This book is way too long.  I find this is just another example of an actress being given a book deal for name recognition.  The author even uses her own name as the character's name.  If that was the case why not say this happened when I was younger, etc.  I think it needs a better editor or a better ghost writer. 

 The art work in this book is great, and unusual for a children’s book.  But that is the best part.  This is a basic history of Abe Lincoln.  The subtitle is “Abraham Lincoln’s Agricultural Legacy” but much of this is not about agriculture.  Plus the author has added in these action  works like “Twack”, “swish”, “thwump” that seem very out of place.  This reader who lives in the “Land of Lincoln” would not add this book to their collection. 

 This book is a lot for a picture book.  It’s short and uses actions to describe if/then statements and what they are used for.  It also includes how that statement would look written in code.  However, the story has a weird ending about love being unconditional.  It’s just altogether too much for what is supposed to be a simple book. 

 

I can see why this book won the Pura Belpré Young Adult Award this year.  Furia who is known to most as Camila, is just another girl in Argentia with dreams of making it big.  For her, big is playing professional football (i.e. US Soccer).  Her brother is a local semi pro player, her dad was once a player, and the boy she loves is big leagues professional player.  But things where she lives are not great.  Dad is abusive, mother is submissive, and girls are expected to live a traditional life.  Go to school.  Become a doctor.  No play football. Football is for men.  This is a character driven novel, and it was excellent, just not my thing.  I’m an action reader and this moved much to slow for me.  However, I can think of the perfect hands to place this book into when they come into the library.  It totally deserves every award it receives. But for me personally, it was okay.

#BBRC  - Latino in a non-issue book

#Booked2021 Latinx author

#ReadHarder -

 

 

A great book should be one that the reader can not put down once they start.  And this is a Great Book!.  It gives the reader a look into a different american culture than they may see in their community.  

Danyal is a “dumb” boy, and he knows it.  All he wants in life is to become a chef and open his own restaurant.  However, he is a muslim boy, and that will just not do.  Muslim boys are to marry well, get good jobs, and support not only his wife but his extended family as well.  Danyal’s parents fear this will never happen.  It is partly why they host arranged marriage meet ups. 

Bisma is a muslim girl who has tarnished her reputation.  That tarnishement comes from something seen as partially no big deal in many american cultures.  Bisma is a victim treated like a black sheep.  She is also a sweet girl, who loves books and libraries, and just wants to be happy.

Then there is the Renaissance Man, a yearly school competition for the best and brightest.  That is until the kid considered the dumbest is picked to present a history paper on Churchill.  How can he ever do this right?  Danyal is not good at school.  He wants to graduate, but he also wants to make his parents proud, and bring light to the bad things done by people considered heroes.  It will take a help from his friends new and old, to see his way to the end of the project

This book is a rom com, but it is also an exploration of traditions that may seem foreigh to many americans.  The idea of marrying or being engaged right out of highschool is a scary concept, or something that reeks of the past. However it is a custom alive and well right now in the US and around the world. 

It also looks at history, what it is, who tells it, and how history is different today, then history was yesterday.  Perception changes everything.  This creates a life lesson for everyone and brings forth a topic not taught in most schools - the Bengal Famine of 1943.

How does a man see himself? It is a question Danyal is often trying to answer.  Part of what makes this book so rare is that the reader gets the male point of view from a male author in the romance genre.   The book goes beyond gender roles, while at the same time examining them in the context of a specific community.

   

The cast of characters, while mostly all brown muslims, has so many differences.  It helps a reader understand that a person is more than the color of their skin, or their religion.  There is even a tiny love triangle with a girl named Kaval, but it’s more of an upside down V since one of the relationships is very one sided.

This review makes this sound like a very serious book, it is a rom com meaning comedy.  It makes the reader smile and feel giddy.  It is at the heart, a happy book, about a happy boy, wanting to make a sad girl happy.  And as a reader, it is a journey that once started can not end until the final page with all the happy smiley people.  

Read-a-likes for this book are hard to come by as it is so unique.  For YA romance with muslim characters try Love from A to Z  by S.K. Ali, Love Hate and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed and Not the Girls You’re Looking For  by Aminah, Mae Saif.  For YA romance written by a male author try Looking for Alaska  by John Green, or Super Fake Love Song by David Yoon.  

#popsugar - Less than 1000 reviews

#BBRC

 

 This story is waaaaayyyyy tooo looonnnggg.  At times it rhymes and carries a rhythm, and other times it does not which drags it out even more.  This was just not the book for this reader, but I did really like the illustrations which is why I ranked it as high as I did. 

 You know how some books just make you happy?  Once you start reading you get a grin that lasts way after you reach the end and close the pages.  This is such a book.  It’s a love story between Jewish Jamie, and Muslim Maya, but it’s also a story of a beautiful and heartwarming friendship.  

This story centers around an election that can bring bad things to minority members of our society like Jamie and Maya.  But they are going to try their hardest to not let that happen.  It will take hours of canvassing, and lots of time in Target, but these two are bound and determined to see that Rossom is the winner in the special election.

This book is very relevant for our times.  Any reader will see what is taking place in this book and correlate it to what is happening on the news and in our society today.  Jamie reminds this reader of David Hogg from Parkland who became an activist after the tragedy at his school.  Jamie finds his nerve, he finds his voice, and he finds his passion.  Maya is the girl next door who hides in the corner with her introverted tendencies, but finds something to push her out of her shell.  She makes new friends, deals with life's obstacles, and learns to confront her fears.  These are characters for a reader to fall in love with.

This is also a quick read and easily accessible for any YA reader, both younger and older.  And while it is YA, it could be placed in MG libraries, or suggested for MG readers.  It glances on many topics and has a widely diverse cast of characters.  Personally, everyone will fall in love with InstaGramm, Jamie’s social media loving grandmother, and recognize Sophie as a member of their own family.

Some may worry that the political topics may be too hard for a younger audience to understand, but the authors’ way funneling down Trumpian ideas to Mario, Bowser and Koopa Troopas, works so perfectly, that  it could become common  slang if enough people read this book, or Netflix adapts it.

If you like this book, or want to know if you might like this book consider these read-a-likes.  Anything by Albertalli (Upside of Unrequited, Simon and the Homosapien Agenda, etc.)  

or Saeend (Amal Unbound).  But also look at titles like To all the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, and Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn.  

#BBRC

#Booked2021 - Jewish Author or ABC author

#Music - Feel Good Inc

#Popsugar - Muslim American Author. 

 

 I Think I would have liked this graphic novel way better if I had read the Dark Shade of Magic books.  There was a lot I didn’t understand.  The graphics however were excellent and have made me want to move the novels up my TBR. 

 

This book felt much more drawn out than book 1.  Way more action and much more bickering.  There were some interesting revels, and parts like with Scrappy  that make you have all the feels: anger, sadness, maybe just a little hope.  This book really felt like filler to move the story along and introduce new characters needed in the next few titles.

#ReadingGrahpicsChallenge - Sequel - 

#SeriesRead2021

 

 

This was a nice diversion from my ordinary reads.  I do love a good paranormal cozy mystery. And while I did like this book, I didn’t like it enough to finish the series.  Liz is a psychologist who disdains any type of hookom.  Her mother likes to read tarot cards, and now her best friend is being terrorized with them.  The terror leads to muder, which leads Liz on a hunt for a killer.  She will require the assistance of occult specialist Nick, while trying to stay out of her detective brother’s way.  As a reader you have to pay attention to the various types of Voodoo, Vodou, and Hoodu, as they are used differently in different area and do pertain to the crimes. Overall, it was a fun read, but it easily dates itself, and it doesn’t really make you like the characters enough to revisit them.

#Booked2021 - Lesser Known Author - 

#MusicReadingChallenge - Paradise City

#PopSugar - Genre hybrid