BookBrowse Editorial Review
My Heart Underwater by Laurel Flores Fantauzzo
(11/18/2020)
In Manila, Cory meets her mother's entitled family and the domestic workers who serve them, her much less wealthy father's fallen-from-grace brother, and most importantly, Jun and his friends. Each of these characters widens Cory's perspective on what is important in life, and what real love looks like. The novel is full of rich fragments of life in Manila, from Jollibee restaurant chain takeout to brief conversations in Tagalog. The meanings of these exchanges are usually understandable in cont
BookBrowse Editorial Review
We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
(9/16/2020)
In this novel, which begins in 1942, 14 Japanese American teenagers are ripped from their lives in San Francisco and relocated to detention camps scattered across the western United States. Chee draws on the experiences of her own grandparents to recreate events and bring to vivid life characters with a wide range of personalities and versions of the broken American dream. With a more individual focus, Traci Chee offers a wider, multifaceted picture of this shameful episode in America's past.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
We Are Not from Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez
(7/15/2020)
Their ride through Mexico on La Bestia is depicted as a multisensory experience, sometimes nightmarish, sometimes triumphant. And the conclusion of that journey highlights the various ways a trip like this can end in these days of unaccompanied children waiting in cages on the border. We Are Not from Here, with its young, sympathetic, genuinely desperate characters, is a heart-wrenchingly real novel to hand to any teen or adult who wonders how and why that journey can be so urgent and imp
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Hollywood Park by Mikel Jollett
(6/3/2020)
Jollett's abilities as a narrative songwriter serve him well in the storytelling techniques he employs in this engrossing memoir. The first chapters cover Jollett's escape from Synanon with his brother and their mother Gerry in the dead of night with the help of her parents. He narrates as his four-year-old self, complete with stream-of-consciousness misinterpretations, misspellings and made-up words straight out of James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Hollywood Park
BookBrowse Editorial Review
How to Build a Heart by Maria Padian
(2/19/2020)
The number of subplots and complications make How to Build a Heart simultaneously realistic and overly convoluted. Izzy's grandmother's cruel behavior years earlier explains the divisions in the family, but could be the subject of an entirely different book. Izzy discovers that the one cousin she feels a connection with has had a drug problem—again, the seeds of another story. Nevertheless, this is a potent coming-of-age story about the courage often required for pulling together mu
BookBrowse Editorial Review
All-American Muslim Girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney
(1/8/2020)
The author uses an almost Socratic approach to Allie's religious self-discoveries. A chapter in which she and her newfound study group heatedly discuss being both feminist and Muslim presents an astonishing amount of information in the form of a natural and fascinating dialogue. In the face of post 9/11 Islamophobia in the media, novels like All-American Muslim Girl are important vehicles for helping young people understand a frequently misunderstood religion while enjoying a universal co
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
(11/13/2019)
Ruta Sepetys is an author unafraid of tackling disturbing but little-known episodes in history, from Lithuanian exiles under Stalin, to the Wilhelm Gustloff tragedy. Her exploration into the effects on children and teens of the Spanish Civil War and the decades-long reign of Francisco Franco will be a welcome addition for educators in search of an entertaining and accessible way to explain something so nearly inexplicable.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake
(10/16/2019)
The Last True Poets of the Sea is a rich novel about a troubled teen finding her roots and her emotional center, set evocatively in a long summer on the New England shore. The coastal Maine setting is lovingly described, complete with rocky shores, seasonal lobster shacks, equally seasonal tourists and tourist attractions, and also the signs of economic hard times on the outskirts of town.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
(9/18/2019)
The moral and ethical questions addressed by this allegorical novel are relevant today, and approached via a story accessible to young people. Beyond Pet's mission to right a moral wrong, there are also strong and positive elements of diversity. Jam herself is transgender, and her transition process is overwhelmingly accepted by family and the community.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Let's Call It a Doomsday by Katie Henry
(9/4/2019)
Three elements help the novel stand out among other recent young adult releases about mental illness: Ellis's survivalist knowledge, her Mormon religion and the author's detailed depiction of the Oakland/Bay Area setting. The book's conclusion is both satisfying and open-ended, if a bit too neat.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
(7/10/2019)
Teen parenthood is not a new subject in YA novels, but With the Fire on High offers a refreshing perspective. The author is as much a master of language as Emoni is a master of food. Acevedo has created a strong, creative, resourceful urban Latina whose story will resonate with both teen readers and adults.
