Category Archives: Contemporary

Review: All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson

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All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson

All the Blues in the Sky
Renée Watson
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published February 4, 2025

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About All the Blues in the Sky

# 1 New York Times bestselling and Newbery Honor author Renée Watson explores friendship, loss, and life with grief in this poignant new novel in verse and vignettes.

Sage’s thirteenth birthday was supposed to be about movies and treats, staying up late with her best friend and watching the sunrise together. Instead, it was the day her best friend died. Without the person she had to hold her secrets and dream with, Sage is lost. In a counseling group with other girls who have lost someone close to them, she learns that not all losses are the same, and healing isn’t predictable. There is sadness, loneliness, anxiety, guilt, pain, love. And even as Sage grieves, new, good things enter her life — and she just may find a way to know that she can feel it all.

In accessible, engaging verse and prose, this is an important story of a girl’s journey to heal, grow, and forgive herself. To read it is to see how many shades there are in grief, and to know that someone understands.

My Review

I could not put this book down, and that did not surprise me since I have LOVED everything by Renée Watson that I’ve ever read. She’s an incredibly talented writer with some serious range– writing young adult and middle grade fiction, a poetry collection, and this novel in verse. She’s amazing. I can’t say it enough.

Sage’s story drew me in from its first pages. Her grief is raw. You can feel it pulsing beneath the words on the page like a heartbeat. She feels guilty for unresolved parts of her friendship with her best friend. She envies others who got to say goodbye to their loved ones. Her feelings are moving and easy to understand.

I love the sense of community around Sage. She’s part of a grief support group for kids, and even though she feels closer to some kids than others, she learns different things from each of the kids in her group. She has meaningful relationships with adults in her life, too, beyond her parents.

The book includes an author’s note in which Watson shares that she lost 15 loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic and how this made her think about the losses that children were experiencing during that time.

All the Blues in the Sky offers hope amid the heartache and reminds us how much we need our connections to one another. I love this book and recommend it wholeheartedly.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A kiss on the cheek and then the mouth.

Spiritual Content
References to attending funeral services. One character describes memories of attending church with their grandmother.

Violent Content
Brief descriptions of an accident in which a car struck a girl on a bike, killing her. References to someone who was murdered by police officers. Reference to fatal illnesses and loss of child and adult family members. (These are mentioned in the grief group Sage attends. They’re described appropriately for the audience.)

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: Mixed-Up by Kami Garcia and Brittney Williams

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Mixed-Up
Kami Garcia
Illustrated by Brittney Williams
Lettering by Comicraft’s Tyler Smith
First Second
Published January 21, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Mixed-Up

New York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia has returned with a middle grade graphic novel about the struggles of a game-loving girl who gets diagnosed with dyslexia and her loving support network that help her along in the journey.

When reading isn’t as easy as ABC…

Stella knows fifth grade will be the best year ever. Her closest friends, Emiko and Latasha, are in her class and they all got the teacher they wanted. Then their favorite television show, Witchlins, announces a new guidebook and an online game!

But when the classwork starts piling up, Stella struggles to stay on top. Why does it take her so long to read? And how can she keep up with friends in the Witchlins game if she can’t get through the text-heavy guidebook?] And when she can’t deal with the text-heavy Witchlins guidebook, she can’t keep up with her friends in the game. It takes loving teachers and her family to recognize that Stella has a learning difference, and after a dyslexia diagnosis she gets the support and tools she needs to succeed.

Bestselling author Kami Garcia was inspired to write this special book by her daughter’s dyslexia journey; her own neurodivergent experience; and the many students she taught over the years. Mixed-Up shows that our differences don’t need to separate us.

My Review

I love the way this book shows Stella’s struggles with reading. I do not have dyslexia and have limited familiarity (some loved ones are dyslexic) with the diagnosis, but the pages show Stella’s experience clearly. The panels make it easy to understand what’s happening and why.

Several adults offer Stella support as they talk with her about the differences in how her brain processes letters on a page. Stella learns new skills, and we see the change in her confidence and carriage as she begins reading more quickly and with better comprehension.

This book made me want to see that kids like Stella get the support they need and that the adults in their lives learn about neurodivergence.

Besides being a compelling story about dyslexia and growing as a reader, Mixed-Up also tells a sweet story about friendship and fandom. Stella and her best friends are excited about a new online game that’s based on a TV show they watch together. When competing in the game requires a lot of reading, Stella gets discouraged and withdraws from her friends. Her friends feel rejected and confused about the withdrawal, and a conflict brews.

All the pieces of the book come together to celebrate neurodiversity, friendship, and the many different forms of reading so beautifully. I highly recommend this book. The backmatter has a great list of resources for people interested in learning more about dyslexia.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Stella and her friends follow a popular show called Witchlins in which the characters have magic powers.

Violent Content
One scene shows a story Stella is writing and characters in peril. The scene is quickly resolved.

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: The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard

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

The Secret Year
Jennifer Hubbard
Viking Books for Young Readers
Published January 7, 2025 (Orig. 2010)

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About The Secret Year

For fans of Laura Nowlin’s If Only I Had Told Her, a deeply romantic novel that explores the raw emotions of love, pain and grief.

Colt and Julia were secretly together for a year . . . and nobody knew. Not that anyone would suspect–Colt and Julia were from two different crowds: Julia in her country club world on Black Mountain and Colt down in the flats. They’d meet in secret by the river–their chemistry electric, exhilarating, intoxicating.

Until everything came to a screaming halt.

Julia is pronounced dead from a car accident, and suddenly Colt’s memories come flooding back. One about the fight they’d had on their last night together . . .

When Julia’s diary falls into Colt’s hands, it gives him the chance to learn all her hidden thoughts, private details she refused to share with him. It might even answer his questions about what happened on the night she died.

Julia’s words have the power to mend Colt’s broken heart, or they can reveal a web of secrets that threaten to shatter his entire world.

My Review

I have so many questions.

It looks like this was first published in 2010 and has recently been re-released. I’m not sure when the story is supposed to take place. I think only the Black Mountain (wealthy neighborhood) kids have cell phones, so I assume maybe this was supposed to happen during the late 1990s when cell phones first became widely available. There’s no mention of texting, just calling. There are a couple of mentions of email, which could still track with the late 1990s timing. I don’t think the narrative specifies.

The story’s tone has a little bit of a Holden Caulfield vibe. Colt isn’t trying to be particularly likable. Neither is Julia, honestly. And that was fine. I mostly appreciated their frankness. After someone comes out as gay, Colt does a couple of things that are not great. I get that his reaction is realistic, but I wish the narrative had at least weighed in on his thoughts as negative.

Julia’s letters to Colt interrupt the scenes periodically, and sometimes, I got confused at the bouncing back and forth between her letters and Colt’s perspective. I also felt like the back cover copy implies that the story has a lot more suspense than it does. Colt does remember details about a fight he had with Julia. He does read letters she wrote to him. But I didn’t feel a sense of suspense about any of that. This isn’t a story about uncovering secret reasons for her death. This is the story of a boy who’s experiencing complicated grief because his relationship with a girl was a secret, and he can’t grieve publicly.

I found the story of his grief compelling, but it wasn’t really what I expected the book to be about.

For me, the uncertainty of the timeline (which could have contextualized some of the characters’ behavior) and the confusion over the genre of the story made this one a weird read. I read the book pretty quickly, so I’d say the writing is compelling.

Readers who like books by Matthew Quick might enjoy this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
One character comes out as gay in the story.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some f-bombs and other profanity used moderately.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex and making out. In a couple of scenes, characters remove their tops. One scene briefly references a girl pacing around a room naked. The story doesn’t focus on the romance. Mostly, it leads up to the start of a sexual encounter and then jumps ahead to afterward.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Colt learns that Julia died in a car accident. He briefly references thinking about her injuries. A group of boys attack another boy, seriously injuring him. Brief references to Colt’s mom smacking him or his brother.

One character comes out as gay, and his family reacts with homophobic comments and rejects him.

Drug Content
Julia mentions drinking alcohol. She calls her boyfriend an alcoholic and mentions that he abuses prescription drugs.

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: Horse Trouble by Kristin Varner

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Middle Grade 8-12

Horse Trouble
Kristin Varner
First Second
Published October 26, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Horse Trouble

An American Library Association 2021 Best Graphic Novel for Children

Twelve-year-old Kate is laser-focused on her one true horseback riding. But try as she might, she can’t hide from life’s problems in the stable.

There’s nothing Kate loves more than being around horses. But her best friend is allergic to them, so Kate has to take riding lessons without her. Kate’s forced to navigate some of life’s hardships―like the mean girls at the stable who tease her and her body insecurities―all on her own. To make matters worse, Kate is continually falling off her horse. To Kate, her tween years feel like one unfair punishment after another. Can she get over it all…and get back on her horse?

Horse Trouble, the debut graphic novel from children’s book artist Kristin Varner, is an oh-so-relatable graphic novel with humor and heart.

My Review

After reading Dog Trouble, I immediately looked online to see if Kristin Varner had other books, and I was overjoyed to learn she does! Yay! One of the things I really enjoyed about Dog Trouble is the chapter openers that would introduce a specific dog or breed of dog and tell some things about it. There are also sidebars throughout the story in which the author would define terms specific to the story, which helped make the book more accessible to readers who don’t have experience in the story’s main activity.

Varner does something similar in Horse Trouble, though it’s slightly less well-developed than the other book. (Which makes sense, since she wrote this one first.) I love the idea and the fact that I could read a book about competitive horseback riding and follow the story easily, learning terminology along the way.

I loved Kate as a narrator and main character. She’s such a great kid and takes such good care of the horses she’s responsible for. I enjoyed this one a whole lot, and I will absolutely read more work by Kristin Varner.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Kate is a plus-sized girl.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
No profanity. Kate endures some mean comments about her body.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Others say mean comments about Kate’s weight.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: Bingsu for Two by Sujin Witherspoon

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Bingsu for Two
Sujin Witherspoon
Union & Co.
Published January 7, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Bingsu for Two

This outrageously charming and infuriatingly adorable enemies-to-lovers coffee shop romance is perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Better Than the Movies.

Meet River Langston-Lee. In the past 24 hours, he’s dumped his girlfriend, walked out of his SATs, and quit his job at his parents’ cafe in spectacularly disastrous fashion—even for him.

Somehow, he manages to talk his way into a gig at a failing Korean cafe, Bingsu for Two, which is his lucky break until he meets short, grumpy, and goth: Sarang Cho. She’s his new no-BS co-worker who’s as determined to make River’s life hell as she is to save her family’s cafe.

After River accidentally uploads a video of his chaotic co-workers to his popular fandom account, they strike viral fame. The kicker? Their new fans ship River and Sarang big-time. In order to keep the Internet’s attention—and the cafe’s new paying customers—River and Sarang must pretend that the tension between them is definitely of the romantic variety, not the considering the best way to kill you and hide your body variety.

But when Bingsu for Two’s newfound success catches the attention of River’s ex and his parents’ cafe around the corner, he faces a choice: keep letting others control his life or stand up for the place that’s become home. And a green-haired girl who’s not as heartless as he originally thought . . .

My Review

In her debut young adult contemporary romance novel, Sujin Witherspoon makes the unorthodox decision to tell the entire story from a boy’s point of view. At first, I wasn’t sure how this would feel, since the more common approach is to either alternate points of view or tell the story from the girl’s perspective, if the story is a M/F romance. In fact, for the first several pages, I wasn’t sure of the gender identity of the main character.

River is a bit of a cinnamon roll character. He reads the room, tries to anticipate problems before they arise to avoid conflict as much as possible. When we get introduced to his family, we learn why this feels like a good strategy to him. It makes sense, and it makes his jump to working at Bingsu for Two, which is the first place where he has the freedom to be himself without his parents or his girlfriend looking over his shoulder, evaluating his choices.

The narrative thoughtfully explores River’s avoidance behavior and how his new job affects him. I liked that the changes in his life happen gradually, sometimes deliberately. At other times, he shifts his behavior in response to the new environment and only realizes on reflection that he likes the new behavior patterns better.

That sounds like a very clinical analysis, but the book has a lot of fun, goofball moments, too. The cast of characters working at Bingsu for Two banter back and forth and mess around the way that friends do in several scenes. I enjoyed seeing the relationships grow and the sweet way that River and Sarang’s relationship develops.

I think readers who enjoy stories with an inclusive cast of characters with fun and a few sparks will definitely enjoy this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
River and his family and Sarang and her family are Korean American. Two girls are in a romantic relationship. Two boys were in a romantic relationship. Sarang references having crushes on boys and girls in the past.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A few F-bombs and some profanity used moderately.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
River and Sarang get into a physical altercation in which she dumps a cup of coffee over his head. He retaliates by dumping a bag of coffee beans down her shirt. A boy kisses another boy without consent.

Someone spreads a rumor that a boy harassed a girl online, asking her to send nude photos of herself.

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: Rani Choudhury Must Die by Adiba Jaigirdar

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Rani Choudhury Must Die
Adiba Jaigirdar
Feiwel & Friends
Published November 12, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Rani Choudhury Must Die

In this sapphic dual POV Young Adult romance by Adiba Jaigirdar, Meghna and Rani (ex-best-friends-turned-rivals) realize they’re dating the same guy, so they team up to beat and expose him at a big science competition!

Meghna Rahman is tired of constantly being compared to her infuriatingly perfect ex best friend now rival. Everyone, except, at least, her boyfriend Zak, seems to think that Rani Choudhury can do no wrong—even her own parents! It doesn’t help that Rani is always accepted into the Young Scientist Exhibition, while Meghna’s projects never make it. But this year, she finally has a chance at defeating Rani in something.

Rani Choudhury is tired of feeling like she doesn’t have much say in her life—not when it comes to how her mom wants her to look and act or how her parents encourage her to date incredibly charming close family friend Zak. She would much rather focus on her coding, especially once she places high enough at the Young Scientist Exhibition to go on to the European Young Scientist Exhibition.

When Meghna and Rani figure out that Zak has been playing them both, they decide to do something no one would see coming: they team up. They’ll compete in the EYSE as partners, creating an app that exposes cheaters and a project that exposes Zak. But with years of silence and pressure between them, working together will prove difficult. Especially once each girl starts to realize that the feelings they had for the other may have been more than platonic…

Hey, no one ever said science was easy!

My Review

So far, for me, this type of rivals-to-lovers romance is the sweet spot of Adiba Jaigirdar’s books. The tension between the characters is perfect, the cultural themes are immersive and engaging, and the romance leaves me swooning. I loved The Henna Wars and Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating, and I will gladly put this one on the shelf right next to them.

The plot of Rani Choudhury Must Die starts off slowly and winds through a bit of setup before it really gets going. We learn about Meghna’s secret dating relationship and Rani’s relationship with the boy her parents expect her to marry… the same boy secretly dating Meghna. Yikes.

We also learn that Meghna and Rani have history. It’s unclear at first what happened and who, exactly, is to blame for the rift between the girls. It’s pretty clear that Meghna’s mental image of Rani differs from her real self, though, and I found myself intrigued by the difference.

It highlights the way that unresolved conflict can leave us with a specific, hurtful image of a person that doesn’t at all match who the person truly is. Yet, while we’re still nursing that hurt and anger, we can’t see that there is a difference. This delicate mining of nuance in relationships is one of my favorite components of Jaigirdar’s books. She does this so well, and her characters are so rich because of it.

The romance between Rani and Meghna is a very slow burn. I loved that, too. It honors the history between the two girls and the complexity of the circumstances that brought them together. I think it would have been hard to tell a compelling story in which they immediately hook up after discovering they’ve been dating the same boy. This really worked and lets readers hope for and root for the romance as it begins to blossom.

All in all, I had a great time reading this book. Fans of slow-burn romance, rivals to lovers, and/or STEM girls definitely do not want to miss this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
The story is set in Ireland. Meghna and Rani are from the same Bengali community in Ireland. Both are dating a boy and are romantically interested in girls.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Kissing between two girls.

Spiritual Content
References to cultural family events, holidays, and celebrations.

Violent Content
A boy manipulates and uses words to gaslight a girl.

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.