Well Matched is a delightful romp that lives up to Book 1 of the "Well Met" series (where the sequel Well Played fell far short, in my opinion). Jen DeLuca delivers a fun balance of the fake dating and friends to lovers tropes, and the age gap between April, a single mum over 40, and Mitch, the hot young dumbass, is refreshing. Though the complete lack of racial diversity in this series rankles, the Ren Fair is a fun setting. The black moment was appropriate for this lighthearted book, providing realistic and legitimate conflict. 

Assuming this is the last of the "Well Met" series, I suspect I will be returning to Well Met and Well Matched habitually. A sweet summer read, perfect for relaxing at the beach. 

William Joyce confirms his capacity for imaginative worldbuilding in the second installment of the Guardians series. E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core! expands the cast of characters, and I was sorry that the additional perspective characters took away from our time with North, my favourite character - and I think the most interesting - character from Book One. Despite this, I am thoroughly enjoying this children's series, which would be absolutely delightful to read aloud with the family or a class. 

How does one even review Jane Eyre? It's lush and atmospheric, creating the vibes and tropes that have been so central to my favourite genre for two hundred years. If there's anyone left in the world who doesn't know the big revelation at the end of this book, I won't spoil it but... yeah. Mr R. does some rough stuff in this book, and honestly, so does Bronte, considering who is reduced to a literary device. On that note... It's also pretty racist. So much phrenology, Lottie, why?
So, okay, it's complicated. There are reasons to avoid it. But there are also reasons that you may be interested, particularly if you're a romance reader. If Pride and Prejudice is the mother of modern romance, Jane Eyre is the cool younger auntie.
I would highly recommend podcasts Whoa!mance's Public Access Read-a-Long and Hot and Bothered "On Eyre" series for audio reading companions. 

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TO TEACH?  🍎
Jane Eyre is delicious for the Gothic, of course. I've been assigned Jane and R's first meeting for year 10. We'll see how that goes (honestly, that meeting is real sexy and I feel like my colleague who made this decision... maybe didn't register how sexy it is...  

Unpack Your Impact is an excellent teacher's resource that is brim full if considered and practical ideas for how to demystify culture and global social systems in primary school social studies classrooms. This is a very US-centric book, which is appropriate for the project of the authors, but be aware of that if you are a primary teacher outside of the States. The principles should be applicable in most Western classrooms (at least).

I teach kids bigger than the young ones O'Brien and Tabb are discussing, so many of their suggestions aren't relevant to my content area. Generally speaking though, Unpack Your Impact offers some excellent advice - for example, for controversial state standards, "teach whatever the standard is - then flip it". And the evergreen, "don't teach lessons you're ashamed of". Words to live your professional life by!

I hope, and am sure, that Unpack Your Impact will change teaching practice in classrooms across the US, for the better. 

Island Affair is a summery, tropey romp set in atmospheric Key West. The fake dating contrivance held with Sara's desperation to save face with her family and Luis' good guy "saint" reputation. I enjoyed their dynamic; they were playful but capable of challenging each other to come to terms with their past traumas in order to embark on a life together. (Content warnings for ED and car crash). 

I didn't love the black moment, though I think that comes down to my discomfort with fake dating as a central trope. Fake dating works best when the narrative time frame is short, but then it can be harder to pull off a very short term relationship or situationship with a stranger inspiring huge life changes? I think in general I just enjoy fake dating more when it is between people who already knew each other in some capacity before the book begins. 

Though the end felt maybe a little rushed, it wasn't enough to negate my enjoyment of the atmospheric worldbuilding and the fun vibe between the hero and heroine. 

I bought this audiobook in anticipation of the second book of the series, Anchored Hearts, which is a second chance romance (my #1 favourite romance trope, when it's done well!) I will definitely be picking up Anchored Hearts and other titles from Priscilla Oliveras' blacklist soon! 

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Pride, Prejudice and Other Favors is a delicious slow burn romance on a bed of expansive family dynamics.  Sonali Dev's high concept contemporary series of Austen retellings transpose the social drama of to ton to a South Asian migrant community in California. DJ's Indo-Rwandan heritage introduced timely nuance to the conversation of privilege at the heart of the conflict between this adaptation's Darcy and Lizzie.

Sonali Dev excels in locating romantic machinations within expansive, nuanced family dynamics. In Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors, she has created a rich, textured, sumptuous narrative world I can't wait to return to in the series' subsequent titles. 

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Ain't Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin is an outstanding reflection on the trauma of the past two years for Black people in the US. This is a moving and timely poem beautifully presented alongside Griffin's art. A very special title. 

The audio edition also includes a lovely conversation between the author and the illustrator. 

TO TEACH? 🍎 
This is a no-brainer: absolutely, yes. This would be good for teaching poetry and visual with a civics/current events focus, and the audiobook performance could dovetail with performance poetry techniques and aural aspects of poetry. 

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Thank you to Libro.fm and Simon & Schuster Audio for providing an early copy of the audiobook version through their ALC program.

The newest addition to the Rebel Girls library is delightful. With sweet illustrations and clear, succinct prose, this book offers stories of female environmentalists from a variety of backgrounds. I was pleased by the diversity of the women included in the volume. 

If I were read this with a young person, I would be sure to have conversations about the limits of the "individual responsibility" model of environmentalism, distinct from a systemic approach. But certainly, Rebel Girls Climate Warriors achieves what it sets out to do: provide an inspiring, accessible amd aesthetically pleasing outline of key women and girls who have fought for the Earth. 

TO TEACH? 🍎
This would be a useful addition to middle school classroom or school libraries and could definitely be used to kickstart, frame or support an earth science unit.

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Thank you to Netgalley and Rebel Girls for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

This sumptuous second chance romance short story is a little nugget of perfect sexual and romantic tension. Despite remaining closed door, Sonali Dev delivers the blistering pining and infatuation that I've come to expect. An absolute treat. 

TO TEACH? 🍎
Is it weird to say maybe? Teaching genre through romance (among others) is always one of my favourite times of the year! I know a lot of teachers who avoid romance when teaching genre, but I have trouble understanding this as anything more than snobbery because it is truly a delight. (Also anecdotally, yes, you can get the boys on board. Teenage boys have hearts too!) There are some sweet YA romance short stories around which work well, but I love how unapologetically Indian American Sonali Dev's work is. My school has a high percentage of South Asian kids, and I'd love to diversify my reading list for genre fiction further. 

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Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon and Sonali Dev for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.