Oh Hey, It’s November

Hi all,

It has been a whirlwind of September/October/November and now it’s nearly Thanksgiving and we haven’t posted our reviews for some time! Thanks for waiting, but here’s what we’ve read these past few months.

Nominations

Orpheus Girl by Brynne Rebele-Henry

This story is about two girls who are lesbians in a very conservative and homophobic town. when they are caught, they are sent to a conversion camp. Our main character Raya resolves to take her[self] and her best friend and escape the camp.

–Sarah Nominates

 

Orpheus Girl by Brynne Rebele-Henry

Brynne Rebele-Henry paints a harsh picture of the reality of life in a conservative Texas town. Raya, the main character, is sent to a conversion camp after she is caught kissing her best friend Sarah. The book reveals the cruel realities of life in these kinds of places, telling a story that needs to be told.

–Nicole Nominates

 

Dig by A.S. King

An intricate mystery about deep roots that connect a strange yet relatable cast of characters. The book expertly weaves paranormality with a cryptic visualization of the mind while explaining the very real problems of the physical world. The author easily gives each member of the ensemble cast a distinct voice to keep the story fresh while also connecting the characters with common themes to keep the reader curious. Dig was a wonderful journey through the tunnels of the mind that I would be happy to nominate.

–Caleb Nominates

 

Recommendations

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

This fairy-tale retelling of Twelve Dancing Princesses captured my attention quickly. The magical elements were not worked in very well, but otherwise the story was intriguing and fun.

–Nicole Recommends

Butterfly Yellow by Thanhha Lai

It is about a girl who is finding her lost brother. Plot twist when she realizes that her brother is right in front of her [a] completely different person. I think it was a good book, it was funny at some points. It should be recommended because it was overall a good book with a great plot.

–Gania Recommends

 

Impossible Music by Sean Williams

A guy becomes deaf and can’t hear anything, especially music. He loves to play music and once he becomes deaf, his whole life turns upside down. He starts to lose meaning in life until a girl helps him find himself again. I liked the plot and the detailed descriptions. Also, I like how they use sign language in the book. In all, I recommend this book, because it’s a great book but not Newbery [Printz]-worthy.

–Gania Recommends

 

Black Enough Edited by Ibi Zoboi

Black Enough is an excellent anthology featuring multiple different black kids living their lives. I really enjoyed all the stories and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of anthologies.

–Nicole Recommends

 

The Disasters by M.K. England

The Disasters tells an excellent, twist-rich tale about four rejects from a space academy teaming up to solve a crime–while being framed for said crime. It is a fun wild ride of a read. I enjoyed it very much and definitely intend to read more of M.K.’s books.

–Nicole Recommends

 

Final Nomination List

So our last meeting is this upcoming Friday and I have assembled a list of all the books that have been nominated for the Printz by our Mock-Printz club. The list is in alphabetical order by title, and the place in line in no way indicates the standing or number of nominations that a book has.

1. Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Sacanna Ganucheau
2. The Cold is in Her Bones by Perernelle Arsdale
3. Dig by A.S. King
4. Fear of Missing Out by Kate McGovern
5. Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett
6. The Hummingbird Dagger by Cindy Anstey
7. The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan
8. The Lovely War by Julie Berry
9. The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg
10. Orpheus Girl by Brynne Rebele-Henry
11. Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson
12. Slay by Brittany Morris
13. The Things She’s Seen by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina
14. The Trans-Human Project by Erin Rhew
15. Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc by David Elliot
16. You Owe Me a Murder by Eileen Cook

 

May the best book win!

 

 

Second September Meeting

Hi all,

Bit of a delay between the meeting and the posting, but things have been pretty crazy at the library and I’ve only now gotten all the reviews together and sat down to type them all up.

Our second September meeting had a pretty low attendance because school is back in session and the readers are a studious bunch, but the books have been read and reviewed and here’s what we have:

Girls With Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young

Suzanne Young’s “Girls With Sharp Sticks” is a sci-fi novel set in an all-girls school designed to morph teen girls into the ideal wives for men. The main character, Mena, begins to realize that the school is much more twisted than it seems. I like the poems featured in the book, and how accurately it depicts and amplifies how damaging misogyny can be. The writing style was a little dull, which made some parts more difficult to get through, but the plot and theme overall was interesting, and I’d recommend it to those who are interested in the dystopian side of science fiction.

Recommended by J.S.

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis

The Good Luck Girls was an intriguing fantasy dystopian centered on five girls: Aster, Tansy, Mallow, Violet, and Clementine. They escape from the “welcome house” where they’re living and end up on a quest to find safety after a terrible accident. I loved it so much I read it in less than a day. It hooked me from the start and didn’t let go.

Recommended by N.S.

Hello Girls by Brittany Cavallaro and Emily Henry

Hello Girls was an intriguing read about two girls escaping abusive lifestyles, but I had an issue with the writing style. I can’t remember what it was right off the bat, but something about the way the two girls were written bugged me. I couldn’t even finish the book, because the thought of slogging through to the end drove me crazy. The plot idea was great, the execution, not so much.

Reviewed by N.S.

 

We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with more books read and reviewed. Until then,

 

Happy Reading!

Two More Reviews

Hi All,

With the last 3 meetings being only a week apart, it’s been harder to finish books, but we still got two done and here are the reviews!

Slay by Brittney Morris

An intriguing story about a black coder and a murder. Kiera invents a[n online] game, but then someone is murdered. Her game is called racist, then a troll invades [it]. I thought it was really intriguing and would recommend.

–Recommended by Nicole

((For those of you not familiar with internet culture, a ‘troll’ in this context refers to someone on the internet who deliberately causes trouble and tries to ignite arguments and animosity between others. Trolls often cause trouble for the enjoyment of the chaos and anger it brings. A popular internet saying is “Don’t feed the trolls,” meaning that you should not encourage these types of people by paying attention and responding to them.))

The Kingdom by Jess Rothernberg

Jess Rothenberg’s ‘The Kingdom’ takes place ina high tech theme park that features cyborgs. It follows Ana, one of the park’s “hybrids” (cyborgs). One of the park’s employees is missing and Ana is suspected of murder. This book was well-written and I would definitely recommend it.

–Recommended by Anonymous

 

We’ve got another meeting Friday, so hopefully we can crank a few more reviews out then!

 

Happy Reading!

August 2019–Meeting 1

Hello all,

We’ve been reading and reading so here are our reviews!

Stepsister by Jennifer Donelly

Stepsister by Jennifer Donelly is a retelling of Cinderella from the point of view of one of the “ugly” stepsisters. Told through the eyes of the stepsister, Isabelle, and the Greek god Dionysus, the story follows Isabelle after her stepsister Ella became queen. I like this book because it has themes like the meaning of ‘beautiful’ and redemption as well as changing your fate. The only reason I wouldn’t nominate this book would be the ending. However, the rest of the book was well worth reading.

–Recommended by Anonymous

The Things She’s Seen by Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina

A dead girl helps her father solve crimes and move past his own grief. A surreal yet heartfelt story for mystery lovers and supernaturalists alike.

–Nominated by Caleb

Lovely War by Julie Berry

“Lovely War” by Julie Berry is a romance taking place in World War I as told by Aphrodite. The book starts with Hephaestus catching Aphrodite and Ares in an affair in a golden net. He then puts them on trial and Aphrodite tells two stories of romances she helped to build during the war. I loved the writing style, the dialogue, and the perspective on Aphrodite’s work. This was a beautifully written book and I would highly recommend it, especially to those interested in Greek mythology.

–Nominated by Jackie

Slay by Brittney Morris

“Slay” by Brittney Morris is a story of a teen girl who developed an online video game celebrating black history and culture. She develops this came called Slay to create a safe space for black players, but after a murder over a Slay dispute occurs in the real world, the game is debated all over the media. I liked the character development and how the plot was developed. This was a good read and I would highly recommend it.

–Nominated by Jackie

 

We’ve got one more meeting in August and then school will start again so our reading habits might drop as we are inundated with schoolwork, extracurricular activities, jobs, and balancing our lives this year. We’ll keep at it though, and post again after the second August meeting.

 

Happy Reading!

March 15 & 22 Meetings

Hello Everyone,

April is an ‘off’ month so no Printz meetings until May, but we have the last 2 weeks’ meetings and our reviews.

Before we get to that, however, let’s talk about our most recent book that sparked a discussion. On a Scale of One to Ten by Ceylan Scott is a story about a teen in a psychiatric hospital following the disappearance of her best friend. It is at least partially based on the author’s experiences as a teen with Borderline Personality Disorder. We received an Advanced Reader’s Copy from the publisher. The first person who read it had a lot of critiques, including the lack of people of color. The teen passionately declared that “Mental illness does not discriminate,” and we discussed how in the setting (London), it didn’t make a lot of sense for there to be no people of color, especially since London has a large immigrant population. The teen also disliked how the teen characters interacted with the hospital staff and the effect that one of the more chaotic characters had on the rest of the cast. I took it home to read and we discussed the book again at the meeting on the 22nd and I offered my thoughts as well. We have another teen reading the book over April so I’m looking forward to having another discussion. Throughout our discussions about On a Scale of One to Ten, the book club members had a really good talk about mental illness, how it is depicted, and how different people react to experiencing it and reading about others experiencing it.

In our March 22 meeting, we also discussed if we should add award categories as well as voting for our Printz nominees. Some suggested categories were ‘Best of’ and ‘Worst of’ heroes, villains, and supporting characters. We’ll talk some more about adding other categories in May.

Reviews

Bloom by Kevin Panetta & Savanna Gancheau

“It was a sweet idea, but I felt like the characters were kind of annoying and weak. I also didn’t like the consistently blue coloring, it didn’t show much and I felt like it was mainly for the aesthetic attempt but it got old very quickly. The story also got kind of boring as it went on and I really lost interest.”

–Anonymous (Recommended)

 

Nominations

Voices by David Elliot

“A wonderfully styled story in verse with a natural flow that carries the book well.”

–Caleb

 

Nocturna by Maya Montayne

“An amazing story for any fantasy-lover, it follows a thief and a prince’s journey to save their kingdom from a dark magic [that] they accidentally released. The story takes place in a well-described Latinx kingdom, this novel is a page turner!”

–Shreeya

 

The next month will not have any new posts or reviews but we’ll be reading and should have plenty for you come May.

Happy Reading!

Reviews from March 3rd Meeting

Hello Again,

Our past meeting was certainly an interesting one. In addition to several new reads and reviews, some of our members had an intense debate about ‘Four Dead Queens’ by Astrid Scholte. One of the teens who read it was a fan, the other had lots of critiques of the book. Another person took it home at the end of the meeting, so we’ll see what they think! A book that gets people riled up and arguing is always a fun thing to have in a book club and I’m looking forward to future debates about it!

Our Recommendations

In the Neighborhood of True by Susan Kaplan Carlton

“Intriguing and meaningful historical fiction story with a good balance of romance, humor, and teenage fun.” –Shreeya

96 Words for Love by Ava Dash

“An amazingly written coming-of-age story including traveling to another country, falling in love, and finding yourself.” –Nicole

Spectacle by Jodie Lunn Zdrok

“Nathalie Baudin’s life is turned upside down when she begins having visions of a serial killer murdering their victims. This book is wonderfully written and the characters are greatly developed.” –Lauren

Our Nominations

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan

“A heartwarming and moving story of a Muslim teenager and her journey to stay with the girl she loves despite the conservative wishes of her homophobic parents. This book and its characters are incredibly real and well-written”–Shreeya

The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg

“A wonderful story of two guys navigating the world around them together and helping each other find themselves.” –Jacqulyn

We’re meeting again on March 15th, but because it’s only been a week since our last meeting, there might be a few less reviews in the next post. Less time between meetings means less reading gets done!

Happy Reading!