The First State of Being

I got The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly from the library on Monday right after I heard it got announced as the new Newbery Medal winner. The book description says, "It's August 1999. For twelve-year-old Michael Rosario, life at Fox Run Apartments in Red Knot, Delaware, is as ordinary as ever—except for the looming Y2K crisis and his overwhelming crush on his sixteen-year-old babysitter, Gibby. But when a disoriented teenage boy named Ridge appears out of nowhere, Michael discovers there is more to life than stockpiling supplies and pining over Gibby. It turns out that Ridge is carefree, confident, and bold, things Michael wishes he could be. Unlike Michael, however, Ridge isn’t where he belongs. When Ridge reveals that he’s the world’s first time traveler, Michael and Gibby are stunned but curious. As Ridge immerses himself in 1999—fascinated by microwaves, basketballs, and malls—Michael discovers that his new friend has a book that outlines the events of the next twenty years, and his curiosity morphs into something else: focused determination. Michael wants—no, needs—to get his hands on that book. How else can he prepare for the future? But how far is he willing to go to get it?"

This was a fun read. I don't read lots of science fiction, so it's one of those books I maybe wouldn't have read if it didn't read the Newbery. I really liked the characters and felt like everyone was just really deep and well developed. I liked Michael as the worrier but also how he knew how to gently help Ridge during some tricky times. I thought the plot of the book was super fun, and I liked how it gave us perspectives from both time periods throughout. I also enjoyed the messages the book taught between the lines. (Some memorable ones are the Conklin Principle: "For every bad outcome you can anticipate, you should consider at least one positive outcome." And how you have to live in the first state of being, the now. You can't do what-if thinking because that's third-state thinking, and you'll never get anywhere with that.) Erin Entrada Kelly is a really talented author, and this is a well-deserved Newbery. I think my husband and daughter would enjoy this book.

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

2025 Picture Books

Back in 2023, I made a post about picture books, highlighting two really good picture books I had read and noting that I'd add more throughout the year. Well, I didn't end up adding any more, but I figured I'd try that again this year. I have 2 to start, and maybe I'll actually add more this round. :)

[Adding later: I am adding more! Basically I'm adding any picture book that I read and think, Wow, I loved that!]

The Yellow Bus by Loren Long. I saw this on a possible Caldecott short-list, and it didn't end up winning anything, but I thought the story was clever and beautifully written, and the pictures were beautiful.

Touch the Sky by Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic. I also saw this on a possible Caldecott short-list, but it also didn't win. I thought the illustrations were beautiful, and I really loved the message of the book (trying something hard, not giving up, helping others). The book also had some really good humor in there (Gretchen and the things her mom says to her).

This won the Caldecott Honor this year. The illustrations are beautiful, and I just love how they tell the story even on pages with very few words. The book got me a little choked up and was really sweet.

This won a Sydney Taylor Honor (for outstanding books for kids that authentically portray the Jewish experience), and I just loved the story! Just a super cool guy that really made an impact.

This won the Caldecott this year, and I think it was well deserved. Really nice pictures and just a sweet, relatable story.

Kareem Between

I saw Kareem Between by Shifa Salvage Safadi on a list of possible Newbery contenders, so I got it from the library. The book description reads, "Seventh grade begins, and Kareem’s already fumbled it. His best friend moved away, he messed up his tryout for the football team, and because of his heritage, he was voluntold to show the new kid—a Syrian refugee with a thick and embarrassing accent—around school. Just when Kareem thinks his middle school life has imploded, the hotshot QB promises to get Kareem another tryout for the squad. There’s a catch: to secure that chance, Kareem must do something he knows is wrong. Then, like a surprise blitz, Kareem’s mom returns to Syria to help her family but can’t make it back home. If Kareem could throw a penalty flag on the fouls of his school and home life, it would be for unnecessary roughness. Kareem is stuck between. Between countries. Between friends, between football, between parents—and between right and wrong. It’s up to him to step up, find his confidence, and navigate the beauty and hope found somewhere in the middle."

This was a great read. I liked that it addressed recent current events and helped readers understand what it would feel like to be affected by things like the 2017 travel ban from Muslim countries. I thought Kareem was a relatable character as he tried to figure out how to balance things in his life, and I thought the regular football tie-ins would be fun for kids who are football fans. The book was written in verse, and I thought it was clever how the author moved the verse to the right side of the page (right aligned) when the speaking was taking place in Arabic.

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

Starfish

I got Starfish by Lisa Fipps from the library after reading and enjoying another book by the author. The book description says, "Ever since Ellie wore a whale swimsuit and made a big splash at her fifth birthday party, she's been bullied about her weight. To cope, she tries to live by the Fat Girl Rules—like 'no making waves,' 'avoid eating in public,' and 'don't move so fast that your body jiggles.' And she's found her safe space—her swimming pool—where she feels weightless in a fat-obsessed world. In the water, she can stretch herself out like a starfish and take up all the room she wants. It's also where she can get away from her pushy mom, who thinks criticizing Ellie's weight will motivate her to diet. Fortunately, Ellie has allies in her dad, her therapist, and her new neighbor, Catalina, who loves Ellie for who she is. With this support buoying her, Ellie might finally be able to cast aside the Fat Girl Rules and starfish in real life--by unapologetically being her own fabulous self."

This was such a good book, one I'll definitely recommend to my 14-year-old. It was an engaging read, and Ellie was a lovable character who carried a heavy load due to bullying from peers at school but also her siblings and mom. But I loved her dad, her two best friends, and her therapist--so much! I also loved the author's note at the end where the author explained that while some people may think this book wasn't realistic since people would never be that cruel, "a variation of every single mean thing people said or did to Ellie happened to [her] when [she] was a child." I also loved how the author explained that she wrote the book as a middle grade book so it could reach kids who are struggling and being bullied and help them realize their worth. This one is going down as a "liked it," but I really liked it.

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

Fahrenheit 451

I read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury for book club. I think I read this back in high school, but it's been awhile. The book description says, "Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known."

This is not the type of book I really enjoy reading, even though I know it's a classic and an important read. I pushed myself through it but usually wasn't super engaged. Some parts I liked (since most of it wasn't really my thing): I did like Clarisse, but she had a very short part in the book. I also liked the group Montag ended up with in the end, and I liked the message about the power of books. I liked a quote toward the end where Granger talked about his grandfather who died. He said, "When he died, I suddenly realized I wasn't crying for him at all, but for all the things he did. I cried because he would never do them again, he would never carve another piece of wood or help us raise doves and pigeons in the back yard or play the violin the way he did, or tell us jokes the way he did. He was part of us and when he died, all the actions stopped dead and there was no one to do them just the way he did. He was individual. He was an important man. I've never gotten over his death. Often I think, what wonderful carvings never came to birth because he died. How many jokes are missing from the world, and how many homing pigeons untouched by his hands. He shaped the world. He did things to the world. The world was bankrupted of ten million fine actions the night he passed on." That quote really spoke to me because I reacted to it with the loss of my mother-in-law a few years ago. So overall, not my kind of book, but good for my brain to read it and some parts I liked that I can discuss at book club.

Rating: * (1/3 = It was okay)

The Women

I read The Women by Kristin Hannah for my newest book club with the young friends at church. The book description says, "Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets―and becomes one of―the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost. But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam."

Wow! What a book! This book was so engaging, and by the end, I was exclaiming so many things (No! Oh my gosh! Oh no!) that Connor basically needed a play-by-play of the last third of the book haha. The book was so well written with well developed characters (those I loved and hated and some that were flawed and yet came around) and a solid story. I don't read enough historical fiction, and I don't think I've ever read anything from the Vietnam period so this was super eye-opening and enlightening. I learned a lot and would definitely be interested in reading more on the time period, especially about women during the Vietnam War. There were times toward the end chunk of this book that I couldn't see how the story could end well, but I was so satisfied with the ending and just found this a really great read. I was so inspired by Frankie and her journey. There is some bad language and some other adult stuff, so I'd definitely classify this as an adult book. I have heard of this author before but haven't read any of her other books but definitely will now. I think the one I've heard about the most is The Nightingale. 

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

And Then, Boom!

I'm putting off reading several book club books and found And Then, Boom! by Lisa Fipps at a library book testing event. The book description says, "Joe Oak is used to living on unsteady ground. His mom can’t be depended on as she never stays around long once she gets “the itch,” and now he and his beloved grandmother find themselves without a home. Fortunately, Joe has an outlet in his journals and drawings and takes comfort from the lessons of comic books—superheroes have a lot of “and then, boom” moments, where everything threatens to go bust but somehow they land on their feet. And that seems to happen a lot to Joe too, as in this crisis his friend Nick helps them find a home in his trailer park. But things fall apart again when Joe is suddenly left to fend for himself. He doesn’t tell anyone he’s on his own, as he fears foster care and has hope his mom will come back. But time is running out—bills are piling up, the electricity’s been shut off, and the school year’s about to end, meaning no more free meals. The struggle to feed himself gets intense, and Joe finds himself dumpster diving for meals. He’s never felt so alone—until an emaciated little dog and her two tiny pups cross his path. And fate has even more in store for Joe, because an actual tornado is about to hit home—and just when it seems all is lost, his life turns in a direction that he never could have predicted."

I LOVED this book. I finished it in one morning because it was written in verse and was a quick, engaging read. I loved Joe as a character and his relationship with his grandma. I liked how the book opened my eyes to kids who are living in poverty and hunger, and I liked how the book had such solid, helpful adults in Joe's life (besides his mom)--teacher, therapist, landlord, foster parents, case worker, etc. I feel like in lots of these types of books, the kid has a deadbeat caseworker or a bad foster home or something like that, so I was glad Joe just got a break in the end. This was a great read and one I'd recommend. I noticed that the age range online says 10-13, so it's kinda an upper middle grade or younger YA book. I also now want to read the author's book Starfish, a book I've seen for years but never got around to reading.

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