From the Desk of Zoe Washington

I read From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks aloud to Emmeline for our Girls' Book Club in May. It is the story of Zoe, who has never met her birth father because he's in prison for a terrible crime. However, when she receives a letter from him on her 12th birthday and starts corresponding with him, she finds out he claims to be innocent. Zoe works to uncover the truth--while trying to keep her family from knowing what's going on.

This was a great read. Emmeline and I both enjoyed it, and all the girls in the book club gave it a thumbs up (meaning they loved it or really liked it). The author had a good balance of hard stuff (father in prison, accused of murder, etc.) with fun stuff (Zoe creating a cupcake recipe of her own and trying to be on a kids' cooking show). The story was engaging (almost too stressful for me at times!) with likable characters. The book does have Zoe lying a lot to her parents and grandma, which is tricky because I don't think that's a great example to kids--and yet all her lying paid off in the end. Tricky. :) I liked that this book is Own Voices (black author writing about a black character) and that it addresses the issue of parental incarceration because I always think it's good to expand kids' experiences and understanding.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)

Orbiting Jupiter

My mom recommended Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt, so I got it from the library. The dust jacket reads, "When Jack meets his new foster brother, he already knows three things about him: Joseph almost killed a teacher. He was incarcerated at a place called Stone Mountain. He has a daughter. Her name is Jupiter. And he has never seen her." This book follows 13-year-old Joseph as he tries to find peace in his new foster home.

This was an engaging story that had me rooting for Joseph throughout the story. It was a really sad book all the way through, but it was pretty much unbearably sad at the end. For that reason, I don't know if I'd actually recommend it to others unless you enjoy super sad books. The author did a great job developing the characters, and I loved watching the actions of the amazing foster parents. When I talked to my mom after I finished the book, my mom said she thought this would be a great book for teens to read and then do a writing exercise afterward where they write their own ending. I completely agree because I would have chosen to end the book much differently. (Aka happily.)

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)

A Good Kind of Trouble

I got Lisa Moore Ramee's book A Good Kind of Trouble from the library after enjoying her book Something to Say. This book is about Shayla, who starts junior high and struggles with drama related to friends and boys. Shayla's sister Hana supports the Black Lives Matter movement, but Shayla isn't sure she wants to get involved--until an unfair trial ruling makes her realize she has to stand up.

This was a good read. The story was engaging, and I thought the book did a great job portraying the perspective of one young black girl and her experiences while also addressing things like friendship issues that can affect everyone. I really liked how Shayla--who is a good girl and doesn't like to get in trouble--finds that there are times where you have to stand up for what's right, even if you might get in trouble for it. The book was filled with characters to love (Isabella) and ones to really not love (the principal), and I think this is a really important book. This one wasn't quite as good as Something to Say to me, and I also felt like there was a lot of bad stuff going on that she never told her parents about--which made it a hard read for me at times. But I still enjoyed it overall and finished it fairly quickly.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)

Something to Say

I saw Something to Say by Lisa Moore Ramee on the new book shelf at the library, and it caught my eye. It is about 11-year-old Jenae who is content with her life of being invisible at school and having no friends. However, the new school year changes things for her when 1) her English teacher announces that everyone will be giving speeches in class (major phobia of Jenae's) and 2) a new boy named Aubrey seems insistent on being her friend, despite her best efforts to push him away.

This was such a great read! I finished it in just a couple days because I kept wanting to read and see how things would turn out. I sometimes was frustrated by Jenae's inner struggles and her inability to just speak up, but I think that was kind of the whole point of the book (note the title). I liked following the various side issues in the story (her brother, her grandfather, her school's name) and really loved the character Aubrey. This was a great read, and I'm so glad I accidentally came across it. I'll recommend this to Emmeline next. It also looks like the author has written another book, so I'm going to get that from the library next.

Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)

Theodore Boone: The Accomplice

I also got from the library Theodoore Boone: The Accomplice by Theodore Boone, the last book in the series. This book is about Theo's friend Woody who gets arrested after being caught up in a bad situation. Theo becomes aware of the inequalities in the justice system as he desperately tries to find justice for Woody.

This was another engaging read. I didn't like this one quite as much as some of the others because it was just a lot of stressful stuff without resolution until the end. However, I enjoyed the story and was relieved with how the book concluded.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)

Theodore Boone: The Scandal

When I was at the library the other day, I saw Theodoore Boone: The Scandal by John Grisham and excitedly realized that there were new books in this series that I started years ago. The series is about 13-year-old Theo who is super interested in the judicial system thanks to his two lawyer parents, and in each book he gets involved in something related to the law. :) This book follows Theo and his friend April when she discovers information about a cheating scandal at a neighboring middle school.

This was a fun read. I've had trouble getting into a book lately (started several and ended up just returning them to the library), but I had no problem finishing this book. It was engaging and kept me reading. I kind of like how Theo always turns to his parents for help in this series rather than just hiding things from them and dealing with big problems on his own. (It's less stressful for me haha.) I do feel like this book wasn't completely realistic in how much people valued Theo's opinion about things and such, but it's fun anyway. I enjoy these books.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)

Lety Out Loud

I saw Lety Out Loud by Angela Cervantes on the list of Pura Belpre award winners and presented it to Emmeline's book club as one of the possible books to read--and they voted to read it for this month! It's the story of Lety--an English Language Learner--who attends a summer day camp at an animal shelter. She decides to try to be one of the shelter scribes who writes profiles about the animals to help them get adopted. Unfortunately, grumpy Hunter wants to be shelter scribe too--so their friends make it into a contest to see whose profiles get the animals adopted quicker.

This was such a fun read. I'm not really an animal person, so I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy the book that much, but of course I was tearing up at the end as I was reading aloud to Emmeline and had to have her read to me for one page. I loved that the book shared the perspective of families who come to the United States and are learning English. I loved all the characters, and Emmeline always wanted me to keep reading extra chapters so we could see what happened. I also was happy with how things came together at the end. I'm glad we read this one.

Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)