Books and Sensibility

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Everything I Thought I Knew by Shannon Takaoka

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320 pages | Candlewick Press| Contemporary | Release Date: 10/13/2020

On the blog, Kat and I sometimes refer to slice-of-life books that don’t make it into the hype rotation as “the quietest YA to ever quiet” and that’s how I feel about Everything I Thought I Knew. It’s the low-stakes story of Chloe, whose senior year is thrown off balance when she discovers she needs a heart transplant. Soon someone else’s tragedy becomes her miracle and after the transplant, Chole begins to see flashes of her donor’s life and begins a journey to give them closure.

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Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore

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Rating: Unrated | 320 pages | Harper Teen | Contemporary/Magican Realism | 09/22/2020 |

I’ve been wanting to specifically read A-M forever. From what I’ve heard their novels are a blend of fantasy and contemporary which is a genre mash-up that has always been right up my alley, so when I had a chance to review the audio for Miss Meteor, jointly written by Tehlor Kay Mejia, I jumped at the chance.

In Miss Metoer a small-town beauty pageant brings together estranged best friends, Chicky a loner and outcast who doesn’t quite fit in with her three larger-than-life big sisters; and Lita, en eccentric girl born from the stardust of the meteor that gave their small New Mexico town its name. Yes, there is a magical realism element to this story that the authors quietly weave in that I think adds a layer of actual alien to the alienation the girls already feel being brown girls in a town that often rewards blonde-haired white girls.

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Book Review: The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski

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Unrated | 358 pages |  Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)| YA Fantasy | Release Date: 03/03/20 

Years ago I read Marie Rutkoski’s much-buzzed-about The Winner’s Curse. I mean this book was the ARC to have in 2013. When the book debuted in 2014 I actually purchased a copy from Books-A-Million because of all the buzz … and it just didn’t live up to the hype for me. 

However, I 100% believe that just because one book in the authors’ backlist doesn’t work for me, that doesn’t automatically cross the author off my list. I mean I didn’t love the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo but I enjoyed Six of Crows and while Holly Black’s Cruel Prince was a no for me I’ve always been a fan of her Curse Workers series.

How did Midnight Lie hold up ?

Well, I liked it better The Winner’s Curse. I think I enjoyed it more after I had a few days to sit with it.

AudioFile’s 2020 Best Young Adult Audiobooks

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Today we are excited to present AudioFile’s 2020 Best Young Adult Audiobooks. AudioFile Magazine is the place to find audiobook reviews, narrator interviews and recommendations. For avid listeners don’t forget to subscribe to the AudioFile Magazine Podcast.

Raybearer

by Jordan Ifueko| Read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt

We Are Not From Here

by Jenny Torres Sanchez| Read by Marisa Blake

Stamped

by Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi| Read by Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi [Intro.]

The Black Flamingo

by Dean Atta| Read by Dean Atta

Punching The Air

by Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam| Read by Ethan Herisse

Kent State

by Deborah Wiles| Read by Lauren Ezzo, Christopher Gebauer, Christina Delaine, Johnny Heller, Roger Wayne, Korey Jackson, David DeVries

Click here to check out all of the of AudioFile’s 2020 Best Audiobooks

Black Friday Read-a-Thon Quote Challenge

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Good Morning #BFRat Participants! Now that you’ve started it’s time to share! Comment below with a quote from your current read and you’ll be entered to win a $10 Amazon Gift Card. You must be signed up for the Black Friday Read-a-Thon to eligible

Book Review: Saving Ruby King by Catherine Adel West

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Unrated | 352 pages | Park Row | Contemporary | 6/16/2020

Trigger Warning: sexual assault, incest and domestic violence

Saving Ruby King examines the past and present of Southside Chicago’s Calagary Baptist congregation after the murder of Alice King. I feel like this could be a read-a-like to The Mothers by Brit Bennett because it’s the story of a specific Black community told through multiple POVs that moves through time.

Alice’s daughter Ruby is left to contend with her abusive father Lebanon–an ex-con who is holding a dark secret over Calgary’s hard-working preacher.

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