Picture Book Review: G is for Gratitude

 

This alphabet book is set up nicely - for a child who can't sleep, they breathe deeply and think about all the good things in this world (which can be hard to do these days). 

I'm not sure which letter is my favorite. I'm fond of Creating, Dogs, Hope, Kindness, Voices, and more. The illustrations are lovely. The characters are diverse. There's so much packed into this book; there's so much to talk about. There's such a great opportunity to talk about feelings and big pictures. 

* Book sent for review

** Highly Recommended for your school and public library collections

Review: Maybe He Just Likes You

When Mila receives an unwanted hug from a boy, she doesn't think too much about it. But the next day, things change. There's another hug. Comments. Knowing glances.  Mila doesn't know what's happening, but she's not happy.

As things get worse, she's not sure who to talk to. Her friends don't seem to understand. She tries to talk to the boys, but they don't stop their actions. No where seems safe.

At least, she has two weeks of karate lessons at the gym. That seems to help, but once the free classes are over, Mila's mom can't afford to send her to class.

Mila isn't sure what to do. She's only sure that she feels uncomfortable and wants it to stop. How can she make things better?

My Thoughts: Wow - this was one powerful book. I couldn't put it down. The chapters are short and pull your right along. I felt terrible for Mila - for the unwanted attention, for the hardships of her home life, and for her friends not understanding. I just wanted to give her a giant hug and tell her everything was going to be ok. I loved the ending. I loved how she took action, even though it ruined things, she finally found her voice. I loved that the teacher looked beyond everything and understood and dealt with the situation. A really well done story for the #MeToo world - because it does start young. And girls need to figure out how to deal with unwanted attention. I can't say enough about this book.

This book should be required reading for all middle grade students and this book should be talked about at length among the teachers, students, and everyone who works in a school. 

Cover Thoughts: Good
Source: My Library
Library Recommendation: A MUST HAVE book for your school and public libraries.

Review: Some Boys

Grace has liked Ian for a while. But she knows that he'll reject her after what happened in the woods. One night at a party, the golden boy of the town (and Ian's best friend) raped her.  But when she accuses him, the whole town turns against her.

Now, armed with her attitude and fierce clothing, Grace keeps the world at bay. But when she and Ian are forced to spend the spring vacation at the school cleaning lockers, they end up talking. They share secrets. Does Ian like her? Is Grace ready to trust anyone? Does Ian believe Grace?

My Thoughts: It took me a while to read this one because of the subject matter, but I'm so glad that I read it! When the book opens, the rape has already happened and Grace is going through hell. I love how she defends herself and doesn't run from the situation, even though she thinks about it. I hate that she's put in this situation. I hate that almost everyone, with the exception of her mother and Ian, have it out for her. I love the duel point of views and seeing the sides of the story from both Grace and Ian. I really liked Ian's father. This is definitely a #YASaves book that should be required reading.

Cover Thoughts: Great
Source: My Library
Library Recommendations: Highly recommended for public libraries.

Top Ten Tuesday: Quiet Books

This week's topic is  Ten Books I Really Love But Feel Like I Haven't Talked About Enough/In A While or as it's talked about on Twitter- Quiet YA (with a side of a few middle grade books). For me, many of these were emotional reads or books I couldn't put down.

- meme from The Broke and the Bookish 

Middle Grade:

YA:

Have you read any of these?

Review: Life After

Life in Argentina is a nightmare for Dani. Her father's broken after the loss of his sister and his family business. He sits home every day, sleeping or starring at the wall. Plus he flies off the handle at a moment's notice. Her mother works too hard for too little money. Dani needs to watch her younger sister. Everything's just hard. She lives for those quiet moments with her boyfriend Roberto. Lately those are few and far between. Now, his family is talking of moving.

She doesn't know how she'll survive without him. There are nights when she goes to bed hungry. There are nights when the lights don't work. There are nights her anger grows until it threatens to explode. She's so angry with her father for his behavior, angry at her mother for allowing her father to act so hurtful, and angry at life.

Dani can't imagine life will magically improve, but suddenly they have the chance to move to America themselves. Her father refuses to entertain the idea. He's too proud to accept handouts. Dani can't believe him. Why would he want to stay in Argentina where life is so hard? Finally, he breaks down and agrees to the move. When Dani finally reaches America, will life be better for her or will the move come with a whole new set of troubles?

My Thoughts: Wow, a very powerful and emotional novel. Dani's life brings out a wealth of emotions from sympathy to horror to sorrow to hope. A very interesting way to look at the aftermath of 9-11 from a different perspective - a real eye opening novel. I've felt this way about the authors to previous books as well: Confessions of a Closet Catholic and Purge.

The Cover: Confession - at first I hated this cover, I mean yeah it's pretty, but I didn't really get it. And then after reading it, it's beautiful, really simply amazing.

Source: Sent from the publisher at the author's request