This beautifully illustrated picture book was created as a call-to-action for young people and adults. Its reminding us that our children can be leaders and truly help change the world. Regardless of the many warnings given by scientists on the negative impact fossil fuels have on Earth, humans have refused to listen.

In this book editors Lindsay H. Metcalf, Keila V. Dawson, and Jeanette Bradley arranged a collection of poems that bring light to the actions and accomplishments of young climate activists around the globe. Each poem inspired by a child striving to make a difference. We get to see how climate has affected their communities and why they’ve chosen to take action.

It was a joy reading this book I found the information to be inspiring as well as insightful. What we should and could be doing as adults but chose not too has placed this huge burden upon children to rise up and demand change now before it’s too late.

With this book young readers can learn and find resources or tips to show how they to can make a difference in the environment. They are shown how climate change is not only affecting nature but the dangers we face if we do nothing about this growing problem.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book to my children. I loved the powerful message it’s sending, the actionable tips and resources included, not to mention the gorgeous illustrations. It’s equipped with so many possibilities and the poems can be viewed as motivation for fighting against climate change. I definitely recommend this book to young readers or it be placed in classrooms.

Special thanks to the authors, publisher, & hearourvoicestours for my gifted copy!!!!

I’m going to keep this review short and sweet simply because that’s exactly what this novella was to me. Kind of hard to rate or review considering we don’t get a whole lot from it. But this was just a real introduction into the characters involved in the series. I actually enjoyed reading the backstory of Grip and Bristol before going into the next book.

Although nothing major happens with these characters until nearly the end. I think you’re able to build a connection with them that makes you want more. Grip and Bristol are of different races so I like how well Kennedy put the characters into these deep questionable conversations that are often avoided in stories because they make people uncomfortable.

The ending of the novella is what really grabbed my attention and has me ready to begin the 2nd book in the series. Just when you think the first kiss between Grip & Bristol will solidify their new beginning. BOOM!!! Grip’s supposed to be ex shows up and snatches that happy go lucky feeling right from underneath them both. If you haven’t started the Grip Trilogy yet here’s your sign.

This was a pretty decent debut novel that can be viewed as both heartbreaking and empowering. Mona Alvarado Frazier gives the reader a raw and emotionally realistic narrative that will have you sympathizing with the MC and praying for a happy ending. The opening of the book will immediately pull you in but as the book progresses the pacing is up and down.

The novel follows Juana Ivanov a young teen currently incarcerated for the murder of her husband. No one believes her when she claims she's innocent, not even the prison staff or the gang leader in her block who torments her relentlessly. But Juana is determined to prove her innocence so she can get back to her baby Katrina whom she left in the care of her sister in Mexico. But as Juana struggles to survive the dangers lurking in prison, the threat outside grows even more terrifying.

I enjoyed the author’s perspective surrounding youth incarceration, maintaining one’s innocence, and life in prison. It was very intense but also thought-provoking to read the things some of the characters dealt with while in prison and their reasons for ending up there. Although this is a YA novel it’s very mature and there are quite a few content warnings that involve domestic violence, suicide, teen pregnancy, immigration, and gang activity. I thought Juana was a very strong character. We watch her undergo a major transformation mentally by the end of the book.

In the beginning she struggles with fear and anxiety as she deals with being in prison. This tested the strength of her faith but she found a way to push through every obstacle thrown her way. For a moment it did seem as though all hope was lost and she’d be forced to serve her maximum sentence. But there was a loop hole in the case that granted her the freedom she desired.

Overall, I found the book to be rather enjoyable a little repetitive in some areas but gripping enough to keep you invested. The author did an amazing job creating a novel that pulls from her own experiences dealing with incarcerated youth to offer us an authentic depiction of prison conditions and the complexities of social issues teens also deal with. Special thanks to the author, sparkpress publishing, & @netgalley for my advanced copy!!!!

This was a pretty decent coming-of-age YA novel. Harris masterfully creates an intense yet thought-provoking read filled with so many emotions from all of the characters surrounding race.

In the novel we watch as Naomi Henry struggles to navigate her Blackness after a viral video of her best-friend Kylie who happens to be white is seen calling the cops on two Black teens in a shopping store parking lot and it causes an uproar in their town. Naomi and Kylie have been best-friends for years and while Naomi wants to remain loyal even after what she’s seen, the other Black students at their high school are questioning their friendship. Now Naomi can’t help but see everything in a different light.

From the beginning the novel pulls you in with the aftermath of a bomb explosion. Throughout the book we go between the past and present learning about Naomi’s friendship with Kylie and what led up to the bombing. The pacing started off well but toward the middle it drags a bit but I believe in between that time we see Naomi’s character develop a little more.

I sympathized a lot with Naomi because she was caught in the middle of something that wasn’t her fault. I felt her friendship with Kylie seemed weird there were some red flags simply based on their interactions in the book it didn’t really give best friends. Then once everything popped off after the video their friendship went up in the air.

Overall, the book was great and the author did well building suspense around such a complex issue. The details were vivid and easy to picture. My only downside was once the protests began and more confusion arose amongst the teens I could predict what was going to lead up to the bombing. Outside of that I recommend because there was definitely a lot of action going on with this one. Special thanks to the author & #quilltreebooks for my gifted copy‼️