My mom picked this up and LOVED IT and kept bugging me to read it and I did and I'm like......struggling to understand because I wouldn't really urge anyone to read this? The #OwnVoices portrayal of contemporary-ish (it's set in 2009) China is interesting and detailed, but overall it felt to me like it would be best used in a classroom, alongside nonfiction instruction about Chinese law and culture. It felt like it was doing a lot of telling about life in the factories and the harsh applications of the Family Planning laws, with less showing about the characters. IDK, definitely interesting story content but for me the execution left me a little cold. But, my mom would give it 5 stars.

I really appreciate the honesty and vulnerability here and I think it's a book that'll be valuable and important to a lot of readers, teen and otherwise. I also learned a lot about HBCUs and their fraternities/sororities, which wasn't like...the main point of this but it was really interesting to me (as a white lady who watched Beyonce's Homecoming like 10 times...sorry......I know that's a cringey statement but it is my truth)

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I re-read this while camping with a friend and I kept laughing and gasping at it even though I'd already read it and she was like "What are you reading?!" Ughhh it's just so SATISFYING to see these lil crime teens in action!!! They're soo good at fantasy crimes and I love them.

I think this is something that will be super validating for a lot of readers. Burgess does a great job highlighting how allonormative society is and how damaging that was, and how important it was for them to find an asexual community.

I wish a little bit that there had been some footnotes or something for an American edition, just to explain the British school system a bit for teen readers? But also like, it's pretty minor, I don't think that most kids will get too hung up on college vs university.

It's also....of note, I guess, that the title implies it will be all about asexuality but it's almost equally a memoir of autism and OCD. Of course it's their memoir and they can only write about their experience, but...well, I guess what I'm really saying is the market needs more asexual representation for teens (and all ages) so that this can be just one of many. Burgess does a great job showing readers their perspective, even if readers can't relate to all aspects of their journey.

Also, the art is really cute.

I just pulled this off the Pride month display at the end of June and decided I wanted to read it myself rather than reshelve it; I'd assumed based on the cover that it would be a history of like gay rights or queer culture or something but it's actually more specifically a history of queer theory. It does a great job of introducing really complex theorists like Butler and Foucault. The tone is conversational and funny and genuinely helpful, as well as intersectional.

I will NOTE for school/teen librarians that frankly some of the illustrations in here were a little spicier than I expected--in further investigation I don't think this was specifically published as a teen book but as an adult one, and I think older teens would definitely find it informative and be up for the challenge but it maybe would be better for a college audience? Like there are definitely multiple illustrations of "kink" in here that, I mean, to be honest if a parent complained about them being in the teen collection it would be a little hard to justify. It was published as an adult title but we had it in the teen collection? IDK. But also, it's been in the teen collection for 5 years and nobody's complained yet.

This is so weird (complimentary).

I do kind of agree with some of the reviews saying it was a bit too long--I know it was originally serialized but a few of the interludes really did feel like filler? But they were still entertaining. Also I'm not a big Superman/Jimmy Olsen reader in general--I'm sure there were plenty of references that I missed that a bigger DC fan would have enjoyed.

I PREFER the BSC to baby-sit rather than solve mysteries, however I am awarding this book 5 stars because Courtney Summers came and talked to us about it!!!!!! Also it's my GoodReads and I do what I want

https://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-177-baby-sitters-beware/

I've been a fan of Ashley Ford's writing for a long time, from personal essays for online publications and such, so I already knew pieces of her story. But this memoir is SO moving and compelling, so unflinching and graceful.....!

I really like In The Heights, both the musical and the movie, but I was surprised at how emotional reading this made me. It's basically like [b:Hamilton: The Revolution|26200563|Hamilton The Revolution|Lin-Manuel Miranda|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451400644l/26200563._SX50_.jpg|46177490] but for In The Heights, so--an annotated libretto + photos and essays about the making of, in this case both the musical and the movie. It's so clear how passionate everyone involved was about this and what a meaningful experience it was--everyone quoted talks about how special it was to be with this show where they weren't "the only Latinx one" or the only POC, and to reflect their cultures without stereotype. A lot of marriages, children, and lifelong working partnerships/friendships came out of this show, and it was just really moving to read everyone talking with such huge affection for everyone else. That said: in the back of my head while reading this was the backlash about the lack of Afro-Latinx representation in the movie, which isn't addressed in the book at all (because, obviously, the book came out earlier this year and it clearly wasn't an issue that LMM or Jon Chu were thinking of). So for anyone expecting this to address colorism, it doesn't. But I think fans of the musical/movie will find a lot to like here. If you're not a fan, it's not gonna convert you.

whew I messy cried at this. Reading it gets you so in Ellie's head and so furious at the way her fatphobic mom treats her in addition to the school bullies.

I really liked how this shows the internal effects of bullying, and that it addresses that ~bullies are sad for their own reasons~ trope while not letting them off the hook for their actions. I think reading it would make fat tweens feel seen (even if some of the bullying might be more extreme than what happens at their school, it shows how some of the most hurtful words/phrases aren't necessarily the loudest) but also give them hope, and I think for thin kids reading it could give them a bit of empathy and understanding.