I have been putting off this review for a long time and I think it is because I am not quite sure what to say about this book. It was good. Interesting. But it didn't blow me out of the water. I have not read Jane Eyre, so I cannot speak on the connections to that story, but I was drawn in by Rachel Hawkins's twist on the story. 

I found the characters to be intriguing but not likable. Quite honestly, I was annoyed by Jane's incessant want to be in the riches crowd. It was annoying and made her character come off as manipulative, fake, and vindictive. And Eddie's character, I just couldn't trust. I wanted to like him, but then something would happen and I would become super suspicious of him and his motives again. 

As for Bea, I thought her character brought shape to the story along with some shocking events, but the transitions between her narration in the present and the past felt really choppy and muddy to me. This could be because I listened to the audio version, but I definitely think better transitions could have been used. 

I did enjoy the story, and I am interested in reading this book in physical formate to see if that makes a difference in my opinions, but I think I would like to pick up Jane Eyre first.

**Thank you to NetGalley, author E. L. Shen, and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux (BYR) for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

This own-voice, middle-grade novel is an intricate maze of growing up, developing skills, experiencing life, and standing up to those who try to put others down. 

I could not put this story down and ended up reading it in one sitting. From the beginning, I was invested in Maxine's story and her interest in figure skating. She holds onto this dream of being a champion, even an Olympic, skater even in the toughest times of her skating career, but she is also realistic with her abilities and the goals she wants to accomplish. This was a great mix of determination and self-understanding. Maxine knows where she wants to be with her skating, but she also knows that day is still a few years into the future.

Maxine's character development was really dynamic and engaging to follow throughout the story, as well. Shen's use of the champion skaters to support Maxine (in her imagination) was really unique and I thought this added an element to the story that really emphasized Maxine's commitment and dedication to the sport. 

Maxine fought many battles in this story, both in skating and in school. Reading about how she develops and grows from each challenge was really inspiring and I think this book teaches some good lessons for middle-grade-aged readers. *The analogy that Maxine's mom shares about trees growing at different paces is something that I think every person should hear and apply to their lives.*

Initially, there were a few phrasings that I didn't love. One example of this was when the ballet coach tells Maxine that the move she is struggling to execute "See...Not that difficult!" This rubbed me the wrong way because this is not something that should be said to someone who is struggling with something, but after thinking more about it, I feel like it captured yet another struggle that Maxine was faced with. It is frustrating to read, but I think it shows the ignorance of how individuals can think they are doing something positive when it can actually be pretty harmful. 

I am definitely looking forward to recommending this book to middle-grade readers in the future, and I am very excited to see the final edition.

**Thank you to NetGalley, author Michael W. Waters, and Flyaway Books for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.** 

For Beautiful Black Boys Who Believe in a Better World is an emotional, informative, and strong story. Michael W. Waters challenges his readers to really think about the events that have happened in recent history regarding the injustices against the Black community. He has created a narrative through a young boy's eyes, asking questions, and being confused by the constant injustice. I think this is a great narrative for young readers to follow because they are probably asking similar questions, too.

Waters' writing is clear and powerful. He beings with the questions of confusion: "Why is this happening?" "What are they doing?" but as Jeremiah grows up, he starts to ask questions of "How can I make a difference?" "What can the community do to change these events?"

The story is a strong conversation starter about racial injustices for young readers, and Waters provides guides on how to have those conversations in the back of the book. 

Along with the powerful story are beautiful illustrations. They are detailed and bold and full of emotion. I hope to share this story with young readers in the future. 

**Thank you to NetGalley, author Tanitoluwa Adewumi, and Thomas Nelson: CHILDREN'S for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.** 

This nonfiction memoir story of a family fleeing a terrorist group in Nigeria was both emotional and inspiring. 

Tani and his family were forced to seek refuge in the United States from Nigeria because of threats from the terrorist group Boko Haram. Tani shares his story of arriving in the U.S. and living in a shelter for the first year. To pass the time, Tani's brother Austin introduced him to the game of chess. 

Chess was an escape for Tani to focus his attention, and through this, he was able to help his family find hope and a new life. 

There is a wide-spread representation of characters in this story, as well!

The illustrations to pair with this story were beautiful. They really helped to bring the story and emotions to life. 

This is truly a beautiful story of trauma, resilience, and success. Tanitoluwa Adewumi crafted a story of inspiration.  

**Thank you to NetGalley, author Waka T. Brown, and HarperCollins Children's Books for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.** 

Wow, what an amazing debut novel by Waka T. Brown. This memoir is full of emotion, inspiration, frustration, and self-discovery. Brown shares her story of traveling alone and living in Japan with her Obaasama (grandmother) for five months in 1983-'84. She shares the raw emotion behind not wanting to go by herself and attend the local Japanese school along with the adventures that helped her to discover who she truly wanted to be. 

One of the pieces of this story that I absolutely loved was the Japanese culture intricately woven throughout. Brown added in the Japanese spelling and writing for words with descriptions of what they meant, shared traditions of food and dress, described the beautiful natural scenery of Japanese streets, and so much more. This was a really interesting part of the story for me as a reader because I was able to learn more about the life that Brown and her family grew up in, and her descriptions made it easy for me to paint the pictures in my head.

The writing is engaging but not too mature for the intended audience. Brown does a wonderful job shaping together words and stories that brings her experiences to life. I also really hope that the final edition will keep the images throughout. This was a great addition to the story and did not take away from the writing or age-level at all. I really enjoyed seeing the flowers, letters, and words that Brown was experiencing in those moments.

The one thing that did stand out a bit was the pace of the story for the audience. Though this is written from a middle-grade perspective, I think the content of the story is more suited for a young adult reader and up. By this, I mean that the content is not quick-paced and action-packed (not a bad thing!), but because of this, I am not sure how interested middle-grade readers would be in the story. As a new-adult-aged reader, I was really invested in Brown's story and found it engaging to learn so much about her experience with American and Japanese cultural overlaps and the traditional Japanese culture that is woven throughout, but for a younger reader, this may not be as appealing because there was not a ton of "high-intensity" moments.  

Overall, though, I see this as a book that I will recommend in the future for those looking for an interesting, engaging, and inspiring nonfiction memoir.

This book was a whirlwind of emotions and events. I enjoyed the narration of the audiobook and after the first few chapters, I was interested to learn more. 

The main cast of characters is dynamic. Lakshmi's character is probably the most dynamic in both self-discovery and personal growth as well as her relationships with the other characters. The ladies she worked for are all pretty flat, but their relationships with Lakshmi were one of the most interesting parts of the story for me. Lakshmi's use of herbal medicine and henna to heal these women was amazing. 

Lakshmi's story was really engaging, as well. She runs away from her husband and family to start a safer, more independent life for herself, begins her own henna business, and creates a name for herself through her powerful medicinal herbs.

After all of this, her husband seeks her out and brings her a sister she didn't know she had. This obviously throws things off for Lakshmi, but the way she adapts her life and tries to create success for herself, Malik, and Radha shows her character as strong and resilient.

 

The plot is also complex. There seem to be many things happening at once, but not overwhelmingly. And the display of Indian culture through henna is really interesting. I loved learning more about henna and the helpful functions and uses of the medicinal herbs Lakshmi uses.

One big downfall for me, though, is that there is the big cliche of "I let out the breath I didn't even know I was holding" that came up multiple times throughout the book. Does it ruin a story? No. Do I find the overused cliches annoying? Yes.

After finishing this book, I felt like I had so much in my mind, but I don't seem to have a lot to say about it. I liked it and enjoyed listening to it, but I  didn't love it. I might edit this review in the future, but for now, here are my thoughts. 

**Thank you to NetGalley, author Rihannon Wallace and illustrator Risa Hugo, and Orca Book Publishers for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.** 

This story was...not what I was expecting. 

Honestly, going into this, I was expecting the story to be about a boy who loves to dance, struggles with stage fright and the discomfort of his leotard (like the description says), but finds a solution to create a costume that makes him comfortable and successfully does the dance, which...I guess in a sense he does. 

I WAS NOT EXPECTING HIM TO STRIP DOWN, NAKED, AND FINISH THE DANCE?! It did make me giggle, however unexpected it was.

All laughing aside, I do wish that the author would have taken the opportunity to talk about how male dancers do wear leotards and that is OKAY. This, I believe, would send a better message instead of Leopold feeling like he needed to strip off his costume in order to perform the dance.

There was decent representation of race throughout the story and the illustrations were unique. I like the sketched out effect they have with the light colors. 

This was a cute, silly book that would be fun to read with children at home, but I am not sure it would be totally appropriate for storytime at a school or public library. 

**Thank you to NetGalley, author Judi Moreillon, and Star Bright Books for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.** 

This book is so so important. Many people don't realize how hard hugging can be for some individuals, and this book offers many great ways to exchange a hug for a new and different form of treating. 

The cast of characters is representative, and there are multiple substitutes for hugs that are offered. I really appreciate that the author further elaborates on why this is important in the back of the book as this can hopefully help people understand how scary and difficult hugging can be. 

I think this is a book that adults and children should read. 

 **Thank you to NetGalley and Rebel Girls for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.** 
 
I absolutely love and appreciate this book. Every young reader should read this book or have it read to them because the stories within are inspiring, informative, and strong. Each story holds its own unique power and knowledge, and we need to spread this power and knowledge to young children everywhere. 

I love how this collection highlights strong, amazing women from all over the globe. It has representation in culture and career. I do, however, wish there was more representation of Transgender Women, women with disabilities, and neurodivergent women. 

I find the illustrations that accompanied the stories awe-inspiring. The uniqueness and detail in each of them are amazing, and the fact that they are all drawn by different female artists is wonderful. And the activities at the end of the book, I think, are a wonderful addition. It allows readers of all genders to tell their stories and learn about what kind of leader they can be.  

Besides the representation mentioned above, the other hesitation keeping me from a 4.5- or 5-star rating is that some of the highlighted biographies felt a bit rushed. I know with only one page to put down words, things can get tight, but a few of the stories felt like they lost a little bit of punch because they were so short.  

I can't wait to see a final print copy of this book when it is published!