Tag Archives: cousins

Review: Three Summers by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess with Laura L. Sullivan

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Three Summers by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess with Laura L. Sullivan

Three Summers: A Memoir of Sisterhood, Summer Crushes, and Growing Up on the Eve of War
Amra Sabic-El-Rayess with Laura L. Sullivan
Farrar, Straus, & Giroux
Published April 9, 2024

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About Three Summers

An epic middle-grade memoir about sisterhood and coming-of-age in the three years leading up to the Bosnian Genocide.

Three Summers is the story of five young cousins who grow closer than sisters as ethnic tensions escalate over three summers in 1980s Bosnia. They navigate the joys and pitfalls of adolescence on their family’s little island in the middle of the Una River. When finally confronted with the harsh truths of the adult world around them, their bond gives them the resilience to discover and hold fast to their true selves.

Written with incredible warmth and tenderness, Amra Sabic-El-Rayess takes readers on a journey that will break their hearts and put them back together again.

My Review

This memoir is broken into three sections, one for each of the summers Amra spends with her cousins. Before that first summer, her family experiences a terrible loss, and Amra sinks into a dark depression. As she gets to know her cousins, she begins to have hope again, confidence in herself, and the courage to form friendships with others.

Her love for her family is so clear in the pages of the book. It celebrates familial bonds, especially those between a child and their parents, and the bonds between siblings and cousins.

This is the first book I’ve ever read about the Bosnian Genocide, though it isn’t the author’s first memoir about that time. After reading this book, I ordered a copy of her YA memoir, THE CAT I NEVER NAMED, so hopefully I’ll be ready to share my review of that book soon, too.

Technically, this book focuses on the years leading up to the genocide, in which the government becomes more and more hostile, one slow step at a time. I’m not gonna lie; it is harrowing to read a story like this and see parallels in some of the dehumanizing rhetoric certain political leaders are using right now.

Those comments make stories like this critically important because we need to remember that genocide doesn’t begin with the targeted deaths of a group of people. It begins with the systematic dehumanization of them.

I’m so glad Sabic-El-Rayess continues to write about her experiences in a way that kids can read about. The scenes in this book stay focused on Amra’s experience as a child, looking through her eyes. This is an important book, especially now. I hope that many people will discover and read it.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Amra and her family are Muslim. Amra’s older brother has Marfan syndrome.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
References to different faith practices of different groups around Amra.

Violent Content
Death of a sibling on scene. References to Islamaphobia. References to torture and execution.

Drug Content
One teen character smokes cigarettes.

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

Review: The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh

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The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukranian Famine
Katherine Marsh
MacMillan
Published January 17, 2023

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About The Lost Year

From the author of Nowhere Boy – called “a resistance novel for our times” by The New York Times – comes a brilliant middle-grade survival story that traces a harrowing family secret back to the Holodomor, a terrible famine that devastated Soviet Ukraine in the 1930s.

Thirteen-year-old Matthew is miserable. His journalist dad is stuck overseas indefinitely, and his mom has moved in his one-hundred-year-old great-grandmother to ride out the pandemic, adding to his stress and isolation.

But when Matthew finds a tattered black-and-white photo in his great-grandmother’s belongings, he discovers a clue to a hidden chapter of her past, one that will lead to a life-shattering family secret. Set in alternating timelines that connect the present-day to the 1930s and the US to the USSR, Katherine Marsh’s latest novel sheds fresh light on the Holodomor – the horrific famine that killed millions of Ukrainians, and which the Soviet government covered up for decades.

An incredibly timely, page-turning story of family, survival, and sacrifice, inspired by Marsh’s own family history, The Lost Year is perfect for fans of Ruta Sepetys’ Between Shades of Gray and Alan Gratz’s Refugee.

My Review

Stories with alternating timelines are hit or miss for me, but Katherine Marsh is an author whose books have been on my To Be Read list for a long time. That plus the Kyiv setting and rarely explored place/time in history made this book too good to pass up.

It took me a couple chapters to feel like I found my footing in the story. Matthew, our present-day main character, is chafing at the isolation and boredom of the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Because his family cares for his 100-year-old great grandmother, they stay isolated from the community.

He ends up tasked with helping his great grandmother (GG) sort through some old papers and files. Through this, he discovers a family history he’d known nothing about. Two point-of-view characters from the past, cousins Mila and Helen, reveal the story of the Holodomor, the terrible famine that devastated Soviet Ukraine.

From there, I felt like the pacing of the story picked up, and the connections between the past and present helped to fuel the forward momentum of the story. Matthew’s dad is a journalist reporting on the pandemic from France. He and Matthew discuss the (awful) power of misinformation. They talk about how people can continue to believe falsehoods even as their friends and neighbors experience tragedy.

Just as in the past, Mila at first refuses to believe that her country is experiencing a preventable famine that has already killed thousands.

Conclusion

I thought the way Matthew’s relationship with GG develops and his budding interest in history and writing were really cool elements of the story. I loved that even in that, he shared a connection with Helen, his great-great-great-aunt(??) from the 1930s.

Altogether, I felt like the past and present timeline intersected at just the right moments. It shared themes that built on each other in powerful ways. I loved the introduction to a part of history that isn’t frequently explored, and the connection to the battle against misinformation we still face today.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Helen was born in America after her father emigrated here from Ukraine as a young man. Mila and Nadiya are Ukrainian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
References to celebrating Christian Orthodox holidays. Reference to the fact that religion has been outlawed in Soviet Ukraine.

Violent Content
Someone delivers a sealed envelope containing live lice to a family in an attempt to infect them with Typhus. Boys attack another boy on the playground. An older girl fights them off. Some descriptions of starvation and death. References to a man being shot.

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 THE LOST YEAR in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Eleanor, Alice, and the Roosevelt Ghosts by Dianne K. Salerni

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Eleanor, Alice, and the Roosevelt Ghosts
Dianne K. Salerni
Holiday House
Published September 1, 2020

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About Eleanor, Alice, and the Roosevelt Ghosts

Murderous ghosts and buried family secrets threaten young Eleanor and Alice Roosevelt in this thrilling middle-grade novel that puts a supernatural spin on alternate history.

It’s 1898 in New York City and ghosts exist among humans.

When an unusual spirit takes up residence at the Roosevelt house, thirteen-year-old Eleanor and fourteen-year-old Alice are suspicious. The cousins don’t get along, but they know something is not right. This ghost is more than a pesky nuisance. The authorities claim he’s safe to be around, even as his mischievous behavior grows stranger and more menacing. It’s almost like he wants to scare the Roosevelts out of their home – and no one seems to care!

Meanwhile, Eleanor and Alice discover a dangerous ghost in the house where Alice was born and her mother died. Is someone else haunting the family? Introverted Eleanor and unruly Alice develop an unlikely friendship as they explore the family’s dark, complicated history. It’s up to them to destroy both ghosts and come to terms with their family’s losses.

Told from alternating perspectives, thrills and chills abound in Dianne K. Salerni’s imaginative novel about a legendary family and the ghosts that haunt their secrets.

My Review

I didn’t realize when I first picked up this book that the main characters were going to be the actual historical figures, Eleanor and Alice Roosevelt. For some reason I imagined they would maybe be named after them or something else? Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise!

So the book takes place in an alternate history in which ghosts are not uncommon. They “erupt” sometimes soon after a person’s death and sometimes years later. Sometimes the ghosts have no interaction with the living, and other times they actively try to kill people. When a ghost appears, it’s classified in terms of its behavior toward others and any risk posed to the living. It’s a super fascinating idea, and I loved that it’s anchored in history by the presence of historical figures in the story (not limited to Roosevelts).

I really enjoyed both Eleanor and Alice’s points of view. Eleanor is methodical and sweet but shy. Alice is more impulsive and outspoken. At first getting along is a bit difficult for the girls, but they figure out how to work together as a growing threat from a ghost emerges.

Some of the scenes are a bit eerie, and but I thought a couple were actually frightening. A ghost attacks a group of children, saying creepy things about killing them and clearly trying to murder them. Later, a fire breaks out in someone’s home and nearly kills several people.

On the whole I wouldn’t classify the book as scary, but it does have those moments. I loved the tension as Eleanor and Alice try to find out what happened to the boy who haunts their aunt’s home. I also loved the appearances by Nellie Bly, , and Franklin Roosevelt, and Emily Spinach.

The author has included a note at the end of the book that clarifies some of the story elements which are true and where she took some artistic license. My favorite true fact was that Alice Roosevelt did indeed keep a green snake as a pet, and its name was in fact Emily Spinach.

I think this book makes a particularly fun fall read, and a wonderful way to inspire learning more about historical figures.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
The story contains ghosts, some of which are harmless, but others of which try to murder people. Several characters organize a séance to try to communicate with a ghost.

Violent Content
Some ghosts try to kill the people they interact with. In more than one scene, characters encounter such a ghost and must escape.

Drug Content
References to the fact that Eleanor’s father died due to his alcoholism.

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 ELEANOR, ALICE, AND THE ROOSEVELT GHOSTS in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Some Places More than Others by Renée Watson

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

Some Places More than Others
Renée Watson
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Published September 3, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Goodreads

About Some Places More Than Others

Newbery Honor author Renée Watson explores a family’s relationships and Harlem—its history, culture, arts, and people.

All Amara wants is to visit her father’s family in Harlem. Her wish comes true when her dad decides to bring her along on a business trip. She can’t wait to finally meet her extended family and stay in the brownstone where her dad grew up. Plus, she wants to visit every landmark from the Apollo to Langston Hughes’s home.

But her family, and even the city, is not quite what Amara thought. Her dad doesn’t speak to her grandpa, and the crowded streets can be suffocating as well as inspiring. But as she learns more and more about Harlem—and her father’s history—Amara realizes how, in some ways more than others, she can connect with this other home and family.

This is a powerful story about family, the places that make us who we are, and how we find ways to connect to our history across time and distance.

My Review

Renée Watson is one of those authors on my auto-read list. I love the way she writes. I love the characters she brings to life in the pages of her books and the way she explores relationships between characters and their friends and family members. Amara really had me at hello. Her goal was clear from the very beginning of the story, but her desire to go to Harlem wasn’t an uncomplicated one.

Watching the story unfold, I found myself surprised by some of the things that happened and their significance. I like that while Amara thought the big project for her trip would be to help repair the rift between her dad and grandfather, she learned about repairing rifts between herself and other people close to her. She learned about relationships and the value of healthy confrontation.

The story made me cry for all the right reasons. I kept turning pages and reading chapter after chapter, and even days after I finished the book, I’m still smiling and thinking back on moments from the story. I love the positive messages and values about race and family in SOME PLACES MORE THAN OTHERS. It’s definitely the kind of book I’d want to see in any library or classroom. Highly recommended.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Amara and her family are black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Amara’s family prays before dinner and attends church with friends. She compares the experience of going to her friend’s church with her other church experiences.

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. I received a free copy of SOME PLACES MORE THAN OTHERS in exchange for my honest review.

Review: No Place Like Here by Christina June

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

No Place Like Here
Christina June
Blink/Zondervan
Published May 21, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | Book Depository

About NO PLACE LIKE HERE

Ashlyn Zanotti has big plans for the summer. She’s just spent a year at boarding school and can’t wait to get home. But when Ashlyn’s father is arrested for tax evasion and her mother enters a rehab facility for “exhaustion,” a.k.a. depression, her life is turned upside down.

The cherry on top? Ashlyn’s father sends her to work with a cousin she doesn’t even know at a rustic team-building retreat center in the middle of nowhere. A self-proclaimed “indoor girl,” not even Ash’s habit of leaving breadcrumb quotes—inspirational sayings she scribbles everywhere—can help her cope.

With a dangerously careless camp manager doling out grunt work, an overbearing father trying to control her even from prison, and more than a little boy drama to struggle with, the summer is full of challenges. And Ashlyn must make the toughest decision of her life: keep quiet and follow her dad’s marching orders, or find the courage to finally stand up to her father to have any hope of finding her way back home.

My Review

My favorite thing about Christina June’s writing is the way she voices her characters. I found Ashlynn, the main character in NO PLACE LIKE HERE, cute and funny and awkward, all super endearing qualities. She shows a lot of growth through the story, too, which I enjoyed.

I thought having her domineering, perfectionist dad in jail for tax fraud was an interesting element to the story, too. While I’ve read a couple other young adult books featuring characters with a parent or loved one in prison, it’s always for murder. I thought it was cool that NO PLACE LIKE HERE follows a family dealing with white collar crime and all the shame and weirdness that a kid might feel when she has a parent involved in something like that.

If you’re a big fan of summer camp stories, you’ll probably like this one. While it’s not a camp for kids, the retreat center where Ashlynn and her cousin work for the summer creates a lot of the same vibes as summer camp counselor stories. Ashlynn and her friends watch over kids in the pool and supervise activities like a zip line course and scavenger hunt. They develop a team spirit and share inside jokes.

NO PLACE LIKE HERE is the third novel in the story world created by Christina June. Each book features a different character from the first book, IT STARTED WITH GOODBYE, but you don’t have to read one before another, so if you’re unfamiliar with the collection, you can start with any book you want.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Ashlynn is Italian. Most other characters are white and straight.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A girl and boy kiss.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content 
None.

Note: I received a free copy of NO PLACE LIKE HERE by Christina June in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links which cost you nothing but which help support this blog.