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Winter 2024 Backlist Check-in

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Winter 2024 Backlist Check-in

Last year, I started doing a seasonal backlist reading check-in so I could share a little bit about some of the backlist titles I’d been reading. I prioritize frontlist reviews since I often get copies of those from publishers, so putting them up is more time-sensitive. But there are always titles I didn’t get to when they came out that I manage to fit in afterward– often as audiobooks.

As you can see, I’ve been busy since my Fall Backlist reading update, so this is going to be a long list. Several of these books are graphic novels that I got for Christmas for somewhat unselfish reasons. (I wanted to read them and also to offer them to my nephew and niece to read.)

I’m pretty happy with my progress tackling backlist books so far this year. Some of these will appear on my Beat the Backlist and Read Harder challenge pages, too.

Winter 2024 Backlist Reading

Strike the Zither (Kingdom of Three #1) by Joan He

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: DESCENDANT OF THE CRANE was one of my favorite books I read last year, so I’ve had this one on my list since I first heard it was coming out. I love the way this author crafts large-scale political conflicts and complicated relationships. This one went in some directions I didn’t predict, and I’m eager for book two in the series.

Published October 25, 2022 | Review to Come

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I have been wanting to read this since another reviewer called it one of her top favorites for 2022. It reminded me a bit of THE SPLENDOR by Breeana Shields or CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber. Sisters. Lush magical setting filled with danger and secrets. Forbidden love. All the good stuff.

Published April 5, 2022 | Review to Come

Frida Kahlo: Her Life, Her Work, Her Home by Fransisco de la Mora

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: This is the first biography of Frida Kahlo that I’ve ever read, and it left me wanting to read more about her life. I enjoyed the details about her life and her work and afterward spent some time looking up images of her paintings and where I might be able to see them someday.

Published April 11, 2023 | Review to Come

Salt Magic by Hope Larson and Rebecca Mock

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I got this book for Christmas and had been interested in this author’s work for a while. I love the way the illustrator uses color palettes to set moods and show tension. I really enjoyed the story– it’s a quick read.

Published October 12, 2021 | Review to Come

Northranger by Rey Tierciero and Bre Indigo

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: Northanger Abbey isn’t a story I’m very familiar with, but the author includes a lovely note in this book explaining the connection between this graphic novel and Austen’s novel. I thought the romance was super sweet and the use of horror movie references and suspense added a lot of fun to the book.

Published June 6, 2023 | Review to Come

Hooky (Hooky #1) by Míriam Bonastre Tur

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I keep seeing this book everywhere, and the story (two twin witches who go on the run) sounded cute. Some of the chapters felt a bit episodic, but considering this story began as a webcomic, I suppose that’s to be expected. I enjoyed the quirky characters and fun elements.

Published September 7, 2021 | Review to Come

This Woven Kingdom (This Woven Kingdom #1) by Tahereh Mafi

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I recently discovered that a friend reads a lot and she highly recommended this series, so I figured I better check it out. So far, I am entranced by the powerful writing and slow-burn forbidden love. I finished the first book and started the second on the same day.

Published February 1, 2022 | Review to Come

Nimona by ND Stevenson

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I’ve been seeing this book everywhere, never more than now that there’s a Netflix movie. I decided it was definitely time to read it, and I’m so glad I did. This is like Dr. Horrible’s cooler, more sophisticated older sibling, and yet it’s charming and fun all in its own right. Definitely a must-read for fantasy fans.

Published May 12, 2015 | Review to Come

Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I’ve listened to an audio version of this book before, but it’s been at least ten years. I wanted to revisit the work to help keep Dr. King’s messages in the context that he issued them. In this letter, he responds specifically to the white Christian leadership who have asked him to stop protesting and “work within the system” instead. Powerful words and a message that still rings out as timely today.

Published February 22, 2018

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I’ve seen this graphic memoir on book ban lists a lot in the last few years, so I wanted to check it out. I think the author writes with so much courage and desperately needed frankness. These are topics that a lot of people have questions about and aren’t sure how to get answers. I really appreciated having a roadmap through someone’s personal experience that can help orient me as an ally to what those experiences might be like.

Published May 28, 2019 | Review to Come

Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit (Theo Tan #1)

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I enjoyed the second book in this series, and I had the first one already (from a publisher), so I’d been meaning to circle back and read it. I think I actually enjoyed this one more than the second one. I really enjoyed Kai’s asides and footnotes, and Theo’s devotion to his brother melts my heart.

Published May 31 2022 | Review

These Infinite Threads (This Woven Kingdom #2) by Tahereh Mafi

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I started this sequel within hours of finishing the first book in the series, and I’m so hooked. I love that one of my favorite minor characters from the first book has a bigger role in this one.

Published February 7, 2023 | Review to Come

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: This is technically a reread, since I read this in high school. All I remembered about it is that I did not like it, but since I’m planning to read WHAT SOULS ARE MADE OF, which is a remix of the story, I wanted the original to be fresher in my brain. I still did not like this book. I don’t know. What am I missing? This seems like a tale of people treating each other miserably (if not abusively) and suffering for it?

Published February 7, 2023 (Orig 1847) | Review to Come

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: This is such a fun middle grade fantasy novel. I think fans of HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON will enjoy the quirky voice of the narrator and the playfulness of the story. This is the first book I’ve read by T. Kingfisher, and it’s an absolute win.

Published July 21, 2020 | Review to Come

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I listened to this one as an audiobook, read by Jason Reynolds. It felt like having someone sit with you over coffee and explain the history of racism and how it has impacted American life and politics. It made me realize how little I’ve read of important Black writers like bell hooks, and how little I know about the lives of people like Malcolm X and Angela Davis. Something I’d like to change.

Published March 10, 2020 | Review to Come

Eagle Drums by Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: This reads like an easily relatable folk tale or origin story, if that makes sense? I enjoyed the straightforward yet somehow lyrical writing style and the vivid descriptions of life in Alaska.

Published September 12, 2023 | Review to Come

Balto and Togo: Hero Dogs of Alaska by Helen Moss

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: The weirdest part of reading this book is, as a kid who grew up watching the movie Balto, how many times I would read facts about what actually happened and have to process my split-second denial. I’d kind of rear back and immediately think, that’s not what happened in the movie! Which…. well, duh? It was a cartoon? Anyway, I loved getting a chance to learn the real story of these brave mushers and their dogs who helped stop a diphtheria outbreak.

Published November 28, 2023 | Review to Come

Have you read any backlist titles lately?

If you’re participating in a backlist reading challenge this year, please let me know! If you have a page or post where you list the books you’ve read, please feel free to put a link to it in my comments. I’d love to check it out.

Have you read any of the books on my list? Let me know what you think about them if so.

Review: The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

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The Goose Girl (Books of Bayern #1)
Shannon Hale
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published December 1, 2008

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Goose Girl

She was born with her eyes closed and a word on her tongue, a word she could not taste.

Her name was Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, and she spent the first years of her life listening to her aunt’s stories and learning the language of the birds, especially the swans. And when she was older, she watched as a colt was born, and she heard the first word on his tongue, his name, Falada.

From the Grimm’s fairy tale of the princess who became a goose girl before she could become queen, Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original, and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can lead the people she has made her own.

My Review

This book has been on my reading list for a really long time. I loved THE BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS by Shannon Hale, which I read years ago and was also based on a Grimm brothers fairytale. I’d heard of this book, too, but hadn’t gotten around to reading it until I joined the Beat the Backlist reading challenge. One of the prompts is to read a fairy/folktale you haven’t heard of before. Though I knew about this book for a long time, it’s the only place I’ve heard the story of the Goose Girl mentioned, so I am counting it for the prompt.

I went into the book thinking it was going to be a middle grade book, but I’m not sure why. Maybe because of the cover? I actually think this one would make a great book for middle school readers who are not quite ready to transition to YA, but have largely aged out of middle grade books. There’s a teeny bit of romance, but it’s not the focus of the story. Largely, this is about a girl who is figuring out who she is and learning to have confidence in herself.

I really liked Ani’s character. She’s sweet and humble, and awkward, especially at the beginning. But when she becomes a goose girl and pretty much has to learn to get along with others and begins to form friendships and relationships, she discovers her courage, too.

She has a couple of good women mentors. First, her aunt, who teaches her to speak with birds. Then, a woman in the forest who helps her recover when she’s lost and malnourished. Later, her supervisor, a woman in the town where she works as a goose girl, helps her when she gets injured and needs help. Ani also makes good friends, and those relationships become super important as she faces down her past.

Conclusion

This was a sweet story with a few intense moments. Ani must hide from soldiers who intend to kill her. She sees a horse that’s been killed. She witnesses battles.

But most of the story focuses on her and how she uses her abilities to protect others and bring people together and listen to them. I had a lot of fun reading it, and I’m glad I can finally share my review.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A man stands threateningly over Ani and makes a suggestive comment. It scares her.

A girl tells of how the tradition of women going to war with their husbands began. At one point, they bare their chests to the men, reminding them of what’s at stake if they lose the war, namely that the women will become the property of the conquering army.

A man makes reference to the fact that the princess will share a bed with the prince when they are wed.

Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Ani has the ability to speak to some animals. Her aunt tells her there are those who have the ability to “people speak,” which allows them to convince others to do as they say and the ability to speak to elements of nature, such as the trees, fire, or wind.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. A man stands over Ani threateningly and makes a suggestive comment. Ani remembers fairytales about a mother’s blood saving her daughter in a moment of fear and doubt. She witnesses someone stabbed through the chest with a sword from behind.

Ani hears a horse has been killed and sees its dismembered leg, and later sees its head mounted like a trophy.

A man attacks Ani, chasing her and cutting her with a knife.

Battle scenes show fights with swords, javelins, and daggers. Some fatalities.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez

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Furia
Yamile Saied Méndez
Algonquin Young Readers
Published September 15, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Furia

An #ownvoices contemporary YA set in Argentina, about a rising soccer star who must put everything on the line—even her blooming love story—to follow her dreams.

In Rosario, Argentina, Camila Hassan lives a double life.

At home, she is a careful daughter, living within her mother’s narrow expectations, in her rising-soccer-star brother’s shadow, and under the abusive rule of her short-tempered father.

On the field, she is La Furia, a powerhouse of skill and talent. When her team qualifies for the South American tournament, Camila gets the chance to see just how far those talents can take her. In her wildest dreams, she’d get an athletic scholarship to a North American university.

But the path ahead isn’t easy. Her parents don’t know about her passion. They wouldn’t allow a girl to play fútbol—and she needs their permission to go any farther. And the boy she once loved is back in town. Since he left, Diego has become an international star, playing in Italy for the renowned team Juventus. Camila doesn’t have time to be distracted by her feelings for him. Things aren’t the same as when he left: she has her own passions and ambitions now, and La Furia cannot be denied. As her life becomes more complicated, Camila is forced to face her secrets and make her way in a world with no place for the dreams and ambition of a girl like her.

My Review

I remember really wanting to read this book when it came out. I haven’t read a lot of soccer books, and I’m not super familiar with the game, but that didn’t hinder my enjoyment of this book at all.

At the surface, this is a story of a girl who wants to win an important soccer tournament that could open doors for her to play on a professional team. She must balance school, an after-school job, family pressure, and the pull of romance with her passion for soccer. The team experiences trouble, from losses, injured players, and people forcing players to quit, so the stakes rise as the story progresses.

In the early chapters, the romance kind of dominated the story. I loved the relationship between Camila and Diego, so I didn’t mind this at all. It also allowed us to see the contrast between how Diego treated Camila and how her father and other men in her life treated women.

We still got to see a lot of scenes of Camila practicing and playing soccer, and I loved that, too. I felt like those scenes were very easy to follow, even for someone who isn’t super familiar with the game. I found it easy to lose myself in the intensity of the game and Camila’s fierce desire to win.

Underneath all of that, though, the author shares commentary on Argentinian culture. Not too long ago, it was illegal for women to play soccer. Even still, the players in the book faced enormous prejudice and pressure to quit. The story references how often girls disappear and how little law enforcement has done to address the problem. As a result, Camila worries for her safety when she has to be out at night and while she rides the bus. Sometimes family members use the danger as reason to squash her independence.

FURIA is definitely a book that swept in during the pandemic and didn’t get nearly as much notice as it should have. I think fans of YOU DON’T HAVE A SHOT by Racquel Marie or WITH THE FIRE ON HIGH by Elizabeth Acevedo will love this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Camila is multi-racial, with a Russian great-grandmother, Pakistani grandfather, Andalusian grandmother and Black great-great-grandmother. She is also Argentinian and lives in Rosario.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used once. Mild profanity used fewer than a dozen times.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. A woman tells Camila she wasn’t allowed to play soccer because her parents thought it would make her a lesbian. Two of the female soccer players on Camila’s team are dating.

Spiritual Content
Camila thanks la Virgencita for a good thing that happens. She buys a card for La Difunta, a saint who died in the desert and was found still nursing her baby in a beam of sunshine. Camila makes plans to bring water to a shrine for the saint and asks for her help. Camila visits a healer who calls on the saints and the Lord to heal her and says the healing will depend on Camila’s faith.

Violent Content
Camila gets hit in the face by a soccer ball and knocked down during a game. A twelve-year-old girl goes missing and is later found murdered. Camila reflects on how often this happens to young women in Rosario and the injustice of that. A man knocks a teenage girl down and hits her with a belt.

Drug Content
References to alcohol and smoking.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything but help support this blog.

Review: Kyra Just for Today by Sara Zarr

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Kyra Just for Today
Sara Zarr
Balzer + Bray
Published March 5, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Kyra Just for Today

From award-winning author Sara Zarr comes a gorgeously crafted and deeply personal story about a young girl, her alcoholic mother, and the hope that ties them together. Krya has always felt like she’s a bit too much. Too tall. Too loud. Too earnest. But she’s okay with that, because she’s got her mom. Ever since Mom got sober about five years ago, she and Kyra have always been there for each other—something Kyra is thankful for every week when she attends her group meetings with other kids of alcoholics. When Mom is managing her cleaning business and Kyra is taking care of things at home, maybe, she thinks, she’s not too much. Maybe, she’s just enough.

Then seventh grade starts, and everything Kyra used to be able to count on feels unsure. Kyra’s best friend, Lu, is hanging out with eighth graders, and Mom is unusually distant. When Mom starts missing work, sleeping in, and forgetting things, Kyra doesn’t dare say “relapse.” But soon not saying that word means not saying anything at all—to Lu or to her support group. And when Kyra suspects that her worst fears might be real, she starts to question whether being just enough is not enough at all.

With sensitivity and candor, acclaimed author Sara Zarr tells a heartfelt, personal story about finding hope in even the most difficult places, and love in even the most complicated relationships.

My Review

I haven’t read everything by Sara Zarr, but I’ve really enjoyed the books I have read. She has this incredible ability to bring complex family situations and complex emotions or relationships to the table in a way that feels vulnerable and authentic and never preachy.

This book also nails that transition from childhood to adolescence, where so many of our friendships change. Sometimes the connections we treasured morph or stretch into new shapes. Having those changes on top of Kyra’s worries about her mom made for a story with a ton of emotional depth.

The scenes in which Kyra attends a support group for kids who have loved ones who are alcoholics were incredible, too. I think I sobbed through a couple of those right along with the characters in the scene. They were so moving.

All this makes the book sound like it’s packed with big emotions and tears, and there are some heavy scenes, for sure. I also enjoyed the scenes that showed how friendships can surprise us and how watching a beautiful snowfall can make everything else fade away for a little while. I cracked up during one scene in the cafeteria.

I think kids navigating transitions in friendships will enjoy the peer relationships in this book. I was around this age when it became openly discussed in our family that one family member was an alcoholic. I really didn’t understand what that meant beyond the excessive drinking behaviors, so a book like this may have really helped me put things into context. It may have given me a view of what recovery could look like and the ways in which supportive friendships or groups could look.

All in all, I loved this book, and I’m so glad Sara Zarr wrote it.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Kyra’s mom is an alcoholic in recovery. Her best friend’s dad is also an alcoholic and is still drinking.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Kyra’s grandparents are very religious and pressure her and her mom to come to their church with them. Kyra’s mom believes in the importance of a higher power, but she thinks of the ocean as her higher power because it’s so vast and deep.

Violent Content
A parent pushes a child away when the kid jokingly tries to grab her mom’s journal. A girl injures herself cooking and has to call for help.

Drug Content
References to adults drinking excessively. (The drinking happens off-scene.)

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: Daughter of the Bone Forest by Jasmine Skye

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Daughter of the Bone Forest (Witch Hall #1)
Jasmine Skye
Feiwel & Friends
Published February 27, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Daughter of the Bone Forest

Two girls reluctantly bound by fate must weather a dangerous courtship as a prophesied war grows ever closer in Jasmine Skye’s high-stakes, queernormative dark fantasy debut, DAUGHTER OF THE BONE FOREST.

Rosy is a bone familiar, gifted with the power to shift into animals marked with exposed bone. She spends most of her days in the magical Bone Forest, caring for her feral grandmother and hiding her powers to avoid conscription by the Witch King’s army. Until the day that Princess Shaw, a witch known as Death’s Heir, visits the Forest. When Rosy saves Shaw’s life, the princess offers her the chance to attend the prestigious school, Witch Hall, as payment. Though Rosy is wary of Shaw’s intentions, she cannot pass up the opportunity to find the cure for her grandmother’s affliction.

But at Witch Hall, Rosy finds herself embroiled in political games she doesn’t understand. Shaw wants Rosy for her entourage, a partner to help lead the coming war. All Rosy wants is to stay out of trouble until she can graduate and save her grandmother, but she can’t deny her attraction to Shaw or the comfort Shaw’s magic gives her. Will Rosy give in to her destiny, or will the Bone Forest call her home once and for all?

My Review

I got totally lost in this book. It’s the first in a series, but I kept forgetting that as I read it. I loved both main characters– Rosy and Shaw. Rosy’s scenes are told in first person point of view, and Shaw’s are in third person, so I immediately felt closer to Rosy, which I think was the point. Shaw is so closed and carefully measured and controlled.

The romance arc in this one was honestly pretty perfect for me. I think a higher percentage of the girl/girl romances I’ve read have either had an insta-love vibe, and that’s really not my favorite kind of romance to read. This one is much more in the slow burn lane, which has (especially lately) been a favorite flavor of romance for me. So DAUGHTER OF THE BONE FOREST knocked it out of the park for me as a reader in terms of its romance elements.

I also find the magic system really intriguing and different. There are magic users (witches) and shapeshifters (familiars) who often bond with one another for magic and life benefits. I can’t remember all the different magic classes, but I know there was bone magic, which the main characters use. There’s also flower magic and maybe ice magic?

Most of the story takes place at the magic school (Witch Hall) so the book also has a magic boarding school vibe to it, too. I see that more often in middle grade books, so it was really fun to get to read a young adult novel with that element for a change.

All in all, I would absolutely call this one a win for me. I really look forward to where the series goes. I’m already excited for the second book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
I don’t remember there being a lot of physical character descriptions. One character is nonbinary. Another is bigender. Some minor characters are in same-gender couples. The two major characters (both girls) enter a courting relationship with each other.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls. Kissing between two boys.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic of certain types. Other characters have the ability to shapeshift into one or more animal forms. Often, a witch (magic user) will bond with a familiar (shapeshifter), and both receive a power boost.

Violent Content
Situations of peril and battle violence. In one scene, men light a group of unarmed students and a young villager on fire.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of DAUGHTER OF THE BONE FOREST in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: Hunt, Gather, Parent by Michaeleen Doucleff

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Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Humans
Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD
Avid Reader Press
Published March 2, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Hunt, Gather, Parent

When Dr. Michaeleen Doucleff becomes a mother, she examines the studies behind modern parenting guidance and finds the evidence frustratingly limited and the conclusions often ineffective. Curious to learn about more effective parenting approaches, she visits a Maya village in the Yucatán Peninsula. There she encounters moms and dads who parent in a totally different way than we do—and raise extraordinarily kind, generous, and helpful children without yelling, nagging, or issuing timeouts. What else, Doucleff wonders, are Western parents missing out on?

In HUNT, GATHER, PARENT, Doucleff sets out with her three-year-old daughter in tow to learn and practice parenting strategies from families in three of the world’s most venerable communities: Maya families in Mexico, Inuit families above the Arctic Circle, and Hadzabe families in Tanzania. She sees that these cultures don’t have the same problems with children that Western parents do. Most strikingly, parents build a relationship with young children that is vastly different from the one many Western parents develop—it’s built on cooperation instead of control, trust instead of fear, and personalized needs instead of standardized development milestones.

Maya parents are masters at raising cooperative children. Without resorting to bribes, threats, or chore charts, Maya parents rear loyal helpers by including kids in household tasks from the time they can walk. Inuit parents have developed a remarkably effective approach for teaching children emotional intelligence. When kids cry, hit, or act out, Inuit parents respond with a calm, gentle demeanor that teaches children how to settle themselves down and think before acting. Hadzabe parents are world experts on raising confident, self-driven kids with a simple tool that protects children from stress and anxiety, so common now among American kids.

Not only does Doucleff live with families and observe their techniques firsthand, she also applies them with her own daughter, with striking results. She learns to discipline without yelling. She talks to psychologists, neuroscientists, anthropologists, and sociologists and explains how these strategies can impact children’s mental health and development. Filled with practical takeaways that parents can implement immediately, HUNT, GATHER, PARENT helps us rethink the ways we relate to our children, and reveals a universal parenting paradigm adapted for American families.

My Review

I can already tell I need a hard copy of this book for notes and highlights. Also, I need to listen to the audiobook version again.

The author narrates the audiobook, and I found it easy to listen to her. Her conversational style makes it feel like having a conversation with another mom about common parenting challenges. She also tells stories from the parenting trenches. Plus, a bonus: science!

First off, I really liked the way this book was broken down into parts. First, a research section discusses our (specifically, the WEIRD, Western, United States-based) approach to psychology. It looks at the study of what’s good for children and how much it assumes or misses by ignoring the input of other cultures. Three big parts focus on Doucleff’s time with parents from each of three different cultures: Maya, Inuit, and Hadzabe parents.

There are also TONS of helpful tips and ways to put the different concepts Doucleff explores into practice. Looking for ways to get your kids to help with chores? There’s a section for that. Want your littles to be more autonomous? The author’s got you covered. There are so many ideas I want to try in this book. I feel like I’m going to reference it for a while since I can only manage to introduce one or two at a time.

On the whole, this is a super practical, well-researched book that parents of younger children will find especially helpful. Though you can apply the concepts to all ages, I think it’ll be easiest to introduce them to younger kids.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages whatever age you become a parent. Ha.

Representation
The book contains wisdom and teaching from Maya, Inuit, and Hadzabe parents and leaders.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

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

tons of helpful parenting strategies and solutions based on Maya, Inuit, and Hadzabe traditions.