Random Musings of a Bibliophile

Here are shorter musings of some recent realistic YA reads. The Fountains of Silence   by Ruta Sepetys I truly appreciate and love the amount of research Sepetys puts into her historical fiction writing. This novel has a better bibliography than most YA non-fiction books that are published. I also like how Sepetys tends to bring attention to historical moments that often go unremarked or unnoticed. In this case she is tackling life in Franco's Spain, and the kidnapping of children to give up for adoption that was rampant under the regime. While this book is a great intellectual exercise, I couldn't quite love it as a work of literature. I felt a distance between myself and the characters. It was almost clinical. I'm not sure if this is a fault of how they were written and developed or a fault in my own ability to want to immerse myself in so painful a reality. The prose is on the same level Sepetys typically gives us, and the setting is fully realized. Maybe This Time ...

Jenn Reese's Above World  trilogy is a beloved set of books in this house. My daughter still has all her original copies on her favorite books shelf 8 years later. (One of three series that remained from elementary to high school when others were moved to other rooms as she grew older.) When I discovered a new MG by Reese would be coming out this year, I was so excited. Little did I know the emotional journey in store for me while reading this devastatingly beautiful book. You can try to plan for the Fox. You can save up your cards for him instead of trying to prepare for winter. Many people do. They spend so much time worried about the Fox that they forget about the rest of the game entirely. But remember: you never know when the Fox will appear, or what kind of Fox he will be when he does. And by then it will be too late. Samantha (Sam) has just arrived in Oregon with her sister Caitlyn. They are moving in her with their Aunt Vicky and her wife Hannah fol...

I take the 2nd Friday of every month to highlight some upcoming releases I am looking forward to that I hope are Future Favorites. Feel free to do your own post, just please link back to my blog and tell me about your post in the comments. Can I tell you how much I loved Well Met ???? It was A LOT. A lot a lot. I was so excited to discover it would have a sequel. I'm loving the cover and the synopsis. CANNOT WAIT!!!! Stacey is jolted when her friends Simon and Emily get engaged. She knew she was putting her life on hold when she stayed in Willow Creek to care for her sick mother, but it's been years now, and even though Stacey loves spending her summers pouring drinks and flirting with patrons at the local Renaissance Faire, she wants more out of life. Stacey vows to have her life figured out by the time her friends get hitched at Faire next summer. Maybe she'll even find The One. When Stacey imagined "The One," it never occurred to her that her summe...

Here are some shorter musings on some recent realistic YA reads. Butterfly Yellow by Thanhhà Lai This, like all of Thanhha Lai's work, is excellent. It is historical fiction set in 1981 and follows a Vietnamese teen who has suffered a terrifying journey to America to find her younger brother who was taken from Vietnam as an orphan in the last wave of civilians leaving before the South fell. Along the way she employs the help of a wannabe rodeo cowboy fresh from high school graduation with a brand new truck and a dream. This is a wonderful tale about found family that covers a parts of the history Vietnam and America we often forget about, including that young Vietnamese people were risking their lives to make their way to refugee camps long after the war ended. Many of them paid until costs for this. Don't Date Rosa Santos  by Nina Moreno I thoroughly enjoyed this. This has the appearance (and description) of being a simple YA contemporary YA romance, but it is actually...

Here are some musings on some recent realistic MG reads. Look Both Ways  by Jason Reynolds This is an excellent MG book to give students who love realistic stories of friendship, family, and school. It is also a good selection for those who have more trouble concentrating on long form novels. The stories in here are all interconnected because the characters featured all go to the same school. However, each is its own separate story with a different characters. Each plot focuses on the walk home from school but in different ways. My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich  by Ibi Zoboi This is an interesting story about family troubles, friend troubles, and finding your place in community. It is quintessentially middle grade. It is a good book to have on hand for voracious readers of this story type. It takes place in the mid 1980s and is about an African American girl whose grandfather was one of the first African American NASA engineers. From him she has inherited a love for scie...

I take the 2nd Friday of every month to highlight some upcoming releases I am looking forward to that I hope are Future Favorites. Feel free to do your own post, just please link back to my blog and tell me about your post in the comments. Frances Hardinge has a new book coming out this year!!!!! The gods are dead. Decades ago, they turned on one another and tore each other apart. Nobody knows why. But are they really gone forever? When 15-year-old Hark finds the still-beating heart of a terrifying deity, he risks everything to keep it out of the hands of smugglers, military scientists, and a secret fanatical cult so that he can use it to save the life of his best friend, Jelt. But with the heart, Jelt gradually and eerily transforms. How long should Hark stay loyal to his friend when he’s becoming a monster—and what is Hark willing to sacrifice to save him? Release Date: April 14, 2020 from Amulet Books Goodreads I've been waiting for this ever since I read There...

Here are my reading stats for the last month of 2019. Look at all those new reads! (See what three weeks off of school with nowhere to go can do!) December Favorites: Total Reads: 8 (7 new, 1 reread) MG: 2 YA: 2 Adult: 4 Contemporary: 5 Historical: 1 Fantasy: 2 Looking forward to January, here are the releases I'm most anticipating: How was everyone else's reading month? What are you looking forward to reading in January?

The Top Ten No Matter Age Category: Begone the Raggedy Witches by Celine Keirnan The Faithful Spy   by John Hendrix The Lost Girl  by Anne Ursu Lovely War  by Julie Berry On the Come Up  by Angie Thomas The Princess Who Flew with Dragons   by Stephanie Burgis Speak Easy, Speak Love by McKelle George Spinning Silver  by Naomi Novik There's Something about Sweetie  by Sandhya Menon Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind them All  by Laura Ruby Top MG: Top YA: Top Adult: Top Non-Fiction:

It's been a couple of years since I've done a book gift guide. I enjoyed doing them, and wanted to again. I hope someone out there will find it useful. If you are looking for a book to buy a kid in your life, here is one place where you can get some recommendations. This is clearly not an exhaustive list and I hope others will add their own ideas, either by making their own posts or mentioning books in the comments. These are all book I have read, and I can't read everything. There's not enough time. NOTE: In publishing the term Middle Grade (MG) refers to books marketed toward the 9ish-12ish range. This is not a reading level recommendation. Some kids can read them much younger, others enjoy reading MG well into adulthood. They're just good books. (I will do the Young Adult books for the 13 and over crowd later this week.) These are mostly books published in the past three years or so, but I have added a "tried and true" option to every category. I...