rachelelizabeth's Reviews (1.21k)

"all members of a family have their own ways of defining the others. all parents have ways of saying things about their children as if they are indisputable facts, even when children don't believe them to be true at all. it's why so many of us sometimes feel alone or unseen, despite the real love we have for our families and they for us."

this book was beautiful. i read it in one sitting. we follow nicole who is a trans-racial adoptee, she is korean, and her adopted family is white. she talks about the struggles of that experience, but also balances it with her biological family's perspective that she learned later in life. a gorgeous story that felt like i was reading a novel. this book was done so well, and i highly recommend.

"if adopting a certain child is dated, ordained, it is easier to gloss over real loss and inequity, to justify the separation of a parent and a child."

Six word review: Helped me reflect on my teaching.

As a teacher invested in her students, I have loved watching Monica on CHEER and I actually had the awesome chance to meet her too! I really enjoyed this book and learning about her approach to coaching and working with students. As an added bonus there is also some behind the scenes CHEER content!

6 word review: No new info, but still interesting.

This book discussed intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation. It didn't tell me much that I didn't know, like that extrinsic motivation doesn't work for encouraging critical thinking. However, I was hopeful for more resources on helping students move to intrinsic motivation than I was given.

6 word review: campy fun and cute, more please!

This was just what I needed. A story about girls who work at a vinyl shop in the 90's but it turns out they actually have a low key fight club. It's so cute and campy. LGBTQIA+ affirming, and what we need more of in 2022!

6 word review: pretty pictures but overall not helpful.

I had no idea this book was a sequel, so maybe there were more concrete tools in the first book. Most of the appeal of this book are the pretty, organized photos but a lot of it feels like a name drop of celebs the authors have organized for.