Dragonfruit (audiobook)

 Stars: 5 for must have lit in the classroom. 

My Thoughts:

I am excited about this Pasi fika, girl-power fantasy. Finally, a "Moana" for the YA crowd. It is so difficult to find the right fit for middle level and high school students in Pasifika literature, but this is it. Buy this. Read this. Create curriculum around this. Add this to dystopian literature circles. This reminded me of The Golden Compass His Dark Materials in the use of a daemon. This reminded me of Moana in the appearance of a tattoo. There are just too many things that I loved about this book. I cannot give away too much. Suffice it to say, this is a must buy. 

In addition, if you get the audiobook, read by Mapuana Makia, the Hawaiian/Polynesian names, even some of the creole is spot on, which is why I am highlighting the audiobook rather than the written book. 

From the Publisher:

In the old tales, it is written that the egg of a seadragon, dragonfruit, holds within it the power to undo a person’s greatest sorrow. But as with all things that offer hope when hope had gone, the tale came with a warning.

Every wish demands a price.

Hanalei of Tamarind is the cherished daughter of an old island family. But when her father steals a seadragon egg meant for an ailing princess, she is forced into a life of exile. In the years that follow, Hanalei finds solace in studying the majestic seadragons that roam the Nominomi Sea. Until, one day, an encounter with a female dragon offers her what she desires most. A chance to return home, and to right a terrible wrong.

Samahtitamahenele, Sam, is the last remaining prince of Tamarind. But he can never inherit the throne, for Tamarind is a matriarchal society. With his mother ill and his grandmother nearing the end of her reign. Sam is left with two choices: to marry, or to find a cure for the sickness that has plagued his mother for ten long years. When a childhood companion returns from exile, she brings with her something he has not felt in a very long time—hope.

But Hanalei and Sam are not the only ones searching for the dragonfruit. And as they battle enemies both near and far, there is another danger they cannot escape…that of the dragonfruit itself.

Publication Information:

Author: Makiia Lucier

Illustrator: Mapuana Makia

Publisher: Audible.com (April 9, 2024)

Listening length: 8 hours 12 minutes

Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me

 

Stars: 3 a good author-read memoir. She sounds like she is having a conversation with you. Her personality comes through

From the Publisher:

If it weren’t for Emma Johnson, Caryn Johnson would have never become Whoopi Goldberg. Emma gave her children the loving care and wisdom they needed to succeed in life, always encouraging them to be true to themselves. When Whoopi lost her mother in 2010—and then her older brother, Clyde, five years later—she felt deeply alone; the only people who truly knew her were gone.

Emma raised her children not just to survive, but to thrive. In this intimate and heartfelt memoir, Whoopi shares many of the deeply personal stories of their lives together for the first time. Growing up in the projects in New York City, there were trips to Coney Island, the Ice Capades, and museums, and every Christmas was a magical experience. To this day, she doesn’t know how her mother was able to give them such an enriching childhood, despite the struggles they faced—and it wasn’t until she was well into adulthood that Whoopi learned just how traumatic some of those struggles were.

Fans of personal memoirs such as Finding Me by Viola Davis and In Pieces by Sally Field will be touched by Bits and Pieces: a moving tribute from a daughter to her mother, and a beautiful portrait of three people who loved each other deeply. Whoopi writes, “Not everybody gets to walk this earth with folks who let you be exactly who you are and who give you the confidence to become exactly who you want to be. So, I thought I’d share mine with you.”

My Thoughts:

It is not as powerful as Michelle Obamaʻs Becoming, or Viola Davisʻ Finding Me: A Memoir, however, this is a  posthumous love letter to her mother and her brother, full of gratitude and humor. What is comforting is that the reader is left with the feeling that nothing has been left unsaid when these two important figures in Whoopi's life were alive. 

Publication Information:

Author: Whoopi Goldberg

Narrator: Whoopi Goldberg

Narration length: 6 hours, 43 minutes

Publisher: Audible.com (May 7, 2024)

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng

 

Stars: 5, not for its ability to be used in the classroom, which is why I give 5 stars, but more because it reawakened my teen obsession with horror novels. 

My Thoughts:

Non-white ghost stories are MUCH scarier. There, I said it. Sorry, not sorry. I am not being reverse racist. I am speaking from experience. The obake stories I grew up with in Hawaiʻi, like the faceless woman in the bathroom of the old Kahala drive in theatre, or the other long haired faceless women in kimono in the black and white movies at the Japanese theatre in Chinatown.  .  . horrifying. Then there are the forests and coastlines of Hawaiʻi where as young children we are warned to ignore the voice calling your name. Do not turn around. Even the rocks that do not want to be moved. Try moving it with your heavy equipment. Your tractor breaks, or you move it and it goes back home. 

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is that kind of asian horrifying. Put the lights on. Leave the lights on. Look for hands crawling out of the shadows. Don't feed the ghosts. They will come back. 

This story takes place in COVID New York where someone is killing Asians and ripping bats up near them or calling them bat eaters and shoving them into trains so that their faces explode onto the tracks. Things that white people do are scary enough, but that is just the inhumane part of living in a racist society.

What is absolutely terrifying are the ghosts that will not settle and cannot leave. When I was a young girl, I would visit my grandparents on another island and I would bring these flowers for the grave. We called them obake anthuriums and they are only found on Hawaiʻi island. Once my grandfather told me that I don't have to bring as many because someone steals them from the grave. I told him that whoever is stealing the flowers will get "batchi." It is a Japanese term for bad luck and negative karma. He told me something that makes sense when thinking about this book. He said batchi only happens when you believe in it. So why are the ghosts not haunting this killer that takes pictures of the victims with the bats and posts it on some hate sight? Why do the hungry ghosts not haunt the people who comment on these pictures and say that these victims deserve it because of the "China virus"? Why do they only come to Cora? Because, like my grandfather said, she believes in it.  I guess I believe too because I could not read this at night. Too many shadows. Not enough light. 

If your students like this, give them:

Man Made Monsters by Andrea Rogers

She is a Haunting by Trang Than Tran

and Tran's new book on my TBR list They Bloom at Night

What all of these horror stories have in common, including this one, is that from the lens of a non-white author, the horror is not just about monsters, but about monsters that walk in the light. Meaning, these are novels about social injustice, colonisation, racism, and all the things that haunt this society.

From the Publisher:

In this explosive horror novel, a woman is haunted by inner trauma, hungry ghosts, and a serial killer as she confronts the brutal violence experienced by East Asians during the pandemic.

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, washing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown. But none of that seems so terrible when she’s already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister, Delilah, being pushed in front of a train.

Before fleeing the scene, the murderer shouted two words: bat eater.

So the bloody messes don’t really bother Cora—she’s more bothered by the germs on the subway railing, the bare hands of a stranger, the hidden viruses in every corner, and the bite marks on her coffee table. Of course, ever since Delilah was killed in front of her, Cora can’t be sure what's real and what’s in her head.

She pushes away all feelings and ignores the advice of her aunt to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell open. But she can't ignore the dread in her stomach as she keeps finding bat carcasses at crime scenes, or the scary fact that all her recent cleanups have been the bodies of East Asian women.

As Cora will soon learn, you can’t just ignore hungry ghosts.

For fans of Stephen Graham Jones and Gretchen Felker-Martin, Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng is a wildly original, darkly humorous, and subversive contemporary novel from a striking new voice in horror.

Publication Information:

Author: Kylie Lee Baker

Publisher: MIRA (April 29, 2025)

Hardcover: 304 pages

Wish Upon a K-Star

Stars: 4 K-drama formulaic romance and I'm here for it!

My Thoughts:

A misunderstanding and an inability to communicate as young teens means that Shin Hyeri hates Moon Minseok. Yes, he was her first crush, but her personality now as an up-and-coming K-drama actress is prickly and difficult. She carries grudges and is still a horrible communicator. Add to that the fact that scandal seems to be following her, even if it is not her fault (really). 

After the latest scandal  at a variety show gone wrong and an act of sabotage where Hyeri is sure someone is setting her up, Moonster and Hyeri are thrust into a popular variety show where they have to pretend to be married. This is the management's way to try and save Hyeri's career, but of course the fake marriage is going to lead to real feelings. It's a K-Drama. There is no alternate emo ending. But for those readers that love reading these stories, it is a comforting, devour-worthy escape, like a cashmere sweater: soft, warm, comfy. 

If your students loved this book, make sure to follow this with Cho's Once Upon a K-Prom. I actually prefer the main character in this first book, Elena Soo, over Shin Hyeri. Although K-Star happens in Korea, and K-Prom happens in America, the real thing is that the first book characters are still in high school. The strict no dating thing in the K-Pop/K-Drama world and how that can ruin a person’s career is a little conservative for American teen readers. 

Note to classroom teachers: The timing of this as-yet-released book is not ideal. It comes out at the end of April, far from spring break and too late for school librarians to put this on the shelf for summer reads, since this comes out right smack in the middle of “testing” season and no teacher is bringing their students to the school library at this time. However, this is the quiet time for librarians and time for them to start buying for the fall, so if you are able to get this in your classroom library, you will be the superstar among YA K-romance readers because you will have the precious new release that no one else has.

From the Publisher:

Moon Minseok—or Moonster as this WDB fans know him—wasn’t born to lead. Even as part of the world’s most popular K-Pop group, he found comfort in his role as the jokester, the sidekick, the unserious one (with the cutest smile). But now WDB is drowning in dating scandals, and it’s time for Moonster to take charge of the group's image.

Shin Hyeri has been dealing with some scandals of her own. An up-and-coming K-Drama actress, she’s been labeled a “nepo baby” (with a famous idol as a big brother) and now, a bully (which couldn’t be further from the truth). Desperate to show the world that she’s earned her spot, Hyeri is determined not to let her rising star crash and burn.

When these two childhood enemies get caught up in yet another scandal while co-hosting a K-Pop festival, there’s only one solution that will save both of their reputations: appear on one of Korea’s most popular variety shows, Our Celebrity Marriage (where celebrities pretend to get married and compete in ‘newlywed’ challenges).

The plan is simple—pretend to get along, win back the fans, then go their separate ways. But what happens when a fake marriage leads to real feelings? Will Moonster and Hyeri bow to the pressures of their famous realities, or will they decide their love is something worth fighting for?

Publication Information:

Author: Kat Cho

Publisher: Disney Hyperion (April 29, 2025)

Hardcover: 336 pages

Grade level: 6-12

 

Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, and Other Curiously Named Classic Chinese Dishes: A Graphic Cookbook

 

Stars: 4 for interest factor and foodie factor

My Thoughts:

This book would not necessarily be for this blog. I do have a specific cooking blog, The Rubber Slipper Contessa, which is actually a repository of family recipes more for my kids so that when my daughters in law or sons ask me where a certain recipe is, it is on the blog. 

On the other hand, I found some of my old kid's cookbooks that I used to use to feed my littles and I gave them to my oldest granddaughter (she is 4). She loves to read it like a book, see the pictures and try some of the recipes. That got me thinking that this middle and YA reading blog is right where this graphic cookbook belongs.

First, the graphics are hilarious and crisp. They are a great stand in for the text sometimes. The story behind the names of the recipe are really lovely to read. There are some nuggets from the author and illustrator that just talk about family food stories, like the little vignette about learning to use starter chopsticks from her grandmother, and then as a mother, trying chopsticks for her son and instead focusing on finger foods that he would like. This particular story comes before the mango spring rolls which look yummy. I actually go and seek out mooncakes at my local Chinatown after this book. My granddaughter appreciated when I brought mooncakes because of the Netflix animated movie Over the Moon. 

I think these recipes may be a little more difficult for young cooks. The sourcing of ingredients are difficult if you do not have an Asian market nearby. I guess Amazon, but there is something about taking young chefs to source their ingredients locally that makes it more real for them. I also think that these stories and recipes for middle and young adults will motivate aspiring cooks/chefs to have conversations with their own grandmothers about the food stories from their own family meals in the same way that the author talks about her own upbringing with her grandmother. It changes the way we look at food. If this, as an adult reader, motivates you to read more foodie books, I would suggest The Last Chinese Chef  by Nicole Mones. I see tofu in a very different way. I think Buddha Jumps Over the Wall will do the same thing for budding foodies, chefs, Chinese food fans. Personally we are going to try the Husband and Wife Lung Slices for the name and the spicy factor.

From the Publishers:

Storytelling is one of the most universal and collaborative components in every culture. In Chinese culture, dishes are often connected to a classic legend, a famous person, or a historical event, underlining the importance of food.
In this delightful graphic novel-style recipe book, Chinese American cookbook author Ying Chang Compestine explores the folkloric stories behind beloved Chinese dishes and gives easy-to-follow recipes for each, such as:

• Mapo Tofu, a savory dish named for the “old lady with a pockmarked face” who invented it
• Goubuli Baozi (translation: "ignored by doggy stuffed buns”), classic buns with minced pork and vegetables made popular by an unusually taciturn village boy
• Tear-inducing Heartbreak Jelly Noodles that combine chili oil, peppercorns, and other fiery ingredients and are believed to cure the sadness of a broken heart
• Steamed Milk Custard, one of the most beloved desserts in China, originated during the Qing Dynasty by a hungry young cattle farmer as a way to preserve milk

These are dishes Ying grew up with, cooked with her grandmother, and prepares for her own family today. Stories and recipes are illustrated and presented in panel layout, with art by award-winning children’s book illustrator Vivian Truong.

Publication Information:

Author: Ying Chang Compestine

Illustrator: Vivian Truong

Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 4, 2025)

Paperback: 184 pages

Of Jade and Dragons

 

Stars: 4 

My Thoughts:

I see this Mulan style novel very similar to Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim. Even if Spin is about going to the capitol to be the head tailor and this book is about getting into the Engineers Guild, what makes Of Jade and Dragons so powerful is that it combines the competition aspect with a murder mystery and a political ethics dilemma. Yes, there is a romance. Yes, there is betrayal and intrigue. But the mystery and lies right around the corner are so unexpected. The secret gender may be a secret, but not to the main male character, so that is not a mystery. However, the lies, oh my goodness! The best part is when Aihui realizes that she should have listened to her deceased father and it is too late. She had to see it through, but in the moment, at least she has come to some kind of "aha." 

Other books to try before or after this one: 

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin

Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

From the Publisher:

Mulan meets Iron Widow in this thrilling silkpunk fantasy about a girl who must disguise herself as a boy and enter the famed and dangerous Engineer’s Guild trials to unravel the mystery of her father’s murder.

Eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying dreams of becoming a world-class engineer like her father, but after his sudden murder, her life falls apart. Left with only a journal of her father’s engineering secrets and a jade pendant snatched from the assassin, a heartbroken Ying follows the trail to the capital and the prestigious Engineers Guild—a place that harbors her father’s hidden past—determined to discover why anyone would threaten a man who ultimately chose a quiet life over fame and fortune. 

Disguised as her brother, Ying manages to infiltrate the guild’s male-only apprenticeship trial with the help of an unlikely ally—Aogiya Ye-yang, the taciturn eighth prince of the High Command. With her father’s renown placing a target firmly on her back, Ying must stay one step ahead of her fellow competitors, the jealous guild masters, and the killer still hunting for her father’s journal. Complicating everything is her increasingly tangled relationship with the prince, who may have mysterious plans of his own. 

The secrets concealed within the guild can be as deadly as the weapons they build—and with her life and the future of her homeland at stake, Ying doesn’t know who to trust. Can she avenge her father even if it means going against everything he stood for, or will she be next in the mastermind’s line of fire?

Publication Information:

Author: Amber Chen

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers (June 18, 2024)

Print length: 477 pages

Twenty-Four Seconds from Now. . .: A LOVE Story

Stars: 4 for writer's craft, but not more because I am not sure where it fits into the classroom setting because of the content. ?? Up for discussion with classroom teachers.

My Thoughts: 

This is another Jason Reynolds story. I had to read it. The premise is interesting and novel (fresh). Neon, the main character is freaking out. Twenty-four seconds from now, he and Aria are going to have sex, but he is finding it difficult to get out of the bathroom.

Like Reynold's other books like Long Way Down, and Miles Morales: Suspended, this is a novel that in real time is taking very little time (an elevator ride, or 24 seconds). The way Reynolds draws this out and  pushes the narrative envelope is both dizzying and immediately engaging. 

The male point of view on this very monumental moment in a young person's life is new. I am not sure if I have every read something like this. Neon is a catch. Aria is lucky.

The title lends itself to the structure as Reynolds explores Neon and Aria's story through 24 months, weeks, days, minutes and seconds. Again, he has done something similar in Long Way Down, but as a writer he continues to push his craft.

Reynolds has said in interviews that he is grateful for YA author Laurie Halse Anderson who advocated for him with her publisher and is his mentor. I feel like what he emulates from Anderson is really the ability to infuse even minor characters with full bodied voices and characteristics. The artistry in Anderson's Speak come alive in this novel.

However, here is my conundrum. As a language arts education professor who book talks only YA books to my alum and current middle and secondary teacher education candidates, my focus is on bringing diverse books into the classroom and creating a canon of literature that speaks to their very diverse students as "mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors." So where would this novel fit in? There is craft, for sure. But at the end of the day, this is not just about first love, but the focus is really on the first time. It does not judge, it does not shame, but the DO and the IT is undeniable. So yes, I can book talk this, but as far as spending their own money to get this into the classroom. . . how many and for what purpose?

From the Publishers:

Twenty-four months ago: Neon gets chased by a dog all around the parking lot of a church. Not his finest moment. And definitely one he would have loved to forget if it weren’t for the dog’s owner: Aria. Dressed in sweats, a t-shirt, hair in a ponytail. Aria. Way more than fine.

Twenty-four weeks ago: Neon’s dad insists on talking to him about tenderness and intimacy. Neon and Aria are definitely in love, and while they haven’t taken that next big step…yet, they’ve starting talking about…that.

Twenty-four days ago: Neon’s mom finds her—gulp—bra in his room. Hey! No judging! Those hook thingies are complicated! So he’d figured he’d better practice, what with the big day only a month away.

Twenty-four minutes ago: Neon leaves his shift at work at his dad’s bingo hall, making sure to bring some chicken tenders for Aria. They’re not candlelight and they definitely aren’t caviar, but they are her favorite.

And right this second? Neon is locked in Aria’s bathroom, completely freaking out because twenty-four seconds from now he and Aria are about to…about to… Well, they won’t do anything if he can’t get out of his own head (all the advice, insecurities, and what ifs) and out of this bathroom!

Publication Information:

Author: Jason Reynolds

Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books (October 8, 2024)

Print length: 253 pages

Miles Morales Suspended: A Spider Man Novel (audiobook)

 

Stars: 4 stars for being a boy book magnet and a catchy listen.

My Thoughts:

Jason Reynolds has a style that appeals to middle level readers because he is able to capture the voice of inner city youth. This audiobook is about Miles' day in suspension, well after he saves the world from a super baddy, but that seems to be how it goes for him. Nothing is ever easy peasy for our young superhero. I don't know if trouble finds him or that he is literally the only one that can protect his neighborhood. If you don't like termites, this one will make you itchy.

The same characters in the Morales as Spiderman franchise are still here and Reynolds adds in his angsty, crush obsessed, teen writer voice by using a mixture of quick pacing, poetic stylings, repetition of key terms and humor. 

If older teens are looking for a similar pacing and drawn out angst as this, have them try Reynolds' Twenty-Four Seconds from Now. . .: a LOVE story.

The audiobook itself with the two voices of Guy Lockard and Nile Bullock makes this short read at almost 4 hours fun and engaging. I stayed in the parking lot so I could finish.

From the Publisher:

Miles Morales is just your average teenager. He has unexpectedly become totally obsessed with poetry and can never seem to do much more than babble around his crush. Nothing too weird. Oh! Except, just yesterday, he used his Spidey superpowers to save the world (no biggie) from an evil mastermind called The Warden. And the grand prize Miles gets for that is…

Suspension.

But what begins as a long boring day of in-school suspension is interrupted by a little bzzz in his mind. His Spidey Sense is telling him there’s something not quite right here, and soon he finds himself in a fierce battle with an insidious…termite?! His unexpected foe is hiding a secret, one that could lead to the destruction of the world’s history—especially Black and Brown history—and only Miles can stop him. Yeah, just a typical day in the life of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

Publication Information:

Author: Jason Reynolds

Narrators: Guy Lockard, Nile Bullock

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (May 2, 2023)

Listening Length: 3 hours 53 min

Shimazaki in the Land of Peace 1

 

My Thoughts:

This is not really right for my audience, but this is definitely disturbing. It starts off with a violent air hostage situation by some radical Japanese militants. They kill most of the innocent hostages, but take some of the children to brainwash them into their own political cult. Shingo Shimazaki, one of the boys that were kidnapped, is raised to be a covert operative for these international terrorists. This book starts 30 years from the initial kidnapping and Shingo has escaped the organization and headed back to Japan to try and live a peaceful life. 

Of course Shimazaki is highly trained and people will come for him, but he does get to blend in for a little while.  The other volumes will continue to see how long he can stay in Japan and try to live a normal life. However, he is a weapon, so there will be violence for sure. 

From the Publisher:

Seamlessly mixing secret agent-type action with slice-of-life vignettes and fish-out-of-water comedy, "Shimazaki in the Land of Peace" is the charming alternate history political thriller you never knew you were dying to read. Utterly unique, with stunning artwork, this hit series promises to keep the thrills and surprises coming even as it warms even the coldest heart.

Shingo Shimazaki was kidnapped as a boy by the LEL, an international terrorist organization who turned him into an elite covert operative in their war against the international community. After thirty years, he has finally escaped their clutches and returned to his native Japan. All he wants now is to live in peace…but what will happen when his past catches up to him? The acclaimed, action-packed slice-of-life adventure begins here!

Publication Information:

Author: Gouten Hamada

Illustrator: Takeshi Seshimo

Publisher: Vertical Comics (November 26, 2024)

Paperback: 200 pages

Huda F Wants to Know? A Graphic Novel

 Stars: Like her other Huda F graphic novels, this is a 4 stars on voice and humor of the character. It is a very middle school voice. 

My Thoughts:

The character Huda F is a memorable voice in graphic novels, similar to middle school characters from Jin Wang from American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang and the characters from Jerry Craft’s New Kid series. Huda is also similar in self involved angst to Sherman Alexie’s character Junior in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. 

In this book, Huda finds out that her very Muslim parents are getting a divorce, and her junior year in high school starts imploding. Everything starts to tank, including her grades, her relationships with her friends and her mental health. Although there is a young female counselor in church, Huda refuses to accept that she needs help until her mom finally sends her to the counselor. 

The back of the book includes mental health resources for readers. This book continues to focus on getting rid of the stigma of getting mental health services, especially for communities of color. 

From the Publisher:

Huda Fahmy is ready for junior year. She’s got a plan to join all the clubs, volunteer everywhere, ace the ACTs, write the most awe-inspiring essay for her scholarship applications. Easy.

But then Mama and Baba announce the most unthinkable news: they’re getting a divorce. 

Huda is devastated. She worries about what this will mean for her family, their place in the Muslim community, and her future. Her grades start tanking, she has a big fight with her best friend, and everything feels out of control. Will her life ever feel normal again? Huda F wants to know.

Publication Information:

Author: Huda Fahmy

Publisher: Dial Books (April 1, 2025)

Length: 224 pages

Pride Audiobook

 

Rating: 4 stars for a good romance to heartbreak and back again journey

My Thoughts:

This is a remix of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice done by Haitian born writer Ibi Zoboi and read former slam poetry champion and award winning author of Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo. 

In the gentrifying neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, there comes a black family with economic privilege, the Darcys, moving into Zuri Benitez's neighborhood. The Darcy brothers are fine specimens of gentility. The two older Benitez sisters are famous in their neighborhood for being both beautiful and smart. As a reader, I know the story. I know there is going to be issues with cultural identity, class, gentrification, first love, misunderstanding, broken hearts. . .this is still Pride and Prejudice. But what I love is that the update stays true to the neighborhood. These kids really could be living across the street from each other and come from two different worlds. This is a more realistic, American version of Pride and Prejudice, still with the romance, but also more familiar in its culture and class clashes. This is a great update that should actually be read first. 

From the Publishers:

Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable.

When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley. She especially can t stand the judgmental and arrogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding.

But with four wild sisters pulling her in different directions, cute boy Warren vying for her attention, and college applications hovering on the horizon, Zuri fights to find her place in Bushwick s changing landscape, or lose it all.

In a timely update of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, critically acclaimed author Ibi Zoboi skillfully balances cultural identity, class, and gentrification against the heady magic of first love in her vibrant reimagining of this beloved classic.

Publication Information:

Author: Ibi Zoboi

Narrator: Elizabeth Acevedo

Publishers: Harper Collins Publishers (September 18, 2018)

Grade level: 7-9

A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe

 

Stars: 5 for being the kind of book that is a mirror and a sliding glass door.

My Thoughts:

This middle grade mixed voices, mixed form collection is definitely a mirror and a sliding glass door dedicated to the young people who had to shoulder the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically in New York, but really across the United States.  In my own little bubble in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it was easy to be in my own bubble, but I was also watching my own students on Zoom disappearing behind shut cameras, closed doors, muted mics because they were also in charge of their younger siblings, etc. 

Although my husband and I had jobs, and mine was doable online and at home, our own adult children were having to make money delivering door dash and monitoring their own children's education at home. We were lucky that no one in our family got sick and/or died because my adult children have asthma or immuno-compromised diseases like lupus. Still this piece, taking place in a large, overcrowded city like New York where some young adults have lost both of their parents is chilling and heart breaking. This artwork of a novel brought all the feelings of helplessness and isolation back.  This historical fiction book (yes, they are middle grades, this is already historical for them) will remind readers to hold on tight to their friends, to their freedom to wander, as well as their freedom to gather together. The prose is lyrical and heart breaking. 

Pair this with other multi voiced middle grade books like the multi author anthology On the Block: Stories of Home edited by Ellen Oh,  and/or Recognize: An Anthology Honoring and Amplifying Black Life edited by Wayde and Cheryl Wilson.

From the Publisher:

Grief, pain, hope, and love collide in this short story collection.

In New York City, teens, their families, and their communities feel the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst the fear and loss, these teens and the adults around them persevere with love and hope while living in difficult circumstances:

• Malachi writes an Armageddon short story inspired by his pandemic reality.
• Tariq helps their ailing grandmother survive during quarantine.
• Zamira struggles with depression and loneliness after losing her parents.
• Mohamed tries to help keep his community spirit alive.
• A social worker reflects on the ways the foster system fails their children.

From award-winning author Mahogany L. Browne comes a poignant collection of interconnected prose, poems, and lists about the humanity and resilience of New Yorkers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Publication Information:

Author: Mahogany L. Browne

Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers (March 11, 2025)

Print length: 153 pages

The Sunbearer Trials (Book 1)

 

Stars: 4 for fast moving fantasy, world building extraordinaire and an end too soon.

My Thoughts:

I was a little slow to pick up this fantasy book, but it is magical and fast paced. The storytelling and world building is refreshingly exotic. The trials are out of our best dystopian stories like Hunger Games and Maze Runner. Add in different classes of beings, from teenage gods to half deities, everyone with strengths and weaknesses in a trial where the loser is the ultimate sacrifices and you have the start of this fabulous book. Inspired by Mexican culture, this is an exciting and fast read. Don't forget to get book 2 before you get to the end. Otherwise, it will be a very frustrating wait. 

When book talking this book, in this political climate, you have to reveal that the main character as well as other characters are trans. Although this is a LGBTQIA+ book, that is not the theme of the book and I don't think it should be a hindrance, however, in full transparency, it is present. For students that enjoyed Percy Jackson and other Rick Riordan Presents books like Tristan Strong books or Pahua, this is an older version of their same comfortable genre. Give them these next step books. 

From the Publisher:

“Only the most powerful and honorable semidioses get chosen. I’m just a Jade. I’m not a real hero.”


As each new decade begins, the Sun’s power must be replenished so that Sol can keep traveling along the sky and keep the chaotic Obsidian gods at bay. Sol selects ten of the most worthy semidioses to compete in the Sunbearer Trials. The winner carries light and life to all the temples of Reino del Sol, but the loser has the greatest honor of all—they will be sacrificed to Sol, their body melted down to refuel the Sun Stones, protecting the world for another ten years.

Teo, a seventeen-year-old Jade semidiós and the trans son of the goddess of birds, isn't worried about the Trials . . . at least, not for himself. His best friend, Niya is a Gold semidiós and a shoo-in for the Trials, and while he trusts her abilities, the odds of becoming the sacrifice is one-in-ten.

But then, for the first time in over a century, the impossible happens. Sol chooses not one, but two Jade competitors. Teo, and Xio, the thirteen-year-old child of the god of bad luck. Now they must compete in five trials against Gold opponents who are more powerful and better trained. Worst of all, Teo’s annoyingly handsome ex-best friend and famous semidiós Hero, Aurelio is favored to win. Teo is determined to get himself and his friends through the trials unscathed—for fame, glory, and their own survival.

Publication Information:

Author: Aiden Thomas

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (September 6, 2022)

Print length: 413 pages