Book review - Roxy

 

Title: Roxy

Author: Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: You'd Be Home Now by Kathleen Glasgow

                      Fadeaway by E.B. Vickers

Rating:

 

well intentioned but less than ideal

Summary (provided by publisher): The freeway is coming.
It will cut the neighborhood in two. Construction has already started, pushing toward this corridor of condemned houses and cracked concrete with the momentum of the inevitable. Yet there you are, in the fifth house on the left, fighting for your life.
Ramey, I.
The victim of the bet between two manufactured gods: the seductive and lethal Roxy (Oxycontin), who is at the top of her game, and the smart, high-achieving Addison (Adderall), who is tired of being the helpful one, and longs for a more dangerous, less wholesome image. The wager—a contest to see who can bring their mark to “the Party” first—is a race to the bottom of a rave that has raged since the beginning of time. And you are only human, dazzled by the lights and music. Drawn by what the drugs offer—tempted to take that step past helpful to harmful…and the troubled places that lie beyond.
But there are two I. Rameys—Isaac, a soccer player thrown into Roxy’s orbit by a bad fall and a bad doctor and Ivy, his older sister, whose increasing frustration with her untreated ADHD leads her to renew her acquaintance with Addy.
Which one are you?

My opinion: Let's be honest: addiction narratives are inherently predictable. So anytime an author finds a unique approach it's worth a look. And Shusterman has found a unique approach in personifying the drugs. In fact, I would argue that this is not Isaac and Ivy's story. Roxy and Addy really take center stage. Thus we are empathizing with the drugs rather than the people. Ivy and Isaac are fairly underdeveloped. We also meet a wide variety of other drugs, identified primarily by nicknames, so unless you're familiar with drug culture some of them are hard to recognize. It's a unique story to be sure but I don't know what readers will take from it.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Listen with me

 

So Many Beginnings by Bethany C Morrow

Like many people, I had a brief phase where I was really into Little Women. So when an author finds a new approach to the story I get the obsession, the compulsion to revisit the plot and structure. The brilliance of the original story as that it captured a very specific set of women in a very specific time of social change. We saw the world around them shifting at the same time that they are going through personal change. It makes sense, then, to do the same with newly freed women during the Civil War. We occasionally get stories of Black folks during reconstruction, but this may be the first I've seen that captures the uncertainty of life for people during the war, the drive to establish themselves as citizens with rights and capable of running their own lives.The characters deal with every day concerns as well as large social issues. Since we know the general thrust of the plot, Morrow is able to give the characters plenty of room to develop and express themselves. A solid story and a good listen in audio form.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

 

Non-fiction book review - Shelter

 

Shelter by Lois Peterson

This is a solid informative read. It should come as no surprise that there is an agenda to the text, but it's an agenda most of us should be able to get behind. Peterson wants the reader to empathize, to view the unhoused as people rather than statistics. We explore the social and economic causes iof homelessness, presented in clear and concise ways. It's presented as more cut and dry than I suspect the reality would reflect (sociology being rather "squishy" in my mind). Even so, I feel like it properly achieves it's end - helping young readers view the unhoused as complex people deserving of understanding and dignity.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Out of My Heart

 

Title: Out of My Heart

Author: Sharon M. Draper

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Real by Carol Cujec

                     Roll With It by Jamie Sumner

Rating:

 

a solid read

Summary (provided by publisher): Melody, the huge-hearted heroine of Out of My Mind, is a year older, and a year braver. And now with her Medi-talker, she feels nothing’s out of her reach, not even summer camp. There have to be camps for differently-abled kids like her, and she’s going to sleuth one out. A place where she can trek through a forest, fly on a zip line, and even ride on a horse! A place where maybe she really can finally make a real friend, make her own decisions, and even do things on her own—the dream!
By the light of flickering campfires and the power of thunderstorms, through the terror of unexpected creatures in cabins and the first sparkle of a crush, Melody’s about to discover how brave and strong she really is.

My opinion: In Out of My Mind Draper introduced us to the character of Melody. That story was all about Melody proving herself in a "normal" classroom, helping her peers see her as a thinking, capable person. In this volume, Melody is no longer an outsider. We see her instead in a world where everyone is like her. Suddenly the story is not about her having to prove her normalcy, it's her in a olrd where she is normal. The plot become about her normal concerns: making friends, facing fears, having crushes. And it's not just Melody. We have a whole cast of characters who might otherwise be outsiders who, in this context, are able to be just normal kids. This volume reinforces the messaging from the first book and takes it a step further. While I don't know that it as completely necessary, it's a pleasant read.

More information: Out of My Heart releases November 17

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - The Swag is in the Socks

 

Title: The Swag is in the Socks

Author: Kelly J Baptist

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Say it Out Loud by Allison Varnes

                      Being Clem by Lena Cline-Ransome

Rating:

 

 basic but pleasant

Summary (provided by publisher): Xavier Moon is not one to steal the show. He’s perfectly content to play video games and sit at his bedroom window watching the neighborhood talk outside.
But for Xavier’s twelfth birthday, he receives a pair of funky socks and a challenge from his great-uncle, Frankie Bell, saying it’s time to swag out and speak up. First on the list: get into the legendary Scepter League. Xavier’s grandfather, great-uncle, and father were all invited to join the elite boys’ after-school club that admits only the most suave and confident young men. Xavier has never had the courage to apply before, but his wild socks are getting him some big attention, so maybe it’s time to come out of the shadows and follow in his family's footsteps. Or maybe Xavier will march down a new path altogether.

My opinion: At heart, this is a fairly standard of a kid learning to be a man, defining the sort of person he's going to become and the steps he will take to get there. He's learning to embrace elements of his personality, to worry less about the perception of his peers. There are a few unique details but the general thrust of the plot is exactly what we would expect. Solid messaging, though.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Non-fiction book review - Know Your Rights and Claim Them

 

Know Your Rights and Claim Them

This book is a part of a trend that I've been noticing recently - explanations of foundational documents aimed at youths. This makes sense. Teens are primed for education and developmentally at a stage where they are becoming more politically aware. And it's important for all of us to understand our rights and the consequences of violations. I was not aware of this particular document, though. I didn't know that there was an internationally recognized declaration of the rights of children. This particular book is fairly dry and academic, so you're going to have to work to convince teens it's worth understanding. It would make a decent addition to homeschooling curriculum.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Book review - The School Between Winter and Fairyland

 

Title: The School Between Winter and Fairyland

Author: Heather Fawcett

Genre: fantasy

Similar books: Hooky by Miriam Bonastre Tur

                      The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant

Rating:

 

largely expected but still pleasant

Summary (provided by publisher): Twelve-year-old Autumn Malog is a servant at the enchanting Inglenook School, where young magicians study to become the king’s future monster-hunters. Along with her Gran and three too many older brothers, she works as a beastkeeper, tending to Inglenook’s menagerie of terrifying monsters.
But when she isn’t mucking out the wyvern stalls or coaxing the resident boggart to behave, Autumn searches for clues about her twin brother’s mysterious disappearance. Everyone else thinks he was devoured by the feared Hollow Dragon, but Autumn is convinced she’s heard—and glimpsed—him calling to her from within the castle walls. But who will believe a lowly servant?
So when Cai Morrigan, the “Chosen One” prophesied to one day destroy the Hollow Dragon, comes to her for help, Autumn agrees on one condition: Together, they’ll search for her brother and uncover the dark truth at the heart of enchanting Inglenook School once and for all.

My opinion: We have a fair number of common elements here. There's a magical boarding school; a stratified society; a prophecy that will change the course of the entire world. We also have vastly different characters thrown together, each working to their own end. Fawcett devotes a fair amount of space to the nature and personality of assorted magical creatures, almost as much as is devoted to the actual plot. Now, the exploration of the class divide is more subtle than we typically see in middle grade fiction. We simply see the realities of their lives and are left to draw our own conclusions. The foreshadowing doesn't pay off the way we would expect and the messaging may be a bit too subtle for many readers. Entertaining but not engrossing.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Listen with me

 

So Many Beginnings by Bethany C Morrow

I wouldn't say that Little Women is my favorite book, but I was briefly obsessed with it so I'm often intrigued by retellings of the idea. I look forward to seeing how Morrow handles this particular version.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley