This is an excellent book.

Second time through: It's hard, because I still love this book, but Alexie, why do you have to be such a jerk?

A good introduction to Harvey Milk and the Pride flag.

I also love this one for introducing differences to children.

A great introduction to gender identity for young children.

This story takes place during the Joseon era of Korea, at a time when the country sent human tributes to the Ming dynasty (1426). Min Hwani returns to the island of Jeju, where she grew up, to solve the case of her father's disappearance. She suspects it is connected to the disappearance of 13 girls from the island as well. On the island she encounters the sister left behind.

The setting is lush, and well-described. You start to see the cracks in Hwani's opinion of her father, which goes from hero worship to something more human. She also learns more about her sister and the shaman her sister lives with. One thing that is interesting about this story is to see how mysteries were solved before all the forensics and such we have today. I'd be interested in seeing more from this author.

This one is a 3.5 for me. I definitely think the story of Virginia Hall is worth telling, and very important. I just think that this one has a distinctive enough voice that it won't work for all readers (for me, it started off fun and then wore on me.) Additionally, if someone is going to fun facts or expansions in notes, I much prefer footnotes to endnotes, even if that means the book is longer. So, the actual story is exciting and great, formatting choices didn't work for this reader.

An excellent continuation of the podcast.

It's a wonderful graphic novel about finding out who you are, told from the perspective of a Muslim teen. Kids and teens might not remember the boy whose radio teachers thought was a bomb, but I do. I can imagine how terrifying that must have been when harassment increased in the wake of that. I also really like Fahmy's art style.