Tag Archives: family

Banned Book Review: Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Historical, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , , ,
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Last Night at the Telegraph Club
Malinda Lo
Dutton Books for Young Readers
Published January 19, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Last Night at the Telegraph Club

“That book. It was about two women, and they fell in love with each other.” And then Lily asked the question that had taken root in her, that was even now unfurling its leaves and demanding to be shown the sun: “Have you ever heard of such a thing?”

Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club.

America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father—despite his hard-won citizenship—Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.

Why I Read Last Night at the Telegraph Club

Last Night at the Telegraph Club has been on my reading list for a long time. It was recently banned where I live, along with several other books. I’m trying to prioritize being educated about the content in books banned here in Florida, so that pushed this one up to the top of my reading list.

One of the things that’s really frustrating to me is that the committee that banned the book acknowledges the literary worthiness of the story and the importance of the topic. They simply object to a few paragraphs in the overall text and therefore are banning the book for all grades.

Review

The book primarily takes place in San Francisco in the 1950s, but includes historical information about a few events from the 1930s to the 1950s. Some scenes show what happened between Lily’s parents or from her aunt’s point of view. It shows the progression of the fear of and persecution of communists and those accused of being communist sympathizers. It also examines the cultural attitudes during that time period toward Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans and attitudes about LGBTQIA+ people, especially women.

The background information feels very well-researched. Some characters’ experiences and backgrounds were inspired by Malinda Lo’s family’s lives. She includes, for example, the story of a Chinese man from a wealthy family who immigrates to the United States for college. He later serves in the military as a doctor.

I love that Lily is interested in rockets and math. The story references women working as computers and some of the efforts to develop technology to take humans into space.

So there’s a ton of really cool background to the story.

Lily and another girl also visit a nightclub several times to see a male impersonator perform. There, they meet other lesbian women. The story clearly shows Lily’s personal journey understanding her identity. Part of that recognition comes from when she reads parts of a sultry romance novel she finds at a drug store.

As Lily falls in love for the first time, and meets other women who love women, she finally feels like she can be herself. Like she’s not alone, and she doesn’t have to be ashamed.

There are so few historical books centering LGBTQIA+ stories, and yet queer people existed throughout history. I love seeing this sweet love story that openly explores what it might be like to be a Chinese American girl in the 1950s who is in love with another girl and wants to build rockets someday.

Parts of the story were hard for me to read. (They were meant to be so.) The number of people who ask Lily if she speaks English, or assume she doesn’t is astounding. And yet, I’m sure that experience is very real– and even more frustrating to experience in person.

The romance between Lily and Kath blooms slowly, but it blooms powerfully, too. Their desperation and their understanding of what could happen if they’re discovered is palpable.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a sweet romance with a strong side of history and 1950s American culture, definitely put Last Night at the Telegraph Club on your reading list.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing and touching above the waist. Brief/vague description of masturbation. Brief description of sex with sparse details. In one scene, an adult woman approaches a teen and it seems like something could happen between them, but she recognizes the girl’s age and backs off.

Spiritual Content
Vague references to church.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Homophobic comments.

Drug Content
Characters drink alcohol at a party and night club. Some characters smoke cigarettes. Reference to drug use (not shown on scene.)

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from my library. All opinions are my own.

Review: All the Way Around the Sun by XiXi Tian

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

All the Way Around the Sun
XiXi Tian
Quill Tree Books
Published September 30, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About All the Way Around the Sun

From the acclaimed author of This Place is Still Beautiful comes an evocative, achingly romantic road trip story about grief, diasporic identities, and deep-buried secrets that haunt us, perfect for fans of Past Lives and The Farewell.

Stella Chen’s life ground to a halt when her brother unexpectedly passed away a year ago. Raised together by their grandmother in the Chinese countryside before rejoining their parents in the United States, his absence destroys the connective tissue in her family. With another jarring move her senior year, from rural Illinois to unfamiliar surroundings in San Diego, she is left alone and adrift in her family’s suffocating silence and the void of unanswered questions around her brother’s death.

So when Stella’s parents force her to join her estranged childhood friend Alan Zhao for a college tour all over California, Stella dreads it. Alan is a reminder of everything Stella wishes she could be — popular, gregarious, unburdened — and a reminder of how lost she is.

As this road trip takes Stella and Alan down beautiful coastlines and through fraught family dynamics, Stella can’t help but feel the spark of why she and Alan were once so close. Before long, they find themselves pulled into each other’s orbits, forcing unspoken feelings and long-hidden truths into the light.

My Review

I loved Tian’s debut novel, This Place is Still Beautiful, which is a story about family relationships and the connection to a place. I don’t keep a lot of the books that I review (I want to, but I just do not have room, sadly), but I’ve kept that one. So, as soon as I had an opportunity to review this book, I jumped at the chance.

And, wow… this book is every bit as powerful as I expected.

There’s something really special about a book that looks straight into the face of complicated grief and offers characters that feel incredibly real facing heartbreak that feels so present. That’s what this book does, but it’s not the only thing it does.

Stella is an incredible character. I immediately loved her, and really felt for her as she tried to navigate her way through her grief and the places it intersected with her parents’ expectations and her other relationships.

Periodically, the narrative is interrupted by chapters that speak directly to Stella’s brother, Sam. These describe memories, beginning back in her early childhood, when she and Sam lived in China with their grandmother. Each chapter brings the story closer to the present, and each one made me understand Stella’s relationship with Sam and how deeply she felt his loss in a deeper way.

So many of the side characters feel realistic, too. At one point, Stella and Alan stay with a Chinese couple who are friends with Stella’s parents. Stella has a conversation with her mom’s friend and ends up learning things about her mom that she never knew. That moment begins this process where Stella starts looking at her mother in a different way for the first time. It’s the first time she gets to see her mom through the eyes of one of her peers.

The story of her relationship with her parents is really powerful, too. There’s a scene toward the end that was so hopeful. I don’t want to give anything away, but one of the things Tian does SO WELL is show loving yet messy/complex family relationships.

Okay, I’ve cried twice just writing this review and thinking about moments in this book. If you like books about messy family relationships and grief, do not miss this one. It’s amazing. There’s also a sweet, slow burn romance, so LOTS to love about this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. At one point, a drunk boy tries to kiss Stella without her consent. She manages to get away from him.

Spiritual Content
Stella recalls going to church with her grandma in China and mentions that her beliefs were a combination of Sunday School lessons and Chinese myths. As a child, she was afraid to fly from China to Illinois with her family because she thought that flying meant traveling through purgatory (which she understood as a place between heaven and hell) and that she’d have to die and come back to life in order to travel to America.

Violent Content
References to death. One scene describes what Stella imagines her brother’s death was like.

Drug Content
Reference to abuse of prescription drugs. Stella and Alan attend a party with college students. Stella sips an alcoholic drink and is accosted by a drunk college boy. She escapes him after a few moments.

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 Golden Boy’s Guide to Bipolar by Sonora Reyes

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

The Golden Boy’s Guide to Bipolar
Sonora Reyes
HarperCollins
Published September 16, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Golden Boy’s Guide to Bipolar

From bestselling author Sonora Reyes comes a poignant and searingly honest companion novel to the multi-award-winning The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School, following beloved character Cesar Flores as he comes to terms with his sexuality, his new bipolar diagnosis, and more mistakes than he can count.

Seventeen-year-old Cesar Flores is finally ready to win back his ex-boyfriend. Since breaking up with Jamal in a last-ditch effort to stay in the closet, he’s come out to Mami, his sister, Yami, and their friends, taken his meds faithfully, and gotten his therapist’s blessing to reunite with Jamal.

Everything would be perfect if it weren’t for The Thoughts—the ones that won’t let all his Catholic guilt and internalizations stay buried where he wants them. The louder they become, the more Cesar is once again convinced that he doesn’t deserve someone like Jamal—or anyone really.

Cesar can hide a fair amount of shame behind jokes and his “gifted” reputation, but when a manic episode makes his inner turmoil impossible to hide, he’s faced with a stark choice—burn every bridge he has left or, worse—ask for help. But is the mortifying vulnerability of being loved by the people he’s hurt the most a risk he’s willing to take?

My Review

I was devastated that I missed The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School when it came out, but thrilled at the chance to read this companion novel. I recently read a short story by Sonora Reyes in For the Rest of Us, an anthology about holidays, and it was one of my favorites in the whole collection, so I knew this book would have powerful, emotive writing. (It does.)

Cesar’s story pulled me in right from the first chapter. I loved the direct, intense emotions that were so easy to sense as he navigated the relationships in his life and his feelings about them. He felt so real as a character, and he’s so open that it’s impossible not to know how he’s feeling in any given scene.

This was a tough read for me because someone in my life has bipolar disorder. Though everyone’s experiences vary, so many of the things Cesar says and does reminded me of things my family member says and does. It was almost eerie at times.

In the story, Cesar has a complex relationship with his faith. It’s like, he’s looking for a kind of validation from his faith. I liked that the story made room for his exploration here. The story could easily have demonized religion or Cesar’s faith, but it doesn’t do that. Instead, Cesar learns to ask more questions about the experience he’s having in light of his diagnosis. For instance, he needs to discern whether he’s having a spiritual experience or a manic experience. That helps him determine how to respond.

He also finds community in some unexpected places, including from a family member who shares his diagnosis. The conversations between those two were really powerful, not just about mental illness but about relationships and self-care.

Conclusion

It’s a messy story, for sure. Cesar makes a lot of harmful choices. In some ways, reading the book is like watching a slow-motion train wreck. But it also helps us understand why he makes those choices and how his bipolar disorder impacts his thoughts and emotions. This novel offers an up-close, unfiltered account of a boy’s journey learning what it means to love and care for himself and others. It’s bravely written, and offers such an important perspective.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat frequently. Homophobic comments appear a few times.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. In two scenes, characters undress, intending to have sexual contact. Both times they’re quickly interrupted. Characters reference sex a few times.

Spiritual Content
Cesar is Catholic and spends time in prayer at confession, where he asks a priest questions about his faith and identity.

Violent Content
A group of boys bullies Cesar because he’s bisexual. In one scene, several attack him at once, severely harming him.

Drug Content
Cesar’s cousin sells pot and shares her dreams of eventually opening a dispensary. Cesar and his friends drink alcohol at a party. In one instance, one character immediately vomits on another. In a different scene, a character makes choices they deeply regret.

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.

MMGM Review: The Song of Orphan’s Garden by Nicole M. Hewitt

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, Poetry, , , , , , , , , ,

The Song of Orphan’s Garden
Nicole M. Hewitt
Feiwel & Friends
Published January 21, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Song of Orphan’s Garden

Combining the gentleness of Miyazaki, the wintry wonderland of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and the whimsicality of Newbery winner The Girl Who Drank the Moon, Nicole M. Hewitt’s debut middle-grade novel, The Song of Orphan’s Garden, is an enchanting fantasy tale with all the makings of a new classic.

In an arctic world that’s getting colder every day, Lyriana’s only hope of survival is to get her little brother Zave and herself to the fabled Orphan’s Garden. It’s rumored to be the one place in the world not controlled by deadly Winter Spirits or ruled by the tyrant Giant king. In Orphan’s Garden, healing trees will melt away Winter’s pains, and Lyriana and Zave can live safely in the warmth of Spring. If the garden exists, they must find it. They won’t live much longer without it.

Brob, a Giant boy, also needs sanctuary. When the Giant king banishes his family to the Winter Blight, it’s a death sentence. Orphan’s Garden is his family’s only hope, and as far as Brob’s concerned, it belongs to him. After all, he was the one who accidentally used an ancient magic to grow the garden years ago. He has no intention of sharing his haven with pesky humans, who will just use up its magic and ruin it.

When it becomes clear that Orphan’s Garden is in danger of being destroyed, Lyriana and Brob are the only ones who can save it—but only if they can put the ages-old battle between Humans and Giants aside and find a way to work together.

My Review

I’ve heard so much about this book this year that I couldn’t wait to finally get my hands on a copy. I read this whole book in less than 24 hours. It’s written in verse, and alternates back and forth mainly between Lyriana and Brob’s perspectives. The lines in Lyriana’s scenes are very short compared to Brob’s scenes, which was cool. It kind of reflected their different sizes.

I kind of figured out what was missing from the magic very early in the book, but I loved watching the characters coming to those realizations. The way that the author uses music in connection with magic is also really cool.

I do wish there had been another young female character besides Lyriana. I think the group of kids has other girls in it, but they don’t contribute much individually. Several female characters sacrifice themselves to save the people they love, too. I think it would have been cool to have that not restricted to a role that women in the story played.

On the whole, though, this story captivated me from the first chapter to the last. I love that the author wrote this fantasy novel in verse and still created what feels like a rich story world and unforgettable characters.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Contains characters who are giants. Each season has spirits who help or harm depending on their natures. References to a deity called The Composer. Songs draw forth magic called Fermata. Some giants can use Fermata to make plants grow. A special tree has the power to heal those who climb into its branches.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to battles between humans and giants. Death of a parent. Appearance of death of a sibling.

Drug Content
None.

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.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday. Check out other blogs with posts about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle.

Review: Coming Back by Jessi Zabarsky

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Coming Back
Jessi Zabarsky
RH Graphic
Published January 18, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Coming Back

A beautiful graphic novel fantasy romance that follows two young women who have to go on their own separate adventures to discover the truth about themselves and about each other.

Preet is magic.

Valissa is not.

Everyone in their village has magic in their bones, and Preet is the strongest of them all. Without any power of her own, how can Valissa ever be worthy of Preet’s love? When their home is attacked, Valissa has a chance to prove herself, but that means leaving Preet behind. On her own for the first time Preet breaks the village’s most sacred laws, and is rejected from the only home she’s ever known and sent into a new world.

Divided by different paths, insecurities, and distance, will Valissa and Preet be able to find their way back to each other?

A beautiful story of two young women who are so focused on proving they’re meant to be together that they end up hurting each other in the process. This gorgeous graphic novel is an LGTBQ+ romance about young love and how it can grow into something strong no matter what obstacles get in the way.

My Review

This graphic novel has a lot of panels with pictures that show action, such as someone performing a ritual. I don’t know that I’ve ever read anything quite like this book before, so it took a little bit of getting used to. Once I felt like I grasped how the author was using still panels to indicate movement or action, it was easier to follow what was happening or fill in the interim movements in my head.

Once I got used to this style of storytelling, I found it really cool. A lot of the scenes have no text or only onomotopeia. There’s something really different about reading a scene without words to interpret what’s happening. It’s like that made me filter the story through a completely different part of my brain. I loved that experience, even though it was unfamiliar.

I also appreciate that this story follows two characters who break the norms of their group. Preet has powerful magic, but she uses it in an unapproved way. In their community, the people depend on those with powerful magic to help one another. Valissa doesn’t have magic, but she doesn’t let that stop her from risking her life to protect her people.

I also enjoyed the color palette of the book. It’s got peach and turquoise tones that make the scenes seem really nature-based. They’re soothing colors, too.

I hadn’t heard of this book, but found it while browsing at the library. I’m really glad I picked it up, and I would love to read more by Jessi Zabarsky.

If you like nature-centered fantasy graphic novels, put this one on your list.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 13 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Two characters are in a relationship.

Spiritual Content
Some characters can do magic, such as changing shape and creating wind, etc. Some characters are mythical creatures.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Prejudice and shaming drive some characters from their home.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from my library. All opinions are my own.

Review: Exquisite Things by Abdi Nazemian

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Historical, Magical Realism, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

Exquisite Things
Abdi Nazemian
HarperCollins
Published September 23, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Exquisite Things

From Stonewall Award–winning author Abdi Nazemian (Only This Beautiful Moment) comes the epic queer love story of a lifetime. Perfect for fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Shahriar believes he was born in the wrong time. All he’s ever wanted is to love and be loved, but 1895 London doesn’t offer him the freedom to be his true self, and Oscar Wilde’s trial for gross indecency has only reaffirmed that. But one night—and one writer—will grant Shahriar what he’s always wished for: the opportunity to live in a time and place where he can love freely. Rechristened as Shams and then as Bram, he finds what feels like eternal happiness. But can anything truly be eternal?

Oliver doesn’t feel that 1920s Boston gives him a lot of options to be his full self. He knows he could only ever love another boy, but that would break his beloved mother’s heart. Oliver finds freedom and acceptance in the secret queer community at Harvard that his cousin introduces him to. When he meets a mysterious boy with eyes as warm as a flame, his life is irrevocably changed, forever.   

Spanning one hundred and thirty years of love and longing, this tale of immortal beloveds searching for their perfect place and time is a vibrant hymn to the beauty of being alive, a celebration of queer love and community, and a reminder that behind every tragic thing that ever existed, there is something exquisite.

My Review

I recently read Only This Beautiful Moment, so this wasn’t my first rodeo with Nazemian and storytelling spanning decades. One thing I have to say is that I didn’t have a hard time following the narrative through the different moments in time. Scenes take place in 1895, 1920, 1979-1982, and 2025. Each one contains some pivotal moments, from when Shahriar becomes immortal, to his meeting Oliver and the beginnings of their romance, to the found family Shahriar builds in London in the 1980s and the honoring of the death of one of his family members.

The story shows the rise and ebb of gay rights through those times and the decades in between. It celebrates the way that music inspires hope and new ideas. The story celebrates love as something that changes as we have new experiences. Sometimes love comes from biological connections, and other times, it comes from the family we choose.

Shahriar’s found family is a diverse group, with a Black transgender mom and gay dad and a Black lesbian sister. Each person finds the group at a critical moment. Some scenes show night life in Boston in the 1920s, while others focus on London nightlife in the 1980s.

The resounding truth that rings out through every stop on the timeline is that there have always been communities of queer people, even if they’ve had to exist in hiding. This isn’t a new phenomenon, and it isn’t going to go away. The story shows the heartache that a life in hiding causes but also the joy of community, love, and the power of living an authentic life.

All in all, it’s a beautiful novel. Nazemian’s writing is heavy on dialogue and lighter on setting details, which migh bother some readers. I found it easy to imagine the characters because of their distinct voices. If you like historical fiction and/or books with a lot of musical or literary references, put this one on your reading list.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat infrequently. Homophobic slurs appear somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. References to sex. Brief nudity.

Spiritual Content
Brief references to Oliver attending church.

Violent Content
Homophobic slurs. A parent hits a teen child. Reference to suicide. Characters are threatened with arrest or expelled from school if known to be gay. Multiple characters are caught in a fire. Someone threatens another person with a knife.

Drug Content
Two adult characters reference going to AA meetings. Characters walk in on a group doing drugs in the bathroom and quickly leave.

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.