The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron reminds me (in all the best ways) of the Ramona books I loved as a kid.
Moon over Manifest
Clare Vanderpool's Moon over Manifest immerses readers in a small town where a new girl is discovering herself and her roots all at once. Abilene Tucker wants to ride the rails with her father. Unfortunately, he has sent her to Manifest for the summer (or maybe longer). He seems to…
Invisible
Invisible–another great book by Cecily Anne Paterson.The book stars Jazmine Crawford–a young lady who actively avoids attracting attention. Since her father’s death, she has perfected the art of becoming invisible.But then, Jazmine gets in trouble. To stay in school, she agrees to help with the school play. Soon, everybody sees…
Merci Suárez Changes Gears
In Merci Suárez Changes Gears, Merci lives in las casitas–three pink houses in a row in Florida that she shares with not just her immediate family, but also her extended family.Lolo and Abuela live in the middle house, and much of this book is about Merci’s relationship with Lolo. Just…
Fran, the Second Time Around
Fran is starting over at a new school because of some tragedy in her past, and at first we’re not sure what that is, but we can see that it’s affecting everything about Fran.I love the voice here, and I love the way that Fran struggles to move past her…
Find Layla
I found this, strangely enough, when I was researching ways to format text messages in a book. (If you’re stressing about that, btw, this book does it seamlessly.)In the process of looking at the formatting, I got hooked on the story. Then I had to read the whole thing.Find Layla…
Look Both Ways in the Barrio Blanco
Look Both Ways in the Barrio Blanco is a good book. Jacinta and Miss learn a lot from each other in this sweet and sometimes sad foray into the life of a young woman and her “amiga.” At the beginning, neither one understands much about the others’ world, and that…
The Hate U Give
Like all my favorite stories, Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give introduced me to a whole new world. Except, however foreign it feels to me, Starr’s world exists. It's in places I can drive to–even if they’re hard for me to see, given that I’m a white girl. My world…
Story of a Girl
This is a story about Deanna, a small town girl whose dad caught her in the back seat of an older boy’s car three years prior to the story’s start. Her life (mostly unfairly) has been defined by that moment ever since, but this is the summer where she begins…