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Weekend Pick for March 31, 2023

3/31/2023

Weekend Pick for March 31, 2023

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For our final pick of March, I would love to share Tess Sharpe’s The Girls I’ve Been. Not only is this soon to be a film starring beloved Millie Bobbie Brown, but it is one of the best page turning mysteries I’ve read in the last year.

The premise: Three teens. Two bank robbers. One way out.

The Girls I’ve Been follows Nora O’ Malley who is an expert at shape shifting and becoming different versions of herself. The daughter of a con artist who targeted criminal men, Nora grew up as her mother’s protege until her mother fell in love with a mark. Then Nora had to pull her own con–escaping from the life and the girls she had been. Nora quickly learns however, “...some traits you can dye away and some names you can forge fresh, but you can’t hide from your true self and the lessons you learned in the dark” (Sharpe, 2021, p.51).

This becomes even more true for Nora when after several years of living a “normal” life, she has three problems develop: her ex finding out about her new love interest, the awkward errand to the bank the three of them have to complete, and the unexpected danger they are put in when two robbers begin a bank heist. Together, Nora and her friends, Wes and Iris, work together to confront their individual struggles and care for each other while trying to hide from the bank robbers just how important a hostage Nora is.

Layered and fast paced, Sharpe’s novel addresses domestic abuse, endometriosis, and trauma recovery. Through powerful narratives shifting between present time in the bank heist to past versions of Nora’s life, readers gain insight into the ways in which we have the capacity to heal and step fully into our own power, not just for ourselves but to care for others, too. For fans of heist and crime thrillers, this book delivers an enveloping narrative that will captivate your attention and perhaps make you stay up reading past your bedtime!
Until next time, keep reading!
Cammie

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Weekend Pick March 24, 2023

3/24/2023

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Weekend Pick for March 24, 2023

For this week’s pick, I want to share Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert. Hibbert, a beloved adult author, has written their first young adult novel as part of the new imprint founded by David and Nicola Yoon, Joy Revolution. As explained by Yoon, "Joy Revolution will tell stories with people of color as their heroes, each searching for love and living their lives on their own terms. It’ll be a safe haven for readers to celebrate the full beauty of their humanity." This novel certainly brings the joy, love, and hilarious banter that we all need!

Set in the UK, Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute follows two main characters–Bradley Graeme and Celine Bangura. At the start of the novel, Bradley Graeme in everyone’s eyes, but his ex-best friend Celine’s, is pretty much perfect. Athletic, smart, and skilled at managing his OCD, Brad seems to achieve the balance of kind, cute, funny, and focused–except when he ends up in the same philosophy class as Celine.

Holding on to a years’ old rivalry and abandonment issues, Celine loathes Bradley. Though a social media star focused on conspiracy theories ranging from UFOs to holiday overconsumption, Celine views herself as though she’s not cool enough for the popular crowd which stole Bradley’s attention. Therefore, Celine has forged her own path to success and continued to pursue her dreams while swapping petty insults and academic competitions with Brad. When a string of events set in motion Brad and Celine being in the same scholarship wilderness program, the two enemies and ex-best friends are forced to reconsider their messy past. Forced to work as a team, their adventures draw them closer together and help them remember the good times of their past, but the question remains whether this is enough to repair their friendship or perhaps spark something completely new between the two?

Hibbert’s tale of braving the wilderness and reconnecting with people from your past draws readers in with wit, heart, and curiosity of how these hijinx will turn out. Though focused on Bradley and Celine, the full cast of characters bring new depth to every kind of love–parental, sibling, and self. Reading this story feels like an adventure and an affirmation of the interconnectedness we all share with each other. As one of my students said, “Books can be part of a healing process. This story has all the things–Black boy joy, body positivity, parents who actually parent, positive views of disability…all of this is so normal in this wonderful world.” So I hope that you will take the time to consider checking out this debut novel and immerse yourself in Hibbert’s wonderful world!

Until next time, keep reading!
Cammie

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Weekend Pick March 17, 2023

3/17/2023

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Weekend Pick March 17, 2023

As we make our way toward the middle of March, for this week’s weekend pick I’d like to recommend one of my new favorite middle grade novels, I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day.

Day’s debut novel, I Can Make This Promise is inspired by her own family’s history. The story begins with twelve year old Edie, who has known her whole life that her mother was adopted by a white couple. So, though Edie remains curious about her Native American heritage, she is sure her family doesn’t have any answers to quell her questions. Until, Edie and friends discover a hidden box in the attic while preparing for a film project. Full of letters signed “Love, Edith,” accompanied by a photograph of a woman who looks just like Edie, she begins to wonder how her and this woman who shares her name are connected. Edie asks herself: Could this woman belong to the Native family I’ve never met? Why wouldn’t my mom tell me the truth? Can I trust my parents to tell me the truth now?

Full of historical truths and compassion, I Can Make This Promise brings readers into accessible conversations about the very real consequences of Indigenous child separation and the ways that connection to Native community matters for intergenerational healing. Edie’s journey, while situated within the mystery of finding who Edith is, also develops important themes throughout about identity development, bullying, and the friendships worth keeping. Edie’s curiosity, empathy, and passion certainly captured my heart. All of Day’s novels are exceptional, but my children’s literature students agree, I Can Make This Promise remains vital for our current times.

If you want to learn more about Christine Day, I highly recommend visiting her website where she has provided insightful educator guides with discussion questions, reading activities, and additional historical context for the novel.

Until next week, keep reading!
Cammie

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Weekend Pick for March 10, 2023

3/10/2023

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Weekend Pick for March 10, 2023

This week for the celebration of International Women’s Day (March 8, 2023), I want to return to the incredible, poetic work of Jas Hammonds’s We Deserve Monuments. Framed with the question: What’s more important: Knowing the truth or keeping the peace? Hammonds’s debut novel explores themes of intergenerational trauma, friendship, love, and the secrets we keep.

The story follows 17 year old Avery Anderson who in the middle of her senior year moves to small town Bardell, Georgia from her life in DC after news of her grandmother’s terminal illness. Upon Avery’s arrival, she quickly realizes there are unspoken past secrets and hostile tensions between her grandmother, Mama Letty, and her mother, Zora. Impatient with the lack of communication, Avery decides to investigate deeper unearthing drama and new depths to her mother and grandmother’s lives.

Despite these family tensions, Avery discovers friendship in unexpected ways with Simone Cole, her next door neighbor, and Jade Oliver, the daughter of the town’s most prominent, wealthy family–whose murder remains unsolved. As Avery grows closer to Simone and Jade, she discovers both a budding first love and hints at more insidious histories connecting Bardell and Avery’s family. While confronting Mama Letty's declining health, Avery reaches a breaking point– to dig for the truth at the risk of disrupting her newly built relationships or to leave some truths buried.

We Deserve Monuments serves as the perfect pick to celebrate the complex, interconnected relationships between generations of all women. Through Avery’s story and Hammonds’s expert writing, we learn about the tension and deep love that bonds together three generations of mothers and daughters as well as the beautiful, safe spaces created in our chosen friendships and romantic partnerships. This novel brings to light the hard truths of history while calling for actions in the present to revel in the unique gift each person offers to our collective communities. Hammonds ends their acknowledgements declaring, “...dear reader, whoever you may be. You deserve monuments, too.”

As I read this alongside YA students this week, I learned so much about how layered stories like We Deserve Monuments can offer a multitude of entry points for each of us as readers as well as provide rich conversation that invites the sharing of our own stories. As one student said, “This is the perfect book club book!” I cannot recommend this slow burn mystery, powerful exploration of the bonds that define us, and story of love highly enough. May you discover pieces of yourself along the journey to celebrate, and may you honor the histories and stories of others.

If you want to hear more from Jas, I highly recommend their conversation with fellow YA author, Mark Oshiro and encourage you to check out their instagram page and website which is full of playlists, discussion activities, and more.

Until next week, keep reading!
Cammie

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Weekend Pick for March 3, 2023

3/3/2023

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Weekend Pick for March 3, 2023

No Place Like Home
By James Bird

Dr. Susan Densmore- James
The Book Dealer

“I hope I still have hope. I can’t tell if I do. I’m too tired to remember what hope feels like.”

I read incessantly and gain knowledge while experiencing joy and comfort with nearly ever book I read. But, every once in a while, there is a book that grabs hold of me and won’t let go. The bar was set high when I was handed Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher, the first YA book that transformed my life as a teacher and person. Even as I age and struggle with remembering many parts of my life, I can tell the story of who blessed me with this book (the amazing librarian at Rachel Carson Middle School in Virginia) what year it was (2001), the names of the students in my class who read and talked about it with me (too many to even count), and the vast impact it had on all of us.

That was THE year I fell in love with Middle Grades/Young Adult Literature. The librarian (who refused to be called a media specialist) taught me that books are so much more than a necessary part of the English curriculum. Sure, books are the “acquaintances” to important facts. But, books are life’s most important teachers. Books are our best friends. The best of these book friends challenges our thinking while also bringing love, peace, understanding, and often humor to our lives. When I share books through reviews, I make sure those selected contain a little bit of all these elements; they are magic in our hands and hearts.

After the same aforementioned librarian convinced me to discard the idea of a “class novel,” I slowly began to give choice reading in my class (I am NOT the quickest to the draw….it took me 10 years of teaching to realize the power of this decision), and a whole new universe was revealed to me, mostly by the discussions of my students of the stories THEY loved. Because when it comes to teaching, it is not about me. It is about those precious youngsters who truly love to read when given the chance to read what they love.

Over the course of now nearly 25 years, there have been a handful of books in my life that impacted me as much as Crutcher’s. These are the books have help to transform me into a better human, and I look to books to continue to do so, as I often fall short as a citizen of this planet. This week, I read one that will forever be part of my soul: James Bird’s book No Place Like Home. I had the unique experience of silence (which anyone who knows me knows is rare) for several days. It even took me a while to pen this review. I honestly had to make sense of my emotions and the impact of Bird’s 12-year-old narrator, Opin. This book has been constantly in my thoughts, bringing tears of sorrow for our hurting world, but it also springs tears of hope for a better human race. Yes, I am crying right now as I type this review.

Bird masterfully begins his story with a prologue which sets the stage for an emotionally enlightening reading of an authentic view of living life with no home. I use this phrase “life with no home” because after reading this book, I will never view homelessness in the same way by carelessly flinging “homeless” around in a way that it easily gets lost. The prologue connects Bird to his audience, reminding us that life “tests your patience, your courage, your limits, and even tests your heart.” He goes on to remind us that life does not come with a “cheat sheet” or “set of directions.” And even leaves the reader with a glimpse of hope that life often gets better as we learn more about it. I continually leaned on this prologue to remind me that James is sharing this story for his readers to have a true understanding of Opin’s life living in his cramped, red Pinto. Bird speaks his truth in a way that naturally challenges the reader’s thinking on so many critical topics, a courageous task I am sure was not an easy endeavor for this author, emotionally or otherwise.

Throughout the book, the reader rides along with Opin, his mother, and his older brother, Emjay. The family is struggling to get to Los Angelos on literally a hope and a prayer as at least two of them (Opin and his Momma) remain faithful to the wisdom of their Native American ancestors and culture. In fact, mom does quite well teaching Opin Oijbwe culture and so much about the world around them. Emjay, the jaded older brother of the two boys, goes missing for days at a time, making the family’s journey slow and worrisome for their mother. Then, Opin finds a stray dog who needs him as much as he needs her, and his longing for a stable home intensifies, as his brother's seemingly selfish ways make the trip even more trying.

Bird creates a stunning, character-driven novel that is an intimate portrayal of life without a home. The best character-driven novels will reel you in and keep you hooked as you dive deeply into the innermost workings of complex fictional people, and this book is just that: a superbly crafted character driven novel. But unlike many of these types of novels, this novel is not a slow burn. It is not easy to put down. There were many reasons I loved this book, but some of the strongest ones relate to his Mom, who would do anything to protect her boys. Making the decision to leave an abusive husband in hopes of a better life for her children is the bravest act imaginable to me as a single mother. Additionally, no matter if it was my first day of teaching in 1990 or today, this novel will deeply resonate with teachers and students alike. So many are living without homes. Without walking two miles in Opin’s shoes, one can never hear it and attempt to understand it from his perspective. Bird is a master at counterbalancing a traumatic experience with the love, wisdom, faith, and imagination of this family. Their love of music and art reminds us to fully appreciate the beauty in the world. Their gratefulness for the small things in life leads the reader to reflect on the gift of gratitude.

And, no matter the age: middle schooler, teen, or adult, readers will connect with one character quickly but end up loving each for various reasons. Opin’s old-soul attitude and mindset, along with his creativity and goodness, made me fall in love with him. Emjay, although at times quite self-centered, displays a loyalty to his little brother that seems to emerge at just the right time (despite his heroic efforts to NOT care). And the mom. Oh, the mom. She is a force of nature that will stop at nothing to ensure her “babies” are ok. This book is well-worth the wide range of emotions the reader will feel. And truly, I am a better person for taking this journey with this trio.

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Weekend Pick for March 31, 2023

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