This is the first book that has made me ugly cry in a long time.

Maybe that's because I'm currently teaching my US History class about the dust bowl, workers strikes, and how Americans became refugees in their own land.

Maybe it's because this has been an emotional week.

But definitely because this is an amazing book.

The book follows the story of Elsa, an unwanted daughter from an unloving home who falls into a whirlwind relationship, with an Italian boy named Rafe, that she thinks is love. She quickly realizes how one-sided that love is when she and Rafe are forced by their parents to marry when she is discovered to be pregnant.

Eventually though, Elsa finds family and finds a love of the land that she never expected. But the land turns on her family and creates hardships that threaten to take everything from her and those she loves. Could love possibly be enough to save her family?

This book explores so much of the important parts of American history that are glossed over. Students might learn that the dustbowl was bad, but usually they don't learn about the greed of corporations or the unwillingness of so many Americans to help their own during hard times. Students CERTAINLY don't learn how communists helped workers to fight for living wages and an end to debt peonage. That was a lovely unexpected surprise (one of many) to find in a popular bookclub styled book.

This book explores so many timeless ideas as well, such as the necessity of love, the importance and resilience of family, the way in which we hurt those we love, and the difficulties of mother/daughter relationships.

This might be Hannah's best work yet.

This book celebrates women. It celebrates perseverance, choice, self-worth, family, forgiveness, and womanhood.

It's not always an easy book to read, but it was worth the journey. This book does detail a woman's journey through a a bit more than a year of her life, but it also feels like a "slice of life" kind of novel. You'll get to know all the intricate details of Lakshmi's life and the side characters are just as detailed.

From the back of the book:

"Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist—and confidante—to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own…

Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her reputation and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by her husband, who has tracked her down these many years later with a high-spirited young girl in tow—a sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened. Still she perseveres, applying her talents and lifting up those that surround her as she does."

This book took me a solid hundred and fifty pages or more to really get into the story. The multiple narrators made things a bit confusing, especially when I really only cared for Xiala and Serapio. It took me longer to care for Narampa, although I did eventually come to care for her almost as much as the other two main POV characters. There is a LOT of set up in this book, but I think it pays off. We'll really have to see if the second book brings all of this home, but I have a lot of faith that it will.

A few things to know going into this book.

1. Some characters are a third gender and use neo-pronouns. If you're listening to the audio version of this book, that might throw you off. Xe and xir are the pronouns that Narampa and other third gender characters use and are easy enough to get used to if you don't mistake them for names or nicknames at first.
2. LGBTQ+ identities are everywhere and integrated fully into the story without being focal points. These characters are free to exist in this world just as they are.
3. It's a first book in what appears to be a duology or perhaps a trilogy. You'll get some answers, but you won't get all of them and you'll be left with questions. The ending most likely won't drive you insane though, so that's nice.

Overall, it's so nice to read a fantasy that isn't based in middle ages British lore. I love me some Lord of the Rings and the like, don't get me wrong, but diverse fantasy is the way of the present and the future. If you're a fantasy lover, don't skip on this one.

This book is precious and the perfect story for upper elementary aged children. I hope there are tons of schools that teach this story. My teacher heart gets excited thinking about all the effective domain work that could be done with this book, as well as the nonfiction research and opinion writing that could come from it. If your child doesn't read this in school, it could be the perfect summer book and lead to tons of explorative learning activities.

The One and Only Ivan is based off of the true story of a gorilla who spent 27 years without ever seeing another of his own kind. He was captured as an infant, raised in a home until he became unmanageable, and then put in cage a roadside mall.

That's where this story picks up. The cast of characters is well developed, both animal and human. Ivan lives with Bob, a scruffy mutt who sleeps on his belly, Stella, an injured former circus elephant, and Ruby, a baby elephant the roadside mall purchased to try to sell enough tickets to stay afloat. You'll cheer for all these characters and for the humans too.

This book does tangentially explore whether or not Max, the owner of the roadside mall, is evil or just a person doing what he thinks is best. For older students discussing the humans in the story would make for great thought.

This was a lovely book and I'm eager to read the sequel, [b:The One and Only Bob|48613333|The One and Only Bob|Katherine Applegate|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572990860l/48613333._SX50_.jpg|73884028].

This one is definitely new adult (college age +) and not young adult (junior high / high school) in its target audience. The characters have all recently graduated college and the plot contains sexual material. Also, there are two dudes on the cover, so you can figure out what kind of material that is.

But oh my lanta, this book is ADORABLE.

It's meant to be a fun rom-com and it completely delivers.

Things I loved about this book:
1. There's a woman president!
2. The first family is a blended family and the relationship between the parents is still friendly. They co-parent well and the stepfather has his own role in the family that isn't "replacement dad figure".
3. The main character and his sister are biracial Mexican Americans. They speak some Spanish in the novel. Their identity is celebrated.
4. The main characters are bisexual and gay and neither is considered lesser for their sexualities. The bisexual main character is never considered to be confused or in some sort of a phase or as some sort of deviant who just wants everyone sexually. He's just who he is and it's beautiful.
5. Henry can WRITE and his emails are beautiful.
6. The presidential election is so full of hope and although it was written before the 2020 election, I got to relive the hope and hype of a Biden win through this book. I want this reality in this book of a Democratic female president. Maybe one day soon!
7. Alex makes lists for everything. THAT'S ME TOO!
8. The friendships are to die for in this book. Three cheers for supportive friends.
9. Discussions of class and privilege that aren't preachy.
10. That DIG at the real-world Edward's abdication of the throne. THANK YOU FOR ACKNOWLEDGING THAT.

This book isn't 100% realistic and that's okay, especially considering Prince Henry's life and interaction with the royal family. We've learned a lot from Harry and Meghan about what that entails. But it's fiction and this book is perfect as it is.

This graphic novel is the perfect middle grade / junior high adventure of starting at a new school. It covers SO many topics and doesn't managed to get too bogged down by any of them.

The story explores racism, colorism, micro-aggressions, class, judgements, coping mechanisms... and so much more. But it's also just a sweet story about finding friendship and feeling like you belong in a new place.

I can definitely see why this graphic novel is an award winner. It's cute. It's fun. It's quirky. It's smart. It's something for everyone.

If you've got roughly two hours to spare, this is a book worth picking up.

Robin Ha does a brilliant job of explaining what it is like to be a foreigner in a strange land, to have your life completely upended. The emotion in this book is palpable. I felt so strongly for Robin and her mother and was in awe of both of them as strong women who created their own place in a world where they didn't fit society's expectations.

Robin and her mother moved to Alabama from Seoul, South Korea, when she was 14 years old. Her mother married a man who had moved from Korea the year before. Suddenly she was thrust into a new family who treated her as her mother's tag-along baggage and a school where she was the only student who didn't understand English. Chuna chooses the American name Robin to try to fit in, but it feels like an impossible task.

Robin works hard to recreate herself into someone she wants to be, despite her struggles with depression, anxiety, and jealousy. She's still Chuna, but like all junior high students, she's making herself into who she wants to be as well as settling into the wonderful parts of who she already is. It's lovely to see this process on the page.

I loved Robin's artwork and I could identify with her struggles of how to fit in when her interests weren't what other students were interested in. I think a lot of students can relate to Robin, even if they've never experienced life in a new country or been where they can't understand anyone else's language.

This book will expand students' horizons and help them to love both South Korea and America. It will also provide an inside view on how important it is to be kind, because in the end, we all just want to be accepted for who we are.

If you think graphic novels are for light-weight reading, this one will prove you wrong. It is a very DENSE biography of Hawking and covers some complex science in addition to details of Hawking's life.

The science in this book can be prohibitive to readers who aren't interested in physics. Fortunately, it's not really necessary to understand the scientific content to grasp the story. The science might scare younger readers, but if you're a teacher or parent talking about this book to students, assure them that they can understand the story without having to become a theoretical physicist or cosmologist themselves.

The art of this book feels a little less polished than most graphic novel memoirs or biographies. Sometimes there are large blocks of small text that are too clunky for the medium in which the story is presented. But overall the story is good and accessible. I wanted to know more about Hawking's illness, but the book presents that storyline rather briefly, to let the reader know that Hawking's illness didn't define him and shouldn't be the focus of the story. Hawking's ability was never diminished by his disability - and I think that's a very POWERFUL message.

This is clearly a debut novel. I don't care.

There are definitely some pacing issues with plot. I don't care.

Nothing at all actually happens for about 70% of the book. I don't care.

The world building isn't completely fleshed out. I don't care.

Margaret Rogerson is a goddess of her craft. Something about her prose grabs me and doesn't let me go. This woman could probably write a full novel about nothing more than a plain and unassuming phone book and I'd read every page with wild abandon. This woman was born to write.

I actually read her second book, [b:Sorcery of Thorns|42201395|Sorcery of Thorns|Margaret Rogerson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1541621322l/42201395._SY75_.jpg|61425757], about a year before I read this one. I do say she grows by leaps and bounds as a writer from this book to her second one, so if you really want to be impressed, read them in the order she wrote them. I am dying for her third book, [b:Vespertine|56980403|Vespertine|Margaret Rogerson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1615414534l/56980403._SY75_.jpg|89131997] to come out later this year. (Mostly because it definitely looks like the cover artist has painted my friend Dennese on the cover. It's her. You can't convince me otherwise.)

But on to what I loved so much about this book despite its flaws. It's a fabulous character study and a fun adventure. The setting is equal parts beautiful and creepy. The characters are equal parts inhuman and humane. The juxtaposition of opposites plays so well together and I lost myself in reading. I didn't want to put the book down and I got quite mad at my job for interrupting my reading time.

Rook is the character who stands out the most in this story, as he is meant to. As a fairy prince, Rook is glamoured to look like a handsome mortal man. Like all fair folk, he cannot perform any kind of craft. He can ensorcell and enchant and create nature magic from his thoughts and blood. But unlike all fair folk, who do not show any trace of human emotion, there is an inexplicable sorrow just barely visible, hidden away, in Rook's eyes.

When Isobel, our portrait artist heroine, sets to paint his portrait, she paints that sorrow as she sees it. Her painting will change her life forever and possibly all of the fairy world. Unwittingly, Isobel has just set her life and the lives of her family on a deadly collision course with forces her mortal mind has never encountered.

What is she willing to sacrifice to save herself, those she loves, and one she might come to love? How can she remain true to herself when saving those she loves means sacrificing everything that makes her herself?

Pick this one up. Join in me in my cult following of this fantastic YA author.

This book shines a light on the dirt of of barely surviving in poverty.

After all, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps only works if you have bootstraps to begin with. Or boots.

It'll make you angry, or it should. Stephanie describes the hours and hours of work she did as a maid to barely be able to afford a 300 square foot studio apartment where she lived with her toddler daughter. This isn't some tale of days gone by either. The story spans from 2008 to 2012, a time when I was graduating high school and entering college and had NO CLUE how much privilege I benefited from because I had generations of mentally and financially stable people in my family tree.

At one time Stephanie received seven forms of government assistance and was still barely able to survive. Often she went without meals because the 200 dollars in SNAP benefits was all she had for food for the month for her and her daughter. And if her income went too high with, she could lose her childcare benefits that allowed her to work in the first place.

Stephanie's book presents a portrait of someone who was anything but lazy, who survived abuse and tried to make a way on her own. With almost no family support and limited support from the father of her daughter, Stephanie had no one else to lean on and encountered judgement from nearly everyone.

This is not a feel good story of how anyone can get out of poverty by following Stephanie's path. This is not a story of how hard work can save you. That's not what saved Stephanie. If you want to find out how someone who works harder than any person should have to can't afford to live in a home without black mold, read this book. If you want to discover how Stephanie pulled herself up without any bootstraps to speak of, read this book. If you want to see those in poverty as human, read this book.