Category Archives: Book Review and Content

Review: Malcolm and Me by Robin Farmer

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Malcolm and Me by Robin Farmer

Malcolm and Me
Robin Farmer
SparkPress
Published November 17, 2020

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About Malcolm and Me

Philly native Roberta Forest is a precocious rebel with the soul of a poet. The thirteen-year-old is young, gifted, black, and Catholic—although she’s uncertain about the Catholic part after she calls Thomas Jefferson a hypocrite for enslaving people and her nun responds with a racist insult. Their ensuing fight makes Roberta question God and the important adults in her life, all of whom seem to see truth as gray when Roberta believes it’s black or white.

An upcoming essay contest, writing poetry, and reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X all help Roberta cope with the various difficulties she’s experiencing in her life, including her parent’s troubled marriage. But when she’s told she’s ineligible to compete in the school’s essay contest, her explosive reaction to the news leads to a confrontation with her mother, who shares some family truths Roberta isn’t ready for.

Set against the backdrop of Watergate and the post-civil rights movement era, Angel Dressed in Black is a gritty yet graceful examination of the anguish teens experience when their growing awareness of themselves and the world around them unravels their sense of security—a coming-of-age tale of truth-telling, faith, family, forgiveness, and social activism.

My Review

I keep writing sentences that start with, “My favorite thing about this book…” and then I remember something else equally as awesome as the thing I was originally going to call my favorite.

I loved a LOT about this book. The characters are complex. Roberta, at fourteen, is just beginning to discover that she can admire and despise things about the same person. I loved that that lesson was repeated in her relationships with multiple characters in the story.

MALCOLM AND ME definitely challenged me. I feel like, at the beginning of the story, I wanted to doubt Roberta’s perceptions of things sometimes. Or offer more benefit of the doubt than she was comfortable offering. A couple of times I paused in my reading to think that through and made a conscious decision to listen to her story and see where it all went before making any judgments.

I feel like I grew as a reader, but I also think Roberta’s story was so rich and compelling that she would have pulled me along with her no matter what. But I know I really deeply loved the way MALCOLM AND ME explored relationships, particularly her relationship with the nun who used racist insults to humiliate her and with her father, who she learns has some troubling secrets.

Through all this, she continues to evaluate her faith in God– sometimes rejecting belief out of anger, other times being swallowed by her guilt, and still other times leaning into prayer and faith as a means of bringing her through dark moments.

She also connects things that happen to her to the life of Malcolm X, whose autobiography she has been reading. I thought it was really cool the way the story showed a progression in her thinking there, too. Sometimes she was drawn to the hardness of some of this words. At other times, she was drawn to the things he said later in his life, more about peace and treating white people as brothers.

Roberta’s confidence can’t help but be inspiring. Her commitment to think deeply and explore issues and her leadership definitely moved me. I loved this book. I want to see it in classrooms and community libraries, and I hope it inspires many conversations about race and history and faith. I absolutely recommend MALCOLM AND ME.

If you missed it yesterday, please check out my Q&A with author Robin Farmer for lots more insight on this fantastic book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Roberta is Black and attends a mostly white Catholic school.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently. Some racial slurs, including use of the N-word.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some vague references to men having affairs. Several times Roberta comments on curvy women and the men around them eyeballing those curves.

Spiritual Content
Roberta attends Mass and confession. She and other characters pray sometimes. Sometimes she doubts her faith.

Violent Content
A woman slaps a girl multiple times. The girl hits her back in the chest. A woman punches a wall in the midst of an argument. Two boys get into a fistfight.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White

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The Guinevere Deception (Camelot Rising #1)
Kiersten White
Delacorte Press
Published November 5, 2019

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About The Guinevere Deception

From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes a new fantasy series reimagining the Arthurian legend, set in the magical world of Camelot.

There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl.

Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom’s borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution–send in Guinevere to be Arthur’s wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king’s idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere’s real name–and her true identity–is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.

To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old–including Arthur’s own family–demand things continue as they have been, and the new–those drawn by the dream of Camelot–fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur’s knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.

Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?

My Review

THIS is the female-centered Arthur retelling that I’ve been waiting for. I remember loving the idea of taking the legend of King Arthur and retelling it from a female point-of-view when I first heard about the book CURSED by Thomas Wheeler. CURSED tells the story of Arthur’s rise from the point-of-view of a Druid woman who becomes the Lady of the Lake. It was a cool book, cool idea, but the level of violence and focus on battles were a struggle for me.

So I left that book feeling like I still hadn’t seen a female-centered retelling that appealed to me. And then I found this book. Oh. My. Gosh.

I feel like one thing the book does really well is to deliver the sense of magic and honor and awe that other tales of Camelot and King Arthur inspire. King Arthur, though he’s not the main character, retains that visionary, every-man’s-king-ness that I think of as really essential to his character. Camelot also has this shiny, fairy-tale quality to it that I didn’t realize I hoped for.

By far the most amazing thing about this book, to me, is the way the female characters own the story. It’s wholly Guinevere’s tale. She’s the hero, the one piecing things together to uncover threats to the kingdom. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that eventually, there will be a face-off between Guinevere and a Dark Queen, a force of evil magic. I loved that even in this, the story focuses on its ladies.

There are a couple of female side characters who added a lot to the story, too, but I don’t want to say too much about them, because I don’t want to give any spoilers. Just know that there is a lot to look forward to in the cast of this book.

This is the first book by Kiersten White that I’ve read, and I loved the storytelling and the writing enough that now I want to read everything she has ever written. I think this is going to be a series you need to read in order, so I do recommend starting with this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Characters are mainly white/English. One side character is a lesbian. Another side character says that when she dresses as a woman, it feels like a lie, so she dresses as a man.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Brief strong profanity and crude language. Mainly it’s used to describe what Camelot was when Arthur became king. Sewage flowed in the streets and some of the street names reflected this fact. Then Arthur arranged for a group of kids to collect everyone’s chamber pots and empty them away from the streets.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Reference to a girl in love with another girl. Some vague reference to sex/pregnancy and how quickly Guinevere will provide Arthur an heir.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to do magic. Guinevere mainly uses what she calls knot magic, where she literally ties knots for protection and other purposes. She can also touch things and have a sense of their identity and where they’ve come from. A Dark Queen intends to use magic to destroy civilization. Magic is chaos. Arthur’s rule is order. The two cannot exist together.

Violent Content
Some battle violence. Guinevere meets a man who was accused of raping more than one woman. He suggests that he would like to do the same to her.

Drug Content
Social drinking at dinner and parties.

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

Review: Love & Olives by Jenna Evans Welch

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

Love & Olives
Jenna Evans Welch
Simon Pulse
Published November 10, 2020

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About Love & Olives

Liv Varanakis doesn’t have a lot of fond memories of her father, which makes sense—he fled to Greece when she was only eight. What Liv does remember, though, is their shared love for Greek myths and the lost city of Atlantis. So when Liv suddenly receives a postcard from her father explaining that National Geographic is funding a documentary about his theories on Atlantis—and will she fly out to Greece and help?—Liv jumps at the opportunity.

But when she arrives to gorgeous Santorini, things are a little…awkward. There are so many questions, so many emotions that flood to the surface after seeing her father for the first time in years. And yet Liv doesn’t want their past to get in the way of a possible reconciliation. She also definitely doesn’t want Theo—her father’s charismatic so-called “protégé”—to witness her struggle.

And that means diving into all that Santorini has to offer—the beautiful sunsets, the turquoise water, the hidden caves, and the delicious cuisine. But not everything on the Greek island is as perfect as it seems. Because as Liv slowly begins to discover, her father may not have invited her to Greece for Atlantis, but for something much more important.

My Review

I have some mixed feelings about this book, but I liked a lot of things. First, the stuff that I loved.

The setting is gorgeous. LOVE & OLIVES made me feel like I was in Santorini enjoying the outdoors and the sea and excited about hunting down rumors of Atlantis. I loved a lot of things about Liv. She’s smart and artistic, and I couldn’t help feeling for her as she faced this unexpected trip to reunite with her estranged father. I liked Liv’s mom, too. She’s sharp and I felt like she tried really hard to walk that balance between interfering when necessary and letting Liv make her own life choices.

I really struggled with Liv’s feelings and relationship with her dad. I feel like I’ve been burned by that kind of visionary, head-in-the-clouds type of person before. He just seemed like he might flake out on her any second. It was hard not to worry that Liv was going to end up hurt again. Sometimes that made me angry.

I also had a hard time with Theo. I really didn’t like that he filmed her without her permission and ignored her when she asked him to stop. There were reasons in the story that made it a “good thing” that he had that footage, that’s still not okay. I don’t like stories where the guy overrides a girl’s no because he “knows better” than she does or knows her better than she knows herself, etc. I think it’s a dangerous behavior to idealize because it romanticizes someone who ultimately isn’t respecting a point-blank refusal.

That aside, I did like that Theo asked her thought-provoking questions. He also acted as a buffer between Liv and her dad. He did eventually grow to trust and respect Liv’s boundaries.

Her relationship with her dad went some places I wasn’t expecting. I still had a hard time because I worried that somehow he wouldn’t be accountable for the hurt he’d caused. I think the way the story explored the reasons why he disappeared and why he’d wanted to be a part of Liv’s life again were ultimately satisfying. It just took me a long time to warm to him.

Altogether, this book feels like a sweet summer romance, with a beautiful setting guaranteed to make you feel like you’re escaping reality. Ultimately I’m glad I read it. I think fans of Jennifer E. Smith will enjoy the romance of this story.

Content Notes for Love and Olives

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Liv and her father are Greek. So is Theo.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A couple instances of mild profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of LOVE & OLIVES 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: Into the Silent Land by Martin Laird

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Into the Silent Land: A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplative Prayer
Martin Laird
Oxford University Press
Published July 1, 2006

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About Into the Silent Land

Sitting in stillness, the practice of meditation, and the cultivation of awareness are commonly thought to be the preserves of Hindus and Buddhists. Martin Laird shows that the Christian tradition of contemplation has its own refined teachings on using a prayer word to focus the mind, working with the breath to cultivate stillness, and the practice of inner vigilance or awareness. But this book is not a mere historical survey of these teachings. In Into the Silent Land, we see the ancient wisdom of both the Christian East and West brought sharply to bear on the modern-day longing for radical openness to God in the depths of the heart.

Laird’s book is not like the many presentations for beginners. While useful for those just starting out, this book serves especially as a guide for those who desire to journey yet deeper into the silence of God. The heart of the book focuses on negotiating key moments of struggle on the contemplative path, when the whirlwind of distractions or the brick wall of boredom makes it difficult to continue. Laird shows that these inner struggles, even wounds, that any person of prayer must face, are like riddles, trying to draw out of us our own inner silence. Ultimately Laird shows how the wounds we loathe become vehicles of the healing silence we seek, beyond technique and achievement.

Throughout the language is fresh, direct, and focused on real-life examples of people whose lives are incomparably enriched by the practice of contemplation.

My Review

If I had to name the one book that’s changed my life most this year, INTO THE SILENT LAND has to be it. More than any year before, I’ve struggled with anxiety. Sometimes I get amped up with worry or anger or fear and I can feel my body reacting– heart racing, head pounding, my breathing coming rapidly– and I feel stuck, like I can’t back myself down to a calmer state.

Which is why I looked into this book. I’ve read about and briefly practiced meditation before, but this time I wanted something that integrated with my faith beliefs and practice as well.

The book description says that the writing is fresh and direct. I’d add that it’s also a bit of a difficult read. Like, have your dictionary handy, o ye mortals. Ha. No, seriously, it’s not impossible to read, but you’re not going to skim through this text in an afternoon.

It’s so worth reading, though. I feel like this is a practice that’s made a huge amount of difference in my life. It’s been super helpful in terms of managing stress and anxiety and helping remind me that my faith is a source of comfort.

At any rate, if you’re looking for a Christian meditation practice, I highly recommend this book. It’s a bit structured, but that’s one of the things I really like about it. It feels like cutting away the frills of some religious practice and just going back to a very simple thing. I found that to be really beautiful and helpful, but as faith is a super personal experience, I’m sure it’s not going to be a good fit for everyone.

Please let me know if you’ve read this book or others on meditative prayer. (It looks like Martin Laird has two other books on the subject.) I’d love to read more or talk to someone else who’s read INTO THE SILENT LAND.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Written by an Augustinian friar (a mendicant order of the Catholic church).

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Discusses bible and historical references to the Christian practice of meditative prayer.

Violent Content
None.

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.

Review: Dear Hero by Hope Bolinger and Alyssa Roat

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, Romance, , , , , ,

Dear Hero
Hope Bolinger and Alyssa Roat
INtense Publications
Published September 28, 2020

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

About Dear Hero

Cortex and V need a new nemesis. 

Up-and-coming teen superhero Cortex is on top of the world–at least, until his villain dumps him. If he’s going to save his reputation, he needs a new antagonist, and fast.

Meanwhile, the villainous Vortex has once again gotten a little overeager and taken out a hero prematurely. Will any young hero be able to keep up with her? Maybe she should work on finding a steady relationship with an enemy she won’t kill in the first round.

So the two turn to Meta-Match, a nemesis pairing site for heroes and villains, where they match right away. But not everything in the superhero world is as it seems. Who are the real heroes and villains? And just how fine of a line is there between love and hate? When darkness from the past threatens them both, Cortex and V may need to work together to make it out alive. 
Told entirely through texts, transcriptions, and direct messages, this darkly humorous chat fiction novel goes behind the scenes of the superworld.

My Review

So this whole story is told in what looks like direct messages through an app called Meta-Match, which is like a browsing site for villains and heroes to help them pair up and fight each other.

The opening chats were a little bit awkward, but I feel like it’s hard to write scenes where characters meet online without having at least a little bit of the feeling each other out and trying not to give too much away. Right away I knew I’d love V’s tough exterior and soft heart and Cortex’s awkwardness.

I had a lot of fun reading this book. It’s really different. Definitely a great read for anyone really needing an escape. I haven’t read RENEGADES by Marissa Meyer, but I wish I could say how it compares to something like that.

It reminded me a teeny bit of the ILLUMINAE books in the way it used direct messages and transcribed conversations. DEAR HERO does leave you to fill in the blanks on some of the scenes because you’re strictly getting dialogue unless someone narrates what’s happening.

All in all, it was definitely an entertaining, cute read. I’d say perfect for middle school readers.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Cortex is Japanese-American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
There were some teasing comments about race. For instance, in one scene V comments to Cortex (who is Asian) something like, aren’t you supposed to be good at math? He calls her out for stereotyping.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Reference to V attending Mass with Cortex’s family.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some references to violence and descriptions of battles between heroes and villains.

Drug Content
None.

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


Review: A Summer Taken by Jason Milgram

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

A Summer Taken
Jason Milgram
Published July 4, 2020

Amazon | Goodreads

About A Summer Taken

“The old green sign with painted yellow letters confirmed it–I was back. And like it or not, this was happening.”

14-year-old Julia is back at Lake Bradford for a very different reason than last time. Two years ago, she and her cousin Lizzie got to experience Camp Auctus, a leadership camp for gifted girls rooted in tradition, a place where even their mothers and grandmothers attended as girls. Campfires, fireflies, talent shows, races by the lake, friendships, and a mysterious Writer’s Hut nestled in the woods were just a few of the things that made Camp Auctus special.

But after a tragedy takes her cousin away, the best summer of Julia’s life becomes her worst. And now, she’s back, tasked with writing a tribute to the cousin she loved so deeply. Except…Julia isn’t sure she can do it. How can she put into words what she still has not been able to understand? Lizzie wasn’t just her best friend–she was her inspiration for change in the world.

A book series about multi-generational family and friendship, loss and grief, gun violence, the growth of divisive anger and hate we have allowed in our country, and a story of love and hope.

My Review

I love that this book takes a hard look at gun violence and the devastating impact it can have on a family and community, especially in a divisive political climate. I thought the setting of a summer camp to empower girls was a cool idea as well.

One thing I struggled with, though, was Julia’s character. She complains a lot, and I want to give her a pass for the parts of the story where she’s brittle and angry because she’s grieving her cousin’s death. But even when we flash back to a time before that, her character felt pretty much the same to me then. Kind of resentful and complaining.

I wanted to see more relationships develop between Julia and the other camp girls, who it seemed at been close to her cousin, and so would be grieving for her loss as well. Instead, the people Julia responded to the most were the adults in the story, like her camp counselor and her aunt. Those were neat scenes, and I loved seeing good mentors represented, but sometimes it felt like they handed Julia the answers she needed rather than her fighting to discover answers for herself.

On the whole, I liked the message of the story and the positive examples of mentors and role models, but I feel like Julia’s character lacked agency, and I wish there had been more relationship building or problem-solving or grieving together with the other campers.

Fans of summer camp stories or readers looking for stories with a strong message may want to look into this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Representation
Main character and her family are white. Julia battled an eating disorder in the past. I’m not sure about the quality of the representation there, but mostly the timeline of the story doesn’t focus on it.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Julia attends a funeral service for her cousin at a church.

Violent Content
Julia learns that her cousin was shot by a gunman at a political rally. She also overhears strangers laughing about her cousin’s death because they oppose her aunt’s political values.

Drug Content
None.

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