Good lord this was sad. I'm not even sure what else to say about it. The story started out light hearted, a secret romance between two high school boys in the 90s, and turned dark rather quickly.

I really enjoyed the story but did not care for the ending. I did appreciate the positive ending for the characters and the representation in the story. I felt that it was rushed towards the end. But all in all, YA's need to see representation like this: immigrants and lesbians.

Very interesting read. I love hearing others stories and how they came out or how they realized they were LGBTQ. Important and interesting.

"Science says the races are biologically equal. So, if they're not equal in society, the only reason why can be racism." (pg. 228-229)

Stamped proclaims loudly that this is not a history book! But it is...not in the traditional sense, but written in a way that someone who does not enjoy reading about history could appreciate. It reads as a historical narrative or historical nonfiction, not a history book. So in a sense, I suppose it's not a history book. I love the informal way the book is written.

I originally read this book because one of my husband's Facebook friends was upset his daughter's English teacher assigned this book for them to read. He feels it's full of inaccuracy and unfairly represents white people as the reason for racism...ok...(Mind you, he did not READ the entire book, he listened in on the audio of a few chapters for his daughter's class.)

Personally, I believe this book is important, I'm sure there are inaccuracies and misrepresentation but overall the message is 100% clear!!!

Speaking of inaccuracies, here are a few I noticed (and you'll also see that they are in no way detrimental to the main theme of the book):
1. In chapter 1, Gomes Eanes de Zurara is named the "World's First Racist". Fine, he was racist, but soon after, in chapter 2, Aristotle's "Human Hierarchy" belief is mentioned. (I'm pretty positive that one could not pin point the first racist, but this isn't my book and the author(s) welcome to their own perspective and opinion.)
2. In chapter 3, the 1688 Germantown Petition Against Slavery is credited to the Mennonites when in fact, the Quakers, a religious group known to be forerunners in their support of the marginalized (think slavery/underground railroad/LBGTQ rights).

4 out of 5 stars because I wish there were suggestions included with how to improve as an antiracist or how to combat racism.

Little & Lion is a YA novel that won the Stonewall Book Award. Little is Lion's step sister. This story shows us Little and Lion's relationship and we also see struggles with mental health as Lion stops taking his bi-polar mediation and spirals into a manic state. Little is also struggling to figure out who she is and to become comfortable with her sexuality. I would have liked to have a little more closure to the story, Colbert leaves the ending hanging but inferences can easily be applied. It's worth the read.

This book was written by various writers about their experiences with healing, power, feminism, etc. While I enjoyed the book for the most part it did get tedious towards the end and I ended up skimming the rest. So 3 out of 5 stars because it failed to keep my attention but you may think different. :-)

Empty the Pews is made up of personal essays from people who have left the church for various reason. Any one of these stories could have been mine and many were very similar. Whether you’re a Christian, a struggling Christian, someone of another belief, or someone that doesn’t buy into this stuff, I think it’s an important read. It’s important to know about others experiences in life. It’s especially important for anyone who thinks it’s not their fault or the churches fault for people leaving the church. *spoiler* You’ve got some part in it.

Jamie Lee Finch writes You Are Your Own from a place of pain and hurt caused by her mother and the focus of this book, caused by the Evangelical church. It’s written and reads more like a research paper but with a personal account added in and tends to be VERY repetitive. I gave the book 4 stars bc I think it’s an important topic that needs further exploration but professionally, I would have given it a 3. While Finch’s experience is with a much more strict form of evangelicalism than I have experience, I could 100% relate to all of the experiences on some level or another. This is certainly a problem that needs a huge bright light shone on it.

I believe the author does a wonderful job of blending both Christianity and Witchcraft and recognizing the benefits and similarities.

This book was full of good information on many different aspects of the craft. I did skim through the end of the book, it wasn't holding my attention as the first half had. The second half seems more like Weinstein's personal take on certain aspects of spirituality and not a focus on a book of shadows, therefore the 3 stars.