Completely Full Bookshelf

Before we get started, I wanted to mention that I put together a post showcasing several virtual and free panels at San Diego Comic-Con 2020 featuring authors such as Shannon Messenger and Raina Telgemeier! Many of them have already happened, but you can watch many of them after-the-fact by going to my post and clicking the "watch it here" link. For #IMWAYR, I am reviewing Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee. This review is more of a "rantview," so be warned! 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.           Tash Hearts Tolstoy tells the story of high school junior Natasha "Tash" (pronounced tawsh ) Zelenka. Tash has two loves: film and Leo Tolstoy's books, and she decides to combine the two by working with her best friend Jacklyn "Jack" Harlow on a YouTube web series based on Anna Karenina , which they call Unhappy Families . The...

For those of us with an incurable thirst for all the details about every book ever, I wanted to let you all know that the San Diego Comic-Con 2020, which has gone completely virtual (and free!), has a few authors and publishers you might recognize holding virtual panels. It's worth noting that some of these panels seem to be pre-recorded, and some (though not all) will be available for viewing after-the-fact. Here are some of the ones worth noting: Several notable graphic novelists, including Jerry Craft and Faith Erin Hicks, previously discussed new kids' graphic novels! This panel has already happened, but it is available for viewing after-the-fact. Learn about it here , or watch it here . The former benevolent overlord of MMGM, Shannon Messenger, had a panel dedicated entirely to her Keeper of the Lost Cities series in which she talked with author J.C. Cervantes. This panel has already happened, but it is also available for viewing after-the-fact. Learn about it here , or wa...

Before we get started, I want to mention that the winner of my giveaway of  Faith: Taking Flight  by Julie Murphy is... Sam! Congratulations! Thanks to everyone who entered! Now, for MMGM and #IMWAYR, I am recommending Zenobia July  by Lisa Bunker.           WOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Oh, sorry, I couldn't contain my enthusiasm for this book. Several years ago, MMGM showrunner Greg Pattridge recommended Lisa Bunker's debut novel, Felix Yz , and I must thank him for that recommendation, because I read and loved  that book! (His review is here , and my review is here .) I bought a copy of Bunker's second book, Zenobia July , a while back, but I forgot to read it until now, and it is so good!!!           Zenobia July's life has just changed dramatically at the beginning of this book. Zenobia (or Zen for short) has moved across the U.S. to live with her married aunts instead of her father. A transgender girl, Zen uses this move...

For #IMWAYR, I am recommending Parachutes  by Kelly Yang—and I'm also giving away a copy of Julie Murphy's new book, Faith: Taking Flight ! Review of Parachutes : A word of caution to any young readers: Parachutes is a YA (young adult) book, not an MG (middle grade) book, and it contains mature content.           I was intrigued by this book for quite a while, but I finally decided to read it after seeing it praised by Michele Knott at Mrs. Knott's Book Nook , and I'm so glad I did! Parachutes  is told in chapters that alternate between the points of view of Claire Wang and Dani De La Cruz. Claire lives in Shanghai, China, and, although her wealthy parents don't seem to be able to love her except by spending money, she is relatively happy with her life, having friends and a boyfriend—which is why it feels like her life is falling apart when her parents decide to send her to live with a host family she doesn't know and attend an American private school...

For MMGM and #IMWAYR, I am recommending the graphic memoir  When Stars Are Scattered  by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed.           I honestly don't know if this review will be of much use, considering almost every blogger I know has already read and reviewed this book, but I'm still going to review it as well. When Stars Are Scattered  is a memoir (except for some slight fictionalization) of the years Omar Mohamed spent as a child in Dadaab, a UN refugee camp in Kenya. As young children, Omar and his younger brother, Hassan (who can only speak one word and suffers from seizures) fled the civil war in Somalia and ended up in Dadaab with no other family. Dadaab is mostly a miserable place, where Omar and thousands of other refugees live in poverty and starvation, although he and Hassan are fortunate enough to have a kind fellow refugee named Fatuma step in to take care of them. When Stars Are Scattered  captures Omar's struggles in attendin...