Completely Full Bookshelf

I hope everyone is having a non-awful start to the week! (I feel like asking for a "great" start to the week is a bit unreasonable right now.) For MMGM and #IMWAYR, I am reviewing the graphic novel  All Together Now  by Hope Larson.           All Together Now  is the sequel to All Summer Long , a graphic novel which I absolutely loved! I've been waiting for this book for a long time, and, unfortunately, its release date was pushed back from May to August because it is printed in China, which we all know was hit hard by the coronavirus. But now it's finally here, and I finally have a review of it!           The wonderful protagonist of All Summer Long , Bina, is also the protagonist of All Together Now . Bina (who loves writing songs and singing/playing guitar) has created her own band with a classmate named Darcy. The two of them are having a great time, until Darcy convinces Bina to let a third classmate named Enzo j...

I have to say two things before we get to today's review. First, the fact that Hachette Book Group is publishing J.K. Trolling's (pun still intended) ridiculously transphobic new book after she has already been ridiculously transphobic is, well, ridiculous. If you feel like educating yourself a bit about transgender people to fight those who run around espousing nonsense, read the fabulous MG book Zenobia July  by Lisa Bunker ( which I reviewed here )! Second, I am absolutely crushed by the death of Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, so much so that I felt I needed to say something here. It takes a certain kind of person to make decisions—informed, rational decisions that must be publicly explained, I might add—about a document as debated, as contemplated, and as vague  as the Constitution. It takes a certain kind of person to work alongside not one, but two probable sexual abusers and still maintain the utmost composure. It takes a certain kind of person to be the s...

For MMGM and #IMWAYR, I am wholeheartedly recommending the graphic novel Displacement  by Kiku Hughes. Although protagonist Kiku is a high schooler in this story, I believe this book is appropriate for MG readers and seems to be aimed at them (although YA readers will enjoy the book as well).           I discovered this book on a post by fellow #IMWAYRer Sierra Dertinger at Books. Iced Lattes. Blessed in which she rounds up books with wonderful covers (and indeed, this book's cover is just one of countless gorgeous illustrations throughout the pages). Displacement  is based on the family history of author/illustrator Kiku Hughes, and Kiku herself is the protagonist of the story. In Displacement , Kiku, a girl of half-Japanese ancestry, is on a trip with her mother to San Francisco, grasping for small details about the life of her grandmother, Ernestina, who was one of about 120,000 people sent to incarceration camps during World War II. (I should men...

Happy Labor Day! For #IMWAYR, I am recommending the stunning graphic novel Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me , written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell. A word of caution to any young readers: this is a YA (young adult) book, not an MG (middle grade) book, and it contains mature content.           This book absolutely blew me away, and I am SO excited to tell you all about it! Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me  chronicles the life of Frederica "Freddy" Riley. Freddy is a high schooler who spends her time Frankensteining old stuffed animals together with her best friend Doodle, hanging out at school with Doodle and fellow friends Eric and Buddy, or working at a lesbian-owned sandwich shop called Gertrude's. Freddy is dating a girl named Laura Dean, and some days, their relationship is picture-perfect. Other days...not so much. Laura Dean has broken up with Freddy 3 times, and she is far from good to Freddy. Yet Freddy gets...