On the day that seventeen-year-old Che’s little sister Rosa was born, his mother told him that he was going to have to look out for Rosa. His father added, “Protect her from the world.” But now that Rosa is ten,…
Tag: review
Review: The Quickest Kid In Clarksville
At the 1960 Olympic Games, African American sprinter Wilma Rudolph became the first woman from the United States to win three gold medals at the same Olympics. Rudolph grew up in Clarksville, Tennessee, a segregated town. After her victories, Rudolph…
Review: American Girls by Alison Umminger
My first Manson girl was Leslie Van Houten, the homecoming princess with the movie-star smile. She was on death row at nineteen for putting a knife into the already-dead body of some poor, random woman for the lamest reason that…
Review: Salt To The Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Last month I reviewed the middle grade novel Pax by Sara Pennypacker. This month I am reviewing a young adult novel that also explores the effects of war on our world. While Pax explores these effects in a near future,…
Review: Pax by Sara Pennypacker
The Fox felt the car slow before the boy did, as he felt everything first. So begins Sara Pennypacker’s middle grade novel Pax (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, February 2016), a book about many things, including the effects of war. Not some…
Review: All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely (Atheneum, 2015) takes place over the span of one week – the week after a white police officer brutally beats an African American teen boy. It’s told in alternating points of…
Review: Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash
Every so often I read an article or hear someone argue that lgbtq+ literature for teens needs to move beyond coming out and coming of age stories. I disagree. Of course we need more stories of all kinds featuring lgbtq+…
Interview with Pat Schmatz About Lizard Radio
“I do not believe.” So begins Pat Schmatz’s new YA novel Lizard Radio (September 8, 2015, Candlewick Press). It is a perfect first line for a book largely about belief – belief in one’s self, belief in a government and…
Review: Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed
High school senior Naila’s conservative immigrant parents believe that they offer her ample freedom. She may choose how she wears her hair, she has a non-Pakistani best friend, and they are even planning to allow her to go away to…
Review: Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson
Serena Williams just won her twenty-first singles grand-slam title, and yet there has been more discussion about her body and femininity than about the sheer brilliance of her performance or her dedication to her sport. The U.S. Women’s National Soccer…