Completely Full Bookshelf

For #IMWAYR, I am recommending The Hate U Give  by Angie Thomas. A word of caution to any young readers: this book is a YA (young adult) novel, not an MG (middle grade) novel and contains some mature content.           Quite frankly, this book barely needs my recommendation, considering that it was probably the most-discussed, most-read, and most-important book of 2017 (also quite frankly, I'm unsure how it took me 3 years to start this book—I still feel like it just came out!). Regardless, I'm still reviewing it. ;)           The Hate U Give  revolves around Starr Carter, a high school student who spends her life divided between two worlds, so to speak. She and her family live in Garden Heights, a predominantly-black neighborhood that is home to gangs and drug dealers but is also a closely-knit community of neighbors who help each other (certainly something largely absent from today's society). However, Starr attends...

For MMGM and #IMWAYR, I am recommending New Kid  by Jerry Craft.           Winner of both the Newbery Medal (the first graphic novel ever to win!) and the Coretta Scott King Award for 2020, New Kid  tells the story of Jordan Banks, a seventh-grader who enjoys drawing comics and cartoons. Jordan wants to go to art school, but his parents send him to Riverdale Academy Day School, where he struggles to fit in as a new student on financial aid (his family is not poor, but the school is very expensive) who also happens to be one of the only non-white students around. Jordan has to deal with the regular struggles of school (bullies, sports, weird kids, making friends, getting lost at a new school, etc.), but he also has to deal with stares and racial biases both unconscious and conscious. As Jordan starts to get acquainted with the school and begins to make good friends, however, he starts to realize that being the new kid maybe isn't so bad after all...

Today is an exciting day for this blog, as this is my first post for "It's Monday - What Are You Reading?" (or #IMWAYR)! I discovered this group of bloggers after noticing that Ms. Yingling , the near-superhuman librarian and daily MG book reviewer, posts for both MMGM (which I participate in regularly) and #IMWAYR. I am excited to both continue my participation in MMGM and also participate in #IMWAYR, especially since it gives me the opportunity to try my hand at reviewing YA novels! MMGMers, if you're interested in participating in #IMWAYR, learn about it on its co-host blogs, Teach Mentor Texts (by Jen Vincent) and Unleashing Readers (by Kellee Moye). Likewise, #IMWAYRers, if you're interested in participating in MMGM, learn about it on its host blog, Always in the Middle (by Greg Pattridge). Lastly, a word of caution: this book is a YA (young adult) novel, not an MG (middle grade) novel and contains some mature content. With all of that done, I am recom...

I will not have a post tomorrow, but I plan to have one next Monday, so stay tuned!

Before we get to MMGM, I want to mention hugely exciting news : fellow MMGMer Joanne R. Fritz's MG debut, Everywhere Blue , is slated to be released in summer 2021 by publisher Holiday House! Read more on Fritz's blog here . For MMGM, I am recommending Where the Mountain Meets the Moon  by Grace Lin.           The recipient of a Newbery Honor in 2010 (quite frankly, it probably could have won the Newbery Medal if  When You Reach Me  by Rebecca Stead had not come out in the same year), Where the Mountain Meets the Moon  is one of the best books I have ever read. I am unsure why I waited so many years after reading it to review it (I recall reading the whole book in a 2-hour sitting), but I am glad that I did, as I am a much-better reviewer now than I was when I started this blog!           Where the Mountain Meets the Moon  tells the story of Minli, a girl who lives in an ancient village near the barren ...