Although some will classify this story as a retelling of The Little Mermaid, it's only in the epilogue where we see events familiar to that tale. This story is unique and all its own, detailing the story of who Disney fans will know as "Ursula" before she became the Sea Witch.

And boy, is it good.

This story gets off to a bit of a slow start, but by the end of around the second chapter, you'll be hooked. It feels like a slow burn - characters are revealed and developed slowly, romance develops in a back-and-forth snail's pace, unsure and unsteady. This all feels very real, especially for a teenage character, unsure of herself as a witch and as a love interest for a playboy prince. Evie is glorious and I loved being inside her head for this entire story. Nik is sweet and a loyal friend. Iker is impossible to figure out completely; hot one minute and cold the next. Annamette, the mermaid turned human, is probably the most complex character and the most enjoyable as her story unfolds.

Some may be tempted to skip the epilogue, as some are usually trite and disappointing. This one is neither of those things. I lived for that epilogue. This one will leave you dying for more.

(On that note, there is a sequel: [b:Sea Witch Rising|42800505|Sea Witch Rising (Sea Witch, #2)|Sarah Henning|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1550584766l/42800505._SY75_.jpg|65917570], but I've heard very mixed reviews on it. This one can be read as a standalone, and right now, that's how I'm going to leave it.)

** For teachers and parents, this book has strong messages of loyalty and friendship. Mistakes are made by all characters and have real consequences. The themes are wonderful and worth discussing with your students or children. Other than a few kisses and some hints at Iker's reputation, this book is pretty well squeaky clean in regards to sexual content and language. I know I'm going to have some students arguing over who gets this one first.**

Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez follows the story of Ximena, the decoy Contessa of Illustria, and the stand-in for the last member of the royal family. Ximena, like all Illustrians, has her own brand of special magic. She can weave moonlight into her tapestries. This not only creates beautiful designs capable of carrying secret messages, but also creates moon dust which can put her enemies (or even her friends) into an instant sleep. Like her magic, Ximena can be used for good or for evil. Sometimes it's up to her to make that choice. Sometimes it's not.

When the usurper king Atoc demands the Contessa's hand in marriage in order to spare captured Illustrian soldiers, it is Ximena who is sent in her friend's place. Immediately she is plunged into a world of intrigue and danger unlike she has ever known, and she's known plenty of danger in her life. But the court isn't entirely full of terrible tyrants. There are good people too. And perhaps her beloved Illustrians are not as innocent in the political turmoil as Ximena would like to believe. Maybe there's a peaceful solution out there to save her people and prevent further bloodshed. It's up to Ximena to find it.

Firstly, I LOVED the world building in this story. It took me a few chapters to get into the story, and I actually put it down for a week at around the 20% mark. I felt the story was a bit repetitive and I simply wasn't as excited about it as I was the Witcher books (which are a completely different genre and I am in no way comparing these stories). I am glad I picked this one up again.

The author was heavily inspired by the current political climate in Bolivia while working on this story. I admit that I now have a lot of research to do regarding that "corner" of the world. I love it when a fictional story makes me want to learn more about the real world around me. I think it'll leave you feeling the same way.

**For teachers and students, this book is about as clean as you'll find in the YA genre in terms of language and sexual content. There is some violence, but it is not shown without great personal cost and is never dehumanized. I appreciated that. So many books, shows, and movies are all about stabbing the bad guy, and this book does not feel that way at all. It shows a human cost to violence and a mental one as well. I feel perfectly at ease about putting this book in my junior high classroom library.**

**Special thanks to NetGalley for an electronic ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own and in no way reflect the views of NetGalley or the publisher. **

3.5 Stars

This is another one of those cases where I wish Goodreads did half star reviews. I liked the book, but I didn't "really like" the book. I feel bad giving it three stars, because I think this was a case of right book / wrong reader. Or, perhaps this was one I should have read with a paper copy instead of starting with the electronic ARC and finishing with the audio book. The narrator of the audiobook was great, by the way. I simply think this just wasn't the story for me, especially after just reading [b:Sea Witch|36502054|Sea Witch (Sea Witch, #1)|Sarah Henning|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1523871348l/36502054._SY75_.jpg|47793479] which also involved boats and revenge and, although a completely different story, similar themes. I think I would have liked this one better if I read it at a different time.

Okay, so here's what I thought...

I was instantly drawn into the story. Silverfish presented an intriguing character as a child laborer on a debtor's ship. I could literally smell the fish guts on the ship from the author's descriptions. I immediately felt empathy for her plight.

But, I didn't maintain that level of empathy for her throughout. She made some rash decisions, especially after reuniting with Boon, or at least they felt rash to me as a reader. Her identity is supposedly split between Amaya, who she was before and who she wants to become again, and Silverfish, who she was on the ship, consumed with revenge. I found she wasn't very likable as a main character.

But, I adored Cayo. I'm super excited for a bisexual main character and would like to see this explored a bit further, especially if relationships develop in the second half of this duology like I believe they will. Cayo is not that great at scheming, he just wants to help people, and he trusts too easily. His major motivations come from a desire to help his sister and I found him far more likable than Amaya/Silverfish.

I wanted more of Roach. We don't have nearly enough asexual/aromantic representation in books and I just want to see more of him. He's a loyal friend and not really developed much beyond that, although the ending of the book hints that there's more to his character.

The plot was paced out recently well. There were a couple of things I had difficulty keeping up with in regards to the politics of the city and interactions with Mr. Mercado and the Slum King. I think this is where I would have benefited most from not listening to the audiobook, but rather having a paper copy in my hand so that I could re-read paragraphs as needed to make sure I got everything solid in my head before continuing on.

I'll definitely read the conclusion to this tale when it's published. If you liked the original Count of Monte Cristo (of which this is a gender-swaped retelling) then I think you'll like this story. If you want a fierce female lead, you'll like this story. If you want a sensitive male lead, you'll like this story.

** For teachers and parents, there's nothing beyond a few quick kisses in this book. Attractions are mentioned, but nothing is even close to explicit. Preteens can read this without concern, in my opinion. **

This book comes with trigger warnings for self-harm, cutting, depression, and a suicide attempt. For people who have faced the mental health battles that Hutchinson has, these trigger warnings are necessary and I appreciate them immensely.

"I wasn't depressed because I was gay. I was depressed and I was gay."

We meet Sean first as a ninth grader who, when caught unaware, lies to his classmates about losing his virginity to a girl. Perhaps this is the beginning of his acting career. From then on, Sean acted his way through high school, even when he wasn't on the stage with the drama department or with the debate team.

Even after coming out in high school, Sean's toxic ideas of the gay community led him to continue acting, trying to fill the role he thinks so that people (his parents, college kids, boys) will like him. Growing up as gay in the 80s and 90s was a different experience for most than it is for teenagers today. Studies show that the passing of national same sex marriage laws have dropped LGBT youth suicide rates by significant margins. The stigma about HIV/AIDS and mental health care, while holding strong in many areas, is beginning to fade in others. Hopefully LGBTQ children today are not growing up with the same damaging media representations that Hutchinson saw in magazines and on screens. His book does a lot to help with that.

It feels so easy and authentic to be in Sean's head for these 300+ pages. The journey feels brief and Sean's inner voice (and actual voice in the audiobook) will resonate with teens today and adults, especially those who are envisioning their own futures as LGBTQ adults and building their own queer identities.

It gets better, you just have to be around to see it. Keep working for it, and don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it.

** For parents and teachers - This book talks openly and honestly about sexual attraction. It also talks sarcastically and irreverently about negative opinions and stereotypes about the gay community, often dropping words like "dicks" and "orgies" to do so. There are multiple curse words, fitting with Sean's particular teenage voice and his struggles. This book isn't for those who are easily offended by an authentic discussion of sexuality or sex. No encounters are described in graphic detail, but Sean does mention having sex for the first time in the back of a Mustang and being groped and having awkardly timed erections. It's not a book I'd read in a book club with my mother or with my junior high students, but it needs to be available to high school students dealing with depression and or their identities as LGBTQ people. It's an important book and it's real. **

Stargazing by Jen Wang is a heartfelt and yet lighthearted graphic novel about friendship and figuring out who we are. It's just as beautiful, if not more so, than [b:The Prince and the Dressmaker|34506912|The Prince and the Dressmaker|Jen Wang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1494400495l/34506912._SX50_.jpg|46116413]. It's a completely different story. Although not representative of any queer personalities, it does still tackle identity - just from a different perspective. It does this beautifully.

This story follows Christine through a few short weeks of middle school, perhaps fifth or sixth grade. The story is not specific, which allows more students to relate and imagine Christine and Moon as the same age they are as readers. Christine's family cleans out the rental property behind their house and in move Moon and her mother. Moon and her mother have been down on their luck lately and are grateful to live next to Christine. Plus, the girls are the same age, so the parents hope they will become fast friends.

Fortunately, they do! Moon is not at all like straight-laced and academic Christine. She draws, paints her fingernails, isn't the best student, is Buddhist and vegetarian, and dances. Christine isn't familiar with any of these things. She spends her "free" time learning Chinese poetry and playing violin. These girls show each other new worlds and bond quickly over K-pop and new experiences. This is a beautiful friendship and feels both innocent and authentic.

This book tackles issues of parental expectations, building identities in a marginalized community, jealousy in friendships, and the fear of losing our friends for many reasons.

Even as a 29 year old white female, I see myself in both Christine and Moon and it's refreshing to see this story. I was jealous of my best friend at this age and the ease with which she could navigate crowds and make other friends. I was so afraid I'd lose her friendship. I also see myself in Moon. I'm a bit weird, and now that I'm older I'm as unapologetic about it now as she was in this story. Younger me would have loved this book and would have found it to be very hopeful.

** For teachers and parents - BUY THIS BOOK. Even elementary kids can read and understand the themes of this book. It can prompt great conversations. There is no inappropriate content and nothing that should give even elementary teachers or parents pause. **

This book provides a short, jam-packed overview of the athletes who fought for inclusion and equality in sports. Aside from ruining my opinion of author Jack London (which, admittedly needed to happen given that man's racist comments) I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learned a great deal. One of most important takeaways for my students is that Colin Kaepernick was not the first athlete to protest inequality on the field - far from it!

The author provides multiple examples across history of mostly US athletes who broke the color and gender barriers in sports, protested at the Olympics, served their country at the expense of their careers and lives, and paved the way forward for equality in the country and for the future of their sports.

This book is a must for any sports fan. The full-sized colored images and short biographies will keep everyone interested and entertained from middle school on up. This book will spark wonderful questions and discussions. It would be the perfect read for a team book club or for families who want to have a discussion about their favorite teams or sports or about equality and civil rights in America.

Maybe our athletes are worth more than their "simple" athletic ability. Maybe they can do more than just "Shut Up and Dribble" and certainly they should.

3.5 stars

**Special Thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Company for an electronic Advance Reader's Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Giving a rating to an #ownvoices book is difficult for me. I am not this author. I have not lived her experience. I do not share her skin color or her hair texture or her family demographic. I do not share her difficulties in life or her struggles. I love the exposure that all #ownvoices books bring to me and the way they make me think deeply about the systems I have benefited from as a white woman. In that regard, this book is no different. It will definitely provoke conversations about racial and gender inequality, both in the larger sense and in the "every day" sense of shades of skin color, prejudice in education and in the housing market, and a million other every day experiences for black people.

Magical realism is NOT my thing. If I had realized that about this book before picking it up, I probably would not have read it. This book does a decent job of magic its magical realism believable. At first I had a hard time believing Echo could be "quantum wizard". The name "quantum wizard" sounded ridiculous to me, but it grew on me over time. It was definitely not something in my reading comfort zone. It took time for me to get into the idea, but I liked it by the end of the book.

My only (and unfortunately sizable) complaint about this book is the constant skipping around of timeline and mergers of events. The author would often tell two or three events simultaneously, skipping only an extra line to indicate that she was not describing in a linear fashion. Sometimes I wouldn't notice the extra space and it would take me two or three sentences to realize that Echo was no longer describing the same thing as she was a few lines before. I actually like the IDEA of this technique, but I'm unsure of the execution. Sometimes these separate-but-smashed-together events were connected by an easily apparent common theme. There were the times that Echo's technique and risk paid off. Other times, though, these events were not so clearly connected and I was left slightly confused. I'm older than the target audience of for this book, and probably significantly more versed in literary technique than the target audience, so I recognized what was happening and pushed through any "hmmm" moments. I'm not sure your average teen reader would do that. I think the parallel events all told at once would most often turn into a confusing jumble.

This book tackled some HUGE ideas. It had wonderful things to say about them all. Usually I want a book to pick one or two major issues to address, but this one really tackled the intersectionality of these gender/social/racial/economic issues and I really appreciated that.

Overall, I couldn't believe this was a debut novel. Echo Brown has a talent for crafting a plot and a story. I look forward to what she writes in the future.

** I was lucky enough to receive a an advanced reader's copy of this book through a Goodread's Giveaway in exchange for an honest review. **

Let me start by saying, this isn't my normal genre. I don't read a lot of contemporary YA and I read even fewer books considered in the "romance" genre. But, this looked cute, so I entered the giveaway, knowing my students would love it, even if I didn't.

But I did like it, much more than I thought I would.

Both Pepper and Jack's home lives and high school lives were full and well rounded. The characters had a host of concerns, hobbies, friends, and interests. They are some of the most well rounded YA characters I have read in quite some time. The secondary cast is equally well rounded, which makes this story feel very real, despite the idea that a teenage girl is running the social media account for a corporate food chain. I could buy into it, and I did. The romance is a slow burn too, which made this still more believable. No insta-love here!

I feel like the best way to go into this one is by simply reading the blurb on the back, about how these two classmates at a fancy private school wind up locked in a Twitter war over their families' businesses and then dive right in!

** For parents and teachers, this book is squeaky clean. There's nothing obscene or remotely racy in this book. There are a couple of kisses and a mention of drunk teenagers that aren't main characters in the book. The characters are in high school and their concerns are about college applications and the like, so content wise, a middle schooler could read this, but a high school student will relate to it best. **

Stunningly beautiful. I am not ashamed to admit that I cried reading this.

White Bird expands the family backstory of the character Julian that we know from Wonder. In that story Julian is a bully. In this story, he regrets his actions in bullying Auggie and wants to do a school project on showing humanity. To do this project, he decides to interview his grandmother, who was a young Jewish girl living in France during World War II. She experienced the Holocaust and all of its horrors first-hand. She tells her story to her grandson, Julian and through reliving the painful past with his grandmother, Julian comes to understand that "evil will only be stopped when good people decide to put an end to it." He then takes that message into his present-day American life and becomes an ally to refugees lobbying for asylum at the United States border.

The ONLY criticisms I have seen for this book (and they are certainly NOT my criticisms) are that this book draws parallels between the Holocaust and the current US border crisis where children are separated from their families. Critics have said that this cheapens the experience of those who faced the Holocaust somehow. I do not agree. Evil does not have to be on the scale of 11 million to still be evil. One person's current suffering is not lessened because 11 million before them have suffered also. I feel that critics have missed the mark with this book. They probably also missed the end of Ruth Franklin's letter at the end of the story.

"White Bird ends with a call to resist contemporary manifestations of prejudice and xenophobia. One needn't necessarily agree with the direct line the book draws from Nazi Germany to current events to be moved by its encouragement to stand up against tyranny and cruelty wherever we may find them, from the treatment of refugees to the tormenting of a disabled child in school. Sara's story has the power to transform her grandson from a bully into an ally. It might transform you, too. "

There's no message more powerful than this. Fans of Wonder will love this message and the way that it expands a story they already love.

** For parents and teachers, this book does show a couple of brutal scenes. They are important. The art style is not gory or overly bloody. Teachers who teach [b:The Diary of Anne Frank: And Related Readings|5515|The Diary of Anne Frank And Related Readings|Frances Goodrich|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348033366l/5515._SY75_.jpg|42419722], [b:The Boy in the Striped Pajamas|39999|The Boy in the Striped Pajamas|John Boyne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1366228171l/39999._SY75_.jpg|1148702], [b:Number the Stars|47281|Number the Stars|Lois Lowry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1370917812l/47281._SY75_.jpg|2677305], [b:The Book Thief|19063|The Book Thief|Markus Zusak|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522157426l/19063._SY75_.jpg|878368], or any other literature from or about this time period in history should present this book as a visual version of a similar story. All teachers need this in their libraries. All students need this book. **

This one was okay.

I've heard AMAZING things about Sarah Dessen and it's hard to believe that I actually haven't read anything by her before this book. I've recommended her to so many students because her books tend to be romances that also tackle some social or political issue and the characters learn to work through that issue and heal. That's a strong message for my romance readers and it's a great way to move students further up the literary ladder from Kasie West or Jennifer Smith books. (Those are great, by the way - just not as complex.)

So, I picked this one up with high expectations.

I shouldn't have.

It started off well enough. Louna (whose name I dislike because it's spelled so strangely) works with her mother and godfather in their wedding planning business. She's jaded and a bit cynical, but not so much so that she comes across as unsympathetic or cruel. She's alright.

But the love interest? Completely a tool. He's not a likable character at all. He's selfish and self-absorbed. He makes his own mother's wedding run late because he's flirting with a girl. He's a serial dater and has no qualms about being involved with multiple girls at once without communicating this to them. He lost his driver's license and he didn't graduate from high school because he was "nearly" expelled. I don't even like his signature unruly curl of hair. Nothing he ever does seems to have real consequences.

Spoiler

He steals someone's dog? No problem.
He breaks company property? He gets a job??? He disrespects everyone else and their time?
He gets a girlfriend! Or twenty!

Much of the plot of this book, if it can be called a plot - revolves around the past. We learn quickly that Louna had a boyfriend named Ethan and nothing can compare to him. However it ended, it left her feeling like she'll never have love again. She's 17, though...

Spoiler

We eventually learn that Ethan died in a school shooting. I take several issues with this... One, that makes every flashback scene feel like we are just waiting for him to die. There's no agency. He's a better character than Ambrose, to be sure. I feel like this story would have been better than the one we have. Dessen should have just written about Louna and Ethan. It could have been a heartfelt story of how shootings in one place affect people all over the country. It could have actually tackled the issue of gun violence instead of using it for a simple prop in a story. I take issue with that. Louna never really deals with the shooting. She only seems to deal with Ethan's loss when it's convenient to keep her away from the love interest of this story.

Overall, this one is predictable, cheesy, and not up to par with what I've heard about Sarah Dessen novels. I'll read a couple of her others and see what all the hype is about. I feel like maybe she was pressured to deliver another book after [b:Saint Anything|23009402|Saint Anything|Sarah Dessen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1414680105l/23009402._SY75_.jpg|42576172].

** For parents and teachers - There are mentions of a sexual encounter with someone the character only just met. Nothing is described in detail of this encounter. Louna also goes to several parties where alcohol is present. She takes a sip of beer. Ambrose drinks some "blue punch" while at a party. This should prompt some interesting conversations between you and your student about safe sex and about drinking unknown things at parties. Use it as a cautionary tale. **