On Rotation is the story Angie Appiah, seemingly-Perfect Ghanaian Immigrant Daughter. She’s in medical school with a lawyer boyfriend and an amazing friend group… but when one by one, things start to fall apart, she finds herself crying in a garden when someone else walks into her life.

Shirlene Obuobi did an excellent job discussing the pressures of being an immigrant daughter, being in medical school, and navigating adult relationships. As a Black medical student, Angie experiences and sees so much racism and within the healthcare system, and this is one of On Rotation’s strongest storylines. Angie is also learning who she is throughout the book, which includes navigating a new romantic relationship. I absolutely love the meet cute between Angie and Ricky, and loved that they didn’t have an easy start because of the baggage they both had. I did think Angie’s character development went a little backwards — she started off as such a strong force in the beginning and all through the middle, but when she started second guessing Ricky over and over again, it felt to me like she regressed a bit and was being really immature. Angie’s friend group is rock solid, and I also thought that was really well done in this book. The ending was excellent and rounded out the book really well!

Thanks to Avon for the copy of this book!

I have always been really intrigued by serving others, which was actually part of how I chose my college (Marquette University) - they are a Jesuit college with a huge focus on service. Now, I love taking people meals, giving gifts, and volunteering with organizations that have causes near and dear to my heart. All because yes, it helps others and I want to focus on them instead of myself, but it also makes me feel good! This book was a scientific look at things that I knew to be true: that you will be happier and healthier if you focus on relationships and helping others. If you want more details on that, then this is definitely the book for you! Fred Sanders was a fantastic narrator if you choose the audiobook!

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Essentials for the copy of this book and to Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

“But George Floyd is a movement. And his name speaks for everyone who has been affected by police violence!”

Almost two years ago, on May 25, 2020, George Floyd was murdered, and his death sparked a movement within a greater community. Just days ago, a white man drove three hours from Binghamton to Buffalo and murdered ten people out of a belief in white supremacy. When this title says “…and the Struggle for Racial Justice,” it means that racism is still here, and education is still necessary. And that’s what this book does: educates through George Floyd’s life, lineage, and legacy, interwoven with laws, statistics, and real-life examples of Black people being pushed down by an oppressive system again and again. But this book also shares the hope that is still there for future change, despite a system that somehow didn’t flag Derek Chauvin and his long-standing record of overly aggressive behavior, leading to Floyd’s death.

This is so well done and well put together - I loved that while learning history and current laws and statistics, I was also reading the multi-generational story of George Floyd’s family. It’s one thing to read about historical events that happened in general, and another to see how one very real family was personally affected over decades. I can’t remember a time I’ve ever stayed up way too far into the night to finish a non-fiction book, but WOW this book had me hooked. Absolutely incredible and going on the antiracism “required reading” list.

Thank you to Books Forward PR and Viking Books for the copy of this ARC.