Tag Archives: YA

Book Review: American Panda by Gloria Chao

Posted in Books, diverse books by

Book: American Panda by Gloria Chao

Published February 2018 by Simon Pulse|311 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

An incisive, laugh-out-loud contemporary debut about a Taiwanese-American teen whose parents want her to be a doctor and marry a Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer despite her squeamishness with germs and crush on a Japanese classmate.

At seventeen, Mei should be in high school, but skipping fourth grade was part of her parents’ master plan. Now a freshman at MIT, she is on track to fulfill the rest of this predetermined future: become a doctor, marry a preapproved Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer, produce a litter of babies.

With everything her parents have sacrificed to make her cushy life a reality, Mei can’t bring herself to tell them the truth–that she (1) hates germs, (2) falls asleep in biology lectures, and (3) has a crush on her classmate Darren Takahashi, who is decidedly not Taiwanese.

But when Mei reconnects with her brother, Xing, who is estranged from the family for dating the wrong woman, Mei starts to wonder if all the secrets are truly worth it. Can she find a way to be herself, whoever that is, before her web of lies unravels?

I absolutely loved this book!  This is easily one of my favorites from this year, and I think it’s one everyone should read!

I loved Mei, and she was so easy to relate to.  I think a doctor is not the best career path for her, and I’m glad she was finally able to speak up for herself.  It can be hard going against a plan that’s been set out for you, and going against family can be hard.  But Mei knew what she wanted to do, and took a huge risk in going against what her parents thought she should do.

I particularly liked the voicemails and emails we see from her family.  They are very much involved in her life, and I do like that they want what’s best for her.  They do want her to be successful, and while I don’t necessarily agree with some of their actions & behaviors, I do think they had really good intentions.

I felt so happy when I was reading American Panda, and something about it was comforting and warm, and made me want to hug someone.

*Random side note: I feel like I’d be one of those people you see walking around holding one of those free hugs signs.  Seriously, if I weren’t so anxious and shy, I’d totally do that.

Back to American Panda, though.  Mei is such an amazing character, and while she kept secrets for quite a while, you do see the toll it takes on her, and how hard it was to keep secrets from her family.  I also loved seeing how dance was something she loved, and how happy it made her.  Even though her parents weren’t happy with the path she decided to take, it did seem like she had some support in her brother and some friends.  And it also seemed like her mom started to come around as well, which I thought was huge, considering her mom really seemed to have very strong ideas on how Mei should live her life.

We really see Mei struggle with having really strict parents (which I can sort of identify with, but obviously not completely) and how she dealt with their values and beliefs and her own.  I laughed and smiled and quite honestly, I’m surprised I didn’t start crying.  This is not a crying sort of book, but I can be sentimental.

At any rate, something about this book felt very personal, like Chao had experienced what Mei had.  There is something honest and true about this book.  It’s heartfelt, and while I haven’t experienced what Mei did in this book, I did see parts of myself in her.  I feel like we would have gotten along really well, and she is someone I want to be friends with.  She has her flaws, but we all do.  That didn’t stop her from still being completely awesome.

5 stars!  Mei is awesome, and I couldn’t help but love this book.  It’s worth reading!

Book Review: Love, Life And The List by Kasie West and PS I Like You by Kasie West

Posted in Books by

Book: Love, Life And The List by Kasie West

Published December 2017 by HarperTeen|384 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

What do you do when you’ve fallen for your best friend? Funny and romantic, this effervescent story about family, friendship, and finding yourself is perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han.

Seventeen-year-old Abby Turner’s summer isn’t going the way she’d planned. She has a not-so-secret but definitely unrequited crush on her best friend, Cooper. She hasn’t been able to manage her mother’s growing issues with anxiety. And now she’s been rejected from an art show because her work “has no heart.” So when she gets another opportunity to show her paintings, Abby isn’t going to take any chances.

Which is where the list comes in.

Abby gives herself one month to do ten things, ranging from face a fear (#3) to learn a stranger’s story (#5) to fall in love (#8). She knows that if she can complete the list, she’ll become the kind of artist she’s always dreamed of being.

But as the deadline approaches, Abby realizes that getting through the list isn’t as straightforward as it seems… and that maybe—just maybe—she can’t change her art if she isn’t first willing to change herself. 

This book is really cute!  While I have yet to love a Kasie West book, I still enjoy her books.  They’re fun and cute and perfect if you want a quick, light read.

I liked seeing Abby challenge herself and try different things.  It’s a cool but also cliche story for an artist- the one who sets out on this journey to do these different things, just to make their art better.  She just wants to be able to show her paintings, and I get that.  It’s cool, and not at all surprising that she sees it as an opportunity to get into the art program of her dreams.  Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of that?

She has a lot to learn, and it seems like she has a lot of potential as an artist.  It sounds like she’s pretty good, and will continue to get better, which is what one always hopes for.  She gets in the art show (with an unexpected twist, which I have mixed feelings about), she learns a lot about herself, and she gets the guy.  All in all, it’s predictable but cute.

As for her mom, I’m glad Abby wasn’t taking on everything herself.  At least her grandpa was there, and he seems like a pretty cool grandpa.  I feel like we’d get along really well.  I did feel for Abby, because it meant her mom wasn’t there for certain things, but her mom is getting the help she needs, so that’s always good.  Hopefully, her mom was able to go to more of Abby’s things and worried less about her.

My Rating: 3 stars.  I liked it, but didn’t love it.  It’s cute, though.

Book: P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

Published July 2016 by Point|330 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

Signed, sealed, delivered…

While spacing out in chemistry class, Lily scribbles some of her favorite song lyrics onto her desk. The next day, she finds that someone has continued the lyrics on the desk and added a message to her. Intrigue!

Soon, Lily and her anonymous pen pal are exchanging full-on letters—sharing secrets, recommending bands, and opening up to each other. Lily realizes she’s kind of falling for this letter writer. Only, who is he? As Lily attempts to unravel the mystery and juggle school, friends, crushes, and her crazy family, she discovers that matters of the heart can’t always be spelled out…

P.S. I Like You is another cute Kasie West book!  I figured I’d review two of the books I’ve read by her recently in one post, especially since I’ve read them so close together.

I’m actually a little surprised I didn’t get the two books confused considering I started this one right after I finished the other one.

I figured out pretty early on who the mystery man was.  I thought it was pretty obvious, so when it turned out to be true, I wasn’t all that surprised.  I did like seeing Lily’s reaction to who it was, and how much she was hoping it would be someone else.  Considering the history between Lily and her mysterious pen pal, I can’t say it was a big surprise.  I am surprised, however, that it didn’t cause more problems with her and her best friend, but her best friend does seem pretty cool.  She was pretty understanding and relaxed about it, all things considering.

They really did have a lot more in common than she thought, and who knew that some letters would really change things?  For him, as well as Lily.

And the story is predictable- I’ve read enough of her books that she does go for the quirky, charming but very adorable, cliche romance.  Maybe, if I hadn’t read so many other similar stories, I would have loved it, or even really liked it.  Don’t get me read, I did like P.S. I Like You.  It’s cute and light-hearted, and maybe I read it too close to Love, Life And The List to love it more.

I doubt it, but it was fun and cute to read.

My Rating: 3 stars.  The obvious love interest (and similarities to West’s other books) aside, it’s a cute romance.

Book Review: A Land Of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi

Posted in Books, diverse books by

Book: A Land Of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi

Published January 2018 by Philomel Books|288 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

In a country ripped apart by war, Tareq lives with his big and loving family . . . until the bombs strike. His city is in ruins. His life is destroyed. And those who have survived are left to figure out their uncertain future.

In the wake of destruction, he’s threatened by Daesh fighters and witnesses a public beheading. Tareq’s family knows that to continue to stay alive, they must leave. As they travel as refugees from Syria to Turkey to Greece, facing danger at every turn, Tareq must find the resilience and courage to complete his harrowing journey.

But while this is one family’s story, it is also the timeless tale of all wars, of all tragedy, and of all strife. When you are a refugee, success is outliving your loss.

I liked A Land Of Permanent Goodbyes!  Not as much as A Secret Sky, but I still liked it.

There’s a lot I don’t know in terms of what it’s like to be a refugee, particularly one from the Middle East.  In this book, we see what Tareq has to go through, and how he’s treated by others simply because of where he’s from.  People seem to make assumptions about him because of that, and because of how he looks.  I can’t imagine knowing what it’s like to always say goodbye to people you know and love, or to the place that you once called home.  It’s hard to wrap my mind around seeing the place I call home because so different that you have to leave and hope that another country will take you in.

I did like seeing how people react to refugees, and while it was a familiar reaction, it still made me sad that some people are so distrusting of refugees.  While we see what led Tareq and his family to leave Syria,  I still wish we saw a little more of it.  I mean, I know it’s on the news, and what we see at the beginning of the novel is horrifying, there’s still part of me that wanted more of their life before things got so bad that they had to leave.  Abawi does show the horrors of what Tareq goes through really well, but part of me just wanted more of his life before.  I think that’s just my preference, though.

One interesting thing about this book is that the book is narrated by destiny.  It made me think of The Book Thief, and if you liked that book, you’ll like this book.

Unfortunately, destiny as a narrator didn’t work for me, and it made me feel so distant from what was going on. It’s already something that seems so far away, and the narrator didn’t particularly help.  Plus, it seemed random, and you’d be in Tareq’s world, and suddenly, you’d have a paragraph or longer section narrated by destiny.  It took me out of the story, which is unfortunate, because Tareq’s story is a really important one.

3 stars.  I liked A Land Of Permanent Goodbyes, and the title is so fitting for the story, but I also didn’t love it.  It’s an important story, and I still recommend it.

Book Review War Of The Cards by Colleen Oakes

Posted in Books by

Book: War Of The Cards by Colleen Oakes

Published November 2017 by HarperTeen|352 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: Queen Of Hearts Saga #3

Genre: YA Re-telling/Fantasy

 The final book in the twisted YA trilogy re-imagining of the origin story of the Queen of Hearts.

Dinah has lost everyone she ever loved. Her brother was brutally murdered. The wicked man she believed was her father betrayed her. Her loyal subjects have been devastated by war. And the boy she gave her heart to broke it completely.

Now a dark queen has risen out of the ashes of her former life. Fury is blooming inside Dinah, poisoning her soul and twisting her mind. All she has left is Wonderland and her crown, and her obsession to fight for both. But the war rages on, and Dinah could inherit a bloodstained throne. Can a leader filled with love and rage ever be the ruler her kingdom needs? Or will her all-consuming wrath bring Wonderland to its knees?

This is not a story of happily ever after.

This is the story of the Queen of Hearts.

I’ve been with this series since the very beginning, and while I’m sad to see it end, I also thought it was a great ending to the series.  I remember reading ARC’s of the first two books on netgalley years ago, and I’ve been anxiously awaiting this book ever since.  I’m really glad I finally read it!

There were things I did not see coming, and I really felt for Dinah.  I have, for the entire series, and in particular, everything with Wardley and her (biological) father broke my heart.  More so with Wardley than anything else, because I was wondering how things would work out for them.

I really liked this take on the Queen Of Hearts, and while I’ve read very few Alice In Wonderland re-tellings, this one is my favorite by far.  The Queen Of Hearts is such a villain in the Alice In Wonderland story, and yet, Dinah doesn’t feel like a villain at all.  She’s a very sympathetic character, and I couldn’t help but want things to work out for her.

I did love how the original version of Alice In Wonderland was tied in to this story, and I thought it was very original and different.  I’ve read quite a few re-tellings over the years, and this one is the most connected to the original story that I’ve ever seen.  It was unexpected but also really cool, especially since I did have fun trying to figure out who was who from the original story.  Now I feel like re-reading Alice In Wonderland…

It’s definitely the strongest in the series, and Dinah has changed a lot.  You’d want (and hope) that the last book of a series would be the strongest, and this book delivered on that.  I could picture the battle so clearly, and yet, it was pretty gory, so keep that in mind if you decide to pick this up.

And the epilogue…I have mixed feelings about it.  I don’t understand why Wardley did what he did, considering how things went between him and Dinah, but there was something very hopeful about the epilogue as well.  Like things are okay, and will continue to be okay.  I’m glad there’s hope for Wonderland, and that the series ended with some hope that things would get better.

5 stars.  War Of The Cards is a great ending to a great series, and I absolutely loved the book and Dinah.

Book Review: ACID by Emma Pass

Posted in Books by

Book: ACID by Emma Pass

Published April 2015 by Ember|384 pages

Where I Got It: I own the paperback

Series: None

Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Dystopia

Fans of Matched and Divergent will be hooked by this fast-paced, nail-biting survival story, featuring an unforgettable heroine reminiscent of Katniss Everdeen and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’s Lisbeth Salander.

The year is 2113. In Jenna Strong’s world, ACID—the most brutal controlling police force in history—rule supreme. No throwaway comment or whispered dissent goes unnoticed—or unpunished. And it was ACID agents who locked Jenna away for life, for a horrendous crime she struggles to remember. But Jenna’s violent prison time has taught her how to survive by any means necessary. When a mysterious rebel group breaks her out, she must use her strength, speed, and skill to stay one step ahead of ACID and try to uncover the truth about what really happened on that terrible night two years ago. They’ve taken her life, her freedom, and her memories away from her. How can she reclaim anything when she doesn’t know who to trust?

I liked ACID!  I think, had I read this book a few years ago, I would have loved it.  I don’t know if I’d read a lot of dystopia over the years, and so I didn’t love it the way I might have a few years ago.  But I did like it.

The police force in this novel is horrible.  No bad deed is unpunished in this world, and what makes this book so terrifying is that they will do anything to keep dissent squashed down.  While we get the basic idea of how they took over, we don’t get a clear grasp of this world and what it’s like.  We know people are told who to marry, where to work and where to live, and everything get reported.  It seems like the rest of the world is okay, but that’s not too clear, since it seems like the UK is pretty isolated.

It’s a nice change from the US being the one in this type of world.  In other dystopias, I always wonder what’s going on in the rest of the world while craziness happens in the U.S.  This time, the tables are turned, and I’m left wondering what’s happening in the rest of the world, while things are god awful in the U.K.

I did like the news articles and letters and transcripts of conversations between ACID agents.  It’s a different and cool way of giving us information about this world and what’s going on.  It would have been a lot cooler had the events of the book felt less random.

It started off really strong, and somewhere along the way, it lost that special something that initially drew me in.  Certain things were underdeveloped, and it felt like the book had wandered off-course before righting itself.  I don’t know that Divergent is an accurate comparison, because I didn’t really get that vibe from the book at all.  I feel like Matched is pretty spot on, and I’d even say that Delirium is another good read-alike.  Those two series are probably the most similar to this one.

It was still a fun read, even though though some things are far-fetched, and not really explained.  It would make a great movie though, I will admit that.

3 stars.  I liked ACID, and it was entertaining to read, but it started off strong and then tapered off as the book went on.

Book Review: Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger

Posted in Books, diverse books by

Book: Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger

Published March 2009 by Margaret K McElderry|256 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

Seventeen-year-old Samar — a.k.a. Sam — has never known much about her Indian heritage. Her mom has deliberately kept Sam away from her old-fashioned family. It’s never bothered Sam, who is busy with school, friends, and a really cute but demanding boyfriend.But things change after 9/11. A guy in a turban shows up at Sam’s house, and he turns out to be her uncle. He wants to reconcile the family and teach Sam about her Sikh heritage. Sam isn’t sure what to do, until a girl at school calls her a coconut — brown on the outside, white on the inside. That decides it: Why shouldn’t Sam get to know her family? What is her mom so afraid of? Then some boys attack her uncle, shouting, “Go back home, Osama!” and Sam realizes she could be in danger — and also discovers how dangerous ignorance can be. Sam will need all her smarts and savvy to try to bridge two worlds and make them both her own.

I liked Shine, Coconut Moon!  I really liked Sam, and I liked seeing her decide to learn more about her family. 9/11 really changed things for a lot of people and I thought Shine, Coconut Moon really showed how much people changed.

Like Sam’s boyfriend.  I hated him, I really did.  How he treated Sam because of her uncle was absolutely horrible, and you’d think he’d give her a chance and try to see things from her perspective.  But he had no interest in doing that, and refused to leave her alone, even when she wanted to have nothing to do with him.  It’s hard to believe that she was ever interested in him, and I was relieved when they were no longer together.

And how things changed with her best friend.  Her best friend is the stereotypical character who doesn’t understand how hard things are for Sam after 9/11.  Her friend does come around, and I wonder if maybe she noticed things but didn’t want to admit it.

This book is very much Sam learning about her heritage.  I thought the summary was confusing- it made it seem like her uncle showing up and him being would be a huge part of the book, but it wasn’t.  His appearance does change things for Sam, and she does meet both him and her grandparents because of it, but it wasn’t as important as the summary would have you believe.

Don’t get me wrong, the way he was treated by people he didn’t even know was horrible, and he doesn’t deserve it.  It’s sad that people saw him a certain way because of how he looked, and that people make assumptions and stereotype.  I wish we didn’t live in a world like that, but unfortunately, we do.

Something I thought was odd was when the book took place.  There were times where it seemed like it happened right after 9/11 and we’re in the months right after.  But towards the end of the book, it seemed like more time had passed.  Maybe I missed something, but the timeline seemed really strange and confusing to me, and it took me out of things a little bit.

I did like seeing Sam expand her worldview, and how she started talking to people that she previously ignored.  It’s too bad some of the other people in her life couldn’t (or wouldn’t) do the same.  It made me angry that people started treating her differently because of her uncle, and that even though they’ve known her for years, they started looking at her with suspicion.

I’m really not sure what else to say about Shine, Coconut Moon.  It’s definitely worth checking out and reading.

3 stars.  Even though I liked Shine, Coconut Moon, I didn’t love it.  I really felt for Samar, and I felt so angry on her behalf.  I definitely recommend it!

Book Review: Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins

Posted in Books by

Book: Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins

Published January 2009 by Delacorte Books For Young Readers|240 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

When her father loses his job and leaves India to look for work in America, Asha Gupta, her older sister, Reet, and their mother must wait with Baba’s brother and his family, as well as their grandmother, in Calcutta. Uncle is welcoming, but in a country steeped in tradition, the three women must abide by his decisions. Asha knows this is temporary—just until Baba sends for them. But with scant savings and time passing, the tension builds: Ma, prone to spells of sadness, finds it hard to submit to her mother- and sister-in-law; Reet’s beauty attracts unwanted marriage proposals; and Asha’s promise to take care of Ma and Reet leads to impulsive behavior. What follows is a firestorm of rebuke—and secrets revealed! Asha’s only solace is her rooftop hideaway, where she pours her heart out in her diary, and where she begins a clandestine friendship with Jay Sen, the boy next door. Asha can hardly believe that she, and not Reet, is the object of Jay’s attention. Then news arrives about Baba . . . and Asha must make a choice that will change their lives forever.

I’ve wanted to read this book for a while, and after reading You Bring The Distant Near last year, I finally decided to read Secret Keeper.  I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would, and I didn’t like it as much as You Bring The Distant Near.

I did feel for Asha and Reet, and I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like to have a marriage arranged for you, or to know that your decisions are not your own to make.  Asha has her own path, and while it differed from the traditional path her family wanted her to take, she knew what she wanted.  It’s very different than the path that her sister took.

I found it hard to wrap my mind around the fact that their uncle could make decisions- such as their future spouse- for them since their father was trying to find a job in the U.S.  It’s a very different life than the one I know, and it’s not bad.  It’s just very different and hard for me to picture.

I did like Asha, and how much she wanted to help people.  Wanting to be a psychologist really opened doors for her, and it really seemed like a way for her to take care of her mom and her sister, especially after her dad died.  I also liked that she considered her diaries from her father her secret keeper, but I didn’t particularly care for actually reading the diary entries.  I also liked how Reet wanted to take care of her mother and sister as well, and how getting married allowed her to help them.  It’s strange how one event can change everything, and how we all need to make sacrifices.

2 stars.  Even though there were things I liked about Secret Keeper, it was just okay for me.  I had a hard time getting into it, and I wish I liked it more than I actually did.

Book Review: Buried Heart by Kate Elliott

Posted in Books by

Book: Buried Heart by Kate Elliott

Published July 2017 by Little, Brown Books For Young Readers|465 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: Court Of Fives #3

Genre: YA Fantasy

 The explosive finale to World Fantasy Award finalist Kate Elliott’s captivating, New York Times bestselling young adult series

In this third book in the epic Court of Fives series, Jessamy is the crux of a revolution forged by the Commoner class hoping to overthrow their longtime Patron overlords. But enemies from foreign lands have attacked the kingdom, and Jes must find a way to unite the Commoners and Patrons to defend their home and all the people she loves. Will her status as a prominent champion athlete be enough to bring together those who have despised one another since long before her birth? Will she be able to keep her family out of the clutches of the evil Lord Gargaron? And will her relationship with Prince Kalliarkos remain strong when they find themselves on opposite sides of a war? Find all the answers in this beautifully written and exciting conclusion to World Fantasy Award finalist Kate Elliott’s debut New York Times bestselling young adult trilogy!

I’ve really enjoyed this series but I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed the previous two.  I had a harder time getting into this book, and it seemed a lot more complicated than the previous books.  I did struggle to keep up with the characters, and what was going on, particularly with Prince Kalliarkos and his family.

I don’t think I read it at the best time, and maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for a fantasy.  Still, I did really like it, and it was a pretty good ending to the series.

In particular, I really liked seeing how Jess dealt with both her Efean heritage and her Saroese heritage.  She didn’t really belong to either world, and it felt like she was very much torn between both.  You see what a balancing act it is for her, and how she ended up being part of the revolution.

I really felt for the Efean people, and the anger they felt at their land and their way of life being overtaken.  While it will take a long time for the dust to settle, things felt really hopeful, and I liked that there was hope that things would get better.

However, it felt like there were endless discussions about the revolution, and not a lot of action.  It made the book seem really slow, and there wasn’t enough conflict or struggle in this book to keep me really interested in what happened next.  It felt like this book lost the momentum that the previous books had built up.

I also wanted more magic, like the sparks we see in Court Of Fives.  Even though it’s fantasy, there weren’t a lot of fantasy elements.  The very few that we do see aren’t explored the way I thought they would be.

I was never a fan of the romance between Jes and Kalliarkos, and I thought their relationship ended with a whimper.  It seemed so strong in the first book, but by the end of Buried Heart, I found I didn’t really care.  He was put in a hard position and Jes also had some things she really needed to work out, but I would have been fine without it in this book.  It was also strange, because it seemed liked she wanted to be with Kalliarkos, and yet…it seemed like Ro was an option for her.  It felt very sudden, and almost like she settled for him because Kalliarkos wasn’t around a lot.  Maybe I’m misreading things, but that’s how it seemed to me.

4 stars.  I didn’t love Buried Heart, and it is my least favorite book in the series.  It is a pretty solid ending to the series, even if I would have liked a few things to be different.

Book Review: When I Was The Greatest by Jason Reynolds

Posted in Books, diverse books by

Book: When I Was The Greatest by Jason Reynolds

Published January 2014 by Atheneum Books For Young Readers|240 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

In Bed Stuy, New York, a small misunderstanding can escalate into having a price on your head—even if you’re totally clean. This gritty, triumphant debut that Publishers Weekly calls “a funny and rewarding read” captures the heart and the hardship of life for an urban teen.

A lot of the stuff that gives my neighborhood a bad name, I don’t really mess with. The guns and drugs and all that, not really my thing.

Nah, not his thing. Ali’s got enough going on, between school and boxing and helping out at home. His best friend Noodles, though. Now there’s a dude looking for trouble—and, somehow, it’s always Ali around to pick up the pieces. But, hey, a guy’s gotta look out for his boys, right? Besides, it’s all small potatoes; it’s not like anyone’s getting hurt.

And then there’s Needles. Needles is Noodles’s brother. He’s got a syndrome, and gets these ticks and blurts out the wildest, craziest things. It’s cool, though: everyone on their street knows he doesn’t mean anything by it.

Yeah, it’s cool…until Ali and Noodles and Needles find themselves somewhere they never expected to be…somewhere they never should’ve been—where the people aren’t so friendly, and even less forgiving.

When I read All-American Boys a few years ago, I really liked it.  Enough to want to read his other books, but unfortunately, I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would.

One of the biggest reasons why it was just okay was the writing.  The writing style is perfect for middle grade, and I really did think I was reading a middle grade novel, but the writing style itself didn’t match up with what happened in the story.  I was surprised that Ali was in high school because I (wrongly) assumed he was 12/13, and not the 15/16 that is actually mentioned in the book.

It’s also pretty short, and you could easily read it in a couple of hours.  I did want it to be longer, because it felt like things weren’t developed enough.  In particular, the big moment of the book really felt like a let down.  I expected something bigger, and something that wasn’t so easily resolved.  It was resolved a lot faster than I thought, and even then, it felt like Ali got very lucky that his father was there to take care of it.

However, it really did feel like I was sitting next to Ali on the stoop as he told me this story.  There is something about his voice that’s very honest and raw, and I did want to hear more of Ali’s story.  It felt really personal, like we were there with Ali, instead of feeling distanced from what was going on.

I also liked seeing the relationship Ali had with his family, his friends, and his neighbors.  In particular, I liked seeing how Needles dealt with Tourette’s.  While I don’t knit, I do crochet, and crafting as therapy is pretty accurate.  It’s different, but I also thought it was really cool.

2 stars.  I thought it could have been longer, in order to develop the characters and flesh out some of the events a little more.  But I also thought that Ali was pretty easy to relate to, and I think a lot of readers will really like him.

Book Review: Enter Title Here by Rahal Kanakia

Posted in Books, diverse books by

Book: Enter Title Here by Rahal Kanakia

Published August 2016 by Disney Hyperion|352 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

I’m your protagonist-Reshma Kapoor-and if you have the free time to read this book, then you’re probably nothing like me.

Reshma is a college counselor’s dream. She’s the top-ranked senior at her ultra-competitive Silicon Valley high school, with a spotless academic record and a long roster of extracurriculars. But there are plenty of perfect students in the country, and if Reshma wants to get into Stanford, and into med school after that, she needs the hook to beat them all.

What’s a habitual over-achiever to do? Land herself a literary agent, of course. Which is exactly what Reshma does after agent Linda Montrose spots an article she wrote for Huffington Post. Linda wants to represent Reshma, and, with her new agent’s help scoring a book deal, Reshma knows she’ll finally have the key to Stanford.

But she’s convinced no one would want to read a novel about a study machine like her. To make herself a more relatable protagonist, she must start doing all the regular American girl stuff she normally ignores. For starters, she has to make a friend, then get a boyfriend. And she’s already planned the perfect ending: after struggling for three hundred pages with her own perfectionism, Reshma will learn that meaningful relationships can be more important than success-a character arc librarians and critics alike will enjoy.

Of course, even with a mastermind like Reshma in charge, things can’t always go as planned. And when the valedictorian spot begins to slip from her grasp, she’ll have to decide just how far she’ll go for that satisfying ending. (Note: It’s pretty far.)

In this wholly unique, wickedly funny debut novel, Rahul Kanakia consciously uses the rules of storytelling-and then breaks them to pieces.

When I first heard about this book, I was pretty intrigued.  I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would, and while it is a cool idea, it didn’t work for me.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but it does feel like Reshma’s story isn’t a new one.  It definitely falls into the “I must do all of the things I never did before in order to truly live” trope.  Which is fine, but it really didn’t work for me, and it felt really fake.  I mean, I know Reshma is doing it so she can have an easier time writing a book people will want to read, and maybe Reshma herself is why it didn’t work for me.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of Reshma, and I feel like a lot of people would see her as unlikeable.  She is ambitious, and will do anything to get into college.  I was really surprised by the lengths she went to in order to get into college, and I kind of wish the book had gone more into that.  What she did isn’t okay, and she really is ruthless and cruel.  There is no redemptive arc for Reshma, and even at the end of the book, she still believes she did the right thing.

I do wonder if her parents business deal played a part in why she did what she did.  Maybe she didn’t want what happened to their business happen to her, and I get that.  But it doesn’t change the fact that she is cold and willing to do to others what someone did to her parents.  She didn’t learn from that at all, and I felt like, even though there were some very real consequences for her actions, she was still determined to lie, cheat and sue in order to get her way.

And as terrible as Reshma was, I kind of liked that she didn’t really learn her lesson or change because of what she did.  Would it have been easy for her to change and learn something?  Of course, but I feel like that would be the predictable thing.  Her not changing was a little bit refreshing, and sometimes, we don’t learn or change, even though we should.

2 stars.  I didn’t like Enter Title Here as much as I thought, and it fell flat.  I didn’t mind Reshma’s ruthlessness, though I think she went overboard in what she did in order to get into college.