From the award-winning author of Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna, Alda P. Dobbs, comes a compelling new novel about building a new life in America. Strong and determined, Petra Luna returns in a story about the immigrant experience that continues to be relevant today.
Petra Luna is in America, having escaped the Mexican Revolution and the terror of the Federales. Now that they are safe, Petra and her family can begin again, in this country that promises so much. Still, twelve-year-old Petra knows that her abuelita, little sister, and baby brother depend on her to survive. She leads her family from a smallpox-stricken refugee camp on the Texas border to the buzzing city of San Antonio, where they work hard to build a new life. And for the first time ever, Petra has a chance to learn to read and write.
Yet Petra also sees in America attitudes she thought she’d left behind on the other side of the Río Grande―people who look down on her mestizo skin and bare feet, who think someone like her doesn’t deserve more from life. Petra wants more. Isn’t that what the revolution is about? Her strength and courage will be tested like never before as she fights for herself, her family, and her dreams.
Petra’s first story, Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna, was a New York Public Library Book of the Year and a Texas Bluebonnet Master List Selection.
My Review
After I read BAREFOOT DREAMS OF PETRA LUNA last year, I knew I wanted to read more of Petra’s brave story and see what happened to her and her family. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER begins where BAREFOOT DREAMS ends, picking up with Petra Luna on the bridge, following her into a refugee camp, and on into a new life.
I love the way the story is paced. It gives time for readers to sink into the historical setting without lingering too long. I felt like I could picture what was happening and the streets of San Antonio in 1913. The relationship between Petra and her sister was also really great. She loves and protects her sister, but sometimes feels annoyed by her, too. I felt like the relationship played out in a very realistic way. Petra also feels very much her age at twelve, almost thirteen. She feels the pressure of being a provider for her family and keeping the promise to her father to keep the family safe. But she doesn’t feel like a tiny adult.
All in all, I loved this story– as much if not more than the first book. I think readers looking for historical fiction should absolutely check out THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER. I don’t think you’d have to read BAREFOOT DREAMS first, but they’re both really good.
Content Notes for The Other Side of the River
Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.
Representation Petra and her family are Mexican refugees living in Texas.
Profanity/Crude Language Content None.
Romance/Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Petra meets a nun who helps her. Petra’s grandmother sometimes prays and shares some of her beliefs. Petra and her family celebrate Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead).
Violent Content Some racist and prejudiced statements.
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 THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER in exchange for my honest review.
15 Books I’ve Reviewed on the Krause Banned Books List
What happened: Recently a Texas congressman compiled a list of hundreds of books he feels could cause students distress based on their race or sex and has asked school libraries to alert him about how many titles they have on their shelves. The governor has been conducting similar inquiries, and it looks like at least one district has pulled over 400 books from their shelves in response to pressure from politicians and some parents.
It seems really weird to me that politicians in a state which values personal freedom over protecting the community from a potentially deadly virus through mask wearing, think they should decide what people read. Asking people to wear masks is government overreach, but restricting access to certain kinds of books is okay? Just seems weird to me is all I’m saying.
Content Notes and My Reviews
If you’ve followed my blog, you know that I write content notes on all my reviews so that readers can find books they want to read and hopefully it’s easier to find books that represent them, too. Not every kid is ready for or interested in every book. Not every book is appropriate for every kid at a certain age or experience.
Parents have the right to decide what their kids can and should read. That’s part of our job. It’s why I advocate for reading with your kids and looking up reviews online that describe whatever content young readers might encounter within a book. What parents don’t get to do, though, is decide what other people’s kids are allowed to read.
Representation matters, too. You’ll notice from this list that 14 of the 15 books I’ve reviewed here feature LGBTQ+ characters in them. (The 15th is a nonfiction book about combating racism.) Which makes this list really seem like it’s targeting LGBTQ+ readers. In fact, most of the books on the massive list include LGBTQ+ representation. There are a lot of history books and biology books on there, too. It’s a weird list, honestly.
I keep trying to make it make sense. Like okay, is this about graphic sexual content? No, it can’t be, because there are some really popular YA books that have very explicit sexual content released in the years referenced on the sheet that are not listed. Some of the fiction books listed have very little sexual content (kissing maybe?). Anyway, it’s odd.
And not that it making sense would make it okay. It wouldn’t. It would just be nice to be like ah, okay, I see where they’re coming from. The closest I can get to that is that it appears to me that some people believe that the existence of gay people is something we must hide from ALL high school children? Also the existence of racism. And history. And sex.
Discomfort and Literature
I think the idea that discomfort is something we can’t let our kids experience is, frankly, ridiculous. Life is uncomfortable. Relationships are packed with discomfort. Sometimes we make mistakes in front of other people. Or we’re wrong. Or we hurt people and have to humble ourselves and apologize. There is no life safe from discomfort.
Also, literature is supposed to make us uncomfortable. It’s supposed to challenge the boundaries of our empathy, to make us think about experiences outside our own. To put us in someone else’s shoes for a moment. To make us imagine what a moment, real or imagined, is really like.
There Really Is a Giveaway at the End of This Post
Anyway. I searched the archives of my reviews and looked for books I’ve read that are on the list circulating the internet right now. Here are 15 books and the links to my reviews. At the bottom is a giveaway with a chance to win one of ten books. Details below.
Note: This list contains affiliate links which do not cost you anything to use but which generate a small amount of financial support for this blog.
15 Books I’ve Reviewed on the Krause Banned Books List
What you need to know: A genderqueer teen stands up to discrimination from their high school administration. Lots of love to Mariah Carey. Sweet family relationships.
What you need to know: A dystopian society reenacts Cinderella’s ball, but with a twist: each man gets to choose a bride, and she cannot say no. F/F romance. Loads of girl power.
What you need to know: An undocumented immigrant on the run learns she’s a Lobizona, a shapeshifter who can transform into a werewolf. The problem? She’s not supposed to exist.
What you need to know: A great beginner’s handbook for learning to recognize racism and how to speak up if you see something out of line. Welcoming and easy to read.
What you need to know: Two boys who are opposites, a food truck, a family in crisis, and a terrible secret. M/M romance. One character is an assault survivor.
What you need to know: A girl framed for murder, a boy who has no choice but to help her prove her innocence, and a killer who may not be finished. M/M romance. Total edge-of-your-seat read.
What you need to know: A girl just returned from boarding school tries to help her brother as his bipolar disorder drives a wedge between them. F/F romance. A powerful story about sibling relationships.
What you need to know: A boarding school for the high achieving students with the deadly Peter Pan Virus. A boy in the midst of figuring out who he is and who he loves. Aching and imaginative. M/M romance.
What you need to know: A boy is blackmailed to keep the fact that he’s gay from coming out and to protect the identity of his secret pen pal. M/M romance. A charming and slightly salty story of first love.
What you need to know: A once-in-a-lifetime friendship between two boys. M/M romance. Complex characters who are opposites. Lots of laughter and heartache to be had here.
You can find the whole list of 850 books here. I’ve read 15 from the list, and tons more have been on my To Be Read list and are already on my shelves. I feel more motivated than ever to read and review some of those books so that hopefully more readers who are interested in them can find and read them. It looks like someone has also added them to the lists on Goodreads, so you can add interesting-looking titles to your reading lists on there.
Let me know if you’ve read any of the books on this list or the full list.
Giveaway Time!
I’m giving away some books. Ten books, to be precise. I’ll order them from Bookshop, which supports indie booksellers, and choose ten people from the Rafflecopter below. Each winner can choose which book they want from the list of 850 books (must be in stock at Bookshop and $25 or less) and must have a US mailing address.
There’s a free entry, just for landing on the page and reading long enough to find the giveaway, and there are some other ways to boost your chances by talking about the giveaway and finding me on social media. So think about which book you would choose!
About Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.
My Review
I’ve wanted to read this book for a long time, and I’m glad I finally did it! I liked Ari right from the beginning. He’s a loner, both content to be alone and also miserable about it. He has an interesting relationship with his family, particularly both of his parents. I love that his dad and his relationship with his dad plays such a key role in the story. It’s not a major focus at all, but there are like these microburst moments between them that change everything.
I also love Ari’s relationship with Dante. They’re a perfect foil for each other. Dante is this upbeat, optimistic chatterbox, where Ari is a quiet, brooding guy who processes everything inside his head. Emotions are Dante’s first language, but they remain mysterious and opaque to Ari.
ARISTOTLE AND DANTE is a relationships book. The plot is kind of winding and I felt like it stalled out briefly in a few places. But the relationships with the characters, even between Ari and peripheral characters, remain dynamic and compelling. I’m so glad I read this book.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 14 up.
Representation Both Ari and Dante’s families are Mexican.
Profanity/Crude Language Content Extreme profanity used fairly frequently.
Romance/Sexual Content Kissing between boy and girl and two boys.
Spiritual Content None.
Violent Content References to a boy getting beat up by several other boys. One scene shows a boy beating up another.
Drug Content Several scenes show teens drinking alcohol. There are references to smoking pot and doing heroin, and one scene that shows two characters smoking pot.
Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.
Norris Kaplan is clever, cynical, and quite possibly too smart for his own good. A black French Canadian, he knows from watching American sitcoms that those three things don’t bode well when you are moving to Austin, Texas. Plunked into a new high school and sweating a ridiculous amount from the oppressive Texas heat, Norris finds himself cataloging everyone he meets: the Cheerleaders, the Jocks, the Loners, and even the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Making a ton of friends has never been a priority for him, and this way he can at least amuse himself until it’s time to go back to Canada, where he belongs.
Yet, against all odds, those labels soon become actual people to Norris. Be it loner Liam, who makes it his mission to befriend Norris, or Madison the beta cheerleader, who is so nice that it has to be a trap. Not to mention Aarti the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, who might, in fact, be a real love interest in the making. He even starts playing actual hockey with these Texans.
But the night of the prom, Norris screws everything up royally. As he tries to pick up the pieces, he realizes it might be time to stop hiding behind his snarky opinions and start living his life—along with the people who have found their way into his heart.
My Review
My favorite thing about this book is Norris’s voice. I’m a total sucker for witty banter, and he’s full of quips and side comments. Some tender moments completely sneaked up on me, too. His conversation with his mother about his mistakes had me in tears. I couldn’t help asking myself how many moms have exactly that conversation with their black sons. It shouldn’t be that way.
I felt like Aarti and Madison had really similar voices, so that sometimes I
couldn’t tell them apart. I also didn’t totally follow the sharp turn where
Norris ends up apologizing to Aarti toward the end. (Sorry, trying not to
include spoilers.) They start a conversation where Norris feels pretty
righteous in his anger and then suddenly Aarti flips the situation and he feels
like he’s the bad guy. Not that he did nothing wrong, but I guess I didn’t feel
like the story supported Aarty’s view of what happened.
I loved Norris’s relationships with Liam and Eric. They felt like real
friendships, and added a lot of depth to Norris’s character, too, because we
got to see things like loyalty and dedication.
On the whole, I enjoyed reading THE FIELD GUIDE TO THE NORTH AMERICAN TEENAGER quite a lot. The fast-paced dialogue and banter between characters combined with lots of heart and tough lessons about love and growing up made it a great read. Perfect for fans of THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN YOU IS ME by Lily Anderson.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 15 up.
Representation Norris is a black teen from Canada. His mom is from Haiti. Aarti’s parents are Indian immigrants to the US. They share a bond over the pressures of being minority kids who are also the children of immigrants. Norris’s best friend Eric is gay.
Profanity/Crude Language Content Extreme profanity used regularly but not super frequently. One instance of a slur used.
Romance/Sexual Content Kissing between girl and boy. A couple brief mentions of Norris feeling aroused in response to something. Norris’s best friend makes a comment about whether his boyfriend might intend for them to have sex and wondering if he’s ready for that. No descriptions of anything beyond kissing but Norris carries condoms with him just in case he might possibly need them.
Spiritual Content None.
Violent Content Someone slaps Norris.
Drug Content Scenes include teens drinking alcohol. Norris makes some mistakes while drunk which land him in some trouble.
Note: This post contains affiliate links which cost you nothing but which help support this blog.
About Moonrise
‘They think I hurt someone.
But I didn’t. You hear?
Coz people are gonna be telling you
all kinds of lies.
I need you to know the truth.’
As Joe’s older brother nears his execution date, Joe journeys to visit him before the end. He struggles to understand what happened from the night Ed’s accused of murder through the twists and turns in the justice system. Now, barely able to provide for himself, Joe tries his best to support his brother and hold onto the hope that his brother will have justice before he dies.
My Review Moonrise shines a light on some cracks in the criminal justice system. I feel like cracks isn’t the right word. Holes? Canyons? I’m not sure. Nevertheless, reading a story about someone who seems to have been wrongfully convicted can’t be easy.
Joe’s whole life is a struggle, but his brother Ed was one of the brightest spots in it as he grew up, fatherless, and with a drug-addicted mother. That changes when Ed goes to prison for murder, even though there isn’t much evidence to support the conviction. Now he tries to be a support to his brother in what may be his final days, even though he has no idea what to say or how to say it. Even though he can barely afford to survive on his own in the small Texas town where Ed’s imprisoned.
The story has a lot of grim moments, but it’s not without hope. Joe befriends a young woman who teaches him about forgiveness and love. He meets a Chaplin who challenges him to be strong. His sister and aunt find ways to love one another despite the difficult circumstances they find themselves in.
Did I like the story? For some reason, I find it tough to answer that. It’s an uncomfortable read in some ways. I found I couldn’t read it without examining my own thoughts on issues like the death penalty and police procedures surrounding suspects and pressure to elicit a confession. I think this was the author’s point, so in that way, the story must be a success. Was it a comfortable read? No. Not at all. But there are a lot of books worth reading that aren’t comfortable. I have to call this one of them.
Recommended for Ages 16 up.
Cultural Elements
Major characters are white.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used moderately frequently.
Romance/Sexual Content Kissing between boy and girl.
Spiritual Content Joe and his brother meet with a Chaplin who brings them comfort.
Violent Content Joe’s brother has been accused and convicted of shooting a police officer. No descriptions of the officer’s death.
Drug Content
Joe and a girl smoke pot together in one scene. In another, they drink alcohol.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
The year Louisiana – Easy for short – meets Janis Joplin is the year everything changes. Easy is a car mechanic in her dad’s shop, but she can sing the blues like someone twice her age. So when she hears that Janis Joplin is passing through her small town of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Easy is there with her heart – and her voice – in hand. It’s 1970 and Janis Joplin is an electrifying blues-rock singer at the height of her fame – and of her addictions. Yet she recognizes Easy’s talent and asks her to meet her in Texas to sing. So Easy begins an unusual journey that will change everything.
Review
One of my favorite things about Caroline Stellings is her ability to tell a story with huge emotional layering. At its surface, this is a really simple tale about a girl who has a dream and takes a road trip. The backdrop of America in 1970 gives the story some added intensity. I loved that Janis Joplin makes an appearance, and even more that Easy talks so much about Billie Holiday and Bessie Green as influences of her music.
The power punches come in the characters. I don’t want to give anything away, but there were several moments where things unfolded in this perfect way. Like when you make complex origami and on the last step, pull the piece into its final shape, so that suddenly it transforms from being a bunch of sequential folds to a crane or dragon or something so much more than paper. That’s how it felt reading Freedom’s Just Another Word. Like being part of a transformation.
I loved that meeting Janis didn’t suddenly propel Easy to fame. It was a significant moment on her journey, and she learned a lot about herself and others through her encounter. But she had so much more to learn and to give. She just also had to find the courage to take those steps.
At any rate, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. (Check content to make sure it’s okay for your readers as there is some language.) If you enjoy fiction about music or musicians, definitely get yourself a copy of Freedom’s Just Another Word. I loved it.
Cultural Elements
Easy was raised by African American parents. Her mother is white and her father is black. Where she lives in Saskatoon there aren’t very many black people. She experiences some prejudice as a child. When she drives through Texas, she’s threatened and thrown out of a restaurant because of her race. There’s some discussion about places it’s unsafe for her to go, especially at night. Some places won’t let her in, others treat her coldly.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.
Romance/Sexual Content Easy wonders how her mom forgave her father for having an affair with a white woman.
Spiritual Content Easy meets two nuns and helps them buy a car. One is judgmental and cynical. The other is kind and welcoming to Easy. Later she meets a Reverend Mother who shows a great deal of compassion for the people around her, which moves Easy.
Violent Content A man threatens Easy’s life if she doesn’t leave his restaurant.
Drug Content
Easy meets Janis Joplin and her gang. They clean out a liquor store, many of them already drunk. Janis wants Southern Comfort, and Easy finds it for her. She reflects on Janis’s hard living way of life with some sadness. Later she meets another heroin addict. When Easy sees Janis again, she talks to her about him. Janis seems sad about the man’s predicament, but expresses no desire to change her habits. Not long afterward she’s found dead of a heroin overdose.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
