I liked this one, but I think I would have liked it better if it had been written by someone who came from the background this book takes place in, not from a white woman.

A pretty fun rhythmical story.

I think this would really be a 3.5 stars for me. It took me a while to get into it, whether that was because of my own reading slump or state of mind, or the actual book, I'm not sure. About halfway through, when a major twist is revealed, it started picking up for me and I was able to finish it. I think Enrique and Zofia were my favorite characters to read from, although they all have their moments.

I loved this so much. Who knew Preshea could be so compelling?

I really enjoyed this one a lot. Rukhsana loves physics, and her family, and her girlfriend Ariana (who she hasn't told her family about yet.) It's her senior year, and she knows that once she gets into CalTech, THEN she can tell her parents about her love and everything will be fine. Too bad that her mother catches her with her girlfriend before that, and they all go off to Bangladesh almost right away. What will happen then?

One of the things I love about this book is that it talks about Bangladeshi culture, and that Rukhsana loves it and doesn't begrudge it much (other than their views on LGBTQ). I love the descriptions of the food, and the way that she casually practices Islam (reminded me of casual Christians). I did think that some of the stuff in the end tied up a little neatly, and there are definitely some dark parts, but overall, this was a winner for me.

Recommended by Melissa King (which I would do down below, but I have two friends named Melissa) 2010 Alex Awards (adult books that will be popular with teens)

With vampires, werewolves, Victorian era setting and steampunk elements, what's not to like about this book? I think it also totally knows it is running with romance novel tropes and revels in it.

I read this one three times and I still don't feel like I could keep all the humans straight. Part of me appreciates the naming, but honestly I couldn't carry over who Otis and Abby were from one spread to the next. The illustrations are delightful, as Krosoczka's always are, but the text is a miss for me.

Although not an own voices novel, I did really enjoy this one. It tells the story of Abdi, a boy forced by the CIA into being a Lost Boy. His brother had been kidnapped by the Lost Boys earlier, and the CIA grabs the rest of Abdi's family to make him become one and feed them information. The narration flips back and forth between the present and the past. Abdi ends up having to do some horrible things, and feels a lot of guilt about them. With the help of a UN worker named Sam and students at a local girl's school, he slowly opens up.

This is a hard story. It doesn't make the US look good, or the Lost Boys, or the Somali government. There's no real winner in this book, just a bunch of grey areas. That's not always my favorite. Here, though, the context made it easy for me to see. I heard that the structure was hard for some people, but I didn't find it difficult. I think teens will learn a lot from it.

A good overview of baby programming. Love that it has some scripts to follow.