This is a 3.5-4 star book for me. Enchanted wants to be a singer, and she is groomed for a relationship by an older star who happens to see her audition for an American Idol-like show (Enchanted is 17, the singer is 28 or 30 I think.) If you've read any of the stories about R. Kelly or other famous abusers, you see the connections. As the reader you will want to swoop in and save Enchanted, but you can't. This would definitely help teens see certain behaviors as abusive.

This book would be a much higher rating for me but there was one twist that I actually disliked so much that it knocked it down for me. It takes place near the end. Other readers might not be so upset by that, so I would still give it a try.

Maria Padian has written another beautiful story. This time it's about Izzy, a girl who is half Puerto Rican, half-white, and trying to figure out where she fits in the world. Her father died 6 years ago, and her family has moved 6 times since then, her mother trying to figure out how to make ends meet. Izzy goes to a Catholic private school but lives in a mobile home neighborhood, and she spends a lot of time keeping the worlds separate. Her family is given a great opportunity in having a house from Habitat for Humanity, but it would involve some of her worlds colliding. Add in a budding flirtation with a boy who her best friend also has her eye on, and you've got a great story with drama and heart.

It did not surprise me at all that Izzy would act the way she did. A lot of people hide their backgrounds to make people think more highly of them. I also liked Izzy's struggle with the fact that her mother and younger brother speak much better Spanish than she does, based on their respective ages when both parents were alive. A lot to chew on in this one.

The only soccer games I have really watched are my brothers. Still, I have a soft spot for the US Women's Soccer team, and I follow many of the players on social media. I wish La Furia was one of those players.

Camila is a headstrong girl who loves futbol, even though she has to hide it from her family. Her brother also plays, and their father focuses all the energy on him. Honestly, the father is emotionally and physically abusive. Mama mostly tries to stay out of his way and sew beautiful clothing. Camila is known as La Furia on the field. Can she bring that energy off the field as well?

There is also a romantic interest, Diego, who is an up and coming futbol star. Can Camila be with him and be a star?

I am really intrigued by Reynolds' ability to write slightly science fiction stories with such real characters. I started out feeling bad for Jamal, and while I still did by the end of the book, it was also mixed with feelings of how his own choices made life hard for others.

This book will make you think about what you would do if you could bring a loved one back from death for a brief period of time. Would you want to? What would you say?

I wanted to feel cozy today and it fit the bill.

Oooh I like this King Arthur retelling. It has most excellent back matter, and really fun characters. Brianna Matthews is at the University of North Carolina for Early College. At a party she sees some pretty weird things and they spark memories from her past. Soon she's wrapped up in a secret society that claims that they go back to King Arthur. Do they also have connections to her past?

One thing I really like about this book is how it addresses our country's complicated history with slavery. Brianna is black, and it talks about everything from the microaggressions she faces to the way the University was built with slave labor and paid for by people who didn't even see her as human. Just, really good.

Savit has a beautiful writing style, which brings this lush Jewish mythology inspired tale to life. Lovely.

I love these beautiful boys.

This play on Romeo and Juliet is really cool, but quite violent (as if the title didn't give that away). Juliette and Roma have a checkered past full of a blood feud. Shanghai itself is practically a character, describing the way colonialist powers want to divide and conquer the city. Something is causing people to be overcome by madness and die, and Juliette and Roma must work together to end it. Both have something to prove to their families, and I really liked the friends that both of them have.

Spoiler

The one caveat is that reading a plague book in January 2021 wouldn't be my first choice, especially just after an insurrection. Your mileage may vary.

I really liked this one. Lilianna suddenly learns she is part of the METCO program in Boston, where she will be bussed to a better school in the suburbs. Suddenly she goes from a mostly POC environment to a mostly white one, and some culture shock occurs. She also tries really hard to keep her two lives separate.

My main complaint about the book is

Spoiler

when she announces that her parents are undocumented at an assembly at the end. At a school that has already shown itself to have lots of racial issues, I would honestly be surprised if they weren't tattled on at the end. It's not like Boston is not a racist city.