Review: This Town is On Fire by Pamela N. Harris

This Town is on Fire by Pamela N. Harris

This Town is On Fire
Pamela N. Harris
Quill Tree Books
Published June 20, 2023

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About This Town is On Fire

From the critically acclaimed author of When You Look Like Us comes a page-turning YA contemporary novel about what happens when the latest “Becky” on the internet is your best friend.

A lot is up in the air in Naomi Henry’s her spot as a varsity cheer flier, her classmates’ reaction to the debut of her natural hair, and her crush on the guy who’s always been like a brother to her. With so much uncertainty, she feels … Continue reading

Review: The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan

The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan

The Lemon Tree (Young Reader’s Edition)
Sandy Tolan
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published November 3, 2020

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About The Lemon Tree

In 1967, a twenty-five-year-old refugee named Bashir Khairi traveled from the Palestinian hill town of Ramallah to Ramla, Israel, with a goal: to see the beloved stone house with the lemon tree in its backyard that he and his family had been forced to leave nineteen years earlier. When he arrived, he was greeted by one of its new residents: Dalia Eshkenazi Landau, a nineteen-year-old Israeli college student whose family had fled Europe following the … Continue reading

Review: I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

I am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
Malala Yousafzai
with Christina Lamb
Little, Brown and Company
Published on October 8, 2013

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About I am Malala

I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday.

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She … Continue reading

Review: The Tyrant’s Daughter by J. C. Carleson

The Tyrant's DaughterThe Tyrant’s Daughter
J. C. Carleson
Alfred A Knopf/Random House Children’s Books
Published February 11, 2014

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When her father is assassinated, fifteen year-old Laila, her mother and younger brother escape their tumultuous homeland to America. As Laila explores her new freedoms, she learns that what she grew up believing about her father – that he was a king and her family royalty – is not how the rest of the world saw his rule. The ugly words – dictator, tyrant – slam into her, turning her past upside down. She watches helplessly from across the world as her uncle continues the regime of violence and destruction.

Laila joins a school for the first … Continue reading

Review: Black Helicopters by Blythe Woolston

Black HelicoptersBlack Helicopters
Blythe Woolston
Candlewick Press
Published March 1, 2013

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She heard the sound of the black helicopters approaching the day Mabby died. Since then, Valley and her big brother Bo have been hiding and waiting for their Da to come home. Staying out of sight because you never know when Those People will show up again. Valley wants to help. Da sends messages to Those People, ones they will not forget. Ticking packages that make Them listen.

But Da is gone now, and it is only Valley and Bo. Bo is forgetting. Only Valley remembers what Da said. Only Valley sees the bigger game. She will make Those People listen to … Continue reading