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Review: Desert Echoes by Abdi Nazemian

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Desert Echoes by Abdi Nazemian

Desert Echoes
Abdi Nazemian
HarperCollins
Published September 10, 2024

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About Desert Echoes

From Abdi Nazemian, the award-winning author of Like a Love Story and Only This Beautiful Moment, comes a suspenseful contemporary YA novel about loss and love.

Fifteen-year-old Kam is head over heels for Ash, the boy who swept him off his feet. But his family and best friend, Bodie, are worried. Something seems off about Ash. He also has a habit of disappearing, at times for days. When Ash asks Kam to join him on a trip to Joshua Tree, the two of them walk off into the sunset . . . but only Kam returns.

Two years later, Kam is still left with a hole in his heart and too many unanswered questions. So it feels like fate when a school trip takes him back to Joshua Tree. On the trip, Kam wants to find closure about what happened to Ash but instead finds himself in danger of facing a similar fate. In the desert, Kam must reckon with the truth of his past relationship—and the possibility of opening himself up to love once again.

Desert Echoes is a propulsive, moving story about human resilience and connection.

My Review

I think I have at least one other of Nazemian’s books, but this is the first one that I’ve read. The writing and characters are so compelling in this book. I usually have a really hard time with long chapters, but I couldn’t stop reading this one, even though it only has about nine chapters which are each somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 pages long.

The story follows two different timelines: the present, in which Kam faces a return trip to Joshua Tree, the park where he last saw his boyfriend Ash, and the early days of Kam’s relationship with Ash two years earlier leading up to Ash’s disappearance.

Because the chapters are long, there aren’t a lot of transitions back and forth between these two timelines. This helped keep me immersed in each storyline and meant that I was going to get a lot more information every time I switched to a new chapter. I liked that.

I’ve sometimes read books that show a reflection back to a lost loved one or relationship that didn’t last, and sometimes those stories leave so many unanswered questions that reading the book can feel unsatisfying. Desert Echoes does provide Kam some closure, though it’s not the information he expected to uncover. He does begin to process his feelings and see his life in a new way once he has the information he needs, and once that happens, other things that felt left in limbo in the story begin to shift into place.

It has the kind of ending that might feel too easy to some people, but readers looking for an uplifting ending will definitely appreciate the way that Nazemian closes Kam’s journey. The back of the book has a moving note from the author explaining his emotional connections to the story, too. It explains why he writes about these topics with so much authenticity.

On the whole, I enjoyed this book a lot, even though it’s a story of grief. I’m glad I read it, and I am excited to read more by Abdi Nazemian.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Several major characters are queer. Bodie, Kam, and their families are from Iran and recently moved to the United States from Canada.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some f-bombs and profanity used here and there. Some references to homophobic comments, particularly by Kam’s dad.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys. Very brief descriptions of sexual contact in a couple of scenes.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A character is missing, presumed dead. There’s some question as to whether this person died by suicide or an accident of some kind.

Drug Content
References to drug addiction. One scene shows a person with drugs and an intent to take them. Kam’s dad is an alcoholic and is frequently drunk when he’s in the house.

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: Greta by J. S. Lemon

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Greta
J. S. Lemon
Farrar, Straus, & Giroux
Published September 10, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Greta

J. S. Lemon’s middle grade debut is an utterly transformative, fiercely original, and surprisingly funny story about consent, friendship, healing, and a beauty that transcends all else. 

Greta Goodwin’s life is changing. On top of moving to a new neighborhood far away from her best friend, Lotti, she’s also starting middle school. Greta isn’t totally ready for boys, bras, and bad cafeteria food. She still feels like a little kid compared to those female classmates who have suddenly matured over the summer. Girls who are now objects of curiosity, scorn, and entertainment for everyone else. So Greta adopts a new “Do not call attention to yourself.”

But at her first-ever middle-school party, a boy does pay attention to Greta. At first it feels good. And then it feels awful. Aggressive. Abusive. In the aftermath, Greta can’t make sense of what’s happened, let alone talk about it—even to Lotti. Impossibly, Greta’s body starts to change, and in a vastly different way from everyone else’s.

What follows leads Greta to believe the world might finally see her as she truly ethereal, powerful, and free. Reminiscent of Kafka’s Metamorphosis and sensitively told, stunning modern classics like Fighting Words and The Thing About Jellyfish, Greta will transform readers just as Greta herself is transformed.

My Review

I feel like this is one of those books that will make people uncomfortable simply by existing. A middle grade book that discusses sexual assault? Pretty shocking, sure. Is it as shocking as how often this kind of thing happens, though?

One of the things I really appreciate about this book is that the attack is presented only briefly. It focuses primarily on what Greta feels and how she responds, keeping her experience centered.

I love the symbolism of her transformation. She’s beautiful, before and after, and it feels like an expression of her true self rather than some kind of punishment or harm done to her.

For me, one of the hard things about the book is that the harm doesn’t get directly addressed. That feels uncomfortable. (Too often true in real life, and that’s also uncomfortable.) It also feels uncomfortable to me that the transformation separates her from her friends and family. Greta is happy, so she doesn’t view this as a bad thing. But for them, it is a kind of change that means they give up the kind of relationship they had with Greta.

What’s interesting to me about that is that those other kinds of resolutions– the perpetrator being confronted, the family hearing Greta’s story, etc– are things that would satisfy us as readers and observers.

Instead, the outcome of the story centers Greta’s healing and wholeness in a way that isn’t beholden to anyone else in her life. Once I saw that, I couldn’t stop thinking about what a powerful experience that is for someone who has been harmed. To remain centered in their own story. To experience a healing transformation and feel more whole and more oneself. Wow.

Conclusion

Greta is an unusual, imaginative book that probably won’t appeal to everyone. What it does really well, though, is keep the assault survivor’s story centered in the narrative, allowing her to experience healing and wholeness. It’s a powerful story perfectly tempered for a younger audience.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Greta’s little brother has an unspecified learning disability.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to changing bodies because of puberty. Greta sees Lotti making out with a boy. Kissing between boy and girl. Brief description of forceful kissing and groping.

Spiritual Content
Greta senses something happening in her body, a transformation that feels more true to who she is.

Violent Content
See above.

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 Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

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

The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood #1)
Melissa Albert
Flatiron Books
Published January 30, 2018

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About The Hazel Wood

Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: her mother is stolen away-by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother’s stories are set. Alice’s only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother’s tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.

My Review

A friend gave me a copy of this book years ago, and I’ve been on the fence about reading it since then. I knew it was a popular title, but never really read a lot of reviews or saw specific coverage of it. I can’t believe it’s been six years since The Hazel Wood was published. That doesn’t feel possible. At any rate, my library has an audiobook version available, so I decided to listen to it while I was waiting for a book I had on hold.

For some reason, I expected the book to have more of an Irish or English folklore feel to it? More like Deep is the Fen by Lili Wilkinson or The Wren Hunt by Mary Watson. (It doesn’t.)

Some of the fairytales from Alice’s grandmother’s book are recorded in full in the text of the book. The narrative will introduce the story and then the next chapter tells the full tale. These fairytales are dark, grim tales of girls locked in a room to starve, or promised in marriage to men who plan to abuse them. They have a horror-esque feel to them.

The pacing of the book surprised me, too. I expected Alice to spend the majority of the book in the Hazel Wood, but she really only reaches it around the halfway point, I think.

One of the things I liked a lot is that this isn’t a romance. This story focuses on Alice, her identity, her connection with her grandmother’s stories, and her mission to rescue her mother from whoever has taken her. I loved that the author put together such a compelling tale that stands on those things.

As I read the book, I wasn’t sure how much I truly liked it, but as I think back on reading it, I think I like and appreciate it more each time I reflect. I looked up the second book, The Night Country, and based on the book description, I think I would read it. It’s hard for me to fit audiobooks in during the summer, but I’ll probably try to listen to it in the fall when school begins again.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Representation
Alice is white. Her friend Finch is biracial.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to sex.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to do a kind of magic. The magic in the book is very dangerous, usually used to harm someone. Some characters live in an alternate world.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some brief but gory descriptions of harm and death. References to suicide. Some chapters tell the fairytales included in Alice’s grandmother’s book. They have a horror-esque quality to them, with dark, dangerous magic and often brief graphic violence.

Someone pulls a gun on Alice. She remembers being kidnapped as a child. Someone demands that Alice take her own life. Alice witnesses someone cut the throat of another person.

Drug Content
Some characters drink alcohol. Some characters smoke cigarettes.

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

Review: Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

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Compound Fracture
Andrew Joseph White
Peachtree Teen
Published September 3, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Compound Fracture

Bestselling and award-winning author Andrew Joseph White returns with a queer Appalachian thriller, that pulls no punches, for teens who see the failures in our world and are pushing for radical change.

A gut-wrenching story following a trans autistic teen who survives an attempted murder, only to be drawn into the generational struggle between the rural poor and those who exploit them.

On the night Miles Abernathy—sixteen-year-old socialist and proud West Virginian—comes out as trans to his parents, he sneaks off to a party, carrying evidence that may finally turn the tide of the blood feud plaguing Twist Creek: Photos that prove the county’s Sheriff Davies was responsible for the so-called “accident” that injured his dad, killed others, and crushed their grassroots efforts to unseat him.

The feud began a hundred years ago when Miles’s great-great-grandfather, Saint Abernathy, incited a miners’ rebellion that ended with a public execution at the hands of law enforcement. Now, Miles becomes the feud’s latest victim as the sheriff’s son and his friends sniff out the evidence, follow him through the woods, and beat him nearly to death.

In the hospital, the ghost of a soot-covered man hovers over Miles’s bedside while Sheriff Davies threatens Miles into silence. But when Miles accidentally kills one of the boys who hurt him, he learns of other folks in Twist Creek who want out from under the sheriff’s heel. To free their families from this cycle of cruelty, they’re willing to put everything on the line—is Miles?

A visceral, unabashedly political page-turner that won’t let you go until you’ve reached the end, Compound Fracture is not for the faint of heart, but it is for every reader who is ready to fight for a better world.

My Review

I only learned about the miners’ rebellion in 1920 earlier this year when I read Mine Wars by Steve Watkins. It was hard to imagine the bloodiness and violence of those events, but having read a historical account, I couldn’t help thinking about how the violence in this book echoed the horror of those real-life experiences.

Every time I pick up a book by Andrew Joseph White, I worry that it will be too much for me. I tend to be more sensitive to violence in media, so it’s hard for me to read certain things. Yet, every time I pick up one of his books, I’m swept away by the writing and the unapologetic storytelling that centers characters who survive some of humanity’s darkest treatment.

Compound Fracture drops its readers into the middle of a generations-old feud in a small West Virginia town. Early in the story, the main character, Miles, is beaten severely. We know what happens largely because we see him surrounded by people with ill intent, and then we get an account of his severe injuries when he wakes up in the hospital later. I appreciated that this scene, in particular, wasn’t shown in detail.

I couldn’t stop reading this book. The story feels urgent and intense in the kind of way that makes you want to squeeze in one more chapter. And one more. And…

Which is how I read this whole book in less than 24 hours. If you love dark Appalachian stories or stories with a strong tie to historical events, check this one out. It reminded me a little bit of The Ballad of Dinah Caldwell by Kate Brauning.

Also, shout-out to Lady, Miles’ dog and one of my favorite characters in the whole book. I love that she’s pictured on the cover!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Miles is an autistic transgender boy. A friend is nonbinary. Another friend is queer. Miles speculates about another possibly transgender character.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some f-bombs and other profanity. A few instances of transphobic and homophobic comments.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys. References to romantic relationships and mention of queerplatonic partnership.

Spiritual Content
Miles sees an apparition when he’s in intense situations.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Threatening and bullying behavior. Three boys jump Miles, nearly beating him to death (off scene). A boy hits another boy in the face and knocks him down. Two people dispose of a body. More than one person shoots another person, sometimes fatally. More than one person leaves a victim bleeding out and expects them to die.

References to someone causing a car accident that left one person dead and another with severe burns. Someone sets an occupied building on fire. References to and brief descriptions of Miles’ ancestor’s brutal murder and other instances of violence between miners and others.

Reference to cruelty to animals. Miles recalls someone killing a dog as a way to punish someone.

Drug Content
Miles’ dad recovered from an opioid addiction. Other people in the community still struggle with addiction. Miles experiences withdrawals from stopping opioid medication after being injured. Miles and another boy drink alcohol together. Another 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: Jaden Powers and the Inheritance Magic by Jamar J. Perry

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , ,

Jaden Powers and the Inheritance Magic
Jamar J. Perry
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published August 27, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Jaden Powers and the Inheritance Magic

In this magical middle grade fantasy perfect for fans of The Marvellers and Amari and the Night Brothers, a shy boy must step up and become his own hero after his best friend disappears at a magical school. 

Jaden and Elijah have been best friends since they were born. They’re so close that Jaden doesn’t even mind that he’s constantly living in talented, high-achieving Elijah’s shadow-well, he doesn’t mind much.

But then Elijah disappears, leaving behind nothing but a cryptic note asking for Jaden’s help. The next day, Jaden is invited to attend Elijah’s fancy private boarding school. Only, it turns out it’s not a boarding school at all. It’s a school for magic! Somehow, before Elijah vanished, he used his note to transfer part of his own magic into Jaden, a feat that is supposed to be impossible.

Determined to find his friend, Jaden agrees to attend the school and learn to control his new powers. But a sinister force is threatening to destroy the whole magical world. And if Jaden doesn’t stop it, he’ll be the next to disappear.

My Review

The pacing of this story went differently than I expected. In some ways, that is a strength for the book because it’s a strong difference from books like Amari and the Night Brothers and other magic school stories. There were a couple of moments where the story started to feel too similar to another boy-with-magic story, so I appreciated the ways in which it diverged from other books.

I loved the friendship between Jaden and Elijah, which is at the center of the novel. Perry celebrates that deep friendship bond and brotherhood between the two boys without any qualifiers, and I found that refreshing and, frankly, beautiful.

The cast is heavily male. I would have enjoyed seeing a little more diversity here, though there’s some value in a story that leans heavily into exploring different kinds of relationships between boys or men. I think having at least one of the critical characters be female would have added a little more balance, though.

On the whole, I am glad to see this book added to the collection of magic school middle grade literature. Jaden Powers and the Inheritance Magic is a fun story that celebrates the power of friendship and trusting your heart.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Jaden and several other key characters are Black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic. Some magic can be harmful and threaten the stability of the world.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Jaden hears his best friend has drowned and must attend his funeral. Someone asks permission to view Jaden’s thoughts. The spell is painful to him, but he is willing to endure it if it will help him find his best friend.

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 Sherlock Society by James Ponti

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, , , ,

The Sherlock Society
James Ponti
Aladdin
Published September 3, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Sherlock Society

In the tradition of Nancy Drew, four kids and one grandfather in Miami tackle a decades-old mystery in this first book in the action-packed and funny Sherlock Society middle grade series from New York Times bestselling, Edgar Award–winning author James Ponti! 

Siblings Alex and Zoe Sherlock take their last name as inspiration when choosing a summer job. After all, starting a detective agency has to be better than babysitting (boring), lawn mowing (sweaty), or cleaning out the attic (boring and sweaty). Their friends Lina, an avid bookworm, and Yadi, an aspiring cinematographer, join the enterprise, and Alex and Zoe’s retired reporter grandfather offers up his sweet aquamarine Cadillac convertible and storage unit full of cold cases.

The group’s first target is the long-lost treasure supposedly hidden near their hometown Miami. Their investigation into the local doings of famed gangster Al Capone leads them to a remote island in the middle of the Everglades where they find alarming evidence hinting at corporate corruption. Together with Grandpa’s know-how and the kids’ intelligence—plus some really slick gadgets—can the Sherlock Society root out the conspiracy?

My Review

This upbeat, fun mystery was a hoot to read. I really enjoyed the way that Ponti broke down the investigation into questions that each kid in the Society focused on answering. That gave everyone a role and helped create balance within the group. I also enjoyed Alex and Zoe’s grandfather. He was knowledgeable and entertaining without stealing the spotlight.

I liked the Florida setting, too. I’m not super familiar with the Everglades, but I’ve been there, so I had a grid for the kinds of scenes the story described. The bits of history about the city of Miami and South Florida added a nice touch to the book, too. There were things I knew and some new-to-me facts as well, which was great.

I’m super late to the party because this is the first book by James Ponti that I’ve ever read. His writing is really easy to read, and the characters—who are simple in a good way—did a great job chasing down clues and pushing the story forward. I liked this one a lot.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Yadi is Latine.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. The kids discover a site where someone dumped chemicals that killed several animals.

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 with Greg Pattridge.