#MischiefManaged

It’s hard to believe it has been almost fifteen years since my first Librarina post went live, but I guess it makes sense when I consider the fact that my son, who was a baby at the time, is now closing in on sixteen!  It’s amazing to look back on my journey — from working very part-time to working full time, then attempting to be a “mostly stay at home mom,” only to end up working part-time again. 

Along the way, I transitioned from doing one tween book group per month at my “old” library, to being fully responsible for their YA collection development and teen programming. For the decade that I was there, it only made sense to pour myself into a blog dedicated to YA literature. Over the last five years, nevertheless, I have shifted gears entirely to focus on toddler and preschool storytimes, while occasionally subbing at the reference desk, at my “new” library.

Now that I am no longer working directly with tweens and teens, and I am not performing any YA collection development, I have found that the Librarina spark is gone.  Rather than being excited about the endless possibilities of YA books to read and review, I have found myself becoming more and more anxious about simply keeping up with my blog.  As difficult as it is to think about writing the final chapter in this book of my life, I have a lot of other books I would like to write — both literally and figuratively. 

So I am moving forward with a plan to keep reading and listening to audiobooks whenever the spirit moves me, and I will no longer hold myself accountable for keeping up with the depth and breadth of the YA literature universe.  I will simply follow my reading/listening interests, wherever they may take me, for the purposes of personal enrichment and entertainment. And while I will do my best to keep tabs on my reading progress via my Goodreads account, I will no longer feel compelled to write in-depth reviews as I have done on this blog. 

Although I know I don’t necessarily *need* to explain myself, I feel like y’all deserve to know that (1) I haven’t fallen off the face of the planet and (2) all is well with me. I am simply moving on and using my time for other personal and professional adventures…

Happy Reading and DFTBA!

#MischiefManaged

The Beautiful [series] by Renée Ahdieh

I actually read The Beautiful last year, soon after it first came out, but I didn’t end up reviewing it on here. Why? I’m not quite sure, to tell the truth.  I readily acknowledge that I don’t do a full review for every book I read, but I usually take the time to at least acknowledge that I read a book and to give it a stars rating on my Goodreads account. My best guess is that I was on a tear with my reading, finished it really fast, and it just kinda slipped through the cracks. Trust me — it was definitely not anything to do with the quality of the story!

If you are a fan of vampire books but prefer Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles over Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, this is a series you are going to need to check out.  La Cour des Lions, in late 19th century New Orleans, is such a sumptuous backdrop for this tale of murder, mystery, and romance.  My only complaints are that (1) I can’t fully keep straight what happened in book one and what happened in book two (so I can’t really say much without getting “spoilery”), and (2) I can’t find any indication of when I should expect to get my hands on the third book in the series!!!!!!!!!  Suffice it to say that this would be an excellent book to add to your Halloween and/or #TeenTober book lists.

Happy Reading!

Fable by Adrienne Young

Not only did Fable watch her mother drown during a horrible storm, but then her father (a powerful trader named Saint) abandoned her on a desolate island full of thieves.  Using the skills her mother had taught her, Fable survived by diving and mining pyre that she could trade for coppers.  After scrimping and saving for a time, Fable suddenly found herself under attack and in need of a quick escape.  Fortunately, she managed to find passage through the Narrows on a ship with a trader named West.  Something seemed off about this ship, though.  And it wasn’t just the fact that West was so young, or that he had a particularly small crew…  When they stopped in a port to do some trading, Fable couldn’t help but notice some further abnormalities about their business dealings.  When this stop also revealed something peculiar about Fable, though, it became clear that she and the crew would have to learn to trust one another if she was going to stay alive, let alone find her way back to her father.

I loved so many things about this book.  From the strong female characters, to GLBTQ+ representation, to the fact that it was such a well-paced and adventure-packed story, there are doorways to attract all sorts of readers!  I can’t wait to read the sequel, Namesake (due out in 2021).

Happy Reading!

Slay by Brittney Morris

Kiera Johnson is unique in many ways.  Not only is she one of the very few Black students at her elite private high school, but she is also a female who excels in math and computer programming.  There are a lot of reasons why she doesn’t feel like she belongs when she is at school, but she is grateful to have a place where she feels right at home — in the virtual world of SLAY.  Nobody in her “real life” circle knows that Kiera has created/designed this game.  Heck, they don’t even know that she plays!  She is particularly concerned with how her boyfriend might react because he believes that video games are a tool that contributes to the “downfall of the Black man.”  She isn’t quite sure how she could explain to him (and her other friends and family) quite what it means to have a place where she can simply be herself without worrying if she will seem “too Black” to some people or “not Black enough” to others.  But that is exactly what SLAY provides for her and  all of the other players from around the world.

When a teenager in Kansas City is killed over an altercation related to SLAY, though, Kiera finds herself torn.  Should she reveal her identity and actively defend the game now that people are blaming SLAY for his death?  Could she actually be sued for discrimination over the fact that the game is only intended for Black players, as conservative pundits seem to believe?  Would it put a strain on her relationship with friends and family members?  This story does an excellent job exploring racial dynamics in America, particularly the idea of racism and exclusion as it applies to Black people wanting safe spaces in which to explore and celebrate their collective history.  One of the most important ideas that this book puts forth is that Black experiences are unique and varied, and that idea is summed up very well by one of my favorite quotes from this book: 

I think I love SLAY so much because we’re a mutually empathetic collective. As we duel, as we chat, there’s an understanding that “your Black is not my Black” and “your weird is not my weird” and “your beautiful is not my beautiful,” and that’s okay.

Happy Reading!

Mayhem by Estelle Laure

Mayhem is a Brayburn.  That family name meant a lot to the people of Santa Maria, California, but Mayhem herself didn’t really understand the significance of her lineage until she and her mom finally returned to their hometown.  They had left town more than a decade before when Mayhem’s father died, presumably by suicide, and ended up settling in a small Texas town.  And though Roxy was a victim of both emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her new husband, Lyle, that wasn’t the main source of the chronic pain that she always seemed to be trying to escape with booze and pills.  Mayhem had no idea what caused this pain, though, because Roxy refused to talk about it — or, really, about their past at all.

This book is touted by many as a female-led, feminist retelling of The Lost Boys, and that definitely got me interested to check it out in the first place.  As I was reading it, though, I couldn’t help but think of The Tear Collector by Patrick Jones.  Why?  The Brayburn women were very powerful creatures — almost like vampires, but not quite.  They were mysterious and seductive, and absolutely deadly if left unchecked… But they didn’t feed on blood and had an alternative source to their mystical powers.  Does that have you curious?  If so, this is a good book to add to your TBR list.

Happy Reading!

Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power

Margot didn’t know really know anything about her mother’s past.  All she knew was that she and her mother have seemingly always been on their own.  Her mom never discussed the past, so Margot knew absolutely nothing about the family and/or town from which her mother came.  Their day-to-day struggle to survive was all Margot truly knew.  She and her mother lived in a rundown apartment and had hardly enough to keep on living, though her mom occasionally pawned some of her posessions to get extra money for food or bills.  The weirdest thing was that her mom has a habit of pawning her things and then buying them back — like she just couldn’t bear to part with the physical reminders of her past, even though she refused to talk about it.  So, one day Margot decided to go to the pawn shop alone.  She knew it was against her mother’s rules, but she just had to see if there was anything that would give her any clues about the past. And that was when she found the Bible.

Inside the Bible, Margot found an inscription from her grandmother and a photograph.  On the back of the photograph was a phone number, so she mustered up all the courage she had and called.  After speaking to her grandmother, she decided she was going to make her way back to her mother’s hometown to finally meet and learn about her family…  But, she had no idea the strange horrors that would await her.  This story had one of the most bizarre twists I’ve ever discovered, and it will surely stick with me for a long time to come.  If you enjoy mysteries, horror, and magical realism, you’ve gotta check this story out.

Happy Reading!

Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle

I can’t speak for all of y’all, but I know that this has been one heck of a stressful year for me.  Anxiety + Pandemic + Civil Unrest = Woof…..  And as much as I like to learn from things that I read, I also appreciate and even *need* a good “fluff” read now and again.  I fully intended to read Let It Snow when it first came out, but I somehow kept putting off (for 12 years?!?) because there was always seemed to be something else more pressing, it wasn’t the right season, it wasn’t available when I was ready to read it, etc.  Well, let’s just say I am glad the stars finally aligned and got me to a place where I got back to it.  Not only was I seeing “Christmas in July” posts everywhere, but I also saw that this book was immediately available as an audiobook on OverDrive AND that it has apparently been adapted for Netflix. Though I have been having a heck of a time either finding the time or concentrating well enough to actually sit down and read for the last four months or so, I still have plenty of dishes and laundry to keep up with, so audiobooks work really well for me.  And *this* audiobook?  Well, my only complaint is that it was three short stories and, therefore, ended far too quickly!

Not only are John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle all well known in the realm of YA fiction (and were all especially popular at the time when this book was first published), but their writing styles mesh incredibly well.  Even better?  Their stories overlap, which helped because I was so sad to think I had to leave Jubilee and Stuart behind when the first of the short stories ended.  Some people will probably find these stories to be a little too treacly sweet, but there is plenty of humor and mischief thrown in for good measure.  And whether you’re more interested in a story of a girl whose Christmas was ruined when her parents got arrested in an ornament/Christmas village riot, the guys who risked it all to bring a Twister game to the cheerleaders trapped at the Waffle House during a blizzard, or the Starbucks barista whose friendship depends on procuring a teacup piglet, I think there’s a little something fun in each of the stories.

Happy Reading!

The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater

Between the fact that it is #PrideMonth and the fact that the #BlackLivesMatter movement is shining a light on the racial disparities of the US criminal justice system, I almost felt like it was kismet that I listened to this audiobook this week.  I had added this book to my TBR list so long ago that I honestly forgot what it was about and simply knew it was something about two teenagers who crossed paths on a bus one day.  Yeah…  It was way bigger than that!

Sasha (they/them/their) was a white teen who attended a small private school where their “genderqueer” identity was simply accepted and taken in stride.  The fact that they preferred to wear skirts was not really a big deal to anyone in their family or their circle of friends.  Richard (he/him/his) was a black teen who attended a large public school and, though he wanted to turn around his life and graduate from high school, still hung out with people who made poor choices (like stealing and fighting).  On the day that Sasha and Richard crossed paths, while riding the 57 bus home from their respective schools, Richard made a stupid and impulsive decision.  Egged on by friends, and not knowing how incredibly flammable Sasha’s skirt would actually be, Richard flicked a lighter and held it to Sasha’s skirt.  He thought it would be funny to see the shock and confusion of that “guy in a skirt” waking up to see their skirt had caught fire.  He assumed Sasha would wake up moments after he flicked the lighter, pat out the fire, and that would be that.  In reality, though, Sasha’s skirt enveloped them in flames and caused severe burns to their legs, and Richard was left facing the possibility of life in prison if he was tried as an adult for this “hate crime.”

The story alternates between Sasha’s and Richard’s sides of the story and presents both factual information about the case and the emotional rollercoaster that they and their families experienced.  Not only did this story provide information about this specific case, but it also provided a great deal of background information about the GLBTQ community and the US criminal justice system.  The author presented a primer on GLBTQ terminology people may not necessarily know (along with a disclaimer that terminology often changes and that people should respect the terminology used by individuals when they describe themselves) and included an abbreviated timeline of issues affecting GLBTQ people, particularly those who are transgender or agender.  I really appreciated how the author focused on the vast disparities between the sentences and future outcomes of white juvenile offenders and black juvenile offenders in America from the 1980s through today.  Unless we recognize the inequality within our criminal justice system, we cannot work to change it.

Long story short, this book gives me hope.  Hope that we can move forward to be more accepting of people whose identities do not match our own and that our criminal justic system *can* be fixed if people continue to insist on reform.  The most remarkable thing about this story, in my opinion, is how Sasha and their parents not only forgave Richard for his incredibly stupid mistake but also fought for him to be tried as a juvenile.  That right there says it all.  By responding with forgiveness instead of hate, and working to understand one another better, we can make this world a better place.

Happy Reading!

This Is My America by Kim Johnson

Imagine how confused, frustrated, and angry you would feel if your father had been in jail for more than seven years when you knew he was innocent.  At the conclusion of a case based on rumors and speculation, with a stunning lack of evidence, Tracy’s father was sentenced to death row for a double homicide he didn’t commit.  And with less than a year until his pending execution, Tracy was starting to feel desperate.  Because her family didn’t have the money to hire a high powered attorney, she put all her hopes into getting the attention of an organization called Innocence X.  She wrote them letters every single week begging them to take on her father’s case, but it seemed her letters must have been getting lost in the maelstrom of letters coming from other families with the same hope.  And then, something even worse happened…  Her brother, Jamal, is suddenly accused of the murder of a white girl.  Instead of continuing his running career at college the following year, Jamal suddenly finds himself running from the law and running for his life.  Will Tracy’s tenacity pay off now that she is trying to help her brother, or will she discover that it’s impossible to find true justice if you are black and living in a racist Texas town?

I have said it before, and I will say it again. #BlackLivesMatter. Right now, we are seeing a huge surge in protests over violence and systemic racism against black people. I am so happy to see that white allies in all 50 states and in many nations around the world are stepping up and fighting alongside our black brothers and sisters to bring much needed reform to our so-called criminal justice system.  There are a lot of lists of books and movies that are recommended for people who would like to better grasp the reality of American history and to understand the ways that the proliferation of systemic racism is still effecting black people today, and there is no doubt in my mind that this book will join them after it is released next month.

Happy Reading!

The Betrothed by Kiera Cass

Lady Hollis, like many other girls who grew up in and around the castle, was brought up with the goal of marrying well.  Even if she didn’t win the favor of King Jameson, it was assumed that she would be matched with a high ranking lord of the court. And yet, it still seemed to come as a surprise when she discovered that the king intended to ask for her hand in marriage.  Suddenly, she was not so sure that being a queen was really what she wanted for her life. With money and power, it was assumed that she would want for nothing.  But could she handle raising children who might be used as political pawns?  And wouldn’t she rather have a husband who valued her opinions instead of one who would encourage her to silently fall in line?  Though her parents seemed to think her self-discovery had impossibly terrible timing, she felt it may have been just in the nick of time… Especially since she recently met another young man, Silas, to whom she could easily imagine being wed.

If you enjoyed The Selection, you should probably check this one out too.  Though you may want to wait for the second book in the duology to come out [it’s expected to be out sometime in 2021] if you can’t handle perching on the edge of your seat for quite that long…  The last bit of this book had quite the unexpected twist, and I am dying to know how it will all end!

Happy Reading!