Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson

 Jade is a "scholarship" student and one of only a few black students at an elite school in Washington. She knows she should feel grateful for the opportunity to get such a good education, but she often feels like she doesn't fit in.  However, when she gets together with the kids in her own neighborhood, she feels like an outsider with them as well, since they don't go to school together. When she meets a new girl, Sam, at her school who, although not black, at least has a family with as many challenges as Jade's, she begins to hope that she has at last found a friend at the school. As they hang out together, Jade begins to see that, even though Sam is from a similar neighborhood, life is different for her since she is white.  Sam doesn't seem to understand what it feels like to be the object of prejudice. Meanwhile her school councilor enrolls Jade in a "mentorship" program with a previous graduate of Jade's school who is a successful black woman. That doesn't work out as well as Jade had hoped either.  Why does everyone see her as someone who needs help instead of someone who could give help?

After I read All the Blues in the Sky by Ms Watson, I decided to read this, her earlier Newbery Honor book. It is well written. Watson tackles difficult questions about identity and race relations with sensitivity, and doesn't give in to any easy answers. It is probably inspirational to people in similar situations to Jade, but in the end I didn't enjoy it. Maybe that is the point. It is supposed to make white people feel uncomfortable. It helped me understand the defensive and combative attitudes I see in some of my minority students better, I guess. Still, I think there are other books about the same topic that I would recommend before this one, like anything by Jason Reynolds. (2017, 272p)

Land of Dragons by Beth McMullen

 In this second in the "Secret of the Storm" series, Cassie, Joe, Cassie's mom and  Miss Asher, the librarian, are all set to enter the Dragon World to save Albert.  Instead Albert comes back to their world, and seems to be on a mission to find someone who will help him save his mother.  The quest leads them to a dragon festival in another state where they make new friends and avoid old enemies. Meanwhile, Cassie's ability to control the glitter power she received from Albert is improving which is a good thing, because they will need all the friends and powers they can get if they are to save Albert's mother.

Sometimes when I am between holds, I just go through the books I have already read and look for the next in the series.  That is what happened here.  The second in the series does a good job of advancing the story of the first.  There are new characters to meet and new adventures to be had.  This is not likely to be an award winner, but I think there are a lot of 4th and 5th graders, or even younger children who are confident readers, who would enjoy this series. (272 p. 2023)

Awakened by Roseanna M. White

 Arden had always felt comfortable living in her beautiful and kind half-sister, Jade's shadow. Then the unthinkable happens.  Jade is taken by the Black-tale mermen and Arden has to find a way to save her. Luckily, that very day, Seidon, the kind of all the land-walkers, and half merman as well, visits their city for the first time in a generation. He must find a bride soon so he can have an heir and pass his magical powers that keep Daryalta prosperous. Arden wonders if Jade was the one destined to be Seidon's wife, and that is why the rogue mermen have taken her.  As Arden works with Seidon to rescue Jade, Seidon begins to think it is Arden rather than Jade who is the match the Triada intends for him.  He certainly hopes so.

If you follow my blog you will know that Roseanna White is one of my favorite historical Christian romance/mystery writers.  The only reason I haven't read one of her books in a while is that I had read all the ones available in my library. I was surprised, therefore, to find this YA fantasy written by her.  The question is, can she write fantasy?  Well, the things that made me like her as a historical fiction writer are all here. There are good well-rounded characters, a nice balance of the dramatic and the humorous, and a view of how faith works similar to my own. There are other things I like.  Her world building and magical system are interesting.  She also ties in some obscure Old Testament references as important plot points in a fun and clever way. The thing I didn't like was that it totally needed to be edited!  Should could have cut out 1/3 of the text and it would have been a much better book. The main thing she needed to cut out was all the times Jade is feeling insecure and Seidon tells her how wonderful she is. The first time and even the second time this happens, the reader is thinking "ah, how sweet."  But by the 10th or 20th (ok maybe 20 is an exaggeration, but not by much)  time this happens the reader is thinking, "Oh, this conversation again?  Let's skip a few pages to get past all this."  All the positive affirmations don't move the plot along so the whole story starts to drag. The audio book is 19 hours long!  I actually considered giving up on the book at about 15 hours. I did finish it. The question is, will I read the next one in the series.  The answer: only if there is clear evidence that someone hired an editor. (348 p. 2025)

note: 348 p seems like a normal length book. I don't know why the recording was so long.  Was the print just really small?

Cloaked in Beauty by Karen Witemeyer

 When Scarlet Radcliff's father died, she became an heiress, and a target for her greedy uncle.  To keep her safe, her mother sent her off with her grandmother to grow up in a secluded forest. She took on the name of Letty Hood, and at some point, found a raised a wolf pup to be her constant faithful companion. As Letty approaches her 21st birthday, when she will inherit her fortune and make a will that will eliminate the possibility that her uncle would if she died, her mother hires a Pinkerton agent to find her and bring her home. Philip Carmichael knows that Letty's uncle has hired multiple assassins to find Letty and kill her but her grandmother has hidden her too well. How can he find her when they couldn't and then how could he safely transport her back to her home?  As the two begin the journey together, the biggest questions is how can they keep from falling in love with each other. 

You have to admire Witemeyer for taking on the challenge of writing a romance based on Little Red Riding Hood. I think she did as well as any could.  She basically took all of the main characters; the wolf, the grandmother, Red, and the huntsmen, added a bad guy, the uncle, and then wrote a story. You know how I like Witemeyer, and I liked this one as well. There were some funny scenes that had me grinning the whole time I was reading them, and some pretty good action scenes as well. Scarlett and Philip are the same two characters that are in all of Witemeyer's books--she really only knows how to write one kind of leading lady and leading man--but somehow I don't get tired of reading her books. (2024, 352 p)

All the Blues in the Sky by Renee Watson

 On Sage's 13th birthday, her best friend is hit by a car and killed. Sage is overcome with grief, and works with councilors to try to deal with it.  She is part of a grief group at school, but feels that her own situation is far more difficult than those in the group who lost their grandmother or someone through a long drawn out sickness, because her friend died so suddenly.  Can Sage ever feel joy or happiness again?

This novel, written in verse, won the Newbery Medal this year  It is very well written and feels like it authentically represents what a young teen might go through while grieving the death of their friend.  I can see why the committee chose it for the Newbery Medal, but I am also disappointed that it won.  It really is a bit of a downer.  I could see that it would be valuable for a child going through grief, but I don't know if I would ever recommend it to a child who was just looking for a good book to read. I think that sometimes the committee is moved by these kinds of Rx books, thinking that they would be "so good for children."  The truth is, no book is good for children unless they are willing to read it. Only a small subset of children are interested in a book where someone's best friend dies. (2025, 208 p)

Purls and Potions by Nancy Warren

 Alice works in a book shop up the street from Lucy's knitting shop. She is in love with her boss, Charlie, but he hardly notices her. Violet, Lucy's cousin and employee, feels sorry for Alice and decides that Lucy should make a love potion for her, not only to help Alice, but as a training exercise for Lucy. Meanwhile, one of the vampires that lives in the catacombs beneath Lucy's shop decides to volunteer to make sets for the local college's production of Midsummer Night's dream. Alice is also in the play and when some of the actors, horsing around, grab and drink some of her potion, all manner of romantic mix-up's occur. It is all rather humorous until one of the actors ends up dead, and Charlie is the prime suspect. Lucy feels duty bound to discover who the real murderer is before anyone else's lives' are destroyed.

It was kind of fun to read this just a few weeks before Valentine's day. The mixed-up relationships between the actors cleverly match the story of Shakespeare's classic comedy. Warren does a good job dropping clues, but the resolution scene is a little cliche. Still, I enjoy these books and will keep putting the next one on hold. Apparently I am not the only one who likes them because the wait time is always several months. (2019, 252 p)

Proud by Ibtihaj Muhamad, and Lori Tharps

 Ibtihaj's parents are African Americans that converted to Islam before Ibtihaj was born.  Ibtihaj's parents encouraged all of their children to excel in both academics and sports.  Ibtihaj played a variety of sports with her friends as a child, but some of them became more difficult when she started to wear the hijab in high school. Her mother steered her toward fencing because the fencing uniform met the modesty requirements of a conservative Muslim and could be worn with the hijab.  Ibtihaj applied herself to the sport, hoping to get a scholarship to a top college, and her coaches realized she had talent. They put her on a track to compete nationally and, eventually internationally.  Eventually she qualified for the 2016 Olympic games where she won a team bronze metal.  This book is a memoir of her journey, and catalogs all the hurtles she faced to become the first black Muslim American to compete in the Olympics wearing the hijab in a time in American history when prejudice against Muslims was steadily climbing. 

This book got a lot of attention when it was first released in 2018.  It is an inspiring story the exposes the prejudice Muslim Americans face in sports and in the workplace. Ibtihaj tells of both subtle and overt prejudice was a constant trial in her life both on and off the fencing arena.  Her account is honest and heart wrenching, but at times I wondered what the other side of the story is.  One major struggle she had was that the other members of the American woman's fencing team were not only unwilling to befriend her, but were openly hostile to her.  She blames it on the fact on racial and religious prejudice, but could there be more going on?  We only have her side. Regardless, she clearly had admirable tenacity to stick to her goals long enough to achieve them, and then used her notoriety to advocate for inclusivity and fair treatment of all. This is a good biography for anyone who either knows what it is like, or doesn't know what it is like, to be on the outside of social norms. (228, 2018)