This book was as sweet as Twinkie Pie. I loved GiGi as a narrator, through all her ups and downs, and the folksy recipes throughout worked for me. It's an interesting book about class, private schools, friendship, food, family ... and a little bit of a tearjerker, too. A great pick for middle school fans of realistic fiction.

Night Renata stayed up too late to read this, to the dismay of Day Renata! This was great for me to read when I was feeling grumpy--it's really sweet and fun (though with depth to it). I'm not necessarily a huge fan of the royal family etc, but I am interested in the concept of celebrity and this book explores it really well. I prob would not have picked this up except that I love the Fug Girls' blog, and I'm glad I did!

Five stars to this for its depiction of Gambit stepping out of the shower and immediately cuddling his cats. I LIKE FEELING CATERED TO.

Also it's just really fun... if you like Gambit... which it seems like most people I know don't. But have you seen him get accidentally transported to a faerie realm and excitedly start talking about Harry Potter? Maybe you would like him more. I'M JUST SAYING.

I also liked the ending of his solo arc--returning to the school with mild sass from Wolverine & Kitty Pryde, then immediately joining a basketball game & offering himself for "skins." Hahaha what a douchebag, I love him.

This book's greatest strength and greatest failing both is that it was written by a teenage girl who died before it was published. It's incredibly honest and endearing, but also... kind of skimmable, because there's a whole lot of "bahahaha so random XD" type material included verbatim. Which I think will be much more appealing to actual youths.

There are also essays interspersed from her various family members, friends, doctors, and, of course, John Green.

Anyway, I cried like 20 times while reading this and I'm excited to booktalk it to junior high kids... obviously fans of Fault In Our Stars will be interested in this, but also all those kids who just want sad books. I think it will basically sell itself once kids hear the basic concept (those who haven't already heard of it, anyway).

Much like [b:March: Book One|17346698|March Book One (March, #1)|John Robert Lewis|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1360539808s/17346698.jpg|24086771], a powerful story told with very striking art. Really heartbreaking moments, like when Lewis observes that of everyone who spoke at the march on Washington, he's the only one still alive, and it really digs into the complexities of the different voices in the civil rights movement, which tend to get glossed over in most MLK-centric histories. Really compelling, recommended for teens and adults alike.

I feel about this like how I felt about [b:Ash|6472451|Ash|Malinda Lo|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1286563960s/6472451.jpg|6550542], which is like... I wanted to like it more than I actually liked it. I'm stoked that there's a bi love triangle and diverse characters in a sci-fi conspiracy thriller! But also... eh? I'll definitely rec this to teens--perhaps those who aren't so jaded will find this less predictable/annoying. And of course lots of teens will be happy to see characters like themselves reflected in the pages.

OK I have heard so many rave reviews about this book for its humor, its thoughtful portrayal of a fat protagonist who's reasonably confident but still has lingering issues with self-image, for its important girl friendships... and all of that is totally true and awesome. But also, no one told me it has DOLLY PARTON DRAG QUEENS IN IT.

so just FYI, this book has Dolly Parton drag queens in it. A million stars.

I like and respect Mac McClelland as a journalist; I remember when she wrote her first article about developing PTSD after reporting in Haiti (which is partly incoporated into this memoir) and got so much nasty backlash from people who somehow didn't feel that she'd "earned" PTSD or something? UGH.

I loved her honesty about her trauma and all the ways she worked through it, as well as her information about other PTSD patients (interviews and outreach with veterans, spouses of veterans, etc). And the titular "love story" is pretty sweet and kind of bonkers.

I'd recommend it to fans of narrative nonfiction, especially if you're interested in learning more about PTSD/trauma/etc.

This was a definite pageturner and it was sickeningly realistic. It's a story we've seen play out in the news WAY too many times--young black man killed by a white man who isn't held accountable for it. I thought the multiple narrators worked very well for this kind of story, when there are so many conflicting stories going around, and especially after the traumatic event people become less sure of what they saw.

I'd say it's a little too intense (in terms of language especially) for me to booktalk to junior high kids but I think it would be a great one to use in high school classrooms or just to recommend to teens looking for realistic fiction, or who are trying to make sense of how screwed up everything is right now.

This is the kind of whimsical, dimension hopping fun I like from my X-Men stories. (With a touch of angst as X-Men learn who's dead in various dimensions, of course...) Also: aww, Miles Morales!