I don't think that this book does a good job of establishing that it takes place in 2004. I honestly had no idea that was the time period. Knowing that after reading the author's note, it puts the story in a bit of a different light. Many of us have changed our thoughts about sexuality and gender in the past 15 years, and many people have the same thoughts that are expressed in this book. It does involve some very homophobic and transphobic comments, which could be triggering for some people.

I did really like that there were people who were fluid on the sexuality spectrum and people were okay with that. I think a lot of people are more fluid than they realize, and more support for that would be good. I also wanted to shake the character when it came to interacting with her mother, but at the end they made up, and Maggie admits that she had forgotten why she hated her mother in the first place, which I can see as realistic for being a teen. I also thought the friendships in this book were really interesting, because of them did seem very situational to me, and not necessarily the type of lifelong friends you would make.

I really liked this one. It took me a while to get into it, but around disc four I found myself putting disc after disc in. There's a lot to look at about parenthood, racism, doing something to make you feel good but also do good for others, classism...there's a lot to talk about here, and I'm excited to talk about it in book club.

This is a heartbreaking story about a black boy who was killed by police officers while playing with a toy gun (similar to the Tamir Rice case). As a ghost, Jerome sees how his family and friends react, as well as the family of the police officer who shot him. He also sees other ghost boys, and learns the story of Emmett Till. A powerful read.

It took me a little bit to get into this one. Macy Griffin (Griffin) is the only one who knows the truth about how her mom died. Now her mom might be haunting her, and she found an alien in the barn, who ends up being the only person she feels she can talk to about her life: how she feels about the new girl, and why she envies her friend. It's a bit more...literary? in style than I normally read. (I'm not sure how to put it exactly, it's just that the style feels different from my PLOT PLOT PLOT that I'm normally into.)

I also did my "how accurate is this Maine setting" thing that I always do, and I'm pretty sure the town is made up and no town actually exists in the area described, but it ended up not making me annoyed, so that is a perk.

5 short stories about the mysterious and the strange. Some grotesque, some just creepy. Maybe not before bed reading.

I really liked this one. It was weird, but so good. I love everything about the main character, Jem, and the lovely family around her. The way Lucille is drawn reminds me of all the places and ways people think bad things can't happen where they are and they do. An excellent choice and an excellent audiobook.

Like many other reviewers, this book is like little I have read before. It feels like a video game, and it just plops you in the middle of the action and you have to fumble your way through. It goes back and forth in time, and you piece it together as you go along. I really enjoyed the ride.

I liked this one, but I didn't love it. Some of the poems took me a couple of re-reads to get into the meter and what was being said. I did appreciate Elliott pointing out what styles he used at the end.

This one didn't really work for me. I like the premise, so I'm trying to figure out what exactly went wrong (it seems like reviews are pretty divided on this one). I'm personally not someone who spends a lot of time contemplating the universe or deep questions, which it seems like Nami did a fair amount (or at least debating what was ethical/correct). I feel like, if I was a teen, I might be more like this, so am I not on its wavelength due to being an adult? Still pondering.

When I started this book, I was like oooh Lupe Wong, I would have liked your drive on causes but your feelings about gym class would have made me miserable. It also made me think how little kids who are naturally athletic think about kids who hate gym class (and are not bullies) and made me a little more sympathetic for other kids from when I was younger (I being the gym class hater). I think Lupe learns a lot in this book, about being a good friend and what causes are worth standing up for and which aren't. I really liked it.