April Wrap Up!

All the books I read in April!

1. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

2. AASL National School Library Standards - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

3. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale - ⭐⭐⭐

4. Release by Patrick Ness - ⭐⭐⭐

5. The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

6. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

7. Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

8. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - ⭐⭐⭐

9. To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

10. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

11. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

12. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

13. The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

14. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

15. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

16. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

17. Developing Library Collections for Today's Young Adults by Amy Pattee - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

18. Far From the Tree by Robin Benway - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

19. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

20. School Libraries and Student Learning by Rebecca Morris - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

21. Guilty as Cinnamon by Leslie Budewitz - ⭐⭐⭐

22. To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han - ⭐⭐⭐

23. The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

24. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

24. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Dear Martin

Dear Martin by Nic Stone - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Description from the Publisher

Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers as she boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning New York Times bestselling debut, a William C. Morris Award Finalist.

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.

My Review
Format: Audiobook
Length: 273 Minutes | 4.5 hours
Genre: YA Literature, Coming of Age, Realistic Fiction
Series: N/A
Content Warning: profanity, language, fighting, racial slurs, racism, police brutality

This book is so powerful. I absolutely love that the protagonist, Justyce McCallister, starts his journey to be like Martin Luther King Jr. by writing letters to him. Overall, this was a short, but beautiful, powerful read, and I highly recommend it!

The Good: 

• The format. This book is written in prose as well as letters that Justyce writes to MLK. The letters really complemented the storytelling and supported the character development. 
• Justyce. Justyce is a very likable character. He has flaws, but he tries to do the right thing, even if it is hard...just like Martin. His growth in this novel is phenomenal.
• The narrator is excellent. He did a great job of making the story come to live and giving each character their own voice.   
• The story does not shy away from hot topic issues such as police brutality and racism. 
• The characters were well developed. Nic Stone did a great job of bringing forth their personalities, humor, flaws, and all. They were depicted as normal people. There were a few extreme characters (you will know when you come across them in your reading), but overall these are characters that I might encounter in a normal day, which was refreshing and made the book more authentic and realistic. 

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The Cruel Prince

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Description from the Publisher: 

An instant New York Times bestseller!

By #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black, the first book in a stunning new series about a mortal girl who finds herself caught in a web of royal faerie intrigue.

Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

My Review: 

I'm on the fence about this book. At times, I really like it, and then sometimes I think it is just OK. The fairies in this book are incredibly cruel, to the point that it was hard to read at times. The fairies that go to school with Jude enjoy bullying her to the breaking point. Jude grew a lot in this book; her character development was the best by far. I liked that she finally stood up for herself, but I felt like some of her actions went too far. Overall, I think that she is a strong female character who finally found her voice. There were also a lot of plot twists that were well done. I was not expecting the ending!

I gave this book four stars because I am so indecisive about it. I feel like if I really loved it, there wouldn't be a question of how many stars to give. I will continue with the series, but I don't think this book quite lived up to the hype. 

Trigger Warnings: suicide, physical abuse, bullying

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City of Glass

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Description from the Publisher:

Love is a mortal sin, and the secrets of the past are deadly. Plunge into the third installment novel in the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series and “prepare to be hooked” (Entertainment Weekly)—now with a gorgeous new cover, a map, a new foreword, and exclusive bonus content! City of Glass is a Shadowhunters novel.

To save her mother’s life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters—never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family’s past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he’s willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City—whatever the cost?

My Review: 

This was a quick read because it was so action packed. Cassandra Clare's plot in this book is definitely a roller coaster, taking readers through the ups and downs of rising and falling action. I think this book really expanded the Shadowhunters universe, and it also explained many of the mysteries and questions that have been woven into the previous two books, City of Bones and City of Ashes. It was fun to see if my predictions were correct or not. 

I think that this is the best book of the series so far. I didn't find it slow in places, and the character development was excellent. Clary grew the least out of all the characters, but we did get a glimpse of her flaws. I think that this makes her more of a relatable character. Jace grows the most, and it was awesome to see this as well as what drives him. 

There is a HUGE plot twist that was so fun. It is hard to go in depth about the novel because the plot is so interwoven with City of Bones and City of Ashes that it might give away some spoilers. Go check this book out!

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Release

Citation

Ness, P. (2017). Release. New York, NY: HarperTeen.

Description

Inspired by Judy Blume’s Forever and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, this novel that Andrew Smith calls “beautiful, enchanting, [and] exquisitely written” is a new classic about teenage relationships, self-acceptance—and what happens when the walls we build start coming down. A Kirkus Best Book of 2017!

Adam Thorn doesn’t know it yet, but today will change his life.

Between his religious family, a deeply unpleasant ultimatum from his boss, and his own unrequited love for his sort-of ex, Enzo, it seems as though Adam’s life is falling apart.  At least he has two people to keep him sane: his new boyfriend (he does love Linus, doesn’t he?) and his best friend, Angela.

Coming of Age, Fantasy

HarperTeen. (n.d.). Release details. Retrieved from https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062403193/release (Links to an external site.)

Scholarly Review

I was tempted to leave my review at 'it's Patrick Ness--he never writes the same book twice--you're going to want to read this'. But actually that wouldn't be doing this beautiful, beautiful book justice.

Taking its literary inspiration from Woolf's Mrs Dalloway with a healthy dose of Judy Blume's educative Forever thrown into the mix, this is the story of Adam Thorn. Trapped in rural small town America, son of preacher parents and weighed down by their expectations, the novel's title looms large over the narrative. On the Saturday during which the book's action takes place, Adam crosses paths with friends, family and lovers as well as enduring a skin crawling encounter with his employer; it brings revelations, goodbyes and the tantalising possibility that Adam's world might be reshaped by the end of it.

Interwoven with Adam's story is the otherworldly tale of a murdered girl and a mythical Queen who move through our reality seeking answers, revenge and their own particular brand of 'release'. If this sounds off-putting, do not fear -this is Patrick Ness remember: it just works. Though the connection between Adam and the Queen is glancing, the two narratives accelerate in harmony, propelling one another towards the day's final denouement. As Adam navigates the real world, the parallel narrative hints to the extraordinary terror and beauty which might underlie the everyday and between the two we see the miraculous--the world stopping, world just beginning--possibilities and hardships of being a teen. In the messy confusion of relationships, love, loss, family and friendships nothing is trivialised, rather it is marvelled at. As with all Patrick Ness's books it's devastating, it's optimistic but is above all it's truthful. You are going to want to read this.

Ryder, L. (2017, Autumn). [Review of the book Release by Patrick Ness]. School Librarian, 65(3), 190. Retrieved March 28, 2018 from Book Review Index. http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy.uky.edu/apps/doc/A506957524/BRIP?u=uky_main&sid=BRIP&xid=ac835d88 (Links to an external site.)

My Analysis

Release follows the story of Adam Thorn, a teenager in a small town in Washington who is nursing a broken heart. His parents are evangelical Christians, and his father is a preacher. Adam is also gay, but hasn’t come out to his family, so he is constantly switching between hiding his true self from his family and being his true self with his friends. One day Adam seems to go through one issue to another, including sexual harassment from a boss, huge news from his soon-to-be-a-preacher brother, and the loss that comes with dear friends moving away. Intertwined with Adam’s story in the novel is a parallel story of a girl who was murdered and is now looking for answers.

I can see what Patrick Ness was aiming for by intertwining the story of Adam and the story of the girl because their feelings of not belonging and not being worthy are similar; however, I don’t think he quite pulled it off. I was really drawn into the story of Adam, and I could relate to many of his feelings and experiences, I found the story of the girl pretty boring and rushed through those so I could get back to Adam. Despite this, I would still recommend this book because Adam’s story is so, so good. The writing is well done and flows easily.

Hashtags

#selfacceptance

#comingout

#parallelworlds

#findyourvoice

Usage

I would like to use this as a book club book for Pride week or in tandem with another LGBTQ event. I think many readers will relate to Adam, and the book also touches on issues LGBTQ people face on a daily basis. By using this book, my goal would be to raise awareness as well as use the book for a focused discussion.

Awards

None

Censorship

None

References

HarperTeen. (n.d.). Release details. Retrieved from https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062403193/release (Links to an external site.)

Ryder, L. (2017, Autumn). [Review of the book Release by Patrick Ness]. School Librarian, 65(3), 190. Retrieved March 28, 2018 from Book Review Index. 

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