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Review: When Sea Becomes Sky by Gillian McDunn

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When Sea Becomes Sky by Gillian McDunn

When Sea Becomes Sky
Gillian McDunn
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published February 28, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About When Sea Becomes Sky

In this heartfelt summer story, acclaimed author Gillian McDunn paints a stunning portrait of the bond of siblings and the love we’ll always carry with us.

Bex and Davey’s summer in the saltmarsh is different this year, thanks to the record-breaking drought. Even the fish seem listless–and each day the water level lowers farther. When they discover a mysterious underwater statue, they’re thrilled at the chance to solve the puzzle of its origin. This is the summer adventure they’ve been waiting for.

When they learn of a development plan that will destroy their special spot, they’ll need to act quickly. Unfortunately, sometimes progress happens whether you’re ready or not. What will it mean if Bex and Davey lose their corner of the marsh where otters frolic and dragonflies buzz–their favorite place to be siblings together?

As Bex and Davey attempt to save the statue and their beloved marsh, they come to see that the truth is not as simple as it seems . . . ultimately discovering so much more about life, permanence, love, and loss than they ever expected.

Award-winning author Gillian McDunn crafts a gorgeous story of love and siblinghood, of secret statues and island life, of holding on and letting go.

My Review

I’ve been a fan of Gillian McDunn’s books since her debut, CATERPILLAR SUMMER. That one was really special to me because of the main character and her bond with her family over fishing– something also special to me. So while I am always on the lookout for her next book, and I’ve enjoyed all of them, I don’t go into the books with the expectation that they’ll replace CATERPILLAR SUMMER in my heart.

This one really came close, though! You know that feeling, reading a book, where the setting becomes part of the story, and the characters feel so real you can’t help but get lost in what they’re feeling, and you catch yourself not breathing because you’re waiting for something to happen? Yeah. WHEN SEA BECOMES SKY definitely achieves that.

I really liked the way the environmental dilemma resolved and the way all the pieces of the story fit together. There are a lot of things that at first don’t seem related to one another that we discover are actually connected. I loved that, too.

This is a sad book. By the time I got to the Author’s Note, I was outright bawling. I think when an author can do that to you (I’m totally looking at you, Ashley Schumacher!!) and you love the book even more, that’s a great book.

I think readers who loved NEST by Esther Ehrlich or THE THING ABOUT JELLYFISH by Ali Benjamin.

Content Notes for When Sea Becomes Sky

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

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 WHEN SEA BECOMES SKY in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin

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Ain’t Burned All the Bright
Jason Reynolds
Illustrated by Jason Griffin
Atheneum
Published January 11, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Ain’t Burned All the Bright

Prepare yourself for something unlike anything: A smash-up of art and text for teens that viscerally captures what it is to be Black. In America. Right Now. Written by #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jason Reynolds.

Jason Reynolds and his best bud, Jason Griffin had a mind-meld. And they decided to tackle it, in one fell swoop. In about ten sentences, and 300 pages of art, this piece, this contemplation-manifesto-fierce-vulnerable-gorgeous-terrifying-WhatIsWrongWithHumans-hope-filled-hopeful-searing-Eye-Poppingly-Illustrated-tender-heartbreaking-how-The-HECK-did-They-Come-UP-with-This project about oxygen. And all of the symbolism attached to that word, especially NOW.

So, for anyone who didn’t really know what it means to not be able to breathe, REALLY breathe, for generations, now you know. And those who already do, you’ll be nodding yep yep, that is exactly how it is.

My Review

This is another book that totally blew my mind. The story is very simple, but even that is part of its power. The illustrations are so illuminating. I know the story is about oxygen, about breathing, about a flame catching, but that is also what reading this book feels like. It’s that perfect blend of a spark, oxygen, and fuel that creates a burst of flame.

I’ve had this book on my reading list since it came out. I noticed it recently on a Publisher’s Weekly list of best books of 2022, and decided it was time to just read it.

It’s the kind of book that you could read in an hour, less probably, but that you’ll want to take your time with instead. I found that as I read, I wanted to just sit with each illustration and let the words sink in.

I feel like I keep coming back to the fact that at its core, AIN’T BURNED UP THE BRIGHT is a simple story, yet it’s so much more. Maybe that’s what makes it so incredible.

Anyway, I highly recommend this book. I loved it, and I can’t think of anything else like it.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
The artwork shows a Black family. The story is from the perspective of a Black boy.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
References to news stories. The words stop short of specifically talking about police violence, but it’s clear that some of the news stories the narrator refers to are those stories. Some of the artwork shows fire.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: We Can Be Heroes by Kyrie McCauley

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We Can Be Heroes
Kyrie McCauley
Katherine Tegen Books
Published September 7, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About We Can Be Heroes

“Welcome to Bell, proud home of Bell Firearms for two hundred years, and where five months ago, the teen heir to the Bell fortune took his father’s guns to school and killed his ex-girlfriend, Cassandra Queen.” —WE CAN BE HEROES PODCAST

Beck and Vivian never could stand each other, but they always tried their best for their mutual friend, Cassie. After the town moves on from Cassie’s murder too fast, Beck and Vivian finally find common ground: vengeance. They memorialize Cassie by secretly painting murals of her around town, a message to the world that Cassie won’t be forgotten. But Beck and Vivian are keeping secrets, like the third passenger riding in Beck’s VW bus with them—Cassie’s ghost.

When their murals catch the attention of a podcaster covering Cassie’s case, they become the catalyst for a debate that Bell Firearms can no longer ignore. With law enforcement closing in on them, Beck and Vivian hurry to give Cassie the closure she needs—by delivering justice to those responsible for her death.

Kyrie McCauley, author of If These Wings Could Fly, delivers a powerful contemporary YA novel about a trio of girls fighting for each other in the aftermath of a school shooting and the lasting bonds of friendship. Perfect for fans of Laura Ruby and Mindy McGinnis.

My Review

This. Book. Just wow. There are a couple scenes toward the end in particular (which I won’t spoil) but which absolutely wrecked me. The relationships between the characters are so incredibly well done. The friendships between the girls. The relationship between Beck and her gentle, not to be pushed around, strong but silent type grandfather. He’s my favorite literary grandpa EVER.

Then. The layering! The way the story wove together truths about domestic violence and powerful snapshots from Greek myths and the story of two girls grappling with crushing grief in a town refusing to face what killed their best friend. The clips from the podcast focused on exposing violence against women. The Latin expression that was so precious to Cassie that comes up again and again through the story: collige virgo rosas.

I just.

I feel like there’s no way that I can review this book and do it justice at all. It might be the best book at weaving all these things together simultaneously and telling a story that bears the weight of the important topics it explores without being dominated by them.

I loved this book. This is going to be the book you hear about from me for like the next year, so if you know me in real life, probably go ahead and read it now. Ha! Really, though. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book that felt as gripping and as weighty as this and had the moving writing style to back it up, too. Like maybe since I read THE BOOK THIEF? I’m not sure. I can see why McCauley is compared in the back cover copy to Laura Ruby, who wrote BONE GAP, which was also a densely packed, lyrical, moving book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are three white girls. One girl is a lesbian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kiss between boy and girl. A girl recalls briefly that she slept with her boyfriend before she was ready and implies that he pressured or perhaps even forced her to do so.

Spiritual Content
Cassie is dead, but every night she appears as a ghost in the van owned by one of her two best friends.

Violent Content – Trigger warning for domestic violence/abuse and for gun violence and suicide and bullying.
Some descriptions of domestic violence. Some descriptions of a school shooting in which Cassie was killed and one of her best friends injured before the gunman ended his life. Those things happened before the book begins, so they’re related in short flashes of memory by the characters.

At one point, a girl finds a hateful message spray painted on her door. (I’ve referred to this as bullying, but I’m not sure what the right label for it is.)

Drug Content
The girls drink alcohol together and get drunk together as teens more than once.

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

Review: Tell Me Everything by Sarah Enni

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Tell Me Everything
Sarah Enni
Point
February 26, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Goodreads

About Tell Me Everything

YOUR SECRET’S SAFE … UNTIL IT’S NOT

Ivy is the shy artist type and keeps a low profile—so low that she’s practically invisible to everyone at Belfry High School except for her best friend, Harold. As sophomore year begins, Harold takes up a hundred activities, leaving Ivy on her own. Luckily she’s found a distraction: the new anonymous art-sharing app, VEIL.

Soon Ivy realizes that one of her classmates is the VEIL user who needs new paintbrushes … and another is the one visiting the hospital every week … and another is the one dealing with their parents’ messy divorce. While she’s too scared to put her own creations on the app, Ivy thinks of an even better way to contribute—by making gifts for the artists she’s discovered. The acts of kindness give her such a rush that, when Ivy suspects Harold is keeping a secret, she decides to go all in. Forget gifts—Ivy wants to throw Harold a major party.

But when all those good intentions thrust her into the spotlight, Ivy’s carefully curated world is thrown into chaos. Now she has to find the courage to come out of the shadows—about her art, her secrets, and her mistakes—or risk losing everything and everyone she loves the most.

My Review

In TELL ME EVERYTHING, Ivy has the best voice of anything I’ve read in a while. I loved her awkwardness and the way she paid attention to people. The writing felt really natural and funny.

I enjoyed the story a lot, too. I liked that even though she was figuring out secrets of people around her, her judgments weren’t always accurate. And she also has to learn that even when they are accurate, it doesn’t mean that her interference will be welcome.

She also wrestles with this desire to be part of things but also invisible, which really resonated with me. It’s hard to find the right balance for me, too.

Overall, I loved so many things about TELL ME EVERYTHING. Somebody go read it so we can have coffee and gush about it together! Ha!

Seriously, though, if you like Sarah Dessen’s books or THE UNLIKELY HERO OF ROOM 13B by Teresa Toten, then you definitely want to check out TELL ME EVERYTHING.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Ivy discovers one of her friends is gay. Her best friend is black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Someone posts slurs against someone who’s gay.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: Your Destination is on the Left by Lauren Spieller

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

Your Destination is on the Left
Lauren Spieller
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published on June 26, 2018

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Your Destination is on the Left
Dessa Rhodes is a modern day nomad. Her family travels in an RV, their lives defined by state lines, exit signs, and the small communal caravan they call home. Among them is Cyrus, her best friend and long-time crush, whom she knows she can never be with. When your families are perpetually linked, it’s too dangerous to take a risk on romance.

Instead, Dessa looks to the future. She wants to be a real artist and going to art school is her ticket to success and a new life. There’s just one problem: she hasn’t been accepted…anywhere. Suddenly her future is wide open, and it looks like she’s going to be stuck traveling forever.

Then an unexpected opportunity presents itself: an internship working with a local artist in Santa Fe. Dessa struggles to prove to her boss—and herself—that she belongs there, but just as she finally hits her stride, her family suffers an unexpected blow. Faced with losing everything that she has worked for, Dessa has a difficult decision to make. Will she say goodbye to her nomadic lifestyle and the boy she loves? Or will she choose to never stop moving?

My Review
I liked that Dessa’s major goal wasn’t to find true love or be in a relationship. While romance is an important element of the story, Dessa’s real goal is to go to college and craft a future for herself. This creates some problems between her and her family as her parents want her to stay with them and continue traveling. It also strains her relationship with her best friend Cyrus, because he reads her desire for another life as a rejection of the life he’s chosen. So Dessa faces a difficult journey as she tries to find a way to do what she feels is best for her without hurting the people she loves most.

At one point, Dessa’s dad asks her to keep a secret from her mom. Dessa keeps the secret, but feels guilty about the lie and frustrated that her dad continues to lie to the family, too. I loved her relationship with her grandmother, who acts as a pillar of strength and a sort of home base for Dessa and her family. She doesn’t direct the story, but she sometimes serves as a mirror, reflecting Dessa’s true desires back to her sometimes without any words.

Dessa’s artwork also plays a major role in the story. I loved that. The descriptions of her artwork and the art of the woman who mentors her had me wishing for a studio and paintbrushes or a day at the museum.

On the whole, I liked the balance between Dessa’s dreams for the future, which she won’t compromise for a relationship that might only be for right now, and her relationships. I loved the way art was represented in and played a role in the story, too. Readers who liked Stacie Ramey’s The Sister Pact and How to Be Brave by E. Katherine Kottaras will want to check this one out.

Recommended for Ages 16 and up.

Cultural Elements
Dessa’s family is Greek. Cyrus’s family is black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used regularly throughout the book.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl and tops removed. Dessa says they don’t have sex but come close.

Spiritual Content
Dessa’s grandmother is Greek Orthodox. There are a couple mentions of her going to church or passing mentions of her faith. At one point, she and Dessa plan to spend time alone together, and her grandmother says, it’s going to be her, Dessa, and the Lord.

Violent Content
Dessa throws a cup of beer in the face of a cruel boy.

Drug Content
Dessa drinks beer with a friend after they both sneak into a bar together, and later drinks champagne (provided by her grandmother) with Cyrus.

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

 

Review: For Love and Honor by Jody Hedlund

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Historical, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

For Love and Honor (An Uncertain Choice #3)
Jody Hedlund
Zondervan
Published on March 7, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About For Love and Honor
Lady Sabine is harboring a skin blemish, one, that if revealed, could cause her to be branded as a witch, put her life in danger, and damage her chances of making a good marriage. After all, what nobleman would want to marry a woman so flawed?

Sir Bennet is returning home to protect his family from an imminent attack by neighboring lords who seek repayment of debts. Without fortune or means to pay those debts, Sir Bennet realizes his only option is to make a marriage match with a wealthy noblewoman. As a man of honor, he loathes the idea of courting a woman for her money, but with time running out for his family’s safety, what other choice does he have?

As Lady Sabine and Sir Bennet are thrust together under dangerous circumstances, will they both be able to learn to trust each other enough to share their deepest secrets? Or will those secrets ultimately lead to their demise?

My Review
Confession: this is totally not my preferred genre, but I’ve ended up reading this series because it’s the type of book my daughter enjoys.

As with An Uncertain Choice, the story follows characters who must marry but dread it. I liked Sabine’s character and the way her interest in art drives her and Sir Bennet together. The scenes from Sir Bennet’s perspective weren’t my favorite. He spent a lot of time agonizing over Sabine’s feelings and his own, which felt a little overly girly to me (not that men can’t be sensitive) and seemed similar to the voice in scenes from Sabine’s point-of-view.

While the characters are young—I think Sabine is seventeen—I would describe the story more as an adult romance with young adult crossover appeal. (As I mentioned, my daughter loves this kind of story right now.) It does make a great romance for younger readers who want that happily-ever-after story without the sexual tension or graphic descriptions.

On the whole, I enjoyed reading the story of Sabine and Sir Bennet in For Love and Honor (though I’m still team Derrick!) and think it will appeal to early young adult or late middle grade readers looking for a light, clean medieval romance.

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Cultural Elements
All characters appear to be white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief kissing between a man and woman. Some descriptions of wanting to kiss.

Spiritual Content
References to prayer. Bennet values Christian artifacts and artwork as holy things because of his faith and what they represent.

Violent Content
A couple battle scenes in which soldiers become injured. Men attempt to burn a woman at the stake after accusing her of being a witch. A man throws a woman into a lake to prove she’s a witch.

Drug Content
Bennett and Sabine occasionally drink ale or wine, usually with a meal.