![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yolandekleinn- — - — - — - — -
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Justyce McAllister is a good kid, an honor student, and always there to help a friend—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. Despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can’t escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates.
Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.
Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up—way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs.
In the media fallout, it’s Justyce who is under attack.
Why you should read it: I honestly can't believe how much is packed into such a short read. Wonderful characters, beautiful and complicated relationships, but also a lot of ugliness and pain depicted so honestly that reading it hurts. This is a beautiful book, masterfully crafted, and one I'm glad as hell I read.
ALSO NOTE: THE SEQUEL JUST CAME OUT. Dear Justyce :: I've only just gotten my hands on it, but I'm confident it will be equally incredible.
- — - — - — - — -
Who Put This Song On? by Morgan Parker
Trapped in sunny, stifling, small-town suburbia, seventeen-year-old Morgan knows why she’s in therapy. She can’t count the number of times she’s been the only non-white person at the sleepover, been teased for her “weird” outfits, and been told she’s not “really” black. Also, she’s spent most of her summer crying in bed. So there’s that, too.
Lately, it feels like the whole world is listening to the same terrible track on repeat—and it’s telling them how to feel, who to vote for, what to believe. Morgan wonders, when can she turn this song off and begin living for herself?
Why you should read it: A painfully honest book that isn't shy about delving into mental health and marginalization, in the life of a teenager growing up surrounded by a conservative christian suburb. The gorgeous writing got under my skin from page one and never stopped knocking it out of the park.
- — - — - — - — -
This Time Will be Different by Misa Sigiura
Katsuyamas never quit—but seventeen-year-old CJ doesn’t even know where to start. She’s never lived up to her mom’s type A ambition, and she’s perfectly happy just helping her aunt, Hannah, at their family’s flower shop.
She doesn’t buy into Hannah’s romantic ideas about flowers and their hidden meanings, but when it comes to arranging the perfect bouquet, CJ discovers a knack she never knew she had. A skill she might even be proud of.
Then her mom decides to sell the shop—to the family who swindled CJ’s grandparents when thousands of Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps during WWII. Soon a rift threatens to splinter CJ’s family, friends, and their entire Northern California community; and for the first time, CJ has found something she wants to fight for.
Why you should read it: I loved the complicated family dynamics, the way the extended friend group never felt unwieldy (so impressive from a craft standpoint), the fact that no matter how much people love each other they still have to work to do right by each other. And then screw up along the way. And learn and grow and try to figure things out, all while being beautifully human. This was a lovely read.
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Justyce McAllister is a good kid, an honor student, and always there to help a friend—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. Despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can’t escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates.
Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.
Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up—way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs.
In the media fallout, it’s Justyce who is under attack.
Why you should read it: I honestly can't believe how much is packed into such a short read. Wonderful characters, beautiful and complicated relationships, but also a lot of ugliness and pain depicted so honestly that reading it hurts. This is a beautiful book, masterfully crafted, and one I'm glad as hell I read.
ALSO NOTE: THE SEQUEL JUST CAME OUT. Dear Justyce :: I've only just gotten my hands on it, but I'm confident it will be equally incredible.
- — - — - — - — -
Who Put This Song On? by Morgan Parker
Trapped in sunny, stifling, small-town suburbia, seventeen-year-old Morgan knows why she’s in therapy. She can’t count the number of times she’s been the only non-white person at the sleepover, been teased for her “weird” outfits, and been told she’s not “really” black. Also, she’s spent most of her summer crying in bed. So there’s that, too.
Lately, it feels like the whole world is listening to the same terrible track on repeat—and it’s telling them how to feel, who to vote for, what to believe. Morgan wonders, when can she turn this song off and begin living for herself?
Why you should read it: A painfully honest book that isn't shy about delving into mental health and marginalization, in the life of a teenager growing up surrounded by a conservative christian suburb. The gorgeous writing got under my skin from page one and never stopped knocking it out of the park.
- — - — - — - — -
This Time Will be Different by Misa Sigiura
Katsuyamas never quit—but seventeen-year-old CJ doesn’t even know where to start. She’s never lived up to her mom’s type A ambition, and she’s perfectly happy just helping her aunt, Hannah, at their family’s flower shop.
She doesn’t buy into Hannah’s romantic ideas about flowers and their hidden meanings, but when it comes to arranging the perfect bouquet, CJ discovers a knack she never knew she had. A skill she might even be proud of.
Then her mom decides to sell the shop—to the family who swindled CJ’s grandparents when thousands of Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps during WWII. Soon a rift threatens to splinter CJ’s family, friends, and their entire Northern California community; and for the first time, CJ has found something she wants to fight for.
Why you should read it: I loved the complicated family dynamics, the way the extended friend group never felt unwieldy (so impressive from a craft standpoint), the fact that no matter how much people love each other they still have to work to do right by each other. And then screw up along the way. And learn and grow and try to figure things out, all while being beautifully human. This was a lovely read.
Tags:
