Front Desk - Kelly Yang

Initial draw: ✰✰✰✰✰

Character development: ✰✰✰✰✰

Plot/Writing style: ✰✰✰✰✰
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Mia Tang has a lot of secrets.

Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests. 

Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they've been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the Tangs will be doomed.

Number 3: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language?

It will take all of Mia's courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams?"

This book has been on my TBR list for a long while, and even knowing roughly what it was about and hearing glowing things about it for so long, I was unprepared for the heaviness in the book. 

For those who dismiss middle grade books and assume they don't tackle heavy issues, don't be fooled. The cover may look cheerful and light, but this book is not fluff. It gets real right away, with Mia and her parents living out of their car until her dad finally lands a job at a Chinese restaurant. Mia's mom works there too, and Mia is pressed into becoming a waitress as well, until she accidentally drops a full tray of food on some customers and she and her mom both get fired. Her parents decide to take a job as the managers of a motel near Disneyland. On paper, the opportunity sounds like a dream - room and board plus their pay for managing the motel? What more could they ask for? As it turns out...a lot. A lot more. 

The motel owner, Mr. Yao is stingy, dishonest, and pretty transparently taking advantage of poor, desperate immigrants with few other job opportunities. In spite of his almost constant docking of their pay, nearly impossible expectations, and open cruelty, though, Mia and her family are still in a better position than many other Chinese immigrants. After hearing the stories of a few immigrants who visit the motel, they decide to do what they can do help immigrants fleeing horrible situations on their way to better opportunities. It's a risk, given how callous Mr. Yao is, but they can't let these people struggle when they could at least offer them a shower, a good night's sleep, and a hot meal with friendly faces.

Of course, in addition to helping to run the motel, sheltering immigrants and keeping it a secret from Mr. Yao, and worrying about money with her parents, Mia is also going to school...and Mr. Yao's son is in her class. This means on top of everything else, she gets to deal with bullies at school. In spite of it all, though, Mia is always looking for ways to make the world a brighter place, and she works hard to use her words and her writing to do just that. She and her family experience setbacks along the way, and there are some truly terrible moments along the way, but she doesn't let any of those bad experiences break her spirit. Her indominable will and courage become even more impressive when you read the author's note and realize that many of the stories included in this work of fiction actually happened and that Mia's story is true for countless immigrants. 

This book has been on my list for a long time, and even hearing from multiple sources how good it was, somehow it still managed to surpass my expectations. It's an excellent middle grade novel, and I can't recommend it enough!

#FirstPageFriday - Ashes to Ashes

Once again, I'm doing a #FirstPageFriday featuring the last book in a trilogy after not reviewing the previous books. Such a slacker move! The review will encompass the whole trilogy, and be warned: there will be spoilers. Also be warned...this trilogy is ridiculous. I can't wait to finish it. And I can't wait for the review to drop on January 1st. First review of the year, woohoo!

Look Both Ways - Jason Reynolds

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"This story was going to begin like all the best stories. With a school bus falling from the sky. But no one saw it happen. They were all too busy—

Talking about boogers.
Stealing pocket change.
Skateboarding.
Wiping out.
Braving up.
Executing complicated handshakes.
Planning an escape.
Making jokes.
Lotioning up.
Finding comfort.
But mostly, too busy walking home.

Jason Reynolds conjures ten tales (one per block) about what happens after the dismissal bell rings, and brilliantly weaves them into one wickedly funny, piercingly poignant look at the detours we face on the walk home, and in life."

Jason Reynolds knows how to tell a story that tugs at your heart strings! His characters and their friendships are pure in a way that only childhood friendships can be, and the stories from each block weave together so beautifully. Of course not everything is sunshine and rainbows, and the booger talk in the first chapter genuinely grossed me out, but the genuine love and affection in this book jumps off the page, and it made it impossible for me to not also fall in love with each of the characters. I am in awe that Jason Reynolds can generate characters who feel so alive in just one chapter. Honestly, if reading this book doesn't make you feel things, I'm not sure I want to know you.

Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) - L.C. Rosen

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"My first time getting it in the butt was kind of weird. I think it's going to be weird for everyone's first time, though.

Meet Jack Rothman. He's seventeen and loves partying, makeup and boys - sometimes all at the same time. His sex life makes him the hot topic for the high school gossip machine. But who cares? Like Jack always says, 'it could be worse'.

He doesn't actually expect that to come true.

But after Jack starts writing an online sex advice column, the mysterious love letters he's been getting take a turn for the creepy. Jack's secret admirer knows everything: where he's hanging out, who he's sleeping with, who his mum is dating. They claim they love Jack, but not his unashamedly queer lifestyle. They need him to curb his sexuality, or they'll force him.

As the pressure mounts, Jack must unmask his stalker before their obsession becomes genuinely dangerous..."

There is a dearth of sex-positive books out there for young people, especially with LGBTQ* representation, so I give this book a resounding "yes, please!" I am endlessly glad that Rosen showed his first ninety-nine pages to friends and that those friends talked them into continuing to write Jack's story, because the world needs more books like this and more characters like Jack and his friends.

"I know lots of kids want to be famous, and yeah, I like attention, but I'd much prefer it for things I do--like dress amazing and say witty things--than who I do."

Jack is infamous around his high school. Rumors fly after every party--the book starts with a trio of girls discussing his alleged "fourgy" in a hot tub over the weekend, for instance. Most of these rumors aren't true, but that hasn't stopped people from believing everything they hear before, and it certainly won't in Jack's case. Fortunately, Jack's best friend started a website after being kicked off the school newspaper, and she comes up with the perfect way to harness Jack's reputation as a sexpert...a write-in advice column for students.

When Jenna first pitches him the idea, Jack is hesitant. He commits to writing one column, but doesn't plan to let her plan go any further than that. Much to his surprise, though, his fellow students respond well to the column, and he finds himself enjoying writing for the website. The only downside  to his new "sexlebrity" status is that mysterious pink notes have begun appearing in his locker, and they've quickly gone from intriguing to straight-up creepy.

"It could be worse." He tells his friends after finally admitting to them how disturbing the notes have become. Jenna won't let him dismiss things that easily, though. "That might be true, but that doesn't mean it's not bad. That doesn't mean you don't try to stop it from being bad."

As tension escalated and Jack and his friends went through plan after failed plan to unmask his stalker and get them to leave him home, I found it harder and harder to put this book down. I loved Jack from the first page, and it tore at my heart to see him doubt himself, toning his fashion down and retreating inward as he struggled with what to do and how to keep his friends and family safe. This would have been a solid 5-star read for me if it had been twenty pages longer. My one big gripe with the book is the rushed ending. I was reading an electronic version, and I couldn't believe it when I got to the end...at first I thought maybe my download hadn't completed properly and I was missing the last chapter or something. Everything was just a little too abrupt and anticlimactic, which was a let down after being so riveted through the entire book. That aside, though, incredible. More like this, please!

Little and Lion - Brandy Colbert

My rating: ⭐⭐

From the cover:

"When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she isn't sure if she'll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family are (along with her crush, Emil). And her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support.

But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new...the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel's disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself--or worse."

There was a lot to look forward to going into this book...diverse books, characters of different races and backgrounds, LGBT (particularly B!) representation, frank discussion of mental illness...but not a lot that I ended up loving, sadly. The synopsis wrote checks that the actual content couldn't cash. As a disclaimer, I do think that the meh-ness of this book for me was partially due to the fact that I listened to the audiobook and was not in love with the reader. However, I also felt that the pacing of the book was slow and that way too much time was spent hashing and rehashing the same small issues, rather than developing the story. The beginning was intriguing, but then it went nowhere. Readers (or listeners, in this case) shouldn't have to slog through 90% of a book before something actually happens, and even when things finally DID come to a head, the drama of it all fell flat for me. I give this an A+ for concept but a C- for execution.

Dumplin' - Julie Murphy

My rating: ⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked…until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine—Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart."

So...goods not as advertised. For starters, Will is not at home in her body. She's insecure, hyper-conscious of her size, and has constant terrible self talk. Forget "her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body." Not only does she go swimming early on in the book feeling super self-conscious about her swimsuit, but she spends the entire book telling herself she shouldn't do things and doesn't deserve things because of her size. What's more, she's crappy to people who don't deserve it because of her own self-worth issues. Ellen is her best friend, and Bo is clearly a great guy who is into her, so why is she such a dick to them? Because they have the misfortune of being conventionally attractive? That's the only conclusion I can draw. Finally, she judges everyone. People who are fatter than her, people who are thinner than her, people with bad teeth, people who are conventionally attractive, people who aren't...she hates herself so much that she consoles herself by tearing everyone else down in her head while reassuring herself that she's better than the bullies at school who do it out loud. 

Is this a body-positive book? Really? This is the best we can do? 

The saving grace for this book were the supporting characters. If it weren't for Bo, Millie, Amanda, and Hannah, I would have DNFed. The TL:DR for this book could be "self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson hates herself and everyone around her and spends an entire book doing nothing but pitying herself and treating everyone around her like shit."