When her best friend Sophie goes missing, 12-year-old Ruby Tabeata has a choice: wait for her friend to come home or defy her parents and find Sophie.
Set during the 1950s Blacklist era when writers like Sophie’s mom were being jailed or fired, Fool’s Errand sends Ruby out of her city and her comfort zone.
With nothing to rely on but her grit and determination, Ruby has to outsmart the men chasing Sophie and her mom—discovering that whether or not you succeed, trying to save a friend is never a fool’s errand.
My Review
Just like in THE BEAT ON RUBY’S STREET, I found Ruby’s character really fun and realistic. I loved the way she explains things, and her loyalty and devotion to the people she loves. I thought it was interesting watching her relationships with her parents grow and change. It felt like she was figuring out some important things.
The setting explores a bit of the Blacklist era and what happens when someone is reported to have been at meetings with Communists in the 1950s. Ruby and her friends help her best friend’s mom hide from men sent by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. In some of those scenes, Ruby is largely a bystander, watching and comforting her friend while the adults figure out what to do next. She does take an active role in helping at times, though.
On the whole, I still enjoyed the characters and the ways the social issues of the day impacted the story and Ruby’s family and friends. I think fans of THE BEAT ON RUBY’S STREET will enjoy seeing another adventure from their favorite Beat poet.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 10 up.
Representation Major characters are white. One of Ruby’s family’s friends is black.
Profanity/Crude Language Content A couple racial slurs used. While these may have been commonly used during the 1950s, I wish the author had used different words or written a note in the book explaining why those words were used.
UPDATE 11/10/20: Jenna Zark has added a note in the book explaining the use of the racial slurs that appear in the story.
Romance/Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Ruby very briefly mentions learning from a Yogi.
Violent Content Ruby listens to two adults talking about the Civil Rights protests and how police are using dogs and fire hoses and people have died protesting.
Drug Content None.
Note: I received a free copy of FOOL’S ERRAND in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.
Faryn Liu thought she was the Heaven Breaker, a warrior destined to wield the all-powerful spear Fenghuang, command dragons, and defeat demons. But a conniving goddess was manipulating her all along…and her beloved younger brother, Alex, has betrayed her and taken over as the Heaven Breaker instead. Alex never forgave the people who treated him and Faryn like outcasts, and now he wants to wipe out both the demons and most of humanity.
Determined to prevent a war and bring Alex back to her side, Faryn and her half-dragon friend Ren join the New Order, a group of warriors based out of Manhattan’s Chinatown. She learns that one weapon can stand against Fenghuang–the Ruyi Jingu Bang. Only problem? It belongs to an infamous trickster, the Monkey King.
Faryn sets off on a daring quest to convince the Monkey King to join forces with her, one that will take her to new places–including Diyu, otherwise known as the Underworld–where she’ll run into new dangers and more than one familiar face. Can she complete her mission and save the brother she loves, no matter the cost?
My Review
Faryn is every bit as funny and full of heart in FALLEN HERO as she was in THE DRAGON WARRIOR. I loved her relationships with the other characters, especially her relationship with Ren, which is so sweet.
I think I read this book faster than the first one, too. The quest to find the Ruyi Jingu Bang takes Faryn and her allies all over the place. Again the story leads her to lean on her connection to her family and her ancestors. I love that it celebrates the bond between generations.
I know almost nothing about Chinese mythology, so I enjoyed learning a bit and seeing the different gods and goddesses portrayed in the story. It reminded me a bit of the Percy Jackson books in that it has gods and goddesses in a contemporary world. These books might be best read by readers a little younger, but I think they’re every bit as entertaining and fun.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.
Representation Most Characters are Chinese American.
Profanity/Crude Language Content None.
Romance/Sexual Content A boy and girl hold hands for a moment.
Spiritual Content Gods and goddesses from Chinese mythology battle one another, care for Diyu (the Underworld) and rule from Heaven. Some have powerful weapons. A boy can transform into a dragon. Two children learn that their father is a Demon King in Diyu. The spirits of the dead offer aid and are more powerful than usual because of the Hungry Ghost Festival.
Violent Content Some situations of peril and battle violence (no gory details).
Drug Content None.
Note: I received a free copy of FALLEN HERO in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.
Lana Torres has always preferred dragons to people. In a few weeks, sixteen countries will compete in the Blazewrath World Cup, a tournament where dragons and their riders fight for glory in a dangerous relay. Lana longs to represent her native Puerto Rico in their first ever World Cup appearance, and when Puerto Rico’s Runner—the only player without a dragon steed—is kicked off the team, she’s given the chance.
But when she discovers that a former Blazewrath superstar has teamed up with the Sire—a legendary dragon who’s cursed into human form—the safety of the Cup is jeopardized. The pair are burning down dragon sanctuaries around the world and refuse to stop unless the Cup gets cancelled. All Lana wanted was to represent her country. Now, to do that, she’ll have to navigate an international conspiracy that’s deadlier than her beloved sport.
How to Train Your Dragon meets Quidditch through the Ages in this debut fantasy, set in an alternate contemporary world, in which dragons and their riders compete in an international sports tournament.
My Review
The comparison to HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON and Quidditch definitely fits this book. Once Lana joins the Blazewrath team, lots of chapters take place on the field, describing the game and her team’s efforts to win.
Because Lana isn’t a dragon rider with a shared bond and closeness to any of the dragons, they are all pretty minor characters. I thought it was cool that different regions had different types of dragons, and that the dragons themselves had lots of varying abilities and behaviors.
I liked Lana– she’s smart and determined. She pursues the truth about the Sire no matter the risk to herself, and she stays bold and committed even in the face of danger.
I liked a LOT of things about the book. It’s a wild adventure, and full of Puerto Rican pride and the love of found family. I think fans of DRAGON WARRIOR by Katie Zhao will like the high adventure and alternate contemporary setting. Readers who are interested in but not quite ready for LOBIZONA by Romina Garber should add THE BLAZEWRATH GAMES to their bookshelves.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.
Representation Lana and her teammates are Puerto Rican. A couple minor characters are gay.
Profanity/Crude Language Content Moderate profanity used infrequently.
Romance/Sexual Content Some flirting, but nothing beyond that.
Spiritual Content None.
Violent Content Some scenes show brief but graphic violence, including a throat being cut. References to torture and execution. The Blazewrath game includes combat-style play which can result in serious injury.
Drug Content None.
Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.
Eli isn’t just a teenage girl — she’s a made-thing the witches created to hunt down ghosts in the human world. Trained to kill with her seven magical blades, Eli is a flawless machine, a deadly assassin. But when an assignment goes wrong, Eli starts to question everything she was taught about both worlds, the Coven, and her tyrannical witch-mother.
Worried that she’ll be unmade for her mistake, Eli gets caught up with a group of human and witch renegades, and is given the most difficult and dangerous task in the worlds: capture the Heart of the Coven. With the help of two humans, one motorcycle, and a girl who smells like the sea, Eli is going to get answers — and earn her freedom.
My Review
The story world in GIRL OF HAWTHORN AND GLASS is unlike anything else I’ve ever read. It’s both contemporary and fanciful, charming and full of teeth. A tiny coffee shop to a forest of awake trees to a walled compound of violent witch children to a library where the books might attack. It kind of has everything.
From the first page I found Eli likeable. Right away I wanted to follow her down the path of solving the mysteries of her existence and to learn more about the mysterious motorcycle rider who befriends her. I loved the banter between Cam and Tav, too. Those two were fantastic.
The story is a bit dark. The magic has that eye-for-an-eye feel to it, where the rules are unbreakable, and it’s all about figuring out how to make what you need conform to the rules of the magic. And Eli is, after all, an assassin, so she thinks a lot about killing, and, until things start to go sideways, she never questions her assignments.
Representation Tav is Black and nonbinary. Cam is Asian-American and gay. Eli is pansexual.
Profanity/Crude Language Content Extreme profanity used infrequently.
Romance/Sexual Content Kissing between two girls. Kissing between a girl and nonbinary character.
Spiritual Content Witches, who live in a connected but separate world, created Eli to kill ghosts in the human world. Eli is made from stone and blood and other materials. Witches have rituals– sometimes about giving gifts or accepting favors.
Violent Content One scene describes Eli killing someone she believes to be a ghost. Other situations of peril. In the witch world, there are children who are fixated on violence. Eli can transform into a toothy crocodile girl and does so to bite an opponent.
Drug Content None.
Note: I received a free copy of GIRL OF HAWTHORN AND GLASS in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.
Refreshingly authentic and bold… Don’t miss this smashing #ownvoices novel from Francina Simone! Filled with heart, humor and a heroine to root for, Smash It! is a perfect read for fans of Julie Murphy, Ibi Zoboi and Ashley Poston.
Olivia “Liv” James is done with letting her insecurities get the best of her. So she does what any self-respecting hot mess of a girl who wants to SMASH junior year does…
After Liv shows up to a Halloween party in khaki shorts–why, God, why?–she decides to set aside her wack AF ways. She makes a list–a F*ck-It list.
1. Be bold–do the thing that scares me.
2. Learn to take a compliment.
3. Stand out instead of back.
She kicks it off by trying out for the school musical, saying yes to a date and making new friends. Life is great when you stop punking yourself! However, with change comes a lot of missteps, and being bold means following her heart. So what happens when Liv’s heart is interested in three different guys–and two of them are her best friends? What is she supposed to do when she gets dumped by a guy she’s not even dating? How does one Smash It! after the humiliation of being friend-zoned?
In Liv’s own words, “F*ck it. What’s the worst that can happen?”
A lot, apparently.
My Review
SMASH IT! is a lot in some great ways and a few problematic ones. First, the great stuff:
I love that the story tackles body image but isn’t about conformity. Liv faces her own insecurities about her body and learns some lessons about the value of having friends who celebrate you for you rather than tear you down, even if it is meant to be teasing.
SMASH IT! really celebrates girl friends in a way that I love as well. At the beginning of the story, she mostly spends her time with Eli and Dré, two boys. She reluctantly makes friends with two girls and, though it’s not always easy to navigate those new relationships, she comes to really value the way they affirm her and check her behavior when she needs it.
The writing is solid. I always struggle with books that have as much profanity as this one does, and so that’s true here, but I feel like Francina Simone’s writing is strong and her characterization is super consistent through the course of the story. Liv is funny and vulnerable and flawed, and I loved reading about her journey.
I also struggled with some of the racial comments, particularly those directed at a Hawaiian character and an Israeli-Palestinian character. Though they were uttered by pretty irreverent characters, and Liv sometimes frowned on the insensitive or racist comments, they were just hard to read, and I don’t think they were necessary.
On the other hand, I felt like some of the conversations about race that the story explored were great for opening up discussion on things and showing some nuance that’s often overlooked. When Jackie gets into it with a white theater kid because she’s using the N-word and he calls her out, Liv serves as a referee, giving another perspective on the conversation.
The story also explores a lot of ideas about sex. Liv wants to have sex, but hasn’t yet. One of her friends encourages her to sleep with someone she doesn’t care about but who’d be a good lover to get the experience. Another friend doesn’t believe in casual sex and encourages Liv to wait until she’s found someone she wants to be with. Liv views having sex as taking ownership of her body in a new way, but the motivation to do it seems to overtake other reasoning. Ultimately, she causes some hurt, and at first is super unrepentant about that– as though feeling bad for her choice is synonymous with feeling guilty or ashamed of sex and of her body.
Though she does stop and re-examine those feelings and take another look at how her actions have affected others, I felt like the emotional fallout sort of fizzled if that makes sense? Like everyone kind of shrugs and says it’s all cool. Could that happen? Maybe, but in my experience, it usually takes a lot longer for people to feel okay for something they initially viewed as a huge betrayal.
At any rate, on the whole, I loved some things about this book a huge ton. Liv is a flawed character, for sure. But she’s also trying to learn and grow as a person and willing to face her mistakes, and I loved that.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 16 up.
Representation Liv is black. Her best friend Dré is Puerto Rican. Her other best friend Eli is Israeli-Palestinian. One of her newer friends is bisexual. Liv dates a boy who’s Hawaiian.
Profanity/Crude Language Content Extreme profanity and crude comments used lots.
Romance/Sexual Content Kissing between boy and girl. References to masturbation. Explicit descriptions of sex between boy and girl.
Spiritual Content Liv briefly wonders if Eli wants to practice Judaism like his dad or Islam like his mom.
Violent Content – Trigger Warning Some racist and insensitive comments about a Hawaiian character (objectifying and sexualizing him because of his race). A racist sexual comment about an Israeli-Palestinian character.
A boy throws things at his dad. His dad slaps him. Two boys get into a fist fight.
Drug Content References to teen drinking and one reference to smoking pot.
Note: I received a free copy of SMASH IT! in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.
Johnny “Preacher” Wilcox never planned on running a wheat farm at the age of twelve. When his father abruptly leaves the family on a Kansas farm during the height of World War II, Preacher is left with unanswered questions, wheat land to plow, and a broken tractor. The tractor mechanic is meaner than a bobcat, the creek is drying up, and Preacher’s best friend, Earl Floyd, betrays him (or, so he thinks.) At times, he feels his dog, Deke, is his only friend.
Through this engaging story for middle grade students, the reader will follow Preacher’s journey as he discovers the meaning of perseverance, loyalty, friendship, and forgiveness.
My Review
Southern fiction holds a special place in my heart, so when I read the first few pages of A BOY CALLED PREACHER, I knew I was hooked. Johnny’s southern voice and expressions had me grinning and laughing out loud. I loved the friendship between him and his dog Deke and even the complicated relationship he shares with Earl Floyd. The small Kansas town setting is vividly drawn and anchored in its World War II period.
The only struggle I had was that I wished there had been like 15 more pages to the ending. It felt a little abrupt, and it would have been great to see a little more reflection and conclusion. Other than that, though, I really enjoyed this book, and I read it in one sitting, totally engrossed. It also would have been nice to see more female characters on the page.
Representation I think the characters are all white.
Profanity/Crude Language Content None.
Romance/Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Johnny attends church with his family and thinks about how the pastor is always saying everyone should love and forgive and what that means to him. He also wonders whether his mom will let him go hunting on a Sunday, or if that’s not appropriate for the day of rest.
Violent Content Some scenes show hunting. The boys kill rabbits and a large snake.
Drug Content A local man spits tobacco juice on the porch where Johnny stands.
Note: I received a free copy of A BOY CALLED PREACHER in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.
