The Unexpected Consequence of Bleeding on a Tuesday

 

Rating: 4 out of 5 | The diversity of this book is that it redefines disability.

My Thoughts:

Through the trials and tribulations of Delia, the protagonist, Toney tells a semi autobiographical story around how menstruation is a disability for some females that is not recognized by doctors, schools, employers, other females. 

Not only does Delia's life implode very quickly because of her period, but we get to see that this is not the first very public implosion caused by her period. The whole story seems to focus on her during her menstrual cycle, and her period seems to be a constant "flow." 

Although it takes over 8 doctors and a car crash to finally diagnose her endometriosis, along the way, she does have a lot of positives in her life, including a new love and a renewed childhood friendship, so it is not just about the bleeding on Tuesday and all the other days. It is also about hope, determination, love, and awareness. Ms. Toney does a good job of including the many gifts that Delia has in her life and within her, but the bleeding issue does take center stage, as it should.

At first, I felt like this was sooo dramatic, however, I have had debilitating periods in my time, and just luckily had a young OB/GYN who had a diagnosis and cure that was not as drastic as a full hysterectomy. If I had this problem when I was in middle and high school, and not after I had my children, I would be very dramatic too. I just forgot what this felt like, and this book helped me to remember and empathize with Delia. Delia really does have a disability. After all, how can someone with an over 4.0 GPA not be able to graduate on time because she has too many absences? How can a medical issue not be excused because the doctor did not diagnose anything? Or, even when her friend has a known condition, IBS - irritable bowel syndrome, the school still does not let her graduate on time and makes her finish in the summer because she needed to stay home and went over her allowed absences?  

On the website We Need Diverse Books, a non profit organization with a mission to get diverse books into the hands of young readers, they use a broad definition of disabilities in their statement around what they mean by diverse books.

"We subscribe to a broad definition of disability, which includes but is not limited to physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities, chronic conditions, and mental illnesses (this may also include addiction). Furthermore, we subscribe to a social model of disability, which presents disability as created by barriers in the social environment, due to lack of equal access, stereotyping, and other forms of marginalization."

This book hits multiple points of this definition of disability. In addition, it challenges the social barriers that we put up in schools and work places when we force females to ignore this disability or "tough it out," in order to gain equitable opportunities for advancement or learning.  This book is a good POV reminder for us as educators to have some empathy for individual students and be cognizant about what it means to be gifts-centered rather than focus on deficits. 

Side note: I also listened to the audiobook read by Mara Wilson and it is well done. 

From the Publisher:

High school senior Delia Bridges has the most amazing mom and sister, a killer GPA--and periods that are so painful they make her scream, pass out, and throw up. Though she doesn't know it yet, Delia has endometriosis, an affliction plaguing millions of people that is notoriously difficult to diagnose.

Pain makes everything harder, but Delia is just one semester away from graduating from Stockwood Prep and pursuing her dream of becoming the kind of doctor she's never had: one who takes her symptoms seriously. But when she breaks a rule for the first time ever and is caught using marijuana at school to manage her pain, Delia is expelled.

Her expulsion jeopardizes her college acceptance, her planned mentorship, and everything she had carefully planned for years. Without her academic success and no closer to a diagnosis, is Delia anything more than her period?

Publication Information:

• Author: Kelsey B. Toney
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: June 17, 2025
• Print Length: 304 pages
• Grade level: 7- 9
• Audiobook Narrator: Mara Wilson
• Audiobook Publisher: Listening Library
• Listening Length: 7 hours 27 minutes

Akira Failing in Love, Vol. 1

 

 

Rating: 3 of 5 for cute factor and investment worthy

My Thoughts:

This is a wholesome, cute, and funny story about Akira and Hajime. The two teens have had a crush on each other since they were young children, but Akira leaves and their friendship stops. When Akira moves back to the country, Hajime is ecstatic because he still has a crush on Akira even if he has no game and feels inferior to her. 

Little does he know (even through volume 1) that Akira has a long time crush on Hajime too. She needs a script to try and talk to him, but all her ideas fail and the two of them just keep misreading the other person's intentions. Akira is always prepared. She does well in school but she is horrible at sports. Hajima is horrible at school and excels in sports except for the fact that he does not play sports and is prone to injury.

This is a cute story of the misadventures and failures of the two teens. 

From the Publisher:

Akira returns to the countryside for high school with a foolproof scheme to win the heart of her childhood crush, Hajime. Too bad they’re both fools in love!

Highlights of Akira’s carefully orchestrated strategy to court Hajime include covering his eyes with her hands, tricking him into saying her name, and making his heart race. But she might have better luck impressing him with her academic and athletic prowess. Or not. Because he’s too dense to figure out she likes him. And she’s too dense to figure out he likes her back!

Publication Information:

• Author/Illustrator: Shinta Harakawa
• Publisher: VIZ Media, LLC
• Publication Date: March 10, 2026
• Print Length: 216 pages

Kirio Fan Club 1

 

Rating: 3/5 (Teacher's Scale: A solid buy for school libraries or Scholastic fairs; great for capturing "teenage awkwardness")

My Thoughts:

The publisher poses an essential question (EQ) that should probably be stamped on the front of every copy: What would you do if your crush had ear-splitting farts?

That hook alone is a stroke of philosophical genius, providing the exact jolt needed to stand out in a saturated manga market. The art style feels familiar -- classic Kodansha -- which offers a comfortable entry point for readers, but it is the "uhinged" premise that keeps you turning the pages. 

The story follows Aimi and Nami, inseparable friends who are currently "fighting" over their oblivious classmate, Kirio. Their rivalry is intense: at one point, they equate the idea of sharing him to splitting a wet tissue. As for Kirio? He has absolutely no clue he is the center of a romantic arms race.

Just as the girls seem ready to give up, a small gesture--an offered umbrella in the rain--pulls them right back in. To see where the absurdity goes next, you'll have to check out Volume 2. 

From the Publisher:

What would you do if your crush had ear-splitting farts?

Such are the deep, philosophical questions Aimi and Nami, two friends-slash-rivals in romance, ponder as they pull out every unhinged stop to catch the eye of their oblivious classmate Kirio—conducting nightly rituals to entice him into their dreams and listing what they love about him down to the very last organ.

But can their hilarious friendship survive the battle for the heart of this boy who hardly seems to know they exist?

First adapted into a live-action drama and soon to debut as an anime, this rip-roaring romcom will prove once and for all what is fair in love and war—or, if nothing else, what’s fair in love and rock, paper, scissors.

Publication Information:

• Author: Chikyu no Osakana Ponchan (Ponchan, the fish of the world)
• Publisher: Kodansha Comics|Vertical Comics
• Publication Date:  April 28, 2026
• Print length: 164 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

Taxi Ghost (a Graphic Novel)

 

From the Publisher:

In this hilarious and heartwarming graphic novel, a young girl's first period brings an unexpected gift: the ability to see ghosts! As she meets these spectral visitors, she uncovers her family's secret lineage of mediums, while learning about the power of compassion and community.

Adèle just wants to spend her winter break at the library, cozied up with her favorite books, and completely forgetting abut her friends who are all traveling to warmer climates. Unfortunately, life has other plans...not only does Adèle get her first period...but she learns she comes from a long line of mediums!

And if seeing ghosts wasn't enough of a surprise, Adèle learns that not only can she interact with them, but apparently, they've been using her sister's car to get around the city for years! When the ghosts won't leave her alone Adèle starts to get to know about them and their problems. Maybe helping them out will be just what she needs for an exciting winter break!

From Sophie Escabasse, the author of the beloved Witches of Brooklyn, comes a brilliant graphic novel that explores growing up and the importance of standing up for what you believe in.

My Thoughts:

What a shock when Adèle gets her first period and can suddenly see and talk to ghosts. In addition, once these neighborhood ghosts figure out that she can see, hear and talk to them, she starts getting ghosts stalking her. That seems scary to have a ghost out in the snow outside your New York apartment waiting for you, but for Adèle, once she gets over the freak out, she learns so much about these people that have always been in her neighborhood. 

She soon finds out that this ability to see and talk to ghosts is a gift in her family that seems to skip women, but always comes with the first menses cycle. Her older sister does not have the gift, so she can only join her quest vicariously through seemingly one sided conversations. 

There is so much in here that I cannot talk about, but as I'm reading, those scenes still make me smile. The title has to do with the ghosts in her neighborhood putting a ghost mark on people's car so that when they want to go from one place to another, they know which car is going near their "home." That is how Adèle lets her sister know that she has been a Taxi for neighborhood ghosts. Hilarious.

The other funny scene is when Adèle learns that ghosts have a hard time in the NY snow (unless they are very old), so when she wants to take a ghost somewhere (like her cute library friend), she drags a flattened cardboard behind her and the ghost rides along while others think she is just a girl dragging a cardboard sled behind her. 

This is not a book that I would use in whole class activities, however, this is a great book to have in your classroom library for silent independent reading. It is approachable, but it is also complex with both seriousness (gentrification, social justice) as well as levity and spirituality.

Follow this with:

There really is no story like this, but if you look at this as a kind of coming of age story, I would suggest the following. There is no really good fit, so I am looking more at the age level and the use of both social commentary and humor.

• Turtles in Paradise a Graphic Novel by Jennifer L. Holm. Taking place in Key West, Floriday in 1935, Turtle, the main character, is a spunky and convincing liar who finds adventure as a member of the "Diaper Gang."
• Girl on Fire graphic novel by Alicia Keyes. 14 year old Lolo goes through two disturbing incidents in the neighborhood which triggers her superpower abilities. She tries to keep her powers secret, but the local drug dealer wants to use her as a weapon for his crew.
• Sheets by Brenna Thummler. This one is a little more emotional, but it is lovely. Read the review. I cannot do it justice here.

Publication Information:

Author: Sophie Escabasse

Publisher: Random House Graphics (September 3, 2024)

Paperback: 224 pages

ISBN-13: 978-0593565971

Grade level: 3-7

Wrecker

 

My Thoughts:

Middle level books are great examples of good literature that tells a good story, teaches lessons of ethics and morality, and/or shows the gumption and creativity of young adults. In addition, middle level books are full of authors that I trust, including Carl Hiaasen.  Like his Newbery Honor book Hoot, Hiaasen mixes ecology (reef preservation, ban on large cruise ships) and mystery with humor (iguana poop) and contemporary issues. I mistook the cover for a science fiction book, but now that I see it on a larger computer screen, I realize that there are fishes on the cover. I blame it on reading on my phone. 

Here is what I like about Hiaasen's writing style. He grabs interest right away, especially younger male reluctant readers. There is enough intrigue and action to keep readers reading, even if they struggle. This would also be a good book to read at the beginning of class or the beginning of SSR, SURF or any other sustained silent reading protocol teachers do.

If they like this, I would try other YA books by Hiassen, or go old school to Gary Paulsen or Lemony Snickett. 

From the Publisher:

Valdez Jones VIII calls himself Wrecker because his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather salvaged shipwrecks for a living. 

So is it destiny, irony, or just bad luck when Wrecker comes across a speedboat that has run hard aground on a sand flat? The men in the boat don't want Wrecker to call for help—in fact, they'll pay him to forget he ever saw them. 

Wrecker would be happy to forget, but he keeps seeing these men all over Key West—at the marina, in the cemetery, even right outside his own door. And now they want more than his silence—they want a lookout.

He'll have to dive deep into their shady dealings to figure out a way to escape this tangled net. . . .

Publication Information:

Author: Carl Hiaasen

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (September 26, 2023)

Pages: 329 pages

Faraway: Fairy Tales for the Here and Now (audiobook)

My Thoughts: 

Amazon has a series of original stories using familiar fairy tale characters but putting a modern spin on it. Each of the these YA authors offers up a story: Rainbow Rowell, Nic Stone, Soman Chainani, Ken Liu, and Gayle Forman. 

In book form they are separate short stories with audio narration. But I listened to this together like an anthology of shorts with different narrators and sometimes multiple narrators. Each was eerily, disturbingly good in its own way, and every time I thought, this is the best one, another one sucked me in. 

I was going to write about my favorites, but of the five, four of the five were my favorites as I was listening to them. I will just write about the first one but if you have Sora for your class or school, and you can borrow the audio, these are great shorts for personal "reading" time.

"Prince and The Troll" is one of my favorites by Rainbow Rowell. Rowell does a great job with odd relationships like Fangirl and Pumpkinheads.  This story is about Adam, a human male (the troll female character, no name, calls him a prince) who meets a bridge troll in the mud when he drops his phone. There is something sinister about the ROAD, the wizard's ravens, the climate shifts and the weird tension tied to the mud, and the hedge. Then there are the seasonal menu changes of Starbucks. Super intriguing and tense. I don't want to try and spoil it, but I was waiting for claws and teeth to gnash and chomp. 

From the Publisher:

A charming everyman and a mysterious something-under-the-bridge cross paths in a short fairy tale by the number one New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park and the Simon Snow series.

It’s fate when a man accidentally drops his phone off the bridge. It’s fortune when it’s retrieved by a friendly shape sloshing in the muck underneath. From that day forward, as they share a coffee every morning, an unlikely friendship blooms. Considering the reality for the man above, where life seems perfect, and that of the sharp-witted creature below, how forever after can a happy ending be?

From the Publisher:

Two anxious young lovers lost in the woods. A beckoning mansion in a dark clearing. A short modern-day retelling of Hansel and Gretel by the number one New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin.

It’s bad enough that Hazel and Gray have defied the demands of Hazel’s foul stepfather. The Monster has forbidden their romance. Now they’ve awakened in the forest, phones dead, hours past curfew. But not far away is a grand estate in the middle of nowhere. The door is open. In this short story about choosing your own path, the fury of the Monster that awaits them back home may be nothing compared to what lies ahead.

 

From the Publisher:

The victims are the most popular girls in school, each murdered and arranged in a grim fairy-tale tableau. To find the killer, rookie detective Callum Pederson has gone undercover where the Princes hold court. He’s found enough secrets among the bros to bring them in for questioning—but he could very well get lost in the games the Princes play.

From the Publisher:

Touch the past or wash it away? Two sisters have a choice in this unforgettable short story of everyday magic and the power of memory by the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author Ken Liu.

Gui is a professional cleaner at A Fresh Start, scrubbing away the unpleasant layers of memory that build up on the personal objects of his customers. Memory-blind himself, he can’t feel those wounds. Clara can, and she prefers them irretrievable. Until her sister, Beatrice, ultrasensitive to memory, raises one that could change Clara’s mind. For Gui, the past is gone. For Clara and Beatrice, deciding what to remember reaches to the heart of their shared history.

From the Publisher:

The reviled villainesses of Snow White, Cinderella, and Rapunzel team up to set the record straight in a subversively funny short story by the number one New York Times bestselling author of If I Stay.

Envious queen? Evil stepmother? Kidnapping hag? Elsinora, Gwendolyn, and Marguerite are through with warts-and-all tabloids, ugly lies, and the three ungrateful brats who pitted them against each other and the world. But maybe there’s more to the stories than even the Wickeds know. Is it time to finally get revenge? After all, they’re due for a happily-enough-ever-after. Even if they have to write it themselves.

Going Places

Description:

Everyone had high expectations for Hudson Wheeler. His fourth grade teacher even wrote to his parents that Hudson was "going places." But everything went downhill after his father died on the battlefield of Iraq one year later. Now facing his senior year of high school without his two best friends by his side and with his teacher's letter still haunting him, Hudson seizes homeschooling as an opportunity to retreat from the world.

What happens during this year will prove to be anything but a retreat, as Hudson experiences love and rejection for the first time and solves the painful mystery of the “girl in the window”—an apparition seen only by the WWII vet whose poignant plight forces Hudson out of the comfort zone of boyhood.

Going Places is a peek into what male adolescence looks like today for those who don't follow traditional paths as they strive to find themselves.

My take:

There are a lot of stories like this in one way, but not enough in another. Hudson Wheeler chooses to forego his senior year and home school himself, not because he is angry or bullied or painfully awkward. That makes him different because he is not angsty or depressed. He actually is set on not  falling into the trap of post high school expectations but he does this with a  proposal to his mother to both take two classes at the high school (yoga and AP art), work at his two businesses that he creates (dog walking and Distress Dial for seniors with emergencies just below 911), and work on his graphic novel. He does that, but that is just one small part of a very convoluted and bustling story line. I think we need more stories like this about what home schooling might look like. Hudson's life is more about choosing an alternative path than dropping out, hiding out, religious zeal or disappointment and fear about the public school system

What also makes this different from other YA is that he is not the strong female protagonist, and as an 18 year old, he is pretty wimpy, but his commitment to his work and the maturity he shows to do what needs to be done is unusual. Sigh, unfortunately, he is still a doofus in the love department, just that he is not clueless as to how much of a doofus he is, he just cannot help it. 

Hudson, by the end of the book, becomes the heroic lead but not because of what he does. More because of the cast of side characters that he holds on to: Fritzy, Mr. Pirckle, his mom, his dead father, even Jennifer the pink male poodle. This book is not a fast read because the characters are eccentric and shooting off in different directions, but they are going places and the journey, not the destination is the adventure. 

A digital advanced copy provided by Net Galley and the publisher for an honest review. 

Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid by Lemony Snicket

Title: Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid

Author: Lemony Snicket
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: April 24, 2007
Hardcover: 176 pages
ISBN: 978-0061240065





Although the reading level for this book is at ages 9-12, the irreverent humor in this book may be lost on the young. In true Lemony Snicket, doom and gloom style, this book is the darker twin of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books. They are aphorisms and short "truths" about home, family, school, work, entertainment, literature, travel, emotional health, affairs of the heart, a life of mystery, the mystery of life, and an overall feeling of doom that one cannot ever escape no matter what one does.

The snippet on the back cover says, "Life is a turbulent journey, fraught with confusion, heartbreak, and inconvenience. This book will not help." True, this book will not help if you are stuck in a conundrum or a barrel of monkeys, but I found myself chuckling out loud, then looking around to see if people were looking at me strangely. The only bad thing about this book was when I thought that something was extremely funny, then shared it with someone and they didn't get the same wicked smile on their face as I did. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this book is not for Snicket amateurs.