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Review: The Loudest Silence by Sydney Langford

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The Loudest Silence by Sydney Langford

The Loudest Silence
Sydney Langford
Holiday House
Published July 30, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Loudest Silence

Two disabled, queer teens find belonging in this poignant platonic love story about singing, signing, and solidarity.

CASEY KOWALSKI once dreamed of becoming a professional singer. Then the universe threw her a life-altering curveball— sudden, permanent, and profound hearing loss—just before her family’s move from Portland to Miami. Now, she’s learning to navigate the world as a Deaf-Hard of Hearing person while trying to conceal her hearing loss from her new schoolmates.

HAYDEN GONZÁLEZ-ROSSI is also keeping secrets. Three generations of González men have risen to stardom on the soccer field, and Hayden knows his family expects him to follow in their footsteps, but he wants to quit soccer and pursue a career on Broadway. If only his Generalized Anxiety Disorder didn’t send him into a debilitating spiral over the thought of telling the truth.

Casey and Hayden are both determined to hide who they really are. But when they cross paths at school, they bond over their shared love of music and their mutual feeling that they don’t belong, and the secrets come spilling out. Their friendship is the beating heart of this dual-perspective story featuring thoughtful disability representation, nuanced queer identities, and a lovably quirky supporting cast.

My Review

This is a debut?! I need more books by this author.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s got so many great things. A playful, supportive friend group. Vulnerable, frank explorations of grief, sudden hearing loss, and anxiety. Music. Sign language. A celebration of platonic love (with a little romantic love on the side). I love it.

The story follows Hayden and Casey’s points of view, usually in alternating chapters. I found both of them to be great characters and so easy to root for. Hayden is the sweetest. Casey has harder edges, and she’s a loyal friend if you can get past her walls.

An author’s note explains how Langford uses ASL and SimCom (simultaneous communication, or using sign language and speaking simultaneously) in the text, which helped get me oriented to the narrative. It’s a little different than I’ve seen in other books, which is totally okay. I appreciated knowing when someone was signing and talking versus just signing or talking– it was also an important distinction in the story for plot reasons, so it helped to have that distinction clear.

The book seriously has so many things to love about it. The sweet romance. The unapologetic ace rep. The spotlight on multiple cultures within one family. It’s a great book. If you love books about music, musicians or fabulous friend groups, you do not want to miss The Loudest Silence.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Hayden is Cuban/Italian American and asexual. Casey is Deaf-Hard-of-hearing. Other characters are Latine and queer.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
One F-bomb. Strong profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. At one point, the characters assume two boys are dating.

Spiritual Content
One character has a cross necklace he rubs his thumb on when he’s nervous. Another character gives someone a necklace with a pendant showing a saint on it.

Violent Content
Descriptions of anxiety and panic attacks. Ableist behavior.

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: My Name is Hamburger by Jacqueline Jules

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My Name is Hamburger
Jacqueline Jules
Kar-Ben Publishing
Published October

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About My Name is Hamburger

Trudie Hamburger is the only Jewish kid living in the small southern town of Colburn in 1962. Nobody else at her school has a father who speaks with a German accent or a last name that means chopped meat. Trudie doesn’t want to be the girl who cries when Daniel Reynolds teases her. Or the girl who hides in the library to avoid singing Christian songs in music class.

She doesn’t want to be different. But over the course of a few pivotal months, as Trudie confronts her fears and embraces what she loves–including things that make her different from her classmates–she finally finds a way to say her name with pride.

My Review

I recently read another historical novel in verse by this same publisher (not on purpose, just the way things worked out). It looks like they primarily publish picture books with a few middle grade titles. Another novel I read earlier this year, THE PRINCE OF STEEL PIER, is also by Kar-Ben Publishing.

I really enjoyed MY NAME IS HAMBURGER. Some historical events are hinted at but kept really within what a ten year-old would ask or understand, which I also really liked. I absolutely adored Trudie. She’s driven and smart, but she has such a big heart, too. I especially loved her friendship with Jack and the way that she began to think differently about the way kids spoke to her and treated her because she saw it from the outside. It also gave her courage to stand up not only for herself but someone else, too.

I felt like this book had really deep characters. Like, Trudie’s parents were both super different, and had obvious strengths and weaknesses. Each character was really well-developed. I’m always blown away by that in a novel-in-verse because there are so few words on the page. It’s amazing to me when authors deliver such rich characters in a story with so few words. It’s so cool.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading MY NAME IS HAMBURGER. I loved the small town and all the relationships between people. I loved Trudie’s strength and courage and her love for others. This is a great book for fans of Jacqueline Woodson or Tricia Springstubb.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Trudie and her family are Jewish. Her dad came to America as a child to escape Nazi Germany. His family was not able to escape and did not survive. A new boy at school and his family are Korean Americans.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Kids in Trudie’s class make racist comments about her and about a Korean American boy who joins her class. They comment on her facial features, belittle her intelligence, or say she’s only smart because she’s Jewish. She’s excluded from a school music class because she objects to Christian songs, and the principal felt it wasn’t fair for them to change the program for one student. There are no slurs spoken or written in the text.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Trudie looks forward to Shabbos with her family and especially the prayers with her dad. She attends a synagogue and enjoys services there.

Violent Content
Other kids make racist comments or bully Trudie for being Jewish. A boy kicks her ankle as she walks past and makes cruel comments. A man is injured in a fall.

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 MY NAME IS HAMBURGER in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Amina’s Song by Hena Khan

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Amina’s Song
Hena Khan
Simon & Schuster / Salaam Reads
Published March 9, 2021

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About Amina’s Song

It’s the last few days of her vacation in Pakistan, and Amina has loved every minute of it. The food, the shops, the time she’s spent with her family—all of it holds a special place in Amina’s heart. Now that the school year is starting again, she’s sad to leave, but also excited to share the wonders of Pakistan with her friends back in Greendale.

After she’s home, though, her friends don’t seem overly interested in her trip. And when she decides to do a presentation on Pakistani hero Malala Yousafzai, her classmates focus on the worst parts of the story. How can Amina share the beauty of Pakistan when no one wants to listen?

In the companion novel to the beloved and award-winning AMINA’S VOICE, Amina once again uses her voice to bridge the places, people, and communities she loves—this time across continents.

My Review

I read AMINA’S SONG at the perfect time– just when I needed a warm, fun story of community and family and belonging. I loved the chapters showing Amina with her family in Pakistan. The descriptions of the market, the rooftop, and the food all made those scenes come to life. I also loved Amina’s relationship with her cousin Zohra and her uncle.

I also loved the way the story followed her faith and her connection with her mosque and the ways she and others sought to help refugees who had just come to America. That generosity and welcoming warmth was really sweet.

As with AMINA’S VOICE, this story also focuses on Amina’s internal journey. She feels caught between her love for America and Pakistan and at a loss for how to explain and show that love to the people in her life on each side. I love that her path led her to compose her own music and challenged her to find ways to speak up, both in her class project about Malala and in her friendships.

All in all, I’d say this book is another winner. It’s got a strong faith-positive message, and a beautiful celebration of community as well as a thoughtful, brave heroine in Amina. Readers who enjoy multicultural stories or are looking for books that celebrate community will definitely want this one on their shelves.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Amina’s family are Pakinstani-American Muslims. The first part of the book takes places in Lahore, Pakistan, where Amina is visiting her family.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Amina makes friends with a boy at school and her friends tease her about being romantically interested. She is not allowed to date, and believes she wants to simply be friends with Nico.

Spiritual Content
Amina and her family are Muslims. She talks about reading the Quran and spending time in prayer. She’s also involved with continued fundraising to rebuild the mosque her family attends after it was vandalized a year earlier.

Violent Content
Amina learns about Malala and briefly discusses that she was shot in the head by the Taliban. She tells her cousin she was afraid to come to Pakistan because of the stories of violence she’d heard on the news. Her cousins in Pakistan worry that Amina and her brother could be shot, since they see reports of school shootings in the news so often.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of AMINA’S SONG in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. All opinions are my own.

Review: Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo

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Louisiana’s Way Home
Kate DiCamillo
Candlewick Press
Published on October 2, 2018

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Louisiana’s Way Home

From two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo comes a story of discovering who you are — and deciding who you want to be.

When Louisiana Elefante’s granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they have to leave home immediately, Louisiana isn’t overly worried. After all, Granny has many middle-of-the-night ideas. But this time, things are different. This time, Granny intends for them never to return. Separated from her best friends, Raymie and Beverly, Louisiana struggles to oppose the winds of fate (and Granny) and find a way home. But as Louisiana’s life becomes entwined with the lives of the people of a small Georgia town — including a surly motel owner, a walrus-like minister, and a mysterious boy with a crow on his shoulder — she starts to worry that she is destined only for good-byes. (Which could be due to the curse on Louisiana’s and Granny’s heads. But that is a story for another time.)

Called “one of DiCamillo’s most singular and arresting creations” by The New York Times Book Review, the heartbreakingly irresistible Louisiana Elefante was introduced to readers in Raymie Nightingale — and now, with humor and tenderness, Kate DiCamillo returns to tell her story.

My Review

Confession: I haven’t read Raymie Nightingale, but when I got the chance to review Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo, I couldn’t pass it up. My family listened to Flora & Ulysses on our summer vacation a few years ago, and we all enjoyed it so much. I’ve also read Because of Winn Dixie and absolutely adore it, too. Kate DiCamillo is one of those authors where you just want to buy everything with her name on it because you know it’s going to be good.

And Louisiana’s Way Home is no exception. It’s packed with the same rich, unforgettable characters and incredible heart as the other stories I’ve read by her. I love Louisiana’s voice. You absolutely get the feeling a particular girl is telling every line. I love the way her relationships with each other character impact the story. The walrus-like minister is one of my favorites. In one scene, he cries, and it’s not at all the focus of the scene, but it so revealed the kind of person he is without making a big show. I loved it and wholeheartedly recommend Louisiana’s Way Home. And now I definitely have to read Raymie Nightingale!

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Cultural Elements
Major characters are white or not physically described.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Louisiana’s granny tells her there is a curse on her family ever since her great-grandfather (a magician) sawed her great-grandmother in half and refused to put her back together again.
Louisiana seeks advice from a pastor whose office door sign says he offers healing words because she reasons that healing words are like a spell, and therefore, maybe he can lift the curse she believes is on her family. The pastor tells her that no, he can’t perform magic, but that telling her story to someone who listens to her can be a healing thing.
She sings at a church funeral.

Violent Content
This isn’t really violent, but Louisiana makes friends with a boy who steals items from a vending machine.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.