Tag Archives: friendship

Review: The Exiles by Katherine Barger

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,
The Exiles by Katherine Barger

The Exiles (Exiled Trilogy #2)
Katherine Barger
Anaiah Press
Published November 2, 2021

Amazon  | Goodreads

About The Exiles

Nothing could have prepared Nyssa Ardelone for the treachery that lurks inside Fortune’s Fall. What began as a joyful reunion with her family soon plunges into chaos, with Nyssa at the center of misplaced accusations that could be catastrophic for everyone. Confused and still grief-stricken over the friends she’s lost, Nyssa begins to question whether her journey to Fortune’s Fall was worth the cost.

When she learns that President Omri has arrested the exiles and plans to send them to the most notorious prison in America, Nyssa’s convinced Omri’s punishing them for her sins, and she sinks into even deeper despair. But there might be a way to save them, and Nyssa jumps at the chance to remedy what she feels is her fault.

The task is dangerous, though, and if she fails, she’ll lose everything. If she succeeds, the people of Fortune’s Fall will embrace her at last, and the path will open for their ultimate return to Maren—the home Omri stole from them fifteen years ago. With the help of family and a few unlikely allies, Nyssa sets out to make things right. But the stakes are higher than before, and her newfound faith has grown shaky. When the mission doesn’t go as planned, Nyssa faces a choice unlike any she’s ever had: press on despite her doubts, or give up and leave the exiles—and everyone she loves—to their fate.

My Review

I think one of the things I liked about this book is that it balances Nyssa’s youth with her power, if that makes sense. Like, I had no trouble believing in her being a teenager. Sometimes when I read YA the characters feel really adult, and even though Nyssa’s an independent person who has been on her own for a long time, she still felt like a teenager. She still wrestled with a lot of becoming-an-adult types of things. While sometimes she took on a leadership role, other times, she was still kind of treated like a kid. That felt pretty true to what I’d imagine a teen in her position would experience.

I liked the moments when she took ownership of her situation and was the person coming up with the plan or idea. Sometimes that role went to other characters– her brother or other friends– and I wish I’d had a chance to see her in the driver’s seat more often.

Based on the way THE EXILES ends, I feel like Nyssa will have a lot more opportunity to be assertive and own her story in the last book in the trilogy. I’m interested to see how all that plays out.

This book hits a lot of the right notes with its dystopian story world and high stakes plot. I think fans of dystopian stories like The Safe Lands series by Jill Williamson or HEARTLESS HEIRS by MarcyCate Connolly will like this series. If you haven’t read FORTUNE’S FALL, the first book in the series, I would recommend starting with that one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Main characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kiss between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Main characters believe in God even though it opposes the culture and rule of the country’s president.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some scenes showing torture.

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 EXILES in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Insiders by Mark Oshiro

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The Insiders
Mark Oshiro
HarperCollins
Published September 21, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Insiders

San Francisco and Orangevale may be in the same state, but for Héctor Muñoz, they might as well be a million miles apart. Back home, being gay didn’t mean feeling different. At Héctor’s new school, he couldn’t feel more alone.

Most days, Héctor just wishes he could disappear. And he does. Right into the janitor’s closet. (Yes, he sees the irony.) But one day, when the door closes behind him, Héctor discovers he’s stumbled into a room that shouldn’t be possible. A room that connects him with two new friends from different corners of the country—and opens the door to a life-changing year full of magic, friendship, and adventure.

Three kids who don’t belong. A room that shouldn’t exist. A year that will change everything.

My Review

This book might break your heart. Not permanently. But. It follows Héctor, who’s just beginning at a new school in a new town. He becomes the target of a group of bullies. Though he’s usually pretty outspoken, he’s vulnerable– still trying to figure out how to find his footing in his new space. He has a supportive family, but worries they’ve got enough other things to stress over without needing to take on his troubles. He worries they’d be disappointed in him for not figuring things out for himself. Or for not standing up for himself or letting someone else’s behavior bother him so much.

His experience is so relatable. So raw and real. I love the gentle way the Room comforts and helps him. In some ways, the Room was my favorite character. Héctor is pretty tough to beat, though! I love his sense of humor and bold personality.

THE INSIDERS is one of those books that has a lot of things happening in the background in an understated way. One of Héctor’s teachers reacts to something he says or does in a way that made me think she knew about the Room, and maybe had her own experience with it herself. I love that it kind of stays ambiguous, too, because it hints at the Room being an ongoing force helping lonely kids without letting the story focus on an adult’s experience.

Some moments in the book were so achingly sad, but so many were also full of triumph and joy. This is a story that celebrates friendship, family, identity and food.

THE INSIDERS is the first book by Mark Oshiro that I’ve ever read, but I’m already thinking I need to go out and find all the other books they’ve written. I can’t wait to see more of their work.

I think readers who like HOW TO BECOME A PLANET by Nicole Melleby or FOREVERLAND by Nicole C. Kear will love this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Héctor is gay and Latino. He has several other close friends who are LGBTQ and/or BIPOC.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Reference to a homophobic slur. The word itself is not used.

Romance/Sexual Content
A girl asks another girl to a school dance and is asked not to DJ the event because of it.

Spiritual Content
A room appears to Héctor and a couple other kids when they need it most. It transforms into whatever they need, from a janitor closet to a library to a coffee shop to a nap space. Sometimes it hints at solutions to problems they face.

Violent Content
Some homophobia and bullying. Though Héctor is never in critical physical danger, he bears some pretty deep wounds from the way his antagonists treat him, and even begins to experience some depression.

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 INSIDERS in exchange for my honest review.

Review: How to Become a Planet by Nicole Melleby

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

How to Become a Planet
Nicole Melleby
Algonquin Young Readers
Published May 25, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About How to Become a Planet

For Pluto, summer has always started with a trip to the planetarium. It’s the launch to her favorite season, which also includes visits to the boardwalk arcade, working in her mom’s pizzeria, and her best friend Meredith’s birthday party. But this summer, none of that feels possible.

A month before the end of the school year, Pluto’s frightened mom broke down Pluto’s bedroom door. What came next were doctor’s appointments, a diagnosis of depression, and a big black hole that still sits on Pluto’s chest, making it too hard to do anything.

Pluto can’t explain to her mom why she can’t do the things she used to love. And it isn’t until Pluto’s dad threatens to make her move with him to the city—where he believes his money, in particular, could help—that Pluto becomes desperate enough to do whatever it takes to be the old Pluto again.

She develops a plan and a checklist: If she takes her medication, if she goes to the planetarium with her mom for her birthday, if she successfully finishes her summer school work with her tutor, if she goes to Meredith’s birthday party . . . if she does all the things that “normal” Pluto would do, she can stay with her mom in Jersey. But it takes a new therapist, a new tutor, and a new (and cute) friend with a checklist and plan of her own for Pluto to learn that there is no old and new Pluto. There’s just her.

My Review

I feel like Nicole Melleby does an incredible job bringing issues to the middle grade stage with poise and poignance but without softening the truth about how hard some of those challenges can be. Both of the books she’s written that I’ve reviewed (HOW TO BECOME A PLANET and HURRICANE SEASON) have explored mental health and identity issues as well as complex relationships with single parents. This book also included resolving conflicts within a friendship.

All those topics felt handled really well in the context of a middle grade story. I didn’t feel sheltered from Pluto’s anxiety or her depression. I felt like I experienced those things along with her, but in a really accessible way. Like they would still make sense (I think) to someone whether or not they’d shared that experience personally.

I liked that Pluto’s parents both wanted to help her and be present and loving with her, but that the story showed how complicated that was for Pluto, too. I liked that no one in the story is perfect. It was also really cool that the story focused on building Pluto’s support team: friends, parents, mentors, and her therapist, all working together to create a network that Pluto could lean on when she needed them.

HOW TO BECOME A PLANET may not be the book that resonates with every reader, but it’s such a sweet, deep story. It’s about learning to recognize what you need and how to be loved even when you don’t feel lovable. Readers who enjoyed BREATHING UNDERWATER or ASTER’S GOOD RIGHT THINGS will not want to miss this one.

Content Notes for How to Become a Planet

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Several characters, including Pluto, identify as queer.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A kiss between two girls.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Pluto has a meltdown and lashes out physically.

Drug Content
Pluto takes medication for her anxiety and depression.

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 HOW TO BECOME A PLANET in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Storm Keeper’s Battle by Catherine Doyle

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Storm Keeper’s Battle (Storm Keeper #3)
Catherine Doyle
Bloomsbury
Published December 28, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Storm Keeper’s Battle

Fionn Boyle, Storm Keeper of Arranmore, is facing the fight of his life. The terrifying all- powerful sorceress Morrigan has been raised from the dead and has sealed off the island from all help.

Fionn is the only thing that stands between her and a dark future. He’s got to find a way to defeat her. But there are some terrible choices in store for Fionn as the dark sorcerer begins to take his nearest and dearest for her own. With only two candles left to burn, will Fionn master his powers in time to stop her?

In the thrilling conclusion to the acclaimed Storm Keeper’s Island series, evil sorceress Morrigan rises, and Fionn and his friends must use their wits to save Arranmore Island’s future.

“Fans of Harry Potter or Percy Jackson can add Fionn Boyle as a generous and brave hero from the Emerald Isle.” –SCHOOL LIBRARY CONNECTION on THE STORM KEEPER’S ISLAND.

My Review

Confession: I learned that THE STORM KEEPER’S BATTLE came out in the UK in March, so I ordered a copy and read it long before the US release date. This is something I’ve never done before, but I seriously could not wait to read this book all the way until October. So technically I read the UK release of the book, but I waited to post my review until close to the release date here in the US.

I have too many favorite things about this book. The friendships between Fionn, Shelby and Sam. The way it again ties together all these moments in the island’s past and Fionn’s role in those events. The memories of and presence of Fionn’s grandfather. I may have sobbed through a couple of scenes.

At the beginning of the book, I’ll admit I was a little nervous that it would be tons of chapters of Fionn and friends stumbling around looking for clues and killing time until the final battle with Morrigan. But as the trail of breadcrumbs began to take shape pretty quickly and the stakes continued to go up higher and higher, I felt like I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I got completely lost in the story and couldn’t stop reading until I reached the very last page.

This is one of my favorite series ever. I want to have ten children so that I can read these books aloud to each one of them. I love the story of courage, family, friendships, and community. And I love the magic and the candles and the way that love speaks across time. It’s so, so good.

If this is the first you’ve heard of the Storm Keeper books, please check out my review of THE STORM KEEPER’S ISLAND, the first book in the series as you’ll definitely want to read that one first.

If you liked THE RAVEN HEIR by Stephanie Burgis, definitely check out the Storm Keeper series!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Characters are Irish.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used twice.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
An evil sorcerer gathers the souls of others to her, making a cape from them and controlling their bodies, commanding them like an army. Fionn also has some magical abilities. He has candles from his grandfather which allow him to visit other times in the island’s history.

Violent Content
Situations of peril and battle violence. Fionn and his allies must battle a sorceress and her powerful, Titan-like brothers.

Drug Content
Fionn’s uncles drink wine and share stories with the family.

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

Review: Birdie’s Billions by Edith Cohn

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Birdie’s Billions
Edith Cohn
Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books
Published December 14, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Birdie’s Billions

For as long as eleven-year-old Birdie can remember, it’s always been just her and her mom, which means there’s not a lot of extra money to spend on things like new clothes and batons from the fancy gymnastics store. Still, they always find a way to make ends meet. Then Birdie makes one silly mistake that has a big consequence: Mom loses her job. Now things are more dire than ever, and Birdie knows it’s up to her to fix it.

When Birdie discovers a huge stash of cash in an abandoned house, she just knows it must be the answer to their problems. But the people who left that money behind aren’t willing to give it up so easily. Does “finders, keepers” count when it’s half a million dollars?

In this heartfelt small-town story from beloved author Edith Cohn, Birdie learns how to balance what’s right for her family-and herself-with what’s the right thing to do.

A savvy young girl finds half a million dollars and wonders if she can keep it in this charming middle grade mystery that asks big questions about right, wrong, and what you’d do for family.

My Review

Oh. My. Goodness. This book. First of all, I adore that the story explores ideas about integrity versus lying with good intentions. I thought it was really cool the way Birdie wrestles with what to do with the money she finds and what lies are justified so that she can use it to help others.

I also thought it was awesome that she’s a skater. It’s another hobby that I feel like is still underrepresented in books, though it’s possible that I just don’t encounter the books that are out there? Either way, there aren’t enough skateboarding characters in my life.

True to a lot of middle grade books, Birdie not only wrestles with family relationships, she also faces challenges in her friendships. I like that this book explored differences that can come from class but that those differences weren’t the whole story about what went wrong with Birdie and her bestie. I liked that there was more to the story there.

I also enjoyed the goofy characters and sweet moments of connection as well as Jackpot, the amazing cat.

On the whole, this is a great book for readers who enjoy stories about strong girls facing relationship challenges or complicated moral choices. I think readers who enjoyed CHIRP by Kate Messner or THE KATE IN BETWEEN by Claire Swinarski will enjoy this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are white. Birdie’s dad is in prison and her family is poor.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None in the text. Birdie calls her friend’s mom a curse word (which isn’t spelled out) after she blames Birdie for something unfairly.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A couple of older boys bully Birdie and her friend while they’re skateboarding on the street. A girl gets injured when she’s walking in a part of a house she’s not supposed to be in and falls through the floor.

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 BIRDIE’S BILLIONS in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Excalibur Curse by Kiersten White

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The Excalibur Curse (Camelot Rising #3)
Kiersten White
Delacorte Press
Published December 7, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Excalibur Curse

While journeying north toward the Dark Queen, Guinevere falls into the hands of her enemies. Behind her are Lancelot, trapped on the other side of the magical barrier they created to protect Camelot, and Arthur, who has been led away from his kingdom, chasing after false promises. But the greatest danger isn’t what lies ahead of Guinevere—it’s what’s been buried inside her.

Vowing to unravel the truth of her past with or without Merlin’s help, Guinevere joins forces with the sorceress Morgana and her son, Mordred—and faces the confusing, forbidden feelings she still harbors for him. When Guinevere makes an agonizing discovery about who she is and how she came to be, she finds herself with an impossible choice: fix a terrible crime, or help prevent war.

Guinevere is determined to set things right, whatever the cost. To defeat a rising evil. To remake a kingdom. To undo the mistakes of the past…even if it means destroying herself.

Guinevere has been a changeling, a witch, a queen—but what does it mean to be just a girl?

The gripping conclusion to the acclaimed Arthurian fantasy trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White finds Guinevere questioning everything—friends and enemies, good and evil, and, most of all, herself.

My Review

I’ve loved reading this whole series. I love the way it celebrates the Arthurian legend but centers around female characters. There’s really something magical and immersive about it.

If you know me at all, you know I really struggle with third-and-final books in a series. I long for them. I dread them. Too often I put off reading them until the last possible minute. Then I read them, remember all over again why I fell in love with the series or characters, and can’t believe it took me so long to read the book. Which is pretty much what happened here, too.

Guinevere is such a great character. I loved the way she wrestles with finding the balance between protecting the people she loves and giving them respect and autonomy to take the risks they deem appropriate. And the way she faces questions about her own existence and her value.

I love that the story celebrates Arthur’s magnetism and shows his pursuit of being a good king but also acknowledges his flaws. It made him seem like a much more real person than some of the other Arthurian stories that I’ve read in which he seems too much a legend and not enough an actual person.

One of the amazing things about the story really is the way that it’s not just Guinevere’s tale. She builds friendships and relationships with many women around her. They play key roles in the story and in her journey, and I loved how that played out.

All in all, I think this is a great fantasy series, and I’m so glad I read it. I think fans of Leigh Bardugo or Brigid Kemmerer will enjoy this series.

Check out my reviews of the first two books in the Camelot Rising series: THE GUINEVERE DECEPTION and THE CAMELOT BETRAYAL.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Main character has romantic feelings for a man and woman. There are two female side characters in a romantic relationship. Another side character is bisexual.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between man and woman. References to sex between a man and woman and between two women.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to do magic. The Dark Queen wants to use magic to destroy humanity. Merlin and the Lady of the Lake used a kind of magic to create Camelot.

Violent Content
Battle scenes, situations of peril and some descriptions of death.

Drug Content
Guinevere and another woman drink a truth potion which makes them feel drunk but speak only the truth.

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 EXCALIBUR CURSE in exchange for my honest review.