libscote's Reviews (6.4k)

Jillian loves her Louisiana town, Boutin, and her Robichaux family more than anything else in the world. She loves the traditions, the fishing, the way everyone knows everyone else and helps everyone else. After a flood causes the school to close and kids to go to neighboring Carolton, she starts to wonder who she is at all. That's when Jillian learns about climate change for the first time, and how it's affecting her town and her state. On top of that, Jillian's dad is attempting to get back in the picture. He has time for everyone except her. I really enjoyed this story with a prickly protagonist who does local history! Ahh!

This book gives a good overview of one of the most important issues of our time: media literacy and disinformation campaigns. It lays out in an easy to follow and understand method how to think about these issues. A great place to start for everyone, but especially children.

This book covers the internment camps that we put Japanese Americans into during World War II, specifically the one called Manzanar. Mari's brother, Mak, has gone off to fight in the war, which has caused friction between Mak and his father. Mari is struggling to find where she fits in. She's taken a vow of silence, which her mother respects, and her father seems a little confused by. Between Mari's thoughts and Mak's stories (told in graphic novel format) the reader gets a view of conflicting states of Japanese life at the time. I think Mari's story especially shows how horrible internment camps were, especially with health care. A powerful read.

Going to buy it so I can write in it

Better than the last one. I was on the edge of my seat at certain parts. 

A book about a kid figuring out which kind of instrument they want to play. It's the most excited I've ever seen parents for a kid to pick the instrument selected at the end, but supportive parenting is always nice to see. The book has some discussion questions at the end, which extend learning.

This is probably my least favorite Gamache. I haven't seen any other reviews talking about this but

I had a really hard time with Penny's choice to use a doctored video of Gamache shooting down Black children as a way his superiors would try to discredit him. I felt like that wasn't a very responsible choice, because I can see people being like, "well if it was doctored for Gamache, it's probably doctored for other cops too!" I had already been struggling with how I felt about the series and if it was copaganda, and that added another layer for me. I haven't stopped yet, but if Penny continues this trend, I likely will.

Daphne is staying with her dad for the first time in a while. He is a recovering alcoholic who hasn't been in Daphne's life much since The Skate Park Incident. She's reluctant to trust him again and is looking for a way to get back with her mom. Over the course of a few days, Daf remembers the love she had for skating that she shared with her dad by skating with a new friend, Arlo. Daf asks questions of the adults around her and they share more about alcoholism and her dad's life experiences, and slowly she learns to trust again.

In this book, Jordan is a troublemaker. He got a little off-track, and then when he tried to fix it, it sort of made things worse. Now he's fighting with his parents and annoyed at his sister. This book is set against the backdrop of the Rodney King riots, and it's a good starting point for kids about the tricky racial issues around that shooting (not just the police plus King, but a previous shooting involving a teen girl and a Korean liquor store owner, which led to some targeting of Korean-owned stores for looting.) Jordan's dad has set off to protect the store, and after not hearing from him for hours, he goes out to find him and bring him the thing he thinks his dad most needs--the gun they used to have in the store. 

High-low book about a kid coming out.