Tag Archives: friendship

Review: Wrong Answers Only by Tobias Madden

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Wrong Answers Only by Tobias Madden

Wrong Answers Only
Tobias Madden
Page Street YA
Published October 8, 2024

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About Wrong Answers Only

Marco’s always done the right thing. But now it’s time for wrong answers only.

Marco should be at university, studying biomedicine. Instead, he’s been sent to live on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean with his estranged uncle, all because of a ‘blip’ everyone else is convinced was a panic attack. (Which it most definitely was not.)

And even though Marco’s trip is supposed to provide answers – about himself, about his family – all he finds on board the Ocean Melody are more and more questions.

But then his best friend CeCe proposes a new plan: for someone who has always done the right thing, in every possible way, it’s time for Marco to get a few things wrong. And hooking up with a hot dancer from the ship is only the beginning . . .

My Review

Sometimes it’s nice to read a story about a messy main character who really doesn’t have it all together. That’s exactly what this is. Marco is super smart, and super in denial about his anxiety over leaving for college. He seizes an opportunity to join his estranged uncle aboard a cruise ship in a desperate bid to avoid facing his fears. With his best friend at his side, he makes some impulsive choices. I liked that he doesn’t completely abandon his principles. He needs something different and outside his comfort zone, but he still keeps his head for the most part.

The cruise ship atmosphere is really fun, and something that’s more unusual for a young adult novel. I think I’ve only read two other books set on a cruise ship, so it was a fresh, welcome setting for me as a reader, too.

I also like that this book doesn’t tread all the obvious paths that a story like this might take. A lot of Marco’s conclusions rang true, which made it really easy to cheer for him as he untangles some of his feelings and decides what moving forward looks like for himself. Marco also has a big Italian family, which was fun to read since I come from a big Italian family, too.

I think many people in those early post-high school days will identify with the confusion and pressure Marco feels. I think this would make a perfect summer read or a great book to snuggle up with on a late fall evening to remember the feel of baking in the summer sun on a beach.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Marco and several other characters are gay. His best friend, CeCe, is Australian and Filipina.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A handful of F-bombs and some other swearing used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys. Kissing between a boy and a girl. References to sex. Some brief sexual comments or innuendo.

Spiritual Content
References to God more in a colloquial sense. The family attends a mass together. Two characters very briefly discuss their beliefs about whether someone exists after death.

Violent Content
The ship on which Marco travels encounters a storm and some rough seas. At one point, a man grabs Marco on the dance floor. He quickly shoves the man away.

Drug Content
Once Marco turns eighteen, the legal drinking age in Australia, he drinks alcohol. He gets drunk more than once and sometimes does some things he regrets later while he’s intoxicated. In one scene, a few of his friends invite him to do drugs with them, but he refuses.

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: 49 Days by Agnes Lee

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49 Days
Agnes Lee
Levine Quierido
Published March 5, 2024

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About 49 Days

Day 1

Gotta get up. Gotta keep moving. This map – it says I have to cross over here. Wait, what’s that…?

And so begins a graphic novel story unlike any 49 Days. In Buddhist tradition, a person must travel for forty-nine days after they die, before they can fully cross over. Here in this book, readers travel with one Korean American girl, Kit, on her journey, while also spending time with her family and friends left behind.

Agnes Lee has captivated readers across the world for years with her illustrations for the New York Times Metropolitan Diary. Her debut graphic novel is an unforgettable story of death, grief, love, and how we keep moving forward.

My Review

One of the things I love about this book is how immersive it is. Kit wakes up on a beach and swears, so I knew things were not good. It took several pages for me to feel like I found my feet in the story, but I think that was the author’s intent. It emphasizes that Kit is in a new space, figuring things out on her own. As her experience triggers memories from her life, we see those memories play out in short scenes. We see her family light incense and pray as they grieve their loss. When the story shifts from those prayer scenes back to Kit on her journey, it seems the prayers have fortified her and helped move her forward on her journey.

The panels and scenes are often understated in muted grayscale with tan colors. The characters’ emotions also often seem understated. It’s clear Kit’s family misses her, but they seem somber at first. As the story progresses, they experience moments of intense grief that create powerful moments. I think I cried like three times reading this book.

Another wonderful thing about the book is the way that food connects the characters. As a girl raised in a big Italian family, this resonated with me so much. I love that making food together was a connection between Kit and her mom, and that it becomes a vehicle through which her family celebrates their love for her even after she has passed.

The author includes a note after the story concludes explaining her intent and her decision to keep Buddhist practices vague in the text to respect the different ways people practice faith. She names the rituals and practices represented in the book, too.

I actually heard about this book because I read a wild review by someone who I think didn’t get the book at all. It made me curious enough to track down a copy, and I’m really glad I did.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Kit and her family are Korean American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
One F-bomb and a small number of other expletives.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Kit dies before the story begins, and the story follows her 49-day journey between life and rebirth, called bardo, as part of the Buddhist faith. Her family lights incense and prays, following funeral rites called cheondojae.

Violent Content
References to death, though we do not see how Kit died. In her 49-day journey, she has several moments where she resets following what would have been a fatal choice.

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.

Review: The Judgment of Yoyo Gold by Isaac Blum

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The Judgment of Yoyo Gold
Isaac Blum
Philomel Books
Published October 15, 2024

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About The Judgment of Yoyo Gold

A smart and powerful story set in the Orthodox Jewish community about what it means to fit in, break out, and find your own way, by the award-winning author of The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen. This book is Gossip Girl + My Name Is Asher Lev + I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.

Yoyo Gold has always played the role of the perfect Jewish daughter. She keeps kosher, looks after her siblings, and volunteers at the local food bank. She respects the decisions of her rabbi father and encourages her friends to observe the rules of their Orthodox faith. But when she sees her best friend cast out of the community over a seemingly innocent transgression, Yoyo’s eyes are opened to the truth of her neighbors’ hypocrisies for the first time. And what she sees leaves her shocked and unmoored.

As Yoyo’s frustration builds, so does the pressure to speak out, even if she can only do so anonymously on TikTok, an app that’s always been forbidden to her. But when one of her videos goes viral—and her decisions wind up impacting not only her own life but also her relationship with the boy she’s falling for—Yoyo’s world is thrown into chaos. She is forced to choose which path to take, for her community, for her family, and most importantly, for herself.

Award-winning author Isaac Blum returns with a new novel that asks what it really means to be part of a community—and what it means to break free.

My Review

I feel like this is one of those books whose sum is greater than its parts. It’s a girl’s exploration of her faith and what it means to her. It’s a dry, funny story about growing up and falling in love.

One of my favorite things about the book is all the moments in which Yoyo responds to a situation with some unexpected, funny aside. Sometimes it’s a quick after-the-fact joke. Those moments consistently took me by surprise and added levity to the scene.

I also like how much of the story centers around female relationships with one another and the power of those connections to protect or destroy. The girls could be cruel to one another. In a close community like Yoyo’s, rumors could be devastating. But that same close community meant that girls holding space for one another and offering support or understanding also had a huge impact.

At this point, I think we’ve all read books about faith deconstruction in which the main character grows up and discards the beliefs and values they were raised to hold. The message is usually something along the lines of exposing hypocrisy and casting off faith which held one back from living a fuller, more authentic life.

This isn’t that story. It’s frank in its assessment of the strictures of the Orthodox faith. Yoyo’s questions are genuine, and her struggle is real. But it isn’t a binary question of whether she will embrace her faith or discard it. Her path forward isn’t simple, but it does lead her toward greater authenticity and a greater understanding of what her role in her family and community and her faith mean to her.

I can tell I’m going to be thinking about this book for a long time, and I’m really excited to read more by Isaac Blum. I have his debut novel, but hadn’t gotten to it yet. I’m going to have to fix that very soon!

Readers who enjoy faith exploration or stories about someone’s journey toward a more authentic life will want to read this one.

Content Notes for The Judgment of Yoyo Gold

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Most characters are Jewish. One of Yoyo’s friends is Korean American and Jewish.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A very small number of swear words.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to touching over clothes.

Spiritual Content
Yoyo is part of an Orthodox community and adheres to strict faith practices and beliefs. Through the story she explores her relationship with her faith and with those rules. Is she doing things because she wants to or because it’s expected? Does she agree with the values of the community? What happens when someone breaks the rules? The story references Shabbos services, holidays, and other Jewish traditions.

Violent Content
Some references to antisemitic comments on Yoyo’s social media. Reference to sexually violent comments. (Yoyo doesn’t repeat what commenters said, only that it’s explicit and violent.)

Drug Content
Yoyo and other teens drink alcohol at a party. Yoyo sees someone using a vape pen.

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: Dog Trouble by Kristin Varner

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Dog Trouble
Kristin Varner
First Second
Published October 29, 2024

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About Dog Trouble

From the author of Horse Trouble comes a graphic novel perfect for fans of PAWS and Allergic!

Ash is a good kid at heart. But his grades are slipping, and when he gets caught vandalizing an old building, it’s the last straw. It’s decided: Ash will spend some time away from the city, at his dad’s place on Ferncliff Island.

It’s bad enough that Ash has no friends on the island (just an annoying little stepsister), but his parents are also making him do community service! He volunteers at the local animal shelter, even though he’s not really a dog person. Dogs slobber! They smell! And the dogs at the shelter bark, bark, and bark. But as Ash bonds with the dogs―especially Cooper, a clever, fun-loving pointer that gives sloppy kisses―he starts to see that maybe his time on Ferncliff Island isn’t a total loss.

My Review

If a book had the power to make me a dog person, this one would probably do it! (I don’t hate dogs, but I’m solidly a cat person.)

The story follows Ash, a boy who must spend his summer volunteering at an animal shelter after getting into trouble with some friends. At the start of many of the chapters, a dog profile appears, introducing readers to a dog that will appear later in the story and giving some information about its breed and personality. Some terms related to the care of animals appear in bold in the text. Those are defined at the bottom of the page. I liked that format of keeping the panels focused on the story but continually making caring for animals accessible to inexperienced readers.

Ash makes a lot of mistakes, and sometimes, even when he’s doing the right things, accidents happen. I loved that his supervisor at the shelter responded calmly, acknowledged his anxiety, and helped him navigate whatever issue was at hand.

Ash also makes an unexpected friend and forms a closer bond with his stepsister than he imagined would be possible through his experience of staying with his dad for the summer. Having gone through some of the blended family challenges, I felt like the portrayal of those relationships made a lot of sense, and the evolution felt organic.

All in all, if you love dogs and/or stories about navigating family challenges or skateboarding, Dog Trouble is one story you won’t want to miss.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 9 to 12.

Representation
Ash’s parents are divorced. His stepmom and stepsister are Black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
References to animal abuse or trauma. (Nothing shown on scene.) One of the dogs in the book dies (off-scene). The loss is unexpected and difficult for Ash.

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.

MMGM Review: Unsinkable Cayenne by Jessica Vitalis

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Unsinkable Cayenne
Jessica Vitalis
Greenwillow Books
Published October 29, 2024

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About Unsinkable Cayenne

When her unconventional parents finally agree to settle down in one place, twelve-year-old Cayenne’s dreams come true—but the reality of fitting in is much harder than she imagined. Acclaimed author Jessica Vitalis crafts an unforgettable historical novel-in-verse about belonging, family, and social class for fans of Lisa Fipps’s Starfish and Jasmine Warga’s Other Words for Home.

Cayenne and her family drift from place to place, living in their van. It hasn’t been a bad life—Cayenne and her mother birdwatch in every new location, they have a cozy setup in the van, and they sing and dance and bond over campfires most nights. But they’ve never belonged anywhere.

As Cayenne enters seventh grade, her parents decide to settle down in a small Montana town. Cayenne hopes that this means she will finally fit in and make some friends. But it turns out that staying in one place isn’t easy.

As her social studies class studies the Titanic tragedy (the wreckage has just been discovered and her teacher is obsessed), Cayenne sees more and more parallels between the social strata of the infamous ship and her own life. Will she ever squeeze her way into the popular girls’ clique, even though they live in fancy houses on the hill, and she lives in a tiny, rundown home with chickens in the front yard? Is it possible that the rich boy she likes actually likes her back? Can she find a way to make room for herself in this town? Does she really want to? Maybe being “normal” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Unsinkable Cayenne is a character-driven novel-in-verse about family, friendship, first crushes, and fitting in. Set in the mid-1980s, this literary novel is for readers of Megan E. Freeman’s Alone and Erin Entrada Kelly’s We Dream of Space.

My Review

This is the first book by Jessica Vitalis that I’ve ever read, though Coyote Queen is already on my reading list! I saw nothing but high praise for that one and added it to my reading list immediately. If I wasn’t planning to read it before, I would definitely be planning to now.

I love novels in verse because it gives an author a chance to tell a story in which each word really counts. Delivering rich characters and vivid settings in just a few words takes really precise writing, and I can’t help but appreciate when it’s done well– as in this book.

Cayenne lives an unapologetically unconventional lifestyle. While she longs for the stability of a more permanent home and school experience, she understands how much her parents value the life they’ve crafted. She relates her experiences sans outside judgment. This is simply how her life is.

At school, her history teacher introduces a unit of study on the Titanic, which allows Cayenne and her classmates to think about the impact of classism through a really specific situation in which someone’s class dramatically impacted their likelihood of survival. Cayenne relates to the prejudice and classism described in the disaster as she tries to navigate relationships with kids whose families have fancier houses and clothes than hers.

It’s a thoughtful story filled with metaphors about birds and emotive descriptions of middle school moments that will still resonate today. I could see readers of Starfish or other thought-provoking novels in verse really enjoying this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Cayenne’s dad has depression.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to nudity.

Spiritual Content
List.

Violent Content
Cayenne learns about the Titanic disaster.

Drug Content
Cayenne’s dad smokes pot.

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 with Greg Pattridge.

Review: The Shape of Lost Things by Sarah Everett

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The Shape of Lost Things
Sarah Everett
HarperCollins
Published October 24, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Shape of Lost Things

From the award-winning author of The Probability of Everything, which has been called “one of the best books I have read this year (maybe ever)” (Colby Sharp, Nerdy Book Club) and “Powerful” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review),comes a heartfelt exploration of family and change as twelve-year-old Skye reunites with her older brother, Finn, after he spent four years on the run with their father.

Skye Nickson’s world changed forever when her dad went on the run with her brother, Finn. It’s been four years without Finn’s jokes, four years without her father’s old soul music, and four years of Skye filling in as Rent-a-Finn on his MIA birthdays for their mom. Finn’s birthday is always difficult, but at least Skye has her best friends, Reece and Jax, to lean on, even if Reece has started acting too cool for them.

But this year is different because after Finn’s birthday, they get a call that he’s finally been found. Tall, quiet, and secretive, this Finn is nothing like the brother she grew up with. He keeps taking late-night phone calls and losing his new expensive gifts, and he doesn’t seem to remember any of their inside jokes or secrets.

As Skye tries to make sense of it all through the lens of her old Polaroid camera, she starts to wonder: Could this Finn be someone else entirely? And if everyone else has changed, does it mean that Skye has to change too?

My Review

I was looking forward to reading this book, and then I read a couple of reviews about how great the story is, and I couldn’t wait to read it even more. My expectations were high, and they were met!

One of the things I noticed about this book is that it’s the first I’ve read that features a formerly kidnapped character in a nonwhite family. I think the other stories I’ve read about kidnapping have centered around white characters. So I am really glad to see new readers get to see themselves represented in a story like this.

While the characters’ race isn’t a huge component of the story, there are moments that it intersects with what’s happening in the story. I think the author did a great job balancing those instances and letting them have space but keeping the story accessible to young readers.

I loved Skye as a character. She is in the midst of middle school friendship transitions, and that’s compounded by the fact that her mom is in a new relationship, and her brother has returned home after a four-year absence.

Her reactions made so much sense. I especially loved the scenes showing her in therapy and how she was both guarded against being drawn out and yet so clearly needed a space to talk about her life that sometimes she opened up despite herself.

Her relationship with Finn is great, too. His behavior made so much more sense looking back from the end of the book. I thought the author also did a great job keeping Skye centered as the main character but making space for Finn’s trauma, too.

All in all, this is a deeply moving story about family trauma and sibling relationships. I highly recommend this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Skye’s family is Black. Her dad has an undiagnosed mental illness.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Skye has a crush on a boy in school.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Skye’s dad kidnapped her brother years earlier.

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.