I think it is very important for teens to understand the opiate epidemic and how it got started. However, I felt this cut too much for me. Parts of it seemed choppy, and I would have appreciated some more nuance about how race and class work in this epidemic (i.e., it became a big thing because middle and upper class white kids were dying.) At one point, he mentions that a town had the most deaths in a year because they had 28. Those 28 lives are still important, and have brutal effects on those around them, but I can think of things that kill more than 28 lives a year that don't necessarily get a starred book.

This one was so good. Emira is a baby-sitter (and African-American), and the family calls her in on an emergency to get their toddler out of the house so they don't see the police. At the grocery store, a white woman sees her and assumes she has kidnapped the child, causing an incident. The story goes from there. The story is also told from the perspective of Alix, the mother of the toddler, who thinks she has good intentions but is misguided. I really really enjoyed it.

Thank you to School Library Journal for an ARC of this book.

It's 1992, and Rodney King has been beaten savagely by police. The officers who beat him are on trial, and LA seems to be on edge. Into this background we meet Ashley, a well off Black girl who hangs out with a group of white friends. She spends time ignoring their racist slights, and mostly just tries to be a normal teen. When the officers are acquitted, both LA and Ashley's life start to unravel a bit.

This book discusses racism, and has teens acting like teens. There's a lot to unpack about what it means to escape where you are from (and if you ever can), and what's worth fighting for. There's also a lot about friendship, and what happens when the friendship is dying and you haven't quite realized it yet.

This book is a great overview of the fight for reproductive rights in the United States (and outside of the US prior to the Puritans coming over.) It traces how it became criminalized, the lead-up to Roe v. Wade, and then the cases that have limited its power since then. I think it's good to have in any library.

I vaguely remember it being Western-focused in that beginning time, and European focused in terms of the early settlers. Also, it does use very binary gender language, although there is an acknowledgement late in the book that non-binary and trans people have reproductive rights as well.

A quick overview of Marie Antoinette's life. I like that it dispels some myths about her.

Loosely based on the author's childhood, this is Knisley's first foray into middle grade graphic novels. I think it will be very popular, as it is realistic fiction and deal with what happens when a family divorces. I agree with some reviewers that the Walter character is very harsh, and I didn't like how he treated Jen. As an adult, I definitely read that as well that's how he was and it wasn't great, but she did have some support. As a child, I might not get that. He does get apologized for a lot, which I didn't notice while reading. Still, I think it's worth reading for the sisters relationship.

An overview of a bunch of different women. A good launching point to learn about further women.

So cute! You think you want a unicorn? Think again!

Very cute, and you better call the baby by her correct name.

I put this down for a bit to read some other things in the middle. Overall, I liked it. It's a cute romance with a political twist. I kind of wish the ending were different

Spoiler

I didn't like that Maya changed her ideas about romance to be with Jamie. I kind of wish that she had stuck with her faith/what she said to her parents.

I did like that the political part was very realistic.