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Review: It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas

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It Ain't So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh DumasIt Ain’t So Awful, Falafel
Firoozeh Dumas
Clarion Books

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When Zomorod Yousefzadeh and her family move (again), she decides to take the opportunity to start fresh and try to fit in with her new California schoolmates. The first thing to go? Her name. She adopts the classic Brady Bunch Cindy as her identity. After a rough start, she begins to find true friends. But when unrest in Iran turns into an American hostage crisis, Cindy begins to catch glimpses of an uglier side of the Land of the Free. Cruel bumper stickers and slogans send chilling messages to Cindy and her family. Cindy tries to protect her parents from some of the cruelty, and her friends try to encourage her that not everyone feels so negatively about Iranians. Ultimately, Cindy has to navigate her own way through the crisis and find the balance between devotion to her family, pride in her heritage, and the freedom to pursue her own individual identity.

This is the story of a young Iranian girl in the United States during a time when anti-Iranian sentiments run high. Even though we’re talking about the late 1970s, much of the conflict and hate Cindy and her family faced made me think about the way Muslim families in the US are sometimes treated in the US today. The hate and fear-based unkindness were wrong then and are just as wrong now.

While the exploration of American feeling toward Middle Easterners or Muslims is a heavy topic,  it does not dominate the story. In fact, Cindy is a spitfire girl who’s determined to stay positive and help her family as much as she can. She’s funny and kind—one of my favorite parts of the story was her voice and way of describing things. It absolutely captured, for me, what it was like to be in middle school and the kinds of friendships I had. It made me want to call my own Carolyn and Howie (Cindy’s friends) and retell our own stories from those times.

I loved this story for its own sake. I will always enjoy tales about an awkward middle school girl finding her people, discovering who she is and what really matters. At its core, that’s what Cindy’s story is, and her sense of humor and her compassionate heart make her an incredible heroine.

Beyond that, though, I think we need narratives like this one. A young Middle Eastern girl is a girl like any other girl. This story reminds us to be angry that a girl and her family face prejudice for their nationality. It reminds us of the common bonds we share as human beings, of the value of the freedoms we have as Americans and the responsibility we have to use those freedoms to promote life, liberty and happiness in the lives of those around us.

I definitely recommend this book. My daughter is ten and I really want us to read this book together this summer. The author has some great classroom resources listed on her web site, and information about the Falafel Kindness Project, a project that promotes creating a safe, bully-free environment for kids.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Cindy and her family are non-practicing Muslims. At school, she’s friends with a Christian and a Jewish girl and there’s a brief conversation about how they worship the same God.

Violent Content
While Americans are held hostage in Iran, Cindy’s family encounters hostility from neighbors and strangers. Someone leaves a dead hamster on the family’s doorstep. One man enters their house wearing a shirt that says “Wanted: Iranians for Target Practice.” Cindy briefly discusses the differences between American freedom and life in Iran, where the shah had protestors killed and free speech was a right guaranteed to the people.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Review: The Star-touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

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The Star-touched Queen
Roshani Chokshi
St. Martin’s Griffin

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When Maya’s father the Raja promises her in marriage to end a war over his kingdom, her dreams of living a quiet scholarly life are destroyed. Despite the fact that her horoscope promises only death and destruction to her husband, she finds herself wed to Amar, the ruler of a distant kingdom that stands apart from her world. Amar’s home holds many mysteries, but all are forbidden to explain things to her until the new moon. As Maya’s curiosity builds, she begins to unravel her husband’s secrets. What she learns places worlds in danger. To save them all, she’ll have to journey across kingdoms and beg the help of mythical creatures.

This is one of those books with narrative so good you just want to eat each line. The characters were also rich and intriguing. Every time I thought I had things figured out, there was another layer to the relationships and motives than I’d realized. I particularly liked that Maya’s father doesn’t fit the sort of cliché father-king stereotype. I liked that he respected Maya’s intelligence and wanted her to understand what was happening at a larger political level. He could have been kind of a non-character, and instead I found him to be really fascinating, someone I wanted to study a bit more, especially when he reappeared later in the story. Even Maya’s younger sister turns out to have some hidden depths.

My absolute favorite character in the book was this creepy horse-like character (demon horse?) named Kamala. Seriously, she was creepy (but funny.) Her relationship with Maya totally surprised me. I loved how that developed.

There are definitely some links to fairy tale and myth that make this story feel like it’s in part a retelling. I felt like the landscape and characters were so fresh and new that I kept forgetting to even look for familiar elements. I definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good fairytale or who loves stories like Seven Daughters and Seven Sons (one of my favorite books growing up.)

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Maya offers herself to her husband by undressing in front of him. He asks her to wait one more night. They kiss passionately, but nothing more is described.

Spiritual Content
Maya visits the underworld and speaks to the dead. She also befriends a horse-like creature that eats flesh. Other nymph-like creatures appear in the story. A girl poses as a sort of wandering prophetess.

Violent Content
Maya travels through an empty battleground and sees war from afar. A powerful woman wants to sacrifice a boy as a part of a ritual. She uses her power to stir her followers’ bloodlust.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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May 2016 Upcoming Reviews

Lists, News and Fun, ,

The Star-Touched Queen Roshani Choksi

Amazon | Goodreads

This novel boasts a rich fantasy world with amazing characters and breathtaking romance. I. Loved. It.

It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas

Amazon | Goodreads

From the author of Funny in Farsi comes a 1970s novel about an Iranian girl struggling to find her place in a small American town while anti-Iran sentiments run high.

I Woke Up Dead at the Mall by Judy Sheehan

 Amazon | Goodreads

A quirky, fun read about a girl who discovers she’s been murdered. (Hilarious, right?) Along with other teen ghosts, Sarah has to make peace with her death and move on. Falling in love wasn’t supposed to be part of her afterlife.

Of Secrets and Sorcery by Chris Solaas

Amazon | Goodreads

The Goodreads description begins, “Middle school is the least of Kyne Goodrum’s problems. That is, it would be if he could take his dragon along.” Need I say more?

Genius: The Game by Leopoldo Gout

Amazon | Goodreads

From Feiwel & Friends (I’ve loved everything I’ve read that they’ve published, so this is usually a sure bet for me) comes a novel about 200 supersmart teens engaged in one online competition where the stakes run as high as life and death. Looks like sort of a cerebral thriller, which I’m super excited about.

The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You by Lily Anderson

Amazon | Goodreads

This smacks of Geek fandom, which I can’t get enough of, and the possibility of romance blossoming between determined rivals is another story I’m rarely tired of hearing.

Traitor’s Masque (Andari Chronicles #1) by Kenley Davidson

Amazon | Goodreads

A retelling of the story of Cinderella, with espionage, treason and deadly intrigue. Sounds incredible, right?

The Progeny by Tosca Lee

Amazon | Goodreads

I first fell in love with Tosca Lee’s writing when I read her retelling of the story of Eve in her novel Havah. I wasn’t as big a fan of the series she wrote with Ted Dekker, but Lee’s writing is really amazing, and I’m definitely looking forward to more of her rich narrative and powerful characters in this tale.

Also to come…

Watch for my review of the latest book my mom made me read, which was awesome. I’ll post it on her birthday, May 11.

Looking for some new summer reads?

This week, I’m giving away three books. Simply follow me on Twitter and RT this post for a chance to win these books:

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten, Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer, and Feuds by Avery Hastings.

Must have US address to win. Ends at 11:59 pm EDT 5/3/16.

Review: Siren’s Song by Mary Weber

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Siren’s Song (Storm Siren #3)
Mary Weber
Thomas Nelson
Published March 1, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Siren’s Song

After a devastating loss at Tulla, Nym and her companions must bring dire news to the Cashlin queen: Draewolf has kidnapped Princess Rasha, Nym’s best friend. Instead of rallying her people to war, the queen and her Luminescent guards force access to Nym’s buried memories. Through them, the queen offers Nym a haunting prediction of the future and a choice Nym will be forced to make which could save or ruin everyone.

My Review

One of the things I look forward to in the last book in a series is the opportunity to revisit big moments from earlier books—the kinds of things that sort of become like inside jokes to series fans. While this tale is as action-packed and intense as either of the earlier books, there’s also no shortage of those satisfying exchanges that either harken back to something awesome or finally give you that moment you’ve spent the whole series hoping for.

We finally get to know more about Nym’s history. Myles… okay, I won’t spoil, but there are some really cool developments there which really make him this deep character that I really came to appreciate (saying a lot since I don’t think I was a big fan of him prior to this book.) Oh! And remember the boy Nym met on her passage to Bron in Siren’s Fury? He’s back. And so much fun. His lines were possibly some of my favorite.

Because of the politics of the earliest chapters of this book, I’d recommend starting with an earlier book in the series if you haven’t already. I think I read Siren’s Fury first and followed it fine, though it made more sense when I went back and read the first book, Storm Siren. I think this third book won’t be nearly as rewarding a read if you haven’t at least read the second book, which happened to also be my favorite.

Content Notes for Siren’s Song

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Nym and others utter curses like hulls and bolcrane.

Romance/Sexual Content
Nym walks in on Eogan while he’s washing. He covers himself with a towel, and she’s horribly embarrassed, but also affected by seeing him.

Nym is a former slave who worked for some pretty brutal owners. There are a couple of moments in which her past comes back to haunt her. If you’re sensitive to those sorts of abuse memories, be aware that this story might be a trigger. There’s no graphic description of abuse, but you can tell Nym has suffered some trauma and she relives some of the fear associated with her past.

Spiritual Content
References to the Creator and some lore about how abilities came to be. Myles and Draewolf have unnatural abilities acquired from a witch. These abilities can only be used to destroy.

Violent Content
Draewolf uses his ability to step inside someone’s skin (literally) to absorb their abilities. The description of the process is brief but causes more than one death. Battle scenes between Nym’s people and Draewolf’s Dead Army are described in some detail. The Dead Army is kind of icky, too. They are crafted from human and bolcrane (monster) parts.

Drug Content
The dark abilities act almost like a kind of drug, with an addicting component and, in Myles’s case, inducing a trance-like state with some enhanced capabilities.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received Siren’s Song free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Review: Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan

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Tell the Wind and Fire
Sarah Rees Brennan
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

In this future New York, the city is divided in two: Light vs Dark. Only Light Magicians can live in and access the wealthy, upper-class life. The Dark Magicians are banished to the Dark, to carve out lives in poverty under harsh rule imposed by the Light leadership.

Lucie and her father escaped the dark at a high price. Now Lucie survives at the mercy of friends and by burying her past as deeply as she can. Only, the people in the Dark don’t want her to forget. They’ve made her name a rallying cry to a revolution that could destroy the new life Lucie has fought so hard to create and the boy she loves more than anything.

This is the first time I’d ever read anything by Sarah Rees Brennan, so I was really excited to give this one a go. The first page totally hooked me. I was like oh boy. Must know more.

Then… somewhere in the rest of the first chapter, I got really lost. There was some explanation of the Light vs Dark storyworld and I don’t know if it was just me, but I really had a hard time following it. I reread it once and ended up kind of just moving on. Something about a magical caste system. Okay.

Once I got past that, I was still pretty intrigued. I worried about Ethan being boring, as other reviewers have claimed. (What is it with modern novels about strong women featuring these eye-candy-only men? Didn’t we argue that this was a bad idea when the gender roles of these characters were reversed?) Honestly, my first impression of him was that he was kind of a doofus with money. A cute doofus with money, but yeah, not much else really going on upstairs behind the dreamboat eyes, you know?

However. Without giving anything away, I just want to say there were some unanticipated hidden depths. And I found myself a little disappointed because I kind of wanted Carwyn to have this reformation going on that flew in the face of what everyone thought about his kind. I thought he and Lucie made a great team, so I started rooting for him, and then Ethan manned up and I was like, wait… now I like them both!

I read this book not knowing it was a retelling of a classic, (though I found myself thinking hey, this is kind of like that one book, as I was reading) so I don’t want to give that away for anyone who wants the same experience. I liked reading it not knowing where it was going.

I’d definitely read more of this series because I loved the characters and have a lot of faith in Brennan’s ability to get me to invest in them. The storyworld was confusing to me and I kind of just decided to overlook it. The Light vs Dark stuff really didn’t play a huge role in the story other than establishing two opposing sides in which one has huge advantages and oppresses the other side.

If you liked Across the Star-swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund, give this one a read. See below for any content information.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
While there’s no explicit description of sex, it’s implied that Ethan and Lucie are intimate with each other. Lucie mentions that she only sleeps well when she sleeps with Ethan, that sort of thing. Another character makes a brief comment about his preference for “deviant sex acts” (he doesn’t specify anything further than that.) There are a few kisses.

Spiritual Content
The city is divided into sectors of Light and Dark magic. Not everyone has magical ability. Dark Magicians have been threatening to revolt and overthrow the Light Magicians in power. Lucie knows a powerful way Light and Dark magic can be used together.

Violent Content
Lawbreakers endure harsh punishments and torture (only described very briefly.) Revolutionaries attack without mercy in a battle scene, killing even innocent bystanders.

Drug Content
Lucie takes Carwyn to a club and offers to buy him a drink. A friend offers to get them some dust, a kind of illegal drug, but Lucie wanted no part of that.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Review: Away We Go by Emil Ostrovski

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Away We Go
Emil Ostrovski
Greenwillow Books
Published April 5, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Away We Go

Westing accepts only the brightest and best of students, so long as they also have one problem: a diagnosis of the terminal Peter Pan Virus (PPV.) Noah is one such case. As he wrestles to deal with the drastically shortened timeline of his life and the mandatory separation from his family and former friends, Noah finds something unexpected: love. The problem? He’s supposed to be in love with his girlfriend, Alice. Instead, he’s head-over-heels for the erratic boy who runs a secret club. The more time they spend together, the less certain Noah is about Zach’s feelings. As his friends become sicker, and the end of his own life draws near, Noah becomes frantic for answers. To his questions about love, the outside world, and what gives life meaning and value.

First – in reading some of the reviews about this book on other sites, it looks like some people expected this to be a dystopian story about the mass spread of an incurable virus, etc etc, oodles of suspenseful stuff racing toward a cure or something and were therefore disappointed when they uncovered one huge issue: that’s not what this story is. If you don’t like books about emotions (I do!), this probably isn’t one you want to pick up. Because there are LOTS.

My Review

This is more an emotional journey framed by a pandemic involving massive amounts of teens infected with a deadly, highly contagious, incurable disease. Also, a meteor that might hit earth. But those are kind of just the story’s frame. What we’re really watching unfold is this boy who’s trying desperately to figure out who he is and what that means. To himself. To the boy he loves. To the girl who loves him. And it’s a difficult, messy, heartbreaking, amazing journey.

I read Ostrovski’s debut a couple of months ago and was simply blown away by the unique perspective of the story, the fantastically witty banter between characters—even in the midst of these heartbreaking scenes, these characters were cracking me up—and the way these grand philosophical ideas were naturally woven into the story. But that’s another review, which you can read here.

Point being, as I started to read Away We Go, I was so nervous. I was afraid I wouldn’t like the story. And to be honest, after the first couple chapters, I was still nervous. I’m not sure when I really fell for Noah. Probably about the time he started snarking about sandwiches. Possibly not until he met Zach. But then I was hooked.

There were several things about the story that really stood out to me as awesome. One being the incorporation of the play Marty writes about Peter Pan and Wendy. I loved how that became this thread running through the story and that final scene captured the central conflict felt by so many of the characters in the story.

When I was a teenager, I knew a girl who was terminally ill. We weren’t very close, largely because I didn’t understand a lot of the things she did. Now, looking back, I feel like I really misjudged her. I wanted her to behave like I did. I honestly never considered (not in a mean way, just ignorant, sadly…) what it would be like to be seventeen and know that you probably wouldn’t live past thirty and how that might change what felt reasonable, necessary. Urgent.

I thought about her a lot as I read this book. I thought about how there’s a real question, in the story, about whether or not the students should be educated. I mean, they’re all going to die. Is there a point? Is education a human right? I thought that was a really cool element to explore. It’s not deeply followed, but I liked even just the drive-by moment. I thought about her as Noah rockets down this somewhat destructive path toward trying to capture love.

In terms of the writing, I have to say that the way some of the characters had really distinct voices definitely made them seem real. Ostrovski’s writing absolutely shines in dialogue between characters. Amazing stuff. Moving on before I get star-struck and gushy…

So if you’re looking for a really heart-wrenching read with a lot of complex characters and witty banter, some exploration of moral issues and love, add this book to your list. See below for content information from the story.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity and some crude language used with moderate frequency. One girl condemns this behavior.

Romance/Sexual Content
Boy/girl and boy/boy romance and sex described in some detail.

Spiritual Content
Westing has a group of students who’ve formed a religious organization for support and faith community. The details of the faith system stay pretty murky, and Noah does not get involved.

Violent Content
A boy falls to his death. Noah learns two students have been shot. Brief descriptions of rumors about what happens to kids who read end stage PPV and are transferred to other facilities. (Are they experimented on, that sort of thing.)

Drug Content
Noah (and his friends) drink quite a bit of alcohol, behavior condemned by another friend.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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