2020

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About Hope is a Dangerous Place

Seventy-five years ago, fifteen-year-old Hope McCormick disappeared. To remember her, the newly incorporated town was named “Hope.” When high school friends Kelsey and Harmonie begin looking into this unsolved mystery, they discover that someone will do anything to make sure the town’s secrets never come to light. Which neighbors are allies, and which face masks a violent enemy? And what will it take for their struggling town to fulfill its original destiny of hope?

My Review

The thing that drew me to HOPE IS A DANGEROUS PLACE was the idea that the town is named Hope and the whole mystery of her disappearance and its affect on the town so many years later. I think I was looking for a kind of ON THE JELLICOE ROAD-slash-THE HUNDRED LIES OF LIZZIE LOVETT kind of story? Or maybe, on the spiritual side, something reminiscent of Frank Peretti’s THIS PRESENT DARKNESS?

I liked that the story has multiple narrators that tell some of the things happening behind the scenes. Lots of the narrators are adults, though, and many times those characters take the actions that cause major events in the story to happen. The teen characters– Kelsey and Harmonie– often stay interested but passive players in the story that’s unfolding around them.

The town is interesting– it definitely has that closed-circle, small-town feel that reminded me of Ashton in THIS PRESENT DARKNESS. I thought the pursuit of the missing girl helped to keep the story moving forward, but sometimes things unfolded in a weird way. At one point a character discovers a death in her family while taking a walk past a relative’s house– I guess that could happen, it just seemed weird the way it played out. Sometimes deeply sad things would happen and it didn’t seem like they really had a lasting effect on the characters, which made them feel shallow to me.

The cast is fairly diverse, which was really nice to see. I don’t really have any expertise on representation being good or bad, but something felt weird to me in some moments. Like there are a couple moments where the black characters kind of stop everything and have this big gratitude response to the white characters. I don’t know. Something about it just felt… icky… to me.

Like, one girl discovers that in the town’s past, a white man broke up a lynch mob gathering to murder a black man, and then the black community starts gifting food to the grandson of the guy and talking about how they owe him a debt of gratitude. Breaking up a lynch mob definitely sounds like a brave thing to do, but it’s also the right thing? The response of the people seemed a little over the top. I don’t know. Again, I’m no expert on representation, but it felt weird to me.

I don’t think the author meant to create disparity between the white and black or white and Latino communities in the story, but I felt like there were some unequal relationships and situations. It made me wonder if the author had had black or Latino sensitivity readers? Maybe so, and maybe I’m off in my perceptions. I can only speak to how it affected me.

I wouldn’t really say that HOPE IS A DANGEROUS PLACE is young adult fiction, even though there are a couple of teen narrators. I think this is really adult lit. It’s got a lot of Christian content but some swearing and drinking, so I imagine it’s hard to put it solidly into one genre or another.

On the whole, there were some things I enjoyed about the story and some things I found problematic.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Harmonie is black. Kelsey and Harmonie’s teacher is Latina. Other minor characters are Latino and black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to a man who solicits a woman thinking she’s a prostitute.

Spiritual Content
Characters attend church and prayer services. Those scenes often relate the sermon being preached. Some discussions about the presence of angels and demons. One minor character offers to contact a dead spirit and comments on a girl’s aura.

Violent Content
Some references to abuse by a parent and by a law officer. An unknown person makes a creepy threat to the girls using a doll. Someone starts a fire in a building the girls are in. References to a lynch mob and a police officer who shot a man after claiming he tried to escape custody.

Drug Content
More than one adult in the story drinks a lot of alcohol. One character is a recovered alcoholic.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog. I received a free copy of HOPE IS A DANGEROUS PLACE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Music for Tigers by Michelle Kadarusman

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Music for Tigers
Michelle Kadarusman
Pajama Press
Published April 28, 2020

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About Music for Tigers

Shipped halfway around the world to spend the summer with her mom’s eccentric Australian relatives, middle schooler and passionate violinist Louisa is prepared to be resentful. But life at the family’s remote camp in the Tasmanian rainforest is intriguing, to say the least. There are pig-footed bandicoots, scary spiders, weird noises and odors in the night, and a quirky boy named Colin who cooks the most amazing meals. Not the least strange is her Uncle Ruff, with his unusual pet and veiled hints about something named Convict Rock.

Finally, Louisa learns the truth: Convict Rock is a sanctuary established by her great-grandmother Eleanor—a sanctuary for Tasmanian tigers, Australia’s huge marsupials that were famously hunted into extinction almost a hundred years ago. Or so the world believes. Hidden in the rainforest at Convict Rock, one tiger remains. But now the sanctuary is threatened by a mining operation, and the last Tasmanian tiger must be lured deeper into the forest. The problem is, not since her great-grandmother has a member of the family been able to earn the shy tigers’ trust.

As the summer progresses, Louisa forges unexpected connections with Colin, with the forest, and—through Eleanor’s journal—with her great-grandmother. She begins to suspect the key to saving the tiger is her very own music. But will her plan work? Or will the enigmatic Tasmanian tiger disappear once again, this time forever?

A moving coming-of-age story wrapped up in the moss, leaves, and blue gums of the Tasmanian rainforest where, hidden under giant ferns, crouches its most beloved, and lost, creature.

My Review

I feel like this book slipped right into my TBR calendar almost as elusively as the Tasmanian tigers in the story. I’d never heard of a Tasmanian tiger or Thylacine until reading MUSIC FOR TIGERS. As I read descriptions of them– the stiff tail, dog-like face, tiger stripes– my curiosity only grew until I had to look online and get a visual for it. I found some video footage of the last Tasmanian tiger in captivity. It’s pretty wild looking!

In terms of the story, I loved Louisa from the getgo. I loved her passion for her music and felt a kinship with her over her battle with anxiety. I loved the way her relationship with her uncle developed as well as with her neighbor, Colin, who is possibly my favorite character in the whole book. I definitely identified with his mom and her heartbreak over Colin’s hurts and loneliness. She so wants him to find his people, and I absolutely feel like I get that.

The plot was not what drove the story for me. I think I kept wanting them to come up with a way to save the camp or raise awareness of the animals that destroying it endangered. But that wasn’t really the story. It was more an internal growth story about Louisa coming to understand her family and fall in love with things she didn’t expect to, which I really love, but it’s hard to make that as compelling a plot as something more concrete.

On the whole, I’m super glad I read this book and really enjoyed it. I think fans of BE LIGHT LIKE A BIRD or CHIRP will enjoy MUSIC FOR TIGERS. I know I’ll be recommending it!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Characters are white — Canadian or Australian. One character is non-neurotypical and has ASD.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Some rumors of ghosts at Convict Rock (though Louisa doesn’t really believe the stories) and sometimes Louisa hears piano music– perhaps like her grandmother used to play.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Louisa’s uncle spends the night in town after drinking too much at a bar after losing someone he cares about.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog. I received a free copy of MUSIC FOR TIGERS in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Space Between Lost and Found by Sandy Stark-McGinnis

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , ,

The Space Between Lost and Found
Sandy Stark-McGinnis
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published April 28, 2020

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About The Space Between Lost and Found

Cassie’s always looked up to her mom, a vivacious woman with big ideas and a mischievous smile. Together they planned to check off every item on a big-dream bucket list, no matter how far the adventure would take them. But then Mom was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, and everything changed.

Now, Cassie tries to keep Mom happy, and to understand some of Dad’s restrictive new rules. She tries to focus on math lessons and struggles to come up with art ideas that used to just burst off her pen. When Mom’s memories started to fade, so did Cassie’s inspiration. And even worse, she’s accidentally pushed away Bailey, the one friend who could make it all okay.

After the worst Mom day yet, the day she forgets Cassie’s name, Cassie decides to take action. It’s time for one last adventure, even if it means lying and taking a big risk to get there. Sandy Stark-McGinnis, acclaimed author of Extraordinary Birds, explores big questions – the kind that don’t always have answers – in a powerful story about family, friendship, and the memories that will always be part of us.

My Review

This was such an emotional book for me.

My grandmother passed away after a battle with Lewy Body dimentia, which acts a little bit like Alzheimers. It happened so quickly that almost as soon as we realized something was wrong, it felt like we’d lost our connection to her, and her connection to us.

I know that it’s very different losing a grandparent compared to losing a parent, but I had so many of the thoughts and reactions to my grandmother’s illness that Cassie had to her mother’s. I remember that I kept expecting her to wake up and be herself again at any moment sometimes. I remember trying to come up with ways to help her reconstruct memories or watching for any spark of recognition in her face. I’m grateful that she wasn’t in physical pain, I truly am. But I couldn’t wish the crushing emotional pain of watching your loved one lose their memories on even my worst enemies. Even now I find it hard to talk about.

Anyway. All that to say that I found THE SPACE BETWEEN LOST AND FOUND to have deep echoes of my own grief at losing someone to dimentia. I loved Cassie and her grief and her struggle with its impact on her friendships and her creativity felt real and raw but not without hope.

There’s a strong message of community and of the strength of being able to lean on one another rather than becoming isolated. Cassie has a great support system, but it takes her some time to figure out how to connect with them in the midst of her grief.

All in all, I think fans of BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE or BE LIGHT LIKE A BIRD will enjoy this book for its emotional honesty and message of hope.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some mildly scary descriptions– at one point Cassie’s mom dangles her feet off the edge of a canyon.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog. I received a free copy of THE SPACE BETWEEN LOST AND FOUND in exchange for my honest review.