Monday, March 18, 2024
Planting Hope by Philip Hoelzel and Renato Alcarao - ADVISABLE
Sunday, March 17, 2024
Bird is Dead by Tiny Fisscher, illustrated by Herma Starreveld - HIGH
Saturday, March 16, 2024
Wren Martin Ruins it All by Amanda DeWitt - OPTIONAL
Language: R (100+ swears, 18 “f”); Mature Content: PG ; Violence: G
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
17 yo senior asexual Wren Martin wants to make his mark on his small, beachside town of Rapture, Florida. For his first act as the student council president, he wants to abolish the Valentine’s Day Dance, an expensive rite of passage that Wren would rather use that money elsewhere in the school. His vice president, annoyingly perfect Leo Reyes, suggests partnering with a viral social media app to pay for the school dance and thus, pay for Wren’s fix-it list for the school. So now, Wren is juggling planning the year's biggest party, fixing the school, flirting with an anonymous match, and managing inconveniently changing feelings for one student council VP. Nothing will go wrong, right?
I thoroughly enjoyed this YA rom-com, appreciating its snarky narrator and a predictable, yet engaging anonymous flirtation, reminiscent of "You’ve Got Mail" for the TikTok generation. However, the unrealistic portrayal of the main character and the high school setting took me out of the story a little. Additionally, the book missed an opportunity to fully explore and explain the asexuality end of the LGBTQIA spectrum, despite the main character's identification with it. Regardless, these are things that an average high school reader isn't going to notice or care about. The biggest red flag is the amount of language in the book, making it optional for school libraries.
Reviewer: Kiera Beddes, #bookswithbeddes
Friday, March 15, 2024
Animal Eyes by Francoise Vulpe - ADVISABLE
Thursday, March 14, 2024
In the Orbit of You by Ashley Schumacher - OPTIONAL
In the Orbit of You by Ashley Schumacher, 313 pages. Wednesday Books (St. Martin’s Press), 2024. $21.
Language: R (54 swears, 10 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
When they were young, Sam had to move away from Nova, but he promise, promised to find her again when they were older. Years later, it’s Nova (17yo) who finds Sam when her mom’s job temporarily moves them to town. Neither of them are the kids they used to be, but neither knows who they are now either—or who they might be together.
Schumacher’s characters struggle with identity, belonging, and feeling like someone gets them, on both ends of the spectrum making them relatable to a wide range of readers. Sometimes it feels like the happily ever after choices are not always the best choices—a hard lesson for parties both on and off page. And still Schumacher brings everything together in a satisfying conclusion.
Nova and Sam are depicted as White on the cover. The mature content rating is for mentions of drugs and alcohol, kissing, innuendo, and partial nudity. The violence rating is for mentions of child abuse.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler - HIGH
I’m frustrated with the situation the community is dealing with. I’m also frustrated with some of the main character’s actions. The author represents entitlement and community politics well. The ethnicity is predominantly white, with an African American deputy mentioned.
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Immortality: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz - HIGH
Monday, March 11, 2024
SoulMatch by Declan Ryder - OPTIONAL
SoulMatch by Declan Ryder, 225 pages. Declan Ryder, 2024. $5.
Language: PG (4 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: G
BUYING ADVISORY: ADULTS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW
Sara (32yo) is missing something in her life, and her friend recommends a matchmaking app. She starts talking with Alex, and Sara falls fast and hard. Everything is perfect—until Sara wants to meet and Alex’s excuses start to sound suspicious.
The premise is farfetched but still could have been intriguing, if not for the poor execution. Besides the odd word choices and the repetitive sections of the story, the book was riddled with inconsistencies. It felt like Ryder forgot details from previous chapters when he wrote the next one and didn’t bother to double check.
The characters are implied White. The mature content rating is for alcohol use, kissing, and implied sex.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera - OPTIONAL
Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera, 352 pages. Celadon Books (Macmillan), 2024. $27.
Language: R (243 swears, 94 “f”) ; Mature Content: R; Violence R
BUYING ADVISORY: ADULTS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Lucy (29yo) left her hometown five years ago after being accused of killing her best friend, Savvy. Her anonymity in California is shattered when Ben Owens (28yo) starts season two of his true crime podcast, trying to solve the cold case of Savvy’s murder. With her identity exposed, Lucy doesn’t have a reason to say no when her grandma asks Lucy to come back home for her birthday—with the murder fresh on everyone’s minds.
Tintera’s writing is compelling. I was invested from the first sentence—I couldn’t wait to figure out what was true and what wasn’t. With the subject matter at hand, Tintera did a fabulous job of balancing the thriller suspense with dark humor that provided comic relief—I laughed out loud so many times that I lost count. This is the first non-YA book that I’ve read by Tintera, and the only negative thing I have to say is that I’m disappointed that she put so much sexual content in the book. Everything else was great.
Paige is Black, Nina is Latina, and everyone else is implied White. The mature content rating is for drug and alcohol use; innuendo; illegal activity; groping; nudity; mentions of condoms, genitalia, rape, and oral sex; and sex. The violence is for blood and gore, assault, mentions of domestic violence, and murder.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen
Saturday, March 9, 2024
Come Home Safe by Brian Buckmire - ESSENTIAL
Come Home Safe by Brian Buckmire, 190 pages. Blink, 2023. $18
Language: G (no swears); Mature Content: PG (marijuana mentioned); Violence: PG (manhandling by the police, yelling)
BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
14yo African American Eddie is on his way with his 12yo sister in the NYC subway when he is confronted by a police officer about jumping the turnstile and smoking pot. Being an Honors student and as polite as you can be, he doesn’t understand why he is the target. As much as he tries to remember his father’s advice about confrontations with the police, the situation swings out of control and Eddie is hurt and manhandled before his is finally released - not because of the great kid he is, but because the real perpetrators were caught. Olive wants Eddie and her father to fight back and sue the police. But when she becomes victim of a white “Karen” who insists that Olive stole her phone, Olive begins to realize some of what Eddie has been through and dangerous life can be when living Black.
I was thoroughly engaged by Eddie and Olive , especially the stream-of-consciousness narrative as Eddie tries to remember and apply what his Dad taught him. Buckmire did an excellent job of weaving Eddie’s thoughts into the narrative. I first listened to this as a free download from libro.fm, but went back and reread the print copy too. I would love to see this discussed in classrooms - a brilliant way to talk to students about life as Black or biracial.
Cindy, Library Teacher
Small Gods of Calamity by Sam Kyung Yoo - OPTIONAL
Small Gods of Calamity by Sam Kyung Yoo, 144 pages. Interstellar Flight Press, 2024. $15.
Language: R (8 swears, 6 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
On the surface of everyday life, Han-gil is investing suicides, but his assigned partners keep abandoning him because of his odd behavior—the things Han-gil does to investigate the paranormal murders that appear to be suicides. With his newest partner starting to ask questions and his sister out of town, Han-gil is stuck working with Yoonhae (27yo), an acquaintance from his past.
An outcast of both the normal and paranormal communities, Han-gil is just trying to do the best he can, which is relatable and pulls at the reader’s heartstrings from the very beginning. The magic was interesting, though the final battle felt anticlimactic. Despite that and the questions left unanswered, I still liked the conclusion that ended on a hopeful note.
Han-gil is Korean and bisexual, Azuna is Japanese, and the majority of other characters are Korean. The mature content rating is for transphobia content. The violence rating is for blood and gore, description of corpses, mentions of murder, suicide, and fantasy violence.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen
Friday, March 8, 2024
My Father the Panda Killer by Jamie Jo Hoang - OPTIONAL
King Cheer by Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm,and Jamie Green - OPTIONAL
Thursday, March 7, 2024
Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli - OPTIONAL
I enjoyed the mystery and the reveals. The world building was done well. The danger makes the story even more interesting. The ethnicity consists of mostly white, with ocher and golden skin tones mentioned.
The Lucky Poor by Mazie Lovie - OPTIONAL
The Lucky Poor by Mazie Lovie, 134 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL Iron Circus Comics, 2024. $12
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Time Out by Sean Hayes, Todd Milliner, and Carlyn Greenwald - OPTIONAL
Hopeless in Hope by Wanda John-Kehewin - OPTIONAL
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
With a Little Luck by Marissa Meyer - HIGH
I enjoyed the humor. The story is sweet. It’s a fun read that inspires the reader to work towards their dreams. The ethnicity includes white, Asian, Mexican American, and Korean American.