Room to Dream - Kelly Yang

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"After years of hard work, Mia Tang finally gets to go on vacation with her family - to China! A total dream come true! Mia can't wait to see all her cousins and grandparents again, especially her cousin Shen. As she roams around Beijing, witnessing some of the big changes China's going through, Mia thinks about the changes in her own life, like...

1. Lupe's taking classes at the high school! And Mia's own plans to be a big writer are...stuck.

2. Something happened with Jason and Mia has no idea what to do about it.

3. New buildings are popping up all around the motel, and small businesses are disappearing.

Can the Calivista survive? Buckle up! Mia is more determined than ever to get through the turbulence, now that she finally has...room to dream!"

Book three in the Front Desk series! Front Desk and Three Keys both got rave reviews from me, and Room to Dream will be no different. In previous books, we've seen Mia take on a racist boss exploiting his workers, fight against racist policies being enacted by the government, and take on big businesses threatening her family's motel. Her ingenuity and determination hasn't dimmed in this book, and I love getting to watch her evolve and change as she gets older, seeing the ways she continues to think creatively and problem solve when things get challenging instead of throwing up her hands and giving up. 

Another thing I love about Mia is her commitment to being true to herself and her integrity. She goes through some rough patches with her friends in this book, and although she struggles to know what to do at first (of course, because she's a preteen and is still learning and growing), but when she realizes what she has done wrong, she actively apologizes and looks for ways to repair those relationships. Saying sorry and making amends is something many adults struggle with, so seeing it modeled in a middle grade book is a beautiful thing. Let's all commit to be like Mia and refuse to put our own comfort over acknowledging when we're in the wrong! 

I know this is a lot of Mia adoration, but I can't help it. Kelly Yang creates such beautiful characters, even though I wanted to talk more about the plot and my appreciation for a storyline about someone figuring out where and how they fit into both their cultures, sometimes I just can't help but rave about a main character instead. I love everything about Kelly Yang's writing, and I think this series is great and full of important life lessons. Three down, one book to go! I can't wait.

Luck of the Titanic - Stacey Lee

 Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Valora Luck has two things: a ticket for the biggest and most luxurious ocean liner in the world, and a dream of leaving England behind and making a life for herself as a circus performer in New York. Much to her surprise, though, she's turned away at the gangway; apparently, Chinese people aren't allowed into America.

But Val has to get on that ship. Her twin brother, Jamie, who has spent two long years at sea, is on board, as is an influential circus owner. Thankfully, there's not much a trained acrobat like Val can't overcome when she puts her mind to it.

As a stowaway, Val should keep her head down and stay out of sight, But the clock is ticking and she has just seven days as the ship makes its way across the Atlantic to find Jamie, audition for the circus owner, and convince him to help get them both into America.

Then one night, the unthinkable happens, and suddenly Val's dreams of a new life are crushed under the weight of the only thing that matters: survival."

 

 I love how coy they are with "the unthinkable happens," like someone picking up this book might not know what it is. Don't want to spoil the big twist! 🤣 Anyway, I definitely chose this book because I've been obsessed with the Titanic since I was a kid and I loved the perspective it was written from. There's a note at the beginning of the book, "of the eight Chinese passengers aboard the Titanic, six survived." This is obviously a fictional version of what happened, but it is amazing to think about so many of this admittedly small number surviving when not only were they in third class, but due to racism and anti-Chinese sentiment specifically, they were viewed even by others in that class as "the lowest." Incredible that with help being focused on women and children in first class specifically, so many of the Chinese passengers managed to make it off the ship to safety. 

Even knowing what happens to the Titanic and knowing that six of the eight Chinese passengers survived, the ending of this book still managed to get me. It was a very emotional conclusion, and I finished reading right before I went to sleep, so of course then I dreamed about being on the Titanic all night. So restful. I couldn't stop reading, though...nightmares seem like a fair trade for an unputdownable book. Val board the Titanic with lofty goals - reunite with her twin brother, find a way to gain an audience with the owner of the Ringling Brothers circus, and convince Jamie to audition and stay in America with her. A significant portion of the book centers around those goals, and there's something so very strange about reading a book and rooting for someone to pull off the impossible and forge a new life for themselves when...you know the boat is going to sink. You know it's not going to happen. 

Even with that knowledge, though, I couldn't help but root for Val. I could see that new life taking shape for her. Hope can be so insidious sometimes, but her determination, grit, and creativity made it impossible not to root for her. Stacey Lee developed the characters so well, it made my heart ache knowing what was coming for them. I didn't want two of the eight Johnnies to die. I wanted them all to make it, I wanted the ship to make it to New York and for everyone to have a happily ever after (except the racist, classist assholes on board, they could fall into the ocean and at the very least ruin their fancy clothes). That's the tough thing about reading a well-written historical fiction set in a tragedy, I suppose...you want a different ending. You want a time machine, to fix all the little things that went wrong and led to the tragedy in the first place. But you have to live with what you get.

Anne of Greenville - Mariko Tamaki

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Hello! Welcome to the inside of my book! My name is Anne, and this is my story. Yes, the WHOLE story is mine, all mine. Well, not exactly, but most of it is me. Even the not-so-pretty stuff. My moms say I have a tendency to get 'lost' in things, that I'm a daydreamer who is easily distracted. I take that as a compliment. Possibly you will read these pages and think they are a mess, and I will take that as a compliment, too! Possibly you will think I have terrible grammar. To that I will say, language is evolving. Maybe you'll read these pages and think, Is Anne the coolest or is it just me? A perfectly reasonable response to this book.

Where was I? Distracted. Right! More about me! I'm a queer Japanese American singer, actor, and choreographer of disco operas. I've recently moved to the most boring place in the world, also known as Greenville. I have a tendency to A) fall in love quickly, deeply, and effervescently and B) fly off the handle in the face of jerks...who are sadly in abundance in my new hometown. But Greenville is also where I met my new BFF, Berry, and first laid eyes on the girl of my dreams, Gilly - so it's not the worst place in the world.

It's close, though!

So yes, my first months in Greenville involved a series of increasingly dramatic and disastrous events that were somewhat sucky for me but will make for a thought-provoking and enjoyable read. If you like romance, being caught in the middle, exotic school outfits, golden retrievers, high school drama (societies), and love triangles, this is the book for you!

Want to see if I survive Greenville? If I land the big part and find my one true love? Turn the page and find out!"

Oof, I went back and forth for so long on how high to rate this book. If you average out the 5, 3, and 3 for each category, it's, what, 3.6? I still cant decide if that's accurate to how I felt about this, but I'm going with it. On the one hand, Anne roller skates! And very accurately describes the act of roller skating as being like "putting wings on your feet, like that god Hermes, but with way less family baggage." You also get excellent one-liners, such as:

"The butt, the softest but hardest landing of them all."

"Danny is 'aggressively gay' and I am 'deliriously queer.'"

On the other, I feel like the cover description is kind of an over-promise-under-deliver situation, unfortunately. Like, on paper, is all of it technically true? Sure. But while objectively factual, the reality of the reading experience was that you get miniscule tastes of her crush, her involvement in the play, the "love triangle" with hefty, disgusting, and truly irredeemable amounts of racism and homophobia in between. Which leads me to my other reason for not being sure how high to rate this book in spite of the massive amount of promise it held - why in the fuck did she and her moms move to Greenville?! 

Their move is explained in only the vaguest of terms. One of her moms is a vice principal, and they move a lot so she can work at different schools. The age-old story of public school admin families, constantly bouncing from place to place based on where the parent is stationed. Tale as old as time. But even if I buy the idea of  them moving to all these places to experience different school settings, I have to say the level of vitriol in that town, coupled with the complete lack of upside, would have for me and should have been for them an immediate nope the fuck out. 

In all honesty, it read like the author had this idea of someone moving to a new town and it being horrifically, inexplicably toxic, hostile, homophobic, and racist, but them being trapped there and having to find a way to stick it out...but then they never actually fleshed out why they had to be there, so instead they just wrote around it the entire book. Without the why, the entire thing falls flat. Add to that like 99% of the book being unforgivable acts of racism and homophobia and then the last twenty pages (literally, I counted) things turning on a dime and magically being better, and the wheels kind of start to fall off for me.

Overall, I liked Anne, her parents were great, Berry was solid, Bev was excellent, and I wish we had seen more of Gilly's dad because he seemed chill. I would have been very on board with the book if the plot had been developed better - give us a reason for being in Greenville, show us glimpses of the town being redeemable, if the antagonists are going to eventually turn things around make them more three-dimensional and less caricature-y - and if more time had been spent on the falling action. It had potential, but needed balance.

May Read Harder update

Before we get into books, can I just say that I am very impressed with myself for how well I've been keeping up with Read Harder this year? This school year has been uh...a lot, let's say. I've been incredibly overwhelmed, but somehow I've stayed on top of Read Harder, blogging, and with all my personal journaling goals. I'm sure there's some kind of psychology to this, like I'm using my blog and my journal to give myself a sense of control, but let's not focus on that. Let's just all be proud of me doing such a great job.

Now that that's out of the way, my thoughts on the May books. (Fun fact: I started writing this post very early and then out of habit scheduled it to post on the last Sunday of the month, well before I had actually read either Read Harder book, let alone added my thoughts. Clearly I have a lot of faith in myself.) 

I thought Cupid Calling was very good for the most part. Solid character development, cute story, nice romance. My only real gripe was the author's choice to have one character very infrequently swear and then choosing to go with "freaking" as the substitute curse. On its own, using freaking as a substitute swear word just gives me strong childish/immature vibes because the only people I hear use that word are literal kids or Mormons, but they also frequently seemed to mix up WHICH character didn't swear and have the other MC also use it. Really took me out of the story, I don't know why. Other than that, be prepared for graphic sex scenes? Didn't bother me, but fair warning if you're someone who doesn't like them.

Raybearer...I mean, the dedication alone. "For the kid scanning fairy tales for a hero with a face like theirs. And for the girls whose stories we compressed into pities and wonders, triumphs and cautions, without asking, even once, for their names." How do you not immediately fall in love with this book, before even reading a word of the actual story? But then you READ the story, and Tarisai is just...EVERYTHING. Loved it. Can't wait to read the second book.

📗📗📗

And now, June challenges!

#11: Read a cookbook cover to cover. This is...I don't know, seems weird? I guess I'm not super familiar with cookbooks, but are they typically meant to be read cover to cover? I don't get it. I did find a book published last year called The Mexican Vegetarian Cookbook, though, and I'll never say no to finding more Mexican food options for myself, so I guess I've found my pick for this challenge. Close second/third were World Cocktail Adventures and The Cocktail Cabinet. I did buy Joel a copy of World Cocktail Adventures since he's gotten into making cocktails, and that does seem like a "cookbook" that it makes more sense reading cover to cover, since there are histories and anecdotes about each location and drink. I'm committing to the vegetarian cookbook for now, but if it gets to be too much of a slog I might end up following Ross's advice and pivoting.

#12: Read a nonfiction book about BIPOC and/or queer history. I'll be reading The 1619 Project. This was possibly the fastest challenge decision I've ever made. Can't wait.

Three Keys - Kelly Yang

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Mia Tang thinks she's going to have the best year ever. She and her parents are the proud owners of the Calivista Motel, Mia gets to run the front desk with her best friend, Lupe, and she's finally getting somewhere with her writing. But as it turns out, sixth grade is no picnic...

1. Mia's new teacher doesn't think her writing is all that great. And her entire class finds out she lives and works in a motel

2. The motel is struggling, and Mia has to answer to the Calivista's many, many worried investors.

3. A new immigration law is looming and if it passes, it will threaten everything -- and everyone -- in Mia's life.

It's a roller coaster of challenges, and Mia needs all of her determination to hang on tight. But if anyone can find the key to getting through turbulent times, it's Mia Tang."

This is the sequel to Front Desk, which I read and reviewed two years ago (and thought was excellent), and as it transpires, book two in the series is equally as good. It follows Mia and her best friend, Lupe, as they navigate sixth grade and deal with the fallout of a new proposition being voted on in November - one that would ban undocumented immigrants from going to school and accessing medical services. 

Lupe and her parents are undocumented, so while this looming proposition frightens every immigrant, that fear holds extra weight for families like Lupe's. The girls don't let the hate and discrimination emboldened by the proposition cow them, though. Instead, it makes them even more determined to make their voices heard and do what they can to create a better world.

This book was an emotional read, especially after I read the author's note and learned that Kelly Yang wrote it after Tr*mp became president. The proposition in the book was a real one, and while my heart soars to know that there are people, kids and adults alike, like Mia and Lupe, courageously doing everything they can to make the world around them a better place, it also breaks thinking about the lack of progress we as a country have made in the thirty years since then. 

People, especially kids, shouldn't have to be in a position where they are worrying about their families being deported or not being allowed to go to school. Kids like Mia and Lupe shouldn't have to be writing their senators and begging them to do the right thing. It's infuriating that we live in a world where hatred like this is so normalized and acceptable that bills like this pass and some people don't even bat an eye - in fact, they cheer and say "good job!" It's maddening.

Maybe I should have given myself a few days before I wrote this review, since it isn't really a review, it's more of a rant about how much people suck. People may be horrible, but this book is not. Kelly Yang is an excellent writer, this is an excellent book, and I can't wait to add it to my school's library so my students can check it out next year.

Race to the Sun - Rebecca Roanhorse

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Lately, seventh grader Nizhoni Begay has been able to detect monsters, like that man in the fancy suit who was in the bleachers at her basketball game. Turns out he's Mr. Charles, her dad's new boss at the oil and gas company, and he's alarmingly interested in Nizhoni and her brother, Mac, their Navajo heritage, and the legend of the Hero Twins. Nizhoni knows he's a threat, but her father won't believe her.

When Dad disappears the next day, leaving behind a message that says "Run," the siblings and Nizhoni's best friend, Davery, are thrust into a rescue mission that can only be accomplished with the help of Din Holy People, all disguised as quirky characters. Their aid will come at a price: the kids must pass a series of trials in which it seems like nature itself is out to kill them. If Nizhoni, Mac, and Davery can reach the House of the Sun, they will be outfitted with what they need to defeat the ancient monsters Mr. Charles has unleashed. But it will take more than weapons for Nizhoni to become the hero she was destined to be..."

In a post-Hercules (the Disney movie, not the TV show with garbo Kevin Sorbo) world, I was a kid very into mythology, so I loved Percy Jackson and Rick Riordan's other fantasy series focusing on Greek and Roman mythology. I'm thrilled that there are now so many books like this one coming out that tell stories from the mythology of other cultures - it's high time! I also particularly love this story for including a main character and sidekicks that, while smart and resourceful, are not necessarily physically strong or skilled. Nizhoni is learning and getting more confident, but she also has much more in common with real-life kids her age than many of the hero protagonists I've read about, and I love that she's a character that kids will really get to see themselves in (particularly her goal at the beginning of the book of becoming Internet famous!).

I do wish the pace of the action was slightly faster, but that said, I really enjoyed the main cast of characters - Nizhoni, Mac, and Davery, with honorable mention going to Mr. Yazzi - as well as how fully Nizhoni's quest centered around Navajo legends and how central the Diné Holy People were to each part of the quest. This book left me wanting more, and I was going to say that I can't wait for more books about Nizhoni, but then I looked it up and discovered that this is a standalone book. So...I guess I can't wait to read more Rebecca Roanhorse!

Midnight Strikes - Zeba Shahnaz

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Seventeen-year-old Anaïs just wants tonight to end. As an outsider at the kingdom’s glittering anniversary ball, she has no desire to rub shoulders with the nation’s most eligible (and pompous) bachelors—especially not the notoriously roguish Prince Leo. But at the stroke of midnight, an explosion rips through the palace, killing everyone in its path. Including her.

The last thing Anaïs sees is fire, smoke, chaos . . . and then she wakes up in her bedroom, hours before the ball. No one else remembers the deadly attack or believes her warnings of disaster.

Not even when it happens again. And again. And again.

If she’s going to escape this nightmarish time loop, Anaïs must take control of her own fate and stop the attack before it happens. But the court’s gilded surface belies a rotten core, full of restless nobles grabbing at power, discontented commoners itching for revolution, and even royals who secretly dream of taking the throne. It’s up to Anaïs to untangle these knots of deadly deceptions . . . if she can survive past midnight."

I got this book in my most recent YA book subscription box. Unpacked the box, got one look at the book in all its beautiful-cover-gold-gilt-edged glory, skimmed the included letter from the author, and immediately sat down and started reading. Cinderella, but with explosions and murder and coups and stuff? Sign me up! Not sure I've ever gone from knowing nothing about a book to needing to read it this quickly before. 

Anais has a bit of blood magic, inherited from her father's side of the family, but other than that she is...just a young woman. She isn't a super hero, adventurer, powerful mage, what have you. She's a teenager whose mom made her go to a party, and now she's caught in a time loop trying to save the country that colonized her home. 

In this impossible position, she cycles through some pretty understandable emotions - sometimes she's energized, excited by a good idea, ready to stop the loop. Others she's discouraged, hopeless, ready to give up. Through it all, she never gives up, even when some of the people she manages to convince to help her (the prince among them) point out that she has every reason to be okay with the royal family and all the nobility at the palace being left to suffer their fate. 

She knows no one could blame her for dusting her hands off and bailing on a problem that is not hers, but she is also the only one who knows what is about to happen each time the loop resets and, therefore, the only one who can do anything about it. She feels duty-bound to fix things, and she won't stop trying until she's exhausted every option. She's an amazing main character, and I loved her immediately. 

If there was anything I would change about this book, it would be that Anais wasn't alone in her awareness of the time loop. I get the decision, and it makes sense, but without spoilers at some point it gets hard to reconcile the level of...connection, for lack of a better word?...between the characters when for one of them there is endless history of interactions and for the other there is a few hours. It's fine, it ultimately works out okay, but I'm intrigued by what might have been if Anais had found some magical way to bring someone else into her loop and have a partner she didn't have to re-convince to help her every night. Were I to write a fan fiction inspired by this, that's what I would write.