Robin Robin by Dan Ojari and Mikey Please, illustrated by Briony May Smith

 

Robin Robin by Dan Ojari and Mikey Please,

illustrated by Briony May Smith

Red Comet Press, 2021, 32 pages     

When a robin egg falls out of its nest, landing in a garbage dump, the newly hatched bird is found by a family of mice who decide to adopt it, naming her Robin Robin and taking her back to their burrow. The burrow is warm and cozy and Robin quickly settles in, listening to the mice talk about crumbs - all kinds of crumbs, the crumbier the better. Crumbs are always a delicious treat, but in order to enjoy them, they have to sneak into the house where the Who-mans live, which would be easy except for one thing - a great big mean cat also lives there. Nevertheless, they all decide to sneak into the house and gets some crumbs to feast on. 

There is just one problem - it's not easy for a bird to be as quiet as a mouse. Naturally, she always attracts the cat's attention and has to quickly make a run for the back door to escape. One night, around Christmas time, Robin runs right into the wings of a Magpie while escaping the cat. Robin may think she is a mouse, but Magpie recognizes her as a fellow bird and takes her home to his tree house.

After Robin explains why she was in the house, Magpie tells her about the Chrim-Cross Star that the Who-mens put on top of a spikey old tree up once a year, and how, after making a wish, the Who-mens get anything they want the next morning. Maybe if Robin and her mouse family could get the Chrim-Cross Star, they could all get their wishes in the morning, too. Robin would be a real mouse, Magpie would get all kinds of treasures for his tree house, and the mice would have all the crumbs they could want. There's just one hitch - and it isn't the cat. 

This is such a heartwarming story about identity, inclusion, and family with plenty of humor but also a serious side to it. Robin is a jolly little bird, full of determination and pluck. She never gives up trying to be "as quiet as a mouse" despite being a bird. I loved how Robin discovers her true self, which is way better than the noisy, clumsy mouse she thought she was, and ultimately more useful for her mouse family and their crumb appetite. And I think she found a real mentor in Magpie. I'm sure young readers will love the illustrations, too. They are bright, bold, and colorful, with lots of detail to explore. 

Robin Robin is a wonderful holiday story, but one kids will want to read all year round. Don't be surprised if it becomes a family classic. 

Meet the Authors

Dan Ojari and Mikey Please are co-founders of the BAFTA® Award-winning Parabella animation studio which is based in East London. They co-directed Robin Robin, the first production in association with Aardman and produced exclusively for Netflix. Together they authored an adaptation of the script of the Robin Robin holiday special to create the book. They both live in London. Learn more about Mikey Please at mikeyplease.co.uk and Dan Ojari at www.danojari.com.

Meet the Illustrator

Briony May Smith is a British illustrator who has published titles in the US and the UK, including Stardust, written by Jeanne Willis (Nosy Crow, 2019). She also wrote and illustrated Imelda and the Goblin King (Flying Eye Books, 2015) and Margaret’s Unicorn (Schwartz and Wade, 2020), a Fall 2020 Indie Kids’ Next List selection. She lives in Devon, England. Learn more at brionymaysmith.com. 

   

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Thank you, Barbara Fisch at Blue Slip Media for providing me with a review copy of Robin Robin.

And now for some really exciting news: 

Chirpy little Robin and her adopted family of mice can be seen in a new animation holiday musical special from Netflix and Aardman Animation beginning November 24, 2021. 

Unsettled by Reem Faruqi

 

Middle schooler Nurah Haqq, 13, and her older brother Owais are not too happy when their father decides to uproot his family, moving them from Karachi, Pakistan to Peachtree City, Georgia. For Nurah, it means leaving behind beloved grandparents, even if her Dadi (grandmother on her father's side) who has Alzheimer's no longer remembers her name, and best friend Asna, and so, so many of the things she loves about living in Karachi. 

Arriving in Peachtree City, the family lives in one room in an extended stay hotel. Like her brother Owais, Nurah is a swimmer, and finds relief from feeling alone and overwhelmed at the pool in the Recreation Center. Both decide to tryout for the swim team, and that's when Nurah makes her first real friend, a girl named Stahr, who shows up on the second day of tryouts completely covered in a long sleeve shirt and tights, just like Nurah. It turns out that Stahr is covering the black and blue bruises because father regularly hits her with his belt. The two new friends begin have lunch together at school and get to know each other's secrets. Stahr lives 8 houses away from the house the Haqq family buys and moves into. When her mother is late getting home, Stahr goes to Nurah home, and apparently develops a real liking for the foods Nurah's mother serves them at teatime.  

Later, when Nurah's mother has a miscarriage and becomes depressed, it is Stahr's mother, Penelope, who has had a number of miscarriages, that shows up at their house, helping her mother get over the loss, and becoming her mother's first American friend. 

In Karachi, Nurah was one of the loudest in school but in Peachtree City, she's very quiet, At one point, however, Nurah stands up to the two bullies who relentlessly pick on the school bus monitor, a man who stutters and has lost his left arm. The bullying stops, but the boys try to make Nurah pay later. But when she should use her voice, Nurah lets her jealousy over her brother's swimming ability get the best of her, and she keeps silent after seeing two older boys going into the Rec Center's men's locker room, knowing their intention is to teach Owais a lesson. 

Acknowledging her own complicity in the attack on Owais is a pivotal moment for Nurah, who begins to realize that standing out by being her true self and being true to herself is more important than trying to conform to being someone she is not. 

Written in lyrical free verse, Unsettled is a powerful story loosely based on the author's own move from United Arab Emirates to the United States when she was 13. I loved the details that Faruqi has included  which give this book a feeling of authenticity. I especially love food details because food is like a shorthand way of telling readers so much about a culture - what they eat, when they eat, how it is prepared. But readers will also find a number of other important thought-provoking themes touched on in Nurah's story, including abuse, bullying, colorism, depression, and memory loss, as well as adjusting to a new country and a different way of life. Yet, I think most readers will feel empathy and hope rather than overwhelmed by it all. 

I thought Nurah was a wonderfully flawed, yet inspiring character in this coming of age novel, and I felt that Faruqi did a great job of fleshing out her other characters, although I wish I had gotten to know Nurah's Baba better. It was because of his job they made such a big move, yet he didn't feel developed enough. 

Nurah's story has so many poignant moments in it, moments that are specific to being uprooted from everything that you love, moments that are specific to a newly arrived-in-America Muslim girl, and moments that everyone can relate to, all of which makes this such a compelling book to read. 

I couldn't recommend this book highly enough and the good news is that you will find a delicious sounding recipe for Nurah's Aloo Kababs that she brings in her lunch and which I am definitely going to try. 

Unsettled will be available on May 11, 2021.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+

This book was an ARC received from the publisher Harper/HarperCollins

MMGM: A High Five for Glenn Burke by Phil Bildner

Twelve-year-old Silas Wade loves baseball. He could play it, talk about, think about it, and probably even dream about it 24/7. And his baseball hero is Glenn Burke, a black major leaguer who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning in 1976 and who, during some tense moments on the final weekend of the 1977 baseball season, invented the high five. Glenn Burke was also gay and when he came out, he was traded to the Oakland Athletics in 1979 and literally harassed out of baseball. Like Glenn, Silas is also gay and terrified people will discover it before he is ready for the world to know, especially his baseball teammates. 

To test the waters, during their Wednesday karaoke afternoon, Silas tells his best friend Zoey. At first, she's very supportive knowing about Silas, but after a while she begins to feel that being the only one who knows his secret is "weird." 

Silas' team, the Renegades, has a different third-base coach for the season (the other two coaches are Noles and Rockford). Coach Webb is an aggressive coach, and the Renegades are doing well under his guidance. But one of his rules is no taunting an opposing team with anything that could be perceived as racist, such as their monkey taunts and gestures.

Webb and Silas are quite simpatico when it comes to baseball, and enjoy talking about it with each other, especially their favorite baseball movie The Sandlot. Perhaps sensing he can trust Webb, one afternoon, while talking about Glenn Burke, Silas tells him he's gay.

After one of the players is called gay at a team visit to a trampoline park, Webb announces that there will be no more using the word gay as a put down. Renegades are expected to "respect everyone - LGTB, women, immigrants, Muslims, everyone," and that after the third offense, a player would be off the team. This causes a riff between Webb and Coach Noles, who quits the team, taking his son with him. The other members of the team decide it was Silas who snitched about the trampoline park incident, and to take the heat of himself, he tells them Zoey is his girlfriend. Now, she's done with Silas and his teammates think he's a liar. 

As much a Silas wants to be accepted for who he really is, maybe coming out isn't the best idea right now. 

As a story about Silas' desire to live an authentic life and his internal struggles with knowing he is gay, wanting to come out and be accepted, but living in fear that people will discover it, this is a book every middle grader should read. Silas' courage is inspiring, and he is a great character. At first, I found his obsessiveness, his lack of focus (baseball excepted), his speediness to be annoying, until I realized it was his anxiety and his fear at work and Bildner manages to convey that so well when writing about Silas. I was a little disappointed in Zoey, that she would turn on her best friend so easily instead of asking why he did what his did. 

As a baseball story, I was completely lost. I thought I understood the game, but apparently not. Did that spoil the novel for me? No one bit. So do not avoid this book if you, too, aren't baseball savvy. The baseball parts give the story depth and genuineness, and Bildner really knows this sport inside and out. I loved how he cleverly tied together Silas, Glenn Burke and the high five as a prelude to Silas's coming out. I think it's a real hook for young readers. I had certainly never thought about the invention of the high five, even though people still do it all the time (though I think it is slowly being replaced with the Obama fist punch) and enjoyed learning its history.    

This is believed to be a photo of the first high five between
Glenn Burke and Dusty Baker

A High Five for Glenn Burke is an engaging book about friendship, family, loyalty, sportsmanship, and coming out. High five to Phil Bildner for writing a book that needed to be written and read, especially in this day and age. 

This book is recommended for readers age 10+

This book was borrowed from the Brooklyn Public Library

 check out the other Marvelous Middle Grade Monday offerings, now being carried on by Greg at Always in the Middle.

Roller Girl written and illustrated by Victoria Jamieson

I've been using my time sheltering-in-place because of the Coronavirus to catch up on some books I've been meaning to read. One of those is Roller Girl and, boy, was it good.

Astrid and Nicole have been best friends since fifth grade, but now they're 12 and cracks are beginning to show in their friendship. After a night at the roller derby to see Portland's Rose City Rollers, Astrid is obsessed with it, including a star skater named Rainbow Bite. Now, she wants to go to derby camp. There's just one problem - Astrid doesn't know how to skate. Nicole, on the other hand, is a great skater, but couldn't care less about roller derby. Her interest is in ballet...and boys.

But because they are best friends, Astrid automatically assumes that Nicole will want to go to derby camp, too. So you can imagine Astrid's disappointment when Nicole tells her she doesn't want to do that for the summer, but is going to ballet camp instead. Not only that, but Nicole has a new close friend, Rachel, who used to be their enemy. Meanwhile, Astrid's mom, Mrs Vasquez, has signed Astrid up for the Junior Derby Camp, believing Nicole is also going and that her mother will be picking the girls up after camp.

Derby camp is rough, tough and stressful, particularly since Astrid doesn't know how to skate and is the only real beginner there. Yet, despite the bumps and bruises, and the very long, hot walk home to keep up the charade that her friendship with Nicole is fine and that her mother is driving them home, Astrid sticks with it. It's really hard, tiring work, but when her coach sees Astrid walking home, she tells her to take her skates home to get more practice and build up her confidence, she hesitates. The next day, her coach suggest that they practice skating outdoors. It's Astrid's first good day, and she even works up the courage to leave a fangirl note on Rainbow Bite's locker.

Thought things begin to look up for her, there are still some difficult lesson for Astrid to learn before school begins, including trying to reconcile with Nicole, some mother-daughter problems when she is caught in her lie, and accepting just who she is and that it's OK to be different. But the most important lesson is learning to be a good sport and a team player, whether it's roller derby or personal relationships.

Roller Girl is such a wonderful coming of age story, and the graphic format is the perfect medium for it. The colorful panels done by author Victoria Jamieson are all clearly and distinctly illustrated and really capture Astrid's broad range of moods and feelings (and they are broad, she is 12, after all). And roller derby is the perfect metaphor for the ups and downs of Astrid's life the summer before she begins junior high school.

The bumps and bruises Astrid gets while learning to skate and then learning to skate competitively mirror the themes Jamieson explores in the novel, like identity and experimentation (Astrid's blue hair and fake nose ring), perseverance and failure, old and new relationships, change and acceptance. The angst of being that age really rings true to tween life, and isn't so different than when I, or for that matter, my Kiddo, was Astrid's age. And Astrid is such a multi-layered, fully dimensional character that she is someone readers won't easily forget, even if they have not interest in roller derby.

If you haven't read Roller Girl yet, I highly recommend it.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was an eBook borrowed from Libby by Overdrive

Emmy in the Key of Code by Aimee Lucido

Emmy, 12, and her parents have just moved from Wisconsin to San Francisco so that her dad can pursue his dream of being a pianist in the symphony orchestra there. Her mom, an opera singer, has given that up and taken a regular job in order to make the move. Both parents are very musical, but no matter how hard she tries and no matter how much she loves and knows about music, Emmy just doesn't have musical bone in her body. Besides, past attempts at musical performance have left her with a bad case of stage fright. Now, however, she faces the task of making new friends at a new school and it's not easy. Each time she tries to introduce herself, she's interrupted. Until, finally, in computer class, a girl with braids introduces herself to Emmy.

It doesn't take long for Emmy and Abigail to become good friends, nor does it take long for Emmy to connect with computer coding, and teacher Frankie Delaney, a vibrant young woman who clearly loves what she does. Abigail has a beautiful singing voice, has been singing in the San Francisco Children's Choir for years and hangs out friends with a group of girls at school who want her to audition with them for a singing group called Honey Bees. But Abigail has been hiding the fact that she would rather code than sing, though she continues to act like being put into the computer class was a mistake. Emmy, hoping that Abigail will be her new best friend, is hurt when Abigail continues to eat lunch with her friends, leaving Emmy to eat alone.

Meanwhile, struggling with constant feelings of not fitting in and not being comfortable with who she is, Emmy must also deal with a budding misogynist bully named Francis in computer class, who misses no opportunity to let her know he thinks she is inferior and that there is no place in coding for girls. Adding to that is a falling out with Abigail, who refuses to respond to Emmy's apologies.

But after the class learns that their teacher is seriously ill, can animosities are put aside so that the students can still showcase their end of term coding projects in front of parents, teachers, and students to honor their teacher?

When I first began reading Emmy in the Key of Code, I thought I would be reading a novel about a middle grader girl who needs to find herself and her own voice in a completely new environment. Boy, was I wrong! Well, it is that, but more, so much more. It is a novel in verse, written from Emmy's point of view. And as Emmy becomes more proficient at coding, Lucido manages to skillfully weave in some basic Java code in places, creating a kind of poetry in code. Not an easy task, but she pulls it off beautifully. And the best part is that readers don't need to know coding to read Emmy's story, but do learn some coding along with her. Java terminology is explained within the text and in a glossary, as are musical terms.

One of the things I really liked is that Lucido didn't give Emmy a dead parent or two in her coming of age story. Instead, she took Emmy out of her comfortable environment in Wisconsin and set down in a completely new place, where her parents are so busy with their own problems of adjusting to the changes. Isolated from parents, friends, and teachers really highlights Emmy's feeling of not fitting in, but allows her to explore and discover her own identity and creativity away from parental interference or expectations of who she should be. It made for a very interesting journey. 

Young readers will also discover not only a good story but might even catch some of Frankie Delaney's enthusiasm for coding and her admiration for the women who were pioneered computers and programming during WWII while men were off fighting (pg. 154-55). In fact, pair this with Kate Hannigan's fun speculative fiction novel Cape (The League of Secret Heroes), which centers around the actual six women working on a programable computer called Eniac in Philadelphia in WWII.

I loved being pleasantly surprised by this novel and Emmy in the Key of Code should appeal to young readers whether or not they have an interest in learning to code, though the computer geek in me thinks all kids should learn some coding. Maybe this will stir up interest in it when they see what Emmy and her class can do.

A Reader's Guide can be downloaded HERE

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was gratefully provided to me by the publisher, Versify, an imprint of HMH

Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo

It's 1979 and it's been four years since Raymie Nightingale, Louisiana Elefante, and Beverly Tapinski found each other and became the Three Rancheros, promising to rescue each other whenever they are needed. In 1975, it had been necessary rescue 10-year-old Raymie (Raymie Nightingale) in order for her to find to true home. And, in 1977, it was 12-year-old Louisiana's turn (Louisiana's Way Home) who needed to rely on her friends to find her true home. Now, it's 14-year-old, Beverly who needs rescuing.

Beverly has always been known for running away from home, and being returned to a alcoholic mother who just wasn't very interested in her. Now, she's done with running away, and after burying her beloved dog Buddy, Beverly figures there's nothing to keep her at home anymore and so she decides to simply leave. Hitching a ride with Joe Travis, a cousin she doesn't much care for (and the feeling is mutual), Beverly makes it as far as Tamaray Beach, Florida.

Walking down the A1A, she comes upon Mr. C's fish restaurant. There, she meets Freddie, the waitress with big, big unrealistic dreams, and owner Mr. Denby, disorganized and depressed now that his wife and three daughters have left him. Open only for lunch, Beverly gets an under-the-table job the busing tables.

Beverly also finds a place to stay with lonely widow Iola Jenkins, who gives her a place to sleep and a flowered nightgown, feeds her a steady diet of tuna melts, and in return Beverly drives Iola's Pontiac to the VFW so she can play bingo.

Beverly also meets cook Doris and dishwasher Charles at work, and Elmer, a bullied, sensitive Dartmouth-bound teen who loves art and is working in the local convenience store for the summer. As Beverly gets to know each of these people, as she begins to be a part of their lives, and they hers, she starts to realize some things about herself as well. They are an eccentric cast of characters as only Kate DiCamillo can put together, but the focus is always on Beverly. Raymie and Louisiana are present throughout the book, mostly in Beverly's thoughts, although only Raymie makes the briefest of appearances at the end of the book. Their presence. however, proves how strong their bond of friendship is and how important they are to Beverly. In fact, friendship is one of the dominant themes, along with loss, trust, hope, home and how we define it, and the importance of just being there for people who rely on Beverly and on whom Beverly rely.   

Beverly, Right Here unfolds as languidly as a hot summer day, as Beverly searches and finds her emotional truth. DiCamillo's sentences are simple enough, yet so powerful and there's not a single gratuitous word in any of them. Beverly's story is a wonderful coming of age tale, and like life, it doesn't come to a neat conclusion, but leaves lots of questions about Beverly's future.

It does make me sad to think that this is probably the last time we will hear about the Three Rancheros, yet I know that one day, I will revisit each their narratives and I suspect it will yield a greater truth then do their individual stories.

You can download a useful Discussion Guide for Beverly, Right Here courtesy of the publisher, Candlewick Press.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was an EARC received from NetGalley

Be sure to check out the other Marvelous Middle Grade Monday offerings, now being carried on by Greg at Always in the Middle. 

Some Places More Than Others by Renée Watson

All Amara Baker wants for her twelfth birthday is to accompany her father, a Nike executive, on his next business trip to New York so she can get to know his side of the family better. Maybe she can even learn why her dad hasn't spoken to his dad since the day she was born, which also happened to be the day her father's mother, Grandma Grace, passed away. But Amara's mother, nearing the end of her pregnancy, is not willing to let her go.

Adding to Amara's desire to know that side of her family is an assignment by her teacher called the Suitcase Project. Students are expected to create a time capsule that explores their past, present and future with items that represent who they are, where they are from and what their dreams for the future are. But just when Amara gives up hope of getting to New York, her mother changes her mind and says she can go. And maybe, just maybe, while she is there, Amara can get her dad and grandpa talking so they can mend their rift.

Until arriving at her grandfather's Harlem brownstone, Amara had only spoken to Grandpa Earl, a former basketball coach, on the phone for special occasions. And although her father manages to avoid him, Grandpa Earl and Amara immediately bond. Amara is excited to see the places where her dad grew up in Harlem, and Grandpa Earl can't wait to show her his favorite places, too. No sooner does the week begin, and her dad runs into an old friend who spills the beans about her dad writing poetry in high school, something Amara didn't know about him.

Over the next few days, Amara begins to learn what happened between her dad and Grandpa Earl, even as she begins to formulate how she will present the family history she is discovering on this visit, in part by snooping, in part from Grandpa Earl talking to her and in part from being taken.
to iconic places in Harlem that represent so much of African American history, in a way she has never experienced it at home in Beaverton, Oregon.

But Amara also spends a lot of time with her cousins, Nina, 16, and Ava, 14. She and Ava don't really get along. Sightseeing for Ava is going to H&M, not visiting the murals, statues, and other places she sees all the time. After a family visit to the cemetery where Grandma Grace is buried, the tension between Amara and Ava comes to a head when Ava refuses to "babysit" her cousin again. Angry, Amara decides to make her own way to the East Village and find a place called the Nuyorican Cafe, a place, she had discovered while snooping in her dad's old bedroom, where her dad had wanted to read his poetry on open mic night when he was in high school. But when she finds herself in the Bronx at the Yankee Stadium stop on the subway, Amara realizes she's gone the wrong way. But maybe it's the right way for past hurts and anger to finally be dealt with.

Some Places More Than Others is a really well-crafted coming-of-age novel that explores who we are and how we fit into the world of family and into the wider world, past and present. For Amara, New York and her family there are a whole new world and she can't get enough of it. And everything excites her, unlike her cousins who take it all for granted, not understanding Amara's need to linger and take pictures of what she's seeing for the first time:

"...I am starting to understand by Big T is always saying there's no place like New York. No place else that constantly reminds us that we are important, they we come from a people who sacrificed and fought and protested for us to be able to walk these streets free. What is it like to be reminded of this everyday?" (pgs. 102-103) Watson's message is very clear here - do not forget who you are and where you come from.

I think that Amara is a well-intentioned, but flawed character who nevertheless really understands what her week in New York means for her life, as she says "I want to feel like...there's a history keeping me moving, living. Like the journey I am on has many footprints, may stories coming with me." (pg. 103) Her awakening is such a wonderful part of this story.

I also felt that in Watson's hands, Harlem becomes another exciting character in Amara's identity quest. She has captured all it's beauty from the quiet reverence of the Schomburg Center to the hustle and bustle of 125th Street, and the streets named for famous African Americans - Frederick Douglas Boulevard, Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard, Malcolm X Boulevard, among others. And by the time you finish this novel, you will really appreciate the title of this novel.

Be sure to read Amara's poem at the end of the novel to find out what she puts in her Suitcase Project.

What would you put in a Suitcase Project?

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was an EARC received from NetGalley

Thanks to author Renée Watson for posting Amara's Walking Tour of Harlem on @reneeauthor for those who would like to experience Harlem as Amara did (and yes, it is totally rewarding):

Sunny (Track, Book 3) by Jason Reynolds

Sunny Lancaster, 12 going on 13, may be the fastest runner on the Defenders track team, the "master of the mile," but he isn't very happy at the moment. He knows that no one much cares about the 1600 meter race until right before runners reach the finish line. So when Sunny stops running just as he reaches the last lap and lets someone else win the mile, everyone is baffled. Coach is certainly stunned when Sunny announces he wants to quit the team in order to dance to the sounds and rhythms he hears in his head. But Coach also sees potential in his dance moves, and convinces Sunny to stay on the team as a discus thrower.

But, it is his father Darryl who really is stunned. After all, running and winning is just what Sunny's mother would have wanted for him, with the goal that he will run and win a marathon, living out his mother's dream for herself. Sunny's mother died immediately after giving birth to him, and he has never had the time to come to terms with his feelings about it, and carries a huge amount of guilt on his shoulders. That guilt trip his father's lays on him together with his father's high expectations have always worked in the past, not any more.

Unlike his fellow teammates, Sunny has lead a life of privilege. Wealthier than the others, he lives in a large, essentially empty house, has been home-schooled his whole life by his mother's friend Aurelia, a teacher/dance instructor. Luckily, Aurelia is a pretty casual, relaxed, blue-haired person, and she definitely has Sunny's best interests at heart. And Aurelia's weirdness totally compliments and encourages Sunny weirdness. Homeschooling isn't all academics with Aurelia - there are also movies (she turns Sunny on to West Side Story) and trips to the hospital to see Sunny's grandfather, Dr. Lancaster, and to visit with his cancer patients, whom they entertain with music and dancing.

Aurelia is the exact opposite of Sunny's dad, who is a cold, distant, regimented man. His feelings seem to have shut down the moment his wife passed away, yet he is still clinging to her. So much so, that he has puzzles made from photographs he took of her, which he and Sunny silently work on together in the evening - their bonding time, as Sunny calls it. In fact, most everything Sunny does with his father is done in silence.

Sunny has a lot on his plate for a 12-year-old - he's convinced he is a murderer because his birth caused him mother to die, he's living with a father who insists Sunny call him Darryl instead of dad without knowing why, and most important, he's trying to figure out who he is now that he is no longer living under the running shadow of his mother. So it's understandable that Sunny would stop running as he approached the last lap of his race - if he had kept going, would he never discover his true self? Luckily, Coach and Aurelia seem to understand that this is Sunny's most important race to win.

As with his other two coming of age Track novels, Jason Reynolds has written Sunny in first person, except instead of straight narration, Sunny's story is told in diary form. This isn't a favorite style of mine, but in this case, it really works. Diaries are private, they are a secret relationship between the writer and the page. In real life, they are not meant for anyone else's eyes. But as a novel form, we have an intimate place in that relationship, being there as Sunny chronicles his most heartfelt thoughts and feelings, and yes, even the sounds and rhythms he hears and likes to dance to. His diary is a place where he can really be himself so we get to meet the real Sunny. And it is therapeutic, as Sunny works through his personal struggles.

There isn't as much about track and Sunny's teammates in this novel. Most of what happens is away from the team, but in the end, it all comes back to that field. Like Ghost and Patina before him, Sunny learns that in order to grow and evolve into the person he wants to be, he's going to need that supportive camaraderie that comes with being one of the Defenders.

Yes, Jason Reynolds has done it again. If you are a follower of the Track series, you won't be disappointed, and if Sunny is your first Track book, you won't be disappointed either, but you will want to run out and get books 1 and 2, Ghost and Patina and then have to impatiently wait with the rest of us for the release of book 4, Lu in October 2018.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book an EARC received from Edelweiss Plus

Krista Kim-Bap by Angela Ahn

Krista Kim is a fifth-grader living in Vancouver, BC and the only Korean Canadian in her school. Jason has been her best friend since preschool and Krista has always just assumed they would always be besties. And Krista had turned Jason onto Korean food, which he now loves and consequently, is at the Kim house fairly frequently. Unfortunately, Krista's grandmother doesn't seem to like Jason one bit.

When their teacher announces that they will be working on a Heritage Month project, Krista isn't too thrilled, feeling she will end up being the "Korean Ambassador" and asked stupid questions like "how do you say fart in Korean?" Jason suggests she do her project on Korean food, but before Krista decides, she receives an invitation to a "Red Carpet" birthday party from Madison, a popular girl in school and someone Krista hasn't had much to do with in the past.

When her older sister Tori hears about the invitation, she remakes a traditional Korean hanbok into a more modern style for Krista, and her grandmother takes her to a Korean beauty salon the morning of the party. There, Krista learns about a special tape that will make the shape of her eyes more Western and less Korean. In fact, Grandma Kim promises to take Krista and Tori to Korea to have their eyes surgically redone when they are old enough.

Krista and her dress are a real hit at Madison's party, and during the following school week, Madison and her friends pull Krista away from Jason to hang out with them. Krista convinces herself that this is all OK with Jason, not even seeing his hurt feelings.

Meanwhile, Grandma Kim is starting to teach Krista how to make traditional Korean food, and agrees to help with the Heritage Month project at school. As Krista and Jason drift apart, she gets caught up in the trying to fit in with Madison and her friends, until she is confronted with Jason's rejection in school one day.

Can Grandma Kim make things better between the two friends? She's never liked Jason, but when she discovers his love of Korean food, maybe that is just what she needs to get them talking again.

For a book aimed at younger middle-grade kids, Krista Kim-Bap took me on quite a reading roller coaster of ups and downs. At first, I thought it was going to be a cute kind of fluffy story about best friends who run into a glitch in their friendship but ultimately make-up. But, as I read, I began to think it was going to be a story about how a Korean Canadian girl finally figures out how to be just like all the other girls in school with the help of her sister. But in the end, Krista learns to be really proud of her Korean heritage and to accept who she is, and not become what others want to her be.

Along the way, the author, Angela Ahn, addresses some important issues about identity. For instance, I know that there is the traditional hanbok, which is quite beautiful, and now a more modern version, so the idea that Tori altered the hanbok her grandmother gave her seemed in keeping with today's world and Tori's interest in fashion.  What I did find distressing was that Krista and Tori were both willing to eventually have their eyes cosmetically altered to look Western. To me, that takes away so much of who a person is. I remember hearing Julie Chen talk about having it done when she first started out as a news reporter and saying it was something she has always regretted. I'm sure that Krista's mother is speaking for Ahn in Chapter 14, when she sits her girls down and talks to them about changing their "Korean-ness." A chapter not to be skipped over.

On a lighter note, Krista Kim-Bap also introduces young readers to a variety of different Korean dishes and anyone who hasn't tried some Korean food yet is in for a real culinary taste treat.

Krista Kim-Bap is a fun/serious coming-of-age story about identity, finding and accepting youself, and knowing who your real friends are. It reminded me of something I learned in Brownies and passed on to my own Kiddo when she was in middle school: "Make new friends/Keep the old/One is silver/the other is gold."

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from a friend

Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie, illustrated by Yuyi Morales

Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie, illustrated by Yuyi Morales
Little, Brown BFYR, 2016, 32 pages

When he was born, Thunder Boy Smith Jr was given his name by his dad, Thunder Boy Smith Sr, and he really loves his dad a lot, he thinks his dad is just awesome, but...Thunder Boy Jr hates his name and just wants to have one his own.  A name that sounds like who he is, one that celebrates something cool that he has done, or expresses something about his personality. So, Thunder Boy Jr tries on a bunch of different names that reflect the things he has achieved or wants to in the future, like climbing a mountain and being called Touch The Clouds, or learning to ride a bike at age three and being named Gravity's Best Friend, or traveling the world with the name Full of Wonder:

What a surprise, then, when his dad tells him it is time for Thunder Boy Jr to have a new name.  And the name he chose is just so fitting. Thunder Boy Jr is renamed Lightning. Now, father and son are amazing- their love is loud and bright and together they light up the sky:

Thunder Boy Jr. is told in the first person, so readers know exactly how he feels about his name, and he has some very strong opinions about it. Thunder Boy is an endearing character, a bundle of energy, and has a great imagination. And all that is superbly captured in Yuyi Morales' bold, colorful digitally painted illustrations.  And there is a wonderful story behind the illustrations, which were made from the remains of an antique house in Xalapa, Mexico. You can find out how that what done in the note by the artist at the front of the book.

I think this is a smart book about a young Native American boy asserting himself and declaring his individuality within a loving intact family and community.  But, it is not a book about Native American naming traditions which are many and varied among the different tribes. Rather it is a book about identity, about finding oneself. Sherman Alexie has said in an interview that when "you talk about the Native American search for identity...it's almost always a story of loss and pain. I wanted to write a picture book in which a kid goes on a search for identity in the context of a loving family." (The Washington Post April 18, 2016)  Inspired by Jack Ezra Keats' The Snowy Day, Alexie went on to say "I wanted to replicate that experience [of a brown-skinned character, a boy who is just like him], because in literature in general, there aren't many Native American children."  I certainly hope he continues to explore this need and create more picture books like Thunder Boy Jr.

This is a book that shouldn't be missed - by anyone.

This book is recommended for readers age 4+
This book was sent to me by the publisher, Little, Brown BFYR

NOVEMBER IS NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

Soldier Sister, Fly Home by Nancy Bo Flood, illustrations by Shonto Begay

Tess, 13, is having a hard time trying to come to terms with just who she is.  Part Navajo, part white, she doesn’t feel like she belongs in either world.  Despite being a champion-fast runner, Tess’s teammates at the white school she attends in Flagstaff, Arizona, call her names like ‘Pokeyhontas,’ never seeing her as anything other than an Indian.  But when she returns home to the Rez, she never feels Navajo enough.

Tess has been annoyed at her sister Gaby, 19, for joining the Army after her friend Lori Piestewa was killed in Iraq, the first Native American woman to fall in combat.  Now, however, Tess can’t wait for Gaby to come home on a two week leave.  Maybe Gaby can help Tess sort things out for herself.  But Gaby is no sooner home, than she must tell her family that her two week leave has been cancelled, she is being deployed to Iraq, and only has a few days home.   

Tess is beyond angry at her sister for leaving, an anger that is compounded when Gaby asks her to take care of Blue, her spirited stallion, and a horse that Tess simply does not like - and the feeling seems to be mutual. 

For the first time, Gaby won’t be going with their grandmother to sheep camp at the bottom of the canyon for the summer.  Tess, who has never spent the whole summer in the canyon with them, decides to accompany her grandmother, her sheep and mares, and Blue this year.  Tess has never ridden Blue by herself, always just leading him by the reins.  But on day, while out exploring the canyon with him, a cold, soaking rain begins and, remembering her grandmother’s words that a galloping horse is the fastest way home, Tess rides Blue back to camp.  From then on, the two begin to make friends with each other.  Now, Tess determines to find the secret waterfall where she and Gaby spent precious time together, and to send some sand from it to her sister - a reminder of those times.

Little by little, Tess begins to come to terms with who she is as she develops more confidence riding Blue and through serious talks getting to really know her grandmother, a woman who knows a lot about who she is and the people who see her a just an Indian.

When tragedy strikes, Tess is faced with a difficult decision, one that will require all the strength she has, but one that will ultimately allow Tess to begin to discover just who she really is.

Soldier Sister, Fly Home is more than just a good coming of age story about family, tradition, culture. It is also a story about 'home' in the literal and metaphorical sense.  Above the canyon, the mesa, is home to the Tess who lives there in the world of school, cell phones, malls.  As the summer goes by, the canyon, a world of hogans, animals, unfettered nature, slowly begins to feel like home to the Tess, who loves the beauty of it.  And it is her grandmother who helps Tess reconcile these two different worlds within herself, to feel at home in both.  

But it is Blue who finally takes Tess 'home.'  Gaby has told Tess that if she ever got lost riding Blue, he would always find his home if she loosened the reins and let him.  And he literally does, twice when they are out riding in the canyon.  But Blue also takes Tess home in the figurative sense when she is forced to make a decision about him that will determine who she is from than on. 

All of this is told in Nancy Bo Flood's beautiful lyrical storytelling style.  I lived in Arizona for four years, and really fell in love the land.  I think you will find some of the most breathtaking places on earth there. Flood's beautiful descriptions really made me feel an acute homesickness for the Arizona landscape.  Flood has made her setting every bit as much a well-developed main character as she has Tess and her grandmother.

And while I loved Soldier Sister, Fly Home, I did think it was not without one flaw that really bothered me.  I felt that Tess's grandmother was perhaps too stereotypical, sounding like the wise Indian speaking in aphorisms.  Ironically, this seems to happen in the canyon than up on the mesa, where she seems more like a real character and less like a stereotype.  

I should mention also that there are scenes in Soldier Sister, Fly Home that may upset readers sensitive to animals being killed, though it is never done gratuitously or cruelly in this novel.   Also, there are a number of Navajo terms used throughout the story and there is a Glossary and Pronunciation Guide at the back to the book.  

A Writing Prompt Guide has been prepared by Nancy Bo Flood and can be download HERE 

This book is recommended for readers age 11+

This book was an ARC sent to me by the author

The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen by Mitali Perkins

Sunita Sen, 13, is a typical California teenager who likes to play tennis, eat pizza, do well in school and really likes Michael Morrison, with whom she has just spent the summer.  She also has a best friend since first grade, Liz Grayson, and a riva for Michael's affections - the very flirty LeAnn Schaeffer.  Oh, yes and Sunita is an Indian American who has really not given a lot of thought to her Indian heritage.  That is, until her grandparents, Dadu and Didu - arrived from Kolkata for a year long visit with Sunita and her family.

Suddenly, her professor mother goes from wearing tailored suits and silk shirts to wearing sarees, a red dot on her forehead and red powder stripe in her hair to indicate she is married.  She even quits her university job for a year to stay home and cook Indian food for her family. And when she tells Sunita no boys in the house, not even to play ping pong in the basement, she apparently drives Michael right into the arms of LeAnn.  Sunita has cut herself off from Michael anyway, not wanting to tell him about her grandparents and thinking he wouldn't like her Indian family.

As her grandparents settle into the Sen household, Dadu decides to plant an elaborate garden of flowers and vegetables in the backyard, while Didu becomes hooked on American soap operas, in particular, one called Endless Hope, even deciding to participate in the Endless Hope Plot Solution Contest (this is a very funny side-storyline).

But as time goes on, and Sunita misses Michael, and resents his apparent attraction to LeAnn, and as she watches her mother's attempt to be the perfect Indian daughter for her parents, she becomes angrier and angrier and begins to withdraw from everyone.

Can Sunita learn how to happily be both Indian and American?

The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen is what I like to think of as a journey or process novel. The single event, her grandparent's visit, that brings on the conflict of cultures that Sunita feels is the start of her journey towards understanding who she is.

And Sunita is an interesting character.  At first, she is somewhat bratty, pouting, getting angry, and even lashing out at home and school, totally stunning her parents when she finally, angrily, tells her mother what she thinks of everything.  But the beauty of coming of age novels, is that there is generally definite positive growth for the main character, and Sunita certainly does grows.

Sunita seems to epitomize the dilemma of adolescents who are standing between cultures and feeling like they must choose one over the other.  Feeling confused, lost and alone, she turns to her grandfather for company, gradually realizing how very wise he is about human nature, so that, ironically, it takes this visit from her Indian grandparents to teach Sunita how to embrace both cultures.

Original 1993 Cover

I really liked The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen.  It takes a serious topic and handles it with a nice measure of respect, seriousness and humor. And along the way, the reader learns a good bit about Indian culture and customs.  And I loved the way Perkins has treated the intergenerational theme.  I thought they were realistically drawn, avoiding the kind of grandparent stereotypes so common in a three-generation household.

It was originally published under the title The Sunita Experiment in 1993 and I believe it is Mitali Perkins's debut novel. I thought that Perkins did a phenomenal job capturing Sunita's personality and her conflicted feelings about her heritage.  I read this on the heels of Born Confused, Bombay Blues and a few other more current books about Indians or Indian Americans, and I felt that even though this came out 23 years ago, it doesn't feel at all dated except that no one has a cell phone.

Actually the only thing I didn't like was Sunita's daydreaming scenes related to her favorite movie Casablanca.  Even though I got the significance of them in terms of her awakening awareness of how other cultures are presented in movies (and books), I still felt it interfered with the narrative flow, but not to the point that I wouldn't still highly recommend this book to readers.

You can find some thought-provoking discussion questions for The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen HERE

This book is recommended for readers age 11+
This book was purchased for my personal library

MAY IS ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

Project Mulberry by Linda Sue Park

Like most best friends, seventh-graders Julia Song and Patrick like to do everything together, from homework to collecting state quarters to joining the Work-Grow-Give-Live Club, affectionately known as the Wiggle Club. The club's purpose it to teach kids about farming, and every January, members are supposed to sign up to work on farm-related a project which will then be exhibited at the State Fair in August.

A project is right up Julia and Patrick's alley, but they can't come up with a good one until Mrs. Song suggests they raise silkworms.  Raising silkworms was something Julia's grandmother had done back in Korea and which her mother had helped with as a girl.  Patrick thinks this is a wonderful idea and with his customary enthusiasm, begins to immediately do research on silkworms.  Julia, however, is a lot less happy about this as their project.

Raising silkworms is a little too Korean for Julia. Wasn't it bad enough that her house always smelled so strongly of kimchi, a Korean specialty (it's spicy, pickled Napa cabbage and delicious), a smell that had always put other kids off?  Ironically, Kimchi is also something Julia hates, but Patrick absolutely loves.  And wasn't it bad enough to be the only Korean family in town, and then be to greeted with kids at the playground yelling "Chinka-chinka-Chinaman at her when they first saw her?  But silkworms for the Wiggle project?  No way, Julia just wants an all-American project.  And she is pretty sure she can sabotage the silkworm project enough to make Patrick give it up.

But when Mr. Maxwell, leader of the Wiggle club, hears the idea for raising silkworms, he is all for it.  The one big problem, the one that might just sink the project, is that silkworms only eat mulberry leaves and no one knows anyone with a mulberry tree.  Even hanging flyers around town hadn't produced any possibilities.  But then Miss Mona at the filling station said she had a customer who told her he had a mulberry tree, but he didn't write down Julia's phone number from the flyer.

Mr. Dixon didn't need to take the phone number - he had memorized it and, sure enough, he calls.  So Patrick, Julia and Mrs. Song drive over to his house to meet Mr. Dixon and talk about the project. But when he opens his front door, Julia experiences a serious uh-oh moment - Mr. Dixon is an elderly black man, and Mrs. Song doesn't like African Americans, though Julia doesn't know why.

Julia has a lot to contend with now - the silkworm project is all systems go, and she is finally beginning to get into it; she really enjoys going over to Mr. Dixon's with Patrick and getting the mulberry leaves and even visiting for a while.  But when they stay much too long one day, Mrs. Song forbids any visiting, and insists they just get the leaves and come straight home.  So not only must Julia also contend with her mother's apparent racist feelings towards African Americans, but she must also deal with her own feeling about her Korean heritage and her identity as a Korean American. And then there's Julia's growing affection for the silkworms as they mature that causes a terrible rift between her and Patrick.  Can it all possible work out?

I really enjoyed reading Project Mulberry and I thought Julia as an excellent protagonist, even when she found things to be "bo-o-o-ring," an adolescent attitude I was not unfamiliar, with thanks to my Kiddo.  Julia is a realistic seventh grader - sometimes selfish and self-absorbed, other times generous, kind, and thoughtful, and she has a lot to deal with in this coming of age novel.  Julia's identity issues are hard enough but dealing with the possibility that her mother might just be racist certainly adds to the difficulty. And yet, it also helps Julia look at her own attitudes about who she really is in a new light.

And then there is the moral dilemma Julia faces when she learns how silk is gotten from the silkworms.  A difficult decision must be made by Julia and Patrick, one that could destroy their whole project and even the best of friendships.

Along the way, the reader, along with Julia and Patrick, learns quite a bit about conservation and how a sustainable farm works, something I actually enjoyed reading about in the novel, especially since it was done so naturally and not like it was just tossed in as a plot device.  In fact, it inspires Julia and Patrick to try and make their silkworm project sustainable.

OK, I loved Project Mulberry, but themes of identity, friendship, racism, and conservation aside, there is one aspect of the novel that I really did not like.  In between chapters is a conversation between the author and Julia about the plot and where things are going in the novel.  Maybe it is there to show how a novel is constructed and written, as some people seem to think, but I found it just an annoyance.  After reading the first few, I started to just skip them so that I could read the novel with a sense of continuity without interruption.

Project Mulberry is a excellent, thoroughly satisfying novel that covers a lot of themes and, to its credit, doesn't necessarily spare the reader or Julia some harsh realities of life.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

MAY IS ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

Dumpling Days written and illustrated by Grace Lin

It's summertime and Pacy Lin and her younger sisters Ki-Ki, 7 and older sister Lissy, 14, are on their way to Taiwan with their parents for their grandmother's 60th birthday and staying for a whole month.  Even though Taiwan is where their parents are originally from, only Lissy has ever been there to visit but she was too young to remember it.

The Lins arrive in Taiwan right at the beginning of Ghost Month, a time when the ghosts and spirits of people's ancestors visit the realm of the living.  Pacy isn't really in touch with her Taiwanese roots, and finds herself worrying about these ghosts, and, feeling invisible much of the time anyway, becoming one. This introduction to Chinese beliefs is a stark reminder to Pacy that even though she has always felt different from everyone else at home in upstate New York because she is Asian, now in Taiwan, where she may look just like everyone else, she doesn't know much about Chinese culture, and can't speak the language or understand social cues.  One thing she has no trouble understanding, though, is the disapproving look on the faces of the Taiwanese people who try to speak Chinese with her.

But her relatives are a fun and friendly bunch, and the food, especially the dumplings, is spectacular. And there is sightseeing to do, and things to learn.  When Pacy finds out that her mother has signed her up for a painting class, she isn't very happy until she sees the tubes of color paint she needs.  But, the class is in Chinese painting, which means it is done differently than what she is accustomed to, from the way she must hold the paintbrush to never erasing her mistakes to painting the same bamboo over and over again.  It frustrates Pacy, who keeps waiting for her art talent to show up and, to make matters worse, the girl next to her, competitive Audrey Chiang, keeps shooting her disapproving, condescending looks that at first shake Pacy's confidence somewhat.

As the Lin family experiences Taiwan, plus a few days in Taichung, Pacy (and the reader) learns all about her family as well as Taiwanese history, customs, culture, and traditions.  Dumpling Day is an episodic novel, describing the different experiences Pacy has on her own journey to self-discover and acceptance.  Lin has masterfully worked in so much information without making it sound too teachy about it.  Occasionally, there are some short interesting culturally historical folktales or family stories set off from Pacy's narrative that add more depth to the story, such as the Thanking the Emperor, the Story of Dumpling Soup, and Grandma Breaks Tradition .

For the most part, however, Pacy's adventures are the day-to-day kind, things such as the fortune tellers at the market, using the squat toilet, eating chicken feet by mistake, and so much more.  These were the things that made this a particularly enjoyable book to read.  Many of Pacy's adventures are similar to my Kiddo's when she went to China for a few years, particularly the food.  I have email after email telling me how wonderful Chinese food is, with dumplings being the favorite.

I should say that I have not read the previous two Pacy novels, The Year of the Dog and The Year of the Rat, but I feel like Dumpling Days is really a stand alone novel.  And I did choose it intentionally because I felt it expresses the idea behind Asian Pacific American Heritage Month perfectly.

Besides that, Dumpling Days is one of the best novels I've read about what it is like to grow up in a family that is multicultural, plus it is also an engaging story that will easily appeal to most young readers.  Lin has included simple line drawings throughout the novel that also reflect Pacy's experience (after all, how many of middle graders know what a squat toilet looks like).

This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was purchased for my personal library

Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz

In a future dystopian world, Kavali Kerwin, 15, is more than a little perplexed when she is suddenly dropped off at CropCamp by her foster Sheila.  CropCamp is run by the SayFree Gov for the purpose of teaching teens to grow organic vegetables while turning them into responsible (read conforming, obedient, gendered) adults.

Successfully completing the summer camp program gets a person certification, so that they can return to society for more education or take up Agriculture and not end up in Blight, the place where the gov puts defiants, defectives and other problem people, including expuls from camp.  Kavali is a bender, which means she could be boy or girl, gay or straight, leader or follower, human or lizard (she was found on Sheila's doorstep wrapped in a lizard t-shirt, and Sheila gave her the middle name Sauria and she is never with her small metal Komodo Dragon cum ttalisman).  Kavali quickly gets the nickname Lizard when her tent neighbor Sully overhears her talking to the Komodo.

On her first night in camp, Lizard sneaks out of her tent for some lizard time, but once out, she witnesses a bender boy from camp vaping - one second he's there, then he's gone in thin air - willfully vaporized.   But Lizard isn't the only witness, the camp director, Ms. Mischetti, a/k/a Machete, is also there, very visibly upset by the vaping.

Generally a loner, at camp Lizard becomes friends with Sully, a free spirit who believes she is headed straight to Blight, Rasta, a sweet innocent girl with a bit of a defiant streak in her, and Emmett, a boy who is very kind and loyal to Lizard,  Confused, maybe a little afraid, Lizard tries to keep out of trouble, so she can get her cert and leave at the end of August, but trouble seems trouble finds her.  To begin with, she is completely attracted to Sully, and Sully knows it, teasing and playing with Kavali, but any jazz contract is grounds for an expel, and samer jazz contact is worse.

But as the days pass, Lizard begins to question things that she sees around her, and slowly CropCamp becomes a scary, sinister place.  One bright spot for Lizard is when campers are given kickshaw, a drug designed to make them feel good and mellow.  Lizard looks forward to getting her kickshaw morsel every week, but Rasta keeps telling her not to take it and soon Kavali also begins questioning the drug use.

More questions come up, such as why the bender boy vaped, why Ms. Mischetti so interested in Lizard, is she trustworthy or a dangerous enemy, and what really happened to Sheila when she dropped Lizard off at camp and most important, who exactly is Kavali Kerwin?

This is the kind of novel that is so hard to review because you have to be so careful not to give too much away and yet, Pat Schmatz's world building is so well constructed that it is hard not to inadvertently let in spoiler slip in.  My apologies if that has happened.

Wisely, however, Schmatz has given the reader a very small part of Lizard's world, but CropCamp contains everything one needs to know about the wider world in microcosm.  There is no explanation about how things got to be the way they are and I don't think one is needed.  Everything you need to know you can figure out from the context, including the jargon, which is thankfully not hipsterish, but easy to figure out. I've used some here to give you a feel for it.

By giving Lizard Radio an other worldly setting, Schmatz is free to explore questions about identity in term of binaries, or really, she is asking why must things always be binary - boy/girl, gay/straight, male/female, leader/follower.? Why can't some people be bender, instead of samer?  It's a lot to think about.

I have been off dystopian fiction for a while because so much sounds the same to me, but then Lizard Radio can along and I remembered how good it can be when it is original and well done.  

 If you like intelligent dystopian fantasy, this is a book you are bound to enjoy.
   
This book is recommended for readers age 13+
This book was an EARC received from NetGalley

Bombay Blues by Tanuja Desai Hidier

When first we met Dimple Lala in Born Confused, she is a 17 year old Indian American who up until now had been living in the confusing space between those two words with nothing concrete to stand on - a space where she is too Indian to be American and too American to be Indian.  She is an ABCD - American Born Confused Desi (Hindu for a person from South Asia).

Dimple is also a talented photographer, carrying her Chica Tikka, her third eye SLR camera, everywhere and recording everything with it.  A gift from her beloved grandfather, her now deceased Dadaji, its photographs were how the two bridged their language barrier, communicating their lives to each other in pictures from half way around the world - Dimple in New Jersey, Dadaji in Bombay.  Dimple also found herself involved with the boy her parents had considered 'a suitable boy' and whom she originally rejected simply because meeting him was arranged by their parents.  The very handsome Karsh Kapoor is a favorite Indian DJ playing gigs in Manhattan night spots.

Now, in Bombay Blues, it is two year later and Dimple is 19, a student at New York University and still with Karsh.  Dimple is heading to India along with her parents to celebrate the Lala's wedding anniversary and for the wedding of Dimple's sister-cousin Sangita.  Karsh arrives a few days later, to hopefully break into Bombay's music scene and to DJ Sangita's wedding.  Dimple and Karsh have been growing apart recently and she is hoping the trip will help them reconnect to each other again.

But Karsh has other work to do - he needs to find closure and come to terms with his father's tragic death, a death that has shattered him.  This work that doesn't include Dimple, but does include some Hare Krishana, especially after his first DJ gig doesn't go as well as he had hoped. 

And in reaction to Karsh pushing her away, Dimple has a fling with a fellow photographer simply know as Cowboy.  She had noticed him at the airport and after running into him a second time in Bombay, Dimple decides it is a fling that is meant to be.

For her part, Dimple, has taken two giant steps backwards since her cross cultural identity crisis in Born Confused.  Now, she needs to rediscover and reconnect with who she is and what she wants to be.  Oddly enough, it is the bride-to-be Sangita, the most traditional appearing character in the novel, who teaches Dimple about finding ones true self - about identity fusion and finding a way to bridge her Indian and her American selves.

To add to all this, Sangita's sister Kavita, who came out to Dimple in Born Confused, is determined to now come out to her parents as a lesbian, as well.  But when her ex Sabina shows up in Bombay, well, things get interesting…

The story lines in Bombay Blues are actually quite simple, just as they were in Born Confused.  It is a story about journeys - internal and external journeys in search of 'home.'  And that is just what gets interrogated in this novel - the idea of what and where home is.

I loved Dimple in Born Confused and the way she took the reader along on her coming of age journey. In Bombay Blues, Dimple again invites us to ride along in rick, tuk tuk, on foot or by taxi through the maze that is Bombay, narrating her story using the same funny, deprecating, sarcastic stream of consciousness thinking as before, but with a difference.  Two years has given her stream of consciousness a more mature feeling, so her language is much more lyrical with incredible alliteration, wonderful word play, and poetic imagery.

Hidier holds the reader spellbound as she perfectly catches all the tensions, all the confusions, all the jealousies, all the happiness that make up a novel about family, friendships, relationships, identity.  All the while, she conjures up the sight, sounds and smells of Bombay, creating a lovely aromatic and musical reading experience.

If you haven't read Born Confused, that doesn't mean you can't read Bombay Blues.  It does work as a stand alone novel since you are given enough information to be able to understand how Dimple has arrived at where she is in the beginning of this second novel.

And, it is another big book - my copy of Born Confused is 432 pages, Bombay Blues comes in at 560 pages, so they are an investment in time.  But if you stick to it, to the end, you will be rewarded with a reading experience you won't soon forget.  Besides, don't you just love the name Dimple Lala?

This novel is recommended for readers age 14+
This book was an EARC received from NetGalley