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Review: Leap by Simina Popescu

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Leap by Simina Popescu

Leap
Simina Popescu
Roaring Brook Press
Published November 12, 2024

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About Leap

A coming-of-age graphic novel following two dancers at a conservative performing arts school―exploring friendship, first love, and what it means to fall out of step with your own dreams.

Ana has been studying contemporary dance since she was little, but her heart isn’t in it anymore. Instead her focus is on Carina―a beautiful, ambitious ballerina whose fear of being outed keeps Ana in the closet and their fragile relationship from seeing the light of day. Risking her own career, Ana gives up more and more in order to fit into the shadows of Carina’s life.

Sara, on the other hand, is fielding whispers she may be the best dancer their school has produced in years. Much of that is thanks to her mentor and instructor, Marlena, who plucked Sara from the classical track and encouraged her to blossom as a contemporary dancer. Sara has always been in awe of Marlena, but recently, that admiration has sparked into something more, and Sara’s not sure what to do about it.

As junior year at their performing arts school begins, Ana and Sara are assigned as roommates. What starts off as a tentative friendship soon becomes a much-needed anchor.

My Review

It was so fun reading a dance book this week. Earlier tonight (the day I’m writing this), I started taking a tap class, which marks the first dance class I’ve taken in a long time. I’m excited about it. So the timing of reading Leap was really great for me.

One of the things that’s truly incredible about this graphic novel is the way that the panels capture the motion of dance. Some characters are in a contemporary dance program, and others are in a ballet program, so it shows two different kinds of dance, and I think the illustrations differentiate them well. I only spotted one panel in which I think the position of a dancer’s foot wasn’t right for the ballet move that she seemed to be performing.

The story is really sweet, too. It follows two characters. One, Ana, is in a long-term relationship that started out really well but has hit some bumps. The other character, Sara, has a huge crush on someone she shouldn’t, and she’s trying to understand her feelings and figure out what to do. When the girls become roommates, they bond as friends, and it isn’t too long before they begin speaking hard truths to one another. I loved getting to see their friendship flourish and to see the journey they each had with dancing.

I think readers who enjoy books in international settings or books about dance and relationships will find a lot to love in Leap.

Content Notes for Leap

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Ana and some other characters are queer.

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

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
One character makes some negative comments about her body. Ballet instructors also say cruel things to the dancers about their weight and bodies. Some homophobic comments, usually well-meaning, but hurtful. The girls talk about someone whose career was ruined after she was outed.

Drug Content
Characters drink alcohol in several scenes. (They’re underage.)

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: We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

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We Deserve Monuments
Jas Hammonds
Roaring Brook Press
Published November 29, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About We Deserve Monuments

Family secrets, a swoon-worthy romance, and a slow-burn mystery collide in WE DESERVE MONUMENTS, a YA debut from Jas Hammonds that explores how racial violence can ripple down through generations.

What’s more important: Knowing the truth or keeping the peace?

Seventeen-year-old Avery Anderson is convinced her senior year is ruined when she’s uprooted from her life in DC and forced into the hostile home of her terminally ill grandmother, Mama Letty. The tension between Avery’s mom and Mama Letty makes for a frosty arrival and unearths past drama they refuse to talk about. Every time Avery tries to look deeper, she’s turned away, leaving her desperate to learn the secrets that split her family in two.

While tempers flare in her avoidant family, Avery finds friendship in unexpected places: in Simone Cole, her captivating next-door neighbor, and Jade Oliver, daughter of the town’s most prominent family—whose mother’s murder remains unsolved.

As the three girls grow closer—Avery and Simone’s friendship blossoming into romance—the sharp-edged opinions of their small southern town begin to hint at something insidious underneath. The racist history of Bardell, Georgia is rooted in Avery’s family in ways she can’t even imagine. With Mama Letty’s health dwindling every day, Avery must decide if digging for the truth is worth toppling the delicate relationships she’s built in Bardell—or if some things are better left buried.

My Review

I love intergenerational family stories, and at its core, that’s what this story truly is. In reconnecting with the grandmother she barely knows, Avery learns of her family’s painful history. That history impacts others in the small town of Bardell as well, including her two new best friends, Simone and Jade. The threads connecting each girl to her family’s past weave together to form a tapestry that’s both beautiful and terrible.

The story unflinchingly faces the complicated grief of thwarted justice. Jade’s mother’s murderer was never held to account. Neither were the men who murdered Avery’s grandfather. That grief binds the girls together and drives a wedge between them at the same time.

WE DESERVE MONUMENTS is also a love story. It celebrates the connection between grandmothers and granddaughters, even when they only have a short time together. Avery’s relationship with her grandmother anchors her in her history in a way that no other relationship in her family does. The book also celebrates romantic love—perhaps even second-chance love—as Simone and Avery fall for one another and learn to embrace the hope that the previous generation could not.

I wouldn’t call this book an easy read, but I loved the way it explored family history and relationships and the hopefulness that it leaves with its readers.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Avery is biracial (Black mom and white dad) and a lesbian. Her friend Simone is also Black and queer.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between girls.

Spiritual Content
Simone gives Avery a tarot reading. She pulls tarot cards to help her set expectations for the day. She also believes in astrological signs. Simone’s mom attends church often, and when she feels Simone has done something wrong, she makes her attend church several times per week and prays over her repeatedly.

Violent Content
References to a woman’s murder and the racist history of the South and the town of Bardell.

Drug Content
Avery and her friends smoke pot together. They get drunk one night.

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: I’ll Stop the World by Lauren Thoman

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Historical, Romance, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , , ,

I’ll Stop the World
Lauren Thoman
Mindy’s Book Studio
Published April 1, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About I’ll Stop the World

The end and the beginning become one in a heart-pounding coming-of-age mystery about the power of friendship, fate, and inexplicable second chances.

Is it the right place at the wrong time? Or the wrong place at the right time?

Trapped in a dead-end town, Justin Warren has had his life defined by the suspicious deaths of his grandparents. The unsolved crime happened long before Justin was born, but the ripple effects are still felt after thirty-eight years. Justin always knew he wouldn’t have much of a future. He just never imagined that his life might take him backward.

In a cosmic twist of fate, Justin’s choices send him crashing into the path of determined optimist Rose Yin. Justin and Rose live in the same town and attend the same school, but have never met―because Rose lives in 1985. Justin won’t be born for another twenty years. And his grandparents are still alive―for now.

In a series of events that reverberate through multiple lifetimes, Justin and Rose have a week to get Justin unstuck in time and put each of them in control of their futures―by solving a murder that hasn’t even happened yet.

CW: I’LL STOP THE WORLD contains depictions of emotional abuse, alcoholism and excessive drinking, underage drinking, smoking, racism, discussions of homophobia, and violent bullying.

My Review

I picked up this book for its Back to the Future vibes, and definitely found myself intrigued by the premise. I’ve enjoyed other books set in the 1980s and even another 1980s time-travel one called SPIN ME RIGHT ROUND. (Another book title that gets a song stuck in my head.)

What I Expected

I thought from the back cover copy that this book would be a romance with scenes alternating between the points of view of Rose and Justin. And the book does have a lot of scenes from their perspectives. There’s obviously some attraction between them, but the story never really centers a romance between the two of them.

I liked that the time-travel component does have a puzzle to it, and it’s not easy for Rose and Justin to solve. It’s a scavenger hunt mystery, where they unearth clues all along the way but only realize how those clues fit together at a critical moment in the story.

Not What I Expected

One of the things I did not expect about this book, though, is the number of point-of-view characters it contains. There are at least seven different characters with scenes from their points of view. Some only have a few scenes, but others, like Rose’s sister, appear more regularly.

There are also multiple timelines represented in the book, which makes sense since it’s a time-travel story. In the beginning, the most recent scenes chronologically were told in the present tense, while the scenes in the 1980s were told in the past tense. I expected the last scene, which returns to the present again, to be told in the present tense, so it was a little unexpected that it was in the past tense again.

I also didn’t expect a romance plot centered around Rose’s sister Lisa. I liked that the story explored what it was like for her to navigate her feelings for her friend and find the courage to speak up about her identity.

Conclusion

Overall, I think there’s a lot to love about this book. It’s got a diverse cast of characters and explores different kinds of relationships and complex characters. I love the 1980s time travel and 80s music vibes. I do wish that a few of the peripheral scenes from some of the minor characters had been trimmed in favor of having Rose or Justin discover information in an active way, but I still enjoyed the story with its broad cast of characters.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Lisa and Charlene are lesbians and in a secret romance with each other. Lisa is also Black. Rose is Asian American. References to sex, specifically that a boy and girl aren’t having it.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls.

Spiritual Content
Justin inexplicably travels back in time to 1985.

Violent Content
Some scenes show a parent/guardian saying hateful or abusive things to their child. A few scenes show a group of kids bullying another child. In a couple of scenes, the kids beat up another kid. In one scene, they make a boy eat something they’ve dropped into a toilet.

Drug Content
A couple of adult characters are alcoholics. Justin drinks alcohol at a party and tries to drive himself home while intoxicated. Two adults take a drink of alcohol to celebrate something.

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 I’LL STOP THE WORLD in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Rana Joon and the One and Only Now by Shideh Etaat

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

Rana Joon and the One and Only Now
Shideh Etaat
Atheneum Books
Published July 25, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Rana Joon and the One and Only Now

This lyrical coming-of-age novel for fans of Darius the Great Is Not Okay and On the Come Up, set in southern California in 1996, follows a teen who wants to honor her deceased friend’s legacy by entering a rap contest.

Perfect Iranian girls are straight-A students, always polite, and grow up to marry respectable Iranian boys. But it’s the San Fernando Valley in 1996, and Rana Joon is far from perfect—she smokes weed and loves Tupac, and she has a secret: she likes girls.

As if that weren’t enough, her best friend, Louie—the one who knew her secret and encouraged her to live in the moment—died almost a year ago, and she’s still having trouble processing her grief. To honor him, Rana enters the rap battle he dreamed of competing in, even though she’s terrified of public speaking.

But the clock is ticking. With the battle getting closer every day, she can’t decide whether to use one of Louie’s pieces or her own poetry, her family is coming apart, and she might even be falling in love. To get herself to the stage and fulfill her promise before her senior year ends, Rana will have to learn to speak her truth and live in the one and only now.

My Review

At first I wasn’t sure when this story was supposed to take place. Some of the words used felt more modern to me– for example, lots of characters say “ya” instead of “yeah,” which I thought didn’t start until later. But Rana does learn about Tupac’s death in one scene, which pretty firmly anchors the story in the past. There are some other clues, too, like her watching the show FRIENDS with her mom.

The writing, especially the poetry Rana and Louie write, is absolutely beautiful. I definitely got swept away by those lines and had to slow down to savor them as I was reading. I love the way Rana’s writing represents her journey through grief and acceptance of her identity.

Through the scenes in the book, Rana navigates changes in her relationships with her parents, both of whom seem distant for different reasons. I love the moment in the garden with her dad, and the scene where she finds her prom dress with her mom.

Rana also grapples with complicated grief as she nears the one-year anniversary of her best friend’s death and begins to realize that there were things she didn’t know about her friend, things he didn’t or couldn’t tell her.

All in all, the emotional arc of the book is so well-crafted. I cried through her moments of loss, but more than that, I felt Rana’s triumph as she discovered her voice and finally spoke up for herself.

I think fans of MUSIC FROM ANOTHER WORLD by Robin Talley or YOU TRULY ASSUMED by Laila Sabreen should check out RANA JOON AND THE ONE AND ONLY NOW

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Rana is Iranian American and a lesbian. Her best friend and his twin brother are biracial.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between a boy and girl. Brief, graphic descriptions of sex between a boy and girl, references to sex, and brief, graphic descriptions of sex between two girls.

Spiritual Content
Rana’s friend had a tattoo of Buddha on his arm and followed a British philosopher. One of Rana’s friends is Muslim, and Rana identifies as Muslim to her dad.

Violent Content
Rana’s best friend died in a car accident. The accident is very briefly described. A boy torments Rana in class, and she slaps him in the face. One of Rana’s friends was expelled from school for fighting (before the story begins). The story briefly touches on Tupac’s death.

Drug Content
Rana and other characters smoke weed in several scenes. Teens drink alcohol in a couple scenes.

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 RANA JOON AND THE ONE AND ONLY NOW in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Candidly Cline by Kathryn Ormsbee

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Candidly Cline
Kathryn Ormsbee
HarperCollins
Published November 9, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Candidly Cline

A must-read for fans of Julie Murphy and Ashley Herring Blake, this queer coming-of-age story from critically acclaimed author Kathryn Ormsbee sings with heart, warmth, and hope.

Born in Paris, Kentucky, and raised on her gram’s favorite country music, Cline Alden is a girl with big dreams and a heart full of song. When she finds out about a young musicians’ workshop a few towns over, Cline sweet-talks, saves, and maybe fibs her way into her first step toward musical stardom.

But her big dreams never prepared her for the butterflies she feels surrounded by so many other talented kids–especially Sylvie, who gives Cline the type of butterflies she’s only ever heard about in love songs.

As she learns to make music of her own, Cline begins to realize how much of herself she’s been holding back. But now, there’s a new song taking shape in her heart–if only she can find her voice and sing it.

“Empowering, affirming, and sweet as all get-out.” –Lisa Jenn Bigelow, author of Drum Roll, Please

My Review

I tend to love stories about musicians, so I was intrigued when I heard about CANDIDLY CLINE. She’s a songwriter, singer, and guitarist, and she’s learning how music can give voice to things that are hard to say other ways.

Cline pretty much had me at hello. She’s sure in her identity. She also loves her mom and grandmother, who all live together. I loved the bold way she handles her conflict with Sylvie and the way their relationship develops after that rocky beginning.

As she figures out how to tell her mom how important music is to her and to speak about her identity, Cline finds allies, friends and mentors, sometimes in unlikely places. When a church event leaves Cline feeling judged and isolated, a woman she knows from the same church comforts Cline and tells her the way she was treated is wrong, and that it isn’t in line with what all Christians believe. I loved that even though Cline’s church experiences aren’t the center of the story, CANDIDLY CLINE made space for the fact that people observe faith in different ways. Some of those caused her a lot of hurt, but other ways made her feel loved and valued. I’m really glad that got explored on the page a bit in this book.

I also liked Cline’s complicated relationship with her mom. She knows her mom loves and supports her, but she feels like this huge part of who she is (her music) will never be acceptable to her mom. After she learns more about her mom’s history and the pressures she’s currently facing, she begins to realize that it’s not as simple as her mom disapproving of her. I liked that her relationship with her mom wasn’t as simple as her mom wanting something different for her life. It had a lot of layers, and those were presented gently and without dominating the story.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this book, and I think fans of BREATHING UNDERWATER by Sarah Allen or HURRICANE SEASON by Nicole Melleby will enjoy this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Cline is a lesbian. Her grandmother has Alzheimer’s. Her mom is a single mom.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used only once.

Romance/Sexual Content
Cline wonders what it would be like to kiss another girl. A girl kisses a girl on the cheek.

Spiritual Content
Cline visits church with her friend. She feels uncomfortable with some of the language about “the lost”. She wonders if her Christian friend views her as somehow lesser because she doesn’t believe in God/Jesus. The pastor preaches that same-sex attraction is a sin. However, another church member says she believes God loves everyone and has made them to be who they are.

Violent Content
None.

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 CANDIDLY CLINE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Funny Gyal by Angeline Jackson and Susan McClelland

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Funny Gyal: My Fight Against Homophobia in Jamaica
Angeline Jackson and Susan McClelland
Dundurn Press
Published June 7, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Funny Gyal

“Instead of remaining silent, she chose to speak out…that’s the power of one person.” — Barack Obama

The inspiring story of Angeline Jackson, who stood up to Jamaica’s oppression of queer youth to demand recognition and justice.

When Angeline Jackson was a child, she wondered if there was something wrong with her for wanting to kiss the other girls. But as her sexuality blossomed in her teens, she knew she wouldn’t “grow out of it” and that her attraction to girls wasn’t against God. In fact, she discovered that same-sex relationships were depicted in the Bible, which she read devoutly, even if the tight-knit evangelical Christian community she grew up in believed any sexual relationship outside of marriage between a man and woman was a sin, and her society, Jamaica, criminalized homosexual sex.

Angeline’s story begins with her traumatic experience of “corrective rape” when she is lured by an online predator, then traces her childhood through her sexual and spiritual awakening as a teen — falling in love, breaking up, coming out, and then being forced into conversion therapy.

Sometimes dark, always threadbare and honest, FUNNY GYAL chronicles how Angeline’s faith deepens as a teenager, despite her parents’ conservative values and the strict Christian Jamaican society in which she lives, giving her the courage to challenge gender violence, rape culture, and oppression.

My Review

This book blew me away. I kind of expected that, to be honest. I was interested in reading more about Angeline Jackson for her activism and her experiences, but I’ve also read EVERY FALLING STAR by Sunju Lee and Susan McClelland. It’s been years since I read that book, but I still think about it, so I had high expectations for another memoir with Susan McClelland assisting in putting it together.

FUNNY GYAL drew me in from its early pages and didn’t let me go until the end of the book. I loved reading a queer, faith-positive story that continually challenged the idea that a person much choose between different aspects of who they are: faith or identity. Over and over Angeline Jackson returns to the idea that she can be, and is, both a person of faith and a lesbian, and that those two ideas aren’t in competition with one another.

I won’t lie– some parts of the book are hard to read. She describes some encounters with homophobic people. She also describes the trauma of rape, and the fears and doubts about the police taking the case seriously. Through her shared experiences, though, she reveals how the prejudices against LGBTQIA people leave them vulnerable as victims of violent crime. She shows incredible resilience and love, not only for herself, but for her country and her people.

She speaks frankly about the continual pain that it causes her for her family to choose a “love the sinner, hate the sin” kind of relationship with her. And how that makes her feel as though she can never fully be herself with them.

All in all, FUNNY GYAL is a rich, bold and vulnerable memoir about courage and resilience and finding your people. I loved this book. If you’re still looking for a good memoir to add to your Pride TBR this month, definitely check out this book!

Content Notes

Content warning for rape, homophobia, and abuse.

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Angeline and her family are Jamaican. Angeline is a lesbian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Two men rape Angeline and her friend at gunpoint. The event itself isn’t graphically described, but her trauma is.

Two girls kissing. Mentions of sex between two girls. Mention of oral sex between a boy and girl. At one point, Angeline (a teenager) enters into a sexual relationship with an adult who has had a position of authority over her.

Spiritual Content
Angeline is raised in a devout Christian home and church where she’s taught that same sex attraction or relationships are a sin. She points out that other Christian churches believe differently, and some are LGBTQ+ affirming. Angeline herself remains a Christian.

Violent Content
See sexual content. At times people say homophobic things to Angeline or others.

Drug Content
References to drinking alcohol. Reference to drugs slipped into a person’s drink. Angeline also attends a party and drinks alcohol.

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 FUNNY GYAL in exchange for my honest review.