Tag Archives: grief

Review: Shooting for Stars by Christine Webb

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,
Shooting for Stars by Christine Webb

Shooting for Stars
Christine Webb
Peachtree Teen
Published May 21, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Shooting for Stars

A charming romantic dramedy from the author of The Art of Insanity

High schooler Skyler Davidson spends most of her time with her pet rat, Five. The daughter of scientists, she’s determined to finish her late mother’s research on neutron stars. So she teams up with aspiring videographer, Cooper, to film a submission for a NASA internship—all while keeping it a secret from her dad, who doesn’t expect any trouble from his obviously college-bound daughter.

As Skyler and Cooper grow closer, it turns out that Skyler’s dad has a new love interest as a hot makeup influencer who likes to put her nose where it doesn’t belong. She’ll keep hush on Skyler’s NASA plans, if Skyler agrees to get to know her. Now Skyler’s tangled up in a budding romance, an unexpected friendship, and the stress of having to retake her SATs.

Will Skyler’s dream of stars collapse and explode, or can dad and daughter reconcile and change their trajectory?

My Review

Skylar is one of those characters who has a really niche interest that informs how she thinks about a lot of things. In this case, it’s her interest in chemistry. When she meets someone, she evaluates what element they are based on personality traits and the qualities of the element. For example, the boy she’s attracted to is gold because it’s malleable, and he goes with the flow. Also, it’s quite an attractive element.

At the beginning of the book, Skylar has a pet rat named Five which she tries to think of as a lab rat, but which we know she has deep affection for. I love the relationship between them, and the way the author describes Five doing different things is so cute and engaging. I had such a great time reading the scenes with the two of them.

Skylar and Cooper’s relationship is also amazing. While he’s much more easygoing than she is, they don’t have a “boy teaches sheltered girl about relationships” kind of experience, which I very much appreciated. It felt like a more balanced connection, where she has some big blind spots, but he does, too. They challenge one another sometimes, but at other times, they just interact as they are. It felt natural and realistic.

Skylar also has an unexpected friendship with Cooper’s sister and her dad’s new girlfriend, Charli. I liked the way both of those relationships impacted the story. Neither was perfect, but both are meaningful.

There’s a point in the book where a lot of things come together, and it made me realize how well those pieces had been set up in the first place. I enjoyed the book up until that point, but when I hit this coming-together moment, it had a huge emotional impact, which I think is exactly what the author was going for. And it worked!

Content Notes for Shooting for Stars

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Skylar might be neurodiverse, but if so, she doesn’t share a formal diagnosis.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
At one point, something scary happens, and Skylar comments that she doesn’t believe in God, but this scary moment makes her pray anyway, just in case.

Violent Content
References to Skylar’s mom’s death. References to a car accident caused by cell phone use in which a girl is injured. A girl goes missing overnight. A character arrives home to emergency vehicles in their driveway and learns there was a fire.

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 Spindle of Fate by Aimee Lim

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

The Spindle of Fate
Aimee Lim
Feiwel & Friends
Published June 4, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Spindle of Fate

When Evie Mei discovers that her recently passed mother was the head of a guild of magical weavers, she enters the Chinese netherworld to try and bring her back in this middle-grade debut.

Twelve-year-old Evie Mei Huang never did like helping in her mom’s tailor shop. She hated helping to mend fraying clothes, how the measuring tape got all twisted up, and how pushy her mother’s clients were. Most of all, she hates that her mother is dead and isn’t here to help anymore.

But when the universe sends a life preserver, Evie knows to grab it. So yes, it’s weird when a talking monkey shows up and tells her that her plainspoken, hardworking tailor mother was actually the head of a Guild of magical weavers who can change the fate of a person with only a spool of thread. Very weird. But he also comes bearing news that her mother is trapped in Diyu, the Chinese underworld, and that only Evie can get her back. No pressure.

The important thing is that Evie’s mom isn’t dead. And if she’s got this one shot to bring her back and save her family, she’s got to take it.

Inspired by Chinese mythology, Aimee Lim’s debut middle grade peers into the dark and gritty underworld, while showcasing the unbreakable bond between a family and the lengths we’ll go to save them.

My Review

I’ve read a couple of other middle grade books in which someone must journey into the underworld to save a family member or the world, but what makes this story fresh and different is the complex relationship between Evie and her mom. While Evie’s mom was alive, she complained about her, wasn’t interested in her mom’s work, and felt that her mom didn’t understand her at all.

As Evie learns about her mom’s secret life as the leader of a magical Guild, she starts to rethink things she took for granted. Perhaps there was a lot more to her mom than she knew. And if she has a chance to save her, Evie realizes she desperately wants to take it.

I also like the boy who comes with her on her quest. He’s a bit goofy, but the story doesn’t lean too far into that goofiness. He has knowledge and abilities that help Evie, but he provides some comedic relief, too.

Another great element of this book is that her mom’s magic is through sewing. She can sew messages that appear on special fabric in someone else’s possession. She can use thread in magical ways. I loved how this was used in the resolution of the story.

Readers who enjoyed Dragon Warrior by Katie Zhao or Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit by Jesse Q. Sutanto will enjoy another chance to delve into Chinese mythology and celebrate family connections.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Most characters are Chinese.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A man embraces a woman.

Spiritual Content
Evie meets a monkey who is also a powerful spiritual being or demon. She and another person make the journey to Diyu, the Chinese underworld. There they meet several supernatural “staff” members who run Diyu.

Violent Content
Situations of peril and brief battle sequences. Evie and her companion witness people being tortured on the various courts of Diyu. For example, they encounter people who appear to be starving, whose bowls are filled with uncooked rice they can’t eat. They don’t witness any graphic torture.

References to murder.

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: Greenwild: The City Beyond the Sea by Pari Thomson

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

Greenwild: The City Beyond the Sea (Greenwild #2)
Pari Thomson
MacMillan Children’s Books
Published June 4, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Greenwild: The City Beyond the Sea

Daisy Thistledown’s epic adventure continues in the spellbinding sequel to New York Times bestseller The World Behind the Door by Pari Thomson.

In a land ruled by water, treachery runs deep . . . Daisy Thistledown and the Five O’Clock Club might have defeated a terrifying foe, but their journey to find the missing Botanists is only just beginning.

Desperate to join the long-awaited expedition to the heart of the Amazon, Daisy and her friends abandon the safety of magical Mallowmarsh –only to fall face-first into danger on the high seas when they find themselves pursued across the waves by Grim Reapers. Their only to find the legendary Iffenwild, a mysterious pocket of the Greenwild hidden and lost to time.

But beneath the waves, a strange botanical magic stirs. And it will take all of Daisy’s courage and determination – and the trust of an unexpected new friend – if she is to discover the truth that haunts Iffenwild, and save the Greenwild from a terrible fate.

My Review

I’ve been looking forward to this book all year. Daisy’s new adventure picks up not long after her last one ends. The early chapters offer quick refreshers on some of the key events from the previous book for readers whose memories may have faded a bit. These recollections don’t slow down the action, though, as Daisy immediately has an urgent quest to sneak aboard a ship ultimately bound for Amazeria to rescue her mother.

The story alternates points of view between Daisy and Max, whom I loved immediately. Kidnappers stole Max from his home, injuring his mother, and he’s been desperate to escape since. When his opportunity comes, he seizes it, leaping from a ship into the water without taking time to factor in that he cannot swim. Thankfully, Daisy spots him in time, which leads to the two unwillingly joining forces.

Indigo and Prof, Daisy’s close friends from book one, also help Daisy on her mission. I loved getting to see both of them again. Indigo shines in moments when they discover animals who are injured or in danger, and Prof reminds the group to think things through and study for an important exam that awaits them at home.

One scene late in the book left me in tears, in a good way. Someone who’d grieved so many things had this moment of belonging and things making sense in a new way, and it hit me right in the feels.

I barrelled through this book, so eager to read each page, all the way to the very last one. This series is one of my current favorites, and I’ll absolutely be counting down the days until book three comes out!

Perfect for fans of Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A. F. Steadman or The Storm Keeper’s Island by Catherine Doyle (a long-time favorite of mine!)

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Daisy’s mom is Iranian. Other characters are described as having amber or brown skin.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic involving plants or water.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Someone kidnaps a boy and knocks his mother out. Dangerous criminals called Reapers chase Daisy and her allies. One brief battle sequence in which it appears someone gets stabbed. An extended battle sequence in which someone fatally stabs another person.

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 posting about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle with Greg Pattridge.

Review: The Worst Perfect Moment Shivaun Plozza

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

The Worst Perfect Moment
Shivaun Plozza
Holiday House
Published May 14, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Worst Perfect Moment

Equal parts tender and edgy, this inventive queer romance imagines what it might feel like to come of age in the afterlife.

Tegan Masters is dead.

She’s sixteen and she’s dead and she’s standing in the parking lot of the Marybelle Motor Lodge, the single most depressing motel in all of New Jersey and the place where Tegan spent what she remembers as the worst weekend of her life.

In the front office, she meets Zelda, a cute and sarcastic girl Tegan’s age who is, in fact, an angel (wings and all). According to Zelda, Tegan is officially in heaven, where every person inhabits an exact replica of their happiest memory. For Tegan, Zelda insists, that place is the Marybelle—creepy minigolf course, revolting breakfast buffet, broken TV, and all.

Tegan has a few complaints about this.

As Zelda takes Tegan on a whirlwind tour through Tegan’s past to help her understand what mattered most to her in life, the stakes couldn’t be higher. If Zelda fails to convince Tegan that the Marybelle was the site of Tegan’s perfect moment, both girls face eternal consequences too dire to consider. But if she succeeds…they just might get their happily-ever-afterlife.

Full of humor and heartbreak, The Worst Perfect Moment asks what it means to be truly happy.

My Review

First of all, what a fantastic opening line. I love it. This book starts off with a bang, for sure. I like Tegan, too. She’s sparky, but so wounded and vulnerable underneath, and even when she doesn’t mean to let readers into that, she does. Her character easily kept me reading the book.

Zelda, the angel who designed Tegan’s personal heaven, grew on me a little. She’s very Manic Pixie Dream Girl, which I love seeing in a female-female romance, but isn’t my favorite trope, so I struggled with that. She’s goofy and fun, but determinedly crude, which, again, is not my favorite. Too many “butt-face” comments for me.

The scenes that revisit Tegan’s past and show what actually happened, especially the moments she doesn’t want to remember, hit hard. They showed how complex trauma and grief can be. Each one built up emotionally so that by the time I hit the final flashback, it hit hard. That was so well done.

Readers looking for a new spin on the Manic Pixie trope and who enjoy no-holds-barred humor will probably enjoy this one a lot.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Tegan and a few other girl characters are romantically interested in girls..

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Lots of crude comments. Lots of swearing. A few f-bombs.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls.

Spiritual Content
Tegan wakes up in the afterlife, in which heaven is supposed to be living at the site of your best memory forever. Purgatory is for people who die with too much unresolved trauma, and means people watch memories of their lives and have the emotions they experienced painfully scrubbed away. Hell, of course, is eternal torture.

Angels are assigned different jobs. There are guardian angels and angels who design a heaven scenario for someone. Tegan visits a counselor, someone who helps her process her death.

Tegan attended Catholic school for a part of her education. There are some references to sins and Catholic doctrines like purgatory, but very little reference to God or faith practices.

Violent Content
References to a girl on a bike being hit by a car, which killed her.

Tegan remembers arguments between her parents, which seem scary and chaotic to her. She sees her dad lose it and kick a door repeatedly. The story deals with abandonment by a parent.

Drug Content
Tegan’s aunt gets drunk and tells her something cruel.

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: Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Historical, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , ,

Code Name Kingfisher
Liz Kessler
Aladdin Books
Published May 7, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Code Name Kingfisher

When Liv finds a secret box from her grandmother’s childhood she uncovers an extraordinary war-time story of bravery, betrayal and daring defiance. A story that will change Liv and her family forever…
 
Holland, 1942. The world is at war and as the Nazis’ power grows, Jewish families are in terrible danger. Twelve-year-old Mila and her older sister Hannie are sent to live with a family in another city with new identities and the strict instruction not to tell anyone that they are Jewish.
 
Hannie, determined to fight back, is swept into the Dutch resistance as an undercover agent Code Name Kingfisher.  And though Mila does her best to make friends and keep out of trouble, there is danger at every turn and the sisters are soon left questioning who they can trust…

My Review

I can’t remember if I had this book on my radar for May earlier this year, but when I received a copy from the publisher, I was pretty excited about it. I love the bright colors of the cover and the way it incorporates a kingfisher bird into the image. It also shows the personality of both Mila and Hannie, the sisters at the center of the story.

The book follows four different points of view. It begins with Liv, a girl living in modern-day England who discovers the person she considered her best friend isn’t such a great friend. We also meet Mila, a Jewish girl forced into hiding by the Nazi occupation of Holland. We meet her sister Hannie through the letters she writes to her family about her work with the Dutch resistance movement. Mila’s friend Willem narrates a handful of chapters at some critical moments in the story.

As Liv struggles to deal with the shift in social connections and bullying at school, she discovers some papers in her grandmother’s attic that hint at her grandmother’s past, which she has refused to talk about to anyone. To Liv’s surprise, her grandmother begins to open up to her.

I love the sweet relationship between Liv and her grandmother and the surprising way that it unfolds. I also love the alternating viewpoints and the way Hannie’s, Mila’s, and Willem’s chapters reveal information from the past.

Code Name Kingfisher is perfect for historical fiction fans, especially those looking for more stories about World War II. The contemporary sections will appeal to those readers, too, and I think there’s enough story taking place in the present to keep contemporary readers engaged.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Mila and Hannie are Jewish. Liv is Jewish on her dad’s side of the family.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A teenage girl has a crush on a teen boy. It’s pretty peripheral to the story.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
References to oppressive laws passed against Jews by the Nazis. References to arrests and deportations to work camps. Hannie believes her parents are probably dead. Characters experiences heightened fear when faced with Nazi soldiers, but salute and greet them as part of undercover identities.

In one scene late in the book, a boy hears a soldier shoot someone. He sees the person’s body afterward.

Drug Content
Characters, including teenagers, smoke 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: Where Was Goodbye? by Janice Lynn Mather

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

Where Was Goodbye?
Janice Lynn Mather
Simon & Schuster
Published April 30, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Where Was Goodbye

A teen girl searches for closure after her brother dies by suicide in this breathtaking novel from the author of Learning to Breathe and Facing the Sun.

Karmen is about to start her last year of high school, but it’s only been six weeks since her brother, Julian, died by suicide. How is she supposed to focus on school when huge questions Why is Julian gone? How could she have missed seeing his pain? Could she have helped him?

When a blowup at school gets Karmen sent home for a few weeks, life gets more things between her parents are tenser than ever, her best friend’s acting like a stranger, and her search to understand why Julian died keeps coming up empty.

New friend Pru both baffles and comforts Karmen, and there might finally be something happening with her crush, Isaiah, but does she have time for either, or are they just more distractions? Will she ever understand Julian’s struggle and tragedy? If not, can she love—and live—again?

My Review

If you know me, you probably know why this book would be difficult for me to read and review. I also think it’s a really important topic and one I want to see young adult literature cover and cover well, so I wanted to read it anyway.

Karmen’s quiet life at home in the Bahamas turned upside down the night her family learned about her brother’s death by suicide. As Karmen tries to piece together what happened and why, she hunts down people who knew Julian and the places he visited, including the cliffs where he ended his life.

At its core, Where Was Goodbye is a grief journey. It’s Karmen wrestling with unanswered questions. Her anger. Sadness. The emptiness around the dining room table. The growing distance between her parents.

People around Karmen react differently to grief as well. Her parents handle it in different ways, some causing additional harm to other relationships. Karmen’s best friend wants desperately to help, but doesn’t seem to understand what she’s going through. Instead, she reduces it to a clinical process.

I like that the author set the story in the Bahamas. I can’t think of anything else I’ve read off the top of my head that’s been set there. The setting is significant in a couple of places in the story, but many other scenes include quiet cues about Bahamian food and culture.

In the story, Karmen also learns to skateboard. She primarily uses the board for transportation and to connect with others.

Identifying with Karmen’s grief and her questions in the wake of her brother’s death felt easy. Her parents’ grief felt raw and real, as did Karmen’s. I like that the author was careful to avoid language and statements that stigmatize depression and suicide, though the story does include a few people harassing Karmen about her brother’s death.

This is definitely a book to approach with care, but it may be helpful for anyone who knows someone who has thought about suicide or experienced depression.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Karmen’s brother has died by suicide. Karmen and her family are Black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Karmen and her friend attend youth group at their church. Karmen ends up ducking out for the service.

Violent Content
References to her brother’s death and specifically how he died. A boy at school says something cruel to Karmen, referencing her brother’s death. Later, a tabloid reporter tries to pressure Karmen into talking about her family’s loss. One scene includes suicidal ideation and a description of a moment when someone nearly attempts to end their life.

Drug Content
Karmen goes to a bar with friends. She sips a drink they give her and realizes it’s alcoholic. One of her friends gets very drunk. Another person offers to drive the group a short distance. Karmen gets out of the car when it becomes obvious the driver is drunk.

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.