![]() I don’t know how she does it, but Maurene Goo made me fall in love with this book! In SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW, Lucky is a K-Pop Star who’s risen quickly to the top and is about to debut in America. Jack is a photographer who works as a paparazzo and interns at his father’s bank while trying to put off college. The two meet while Lucky is hunting down a burger one night and is a whirlwind of an adventure/romance from there! It was so much fun! I don’t give five stars out very often, but this book earned every one! I LOVED IT! Very well done! (Cover photo from Goodreads) Honestly, this book was SO much more than I expected! I had heard about it through the librarian grapevine and read reviews, but for some reason kept it at the back of my TBR saying "I'll read it eventually." Y'all. This book needs a new cover because the one it has makes it feel immature and honestly middle-grade-esque but AMERICAN PANDA is GREAT! As a hispanic-American woman, I related to the main character, Mei, with the pressure to make your family proud, to be obedient, and to find a husband and have babies to secure your family name. BUT we know how I love a good ol' rebellion, ;) but AMERICAN PANDA isn't about the rebellion. It is about a Taiwanese-American girl, Mei, who LOVES dance, but her family has decided that is attending MIT to become a doctor while her mother chooses a husband for her. And while Mae tries SO hard to obey her family, she finally learns what I have been preaching for the past few years: you can't put a price a YOUR happiness and you have to do what is right for YOU.
AMERICAN PANDA is about so much more than just a girl struggling with her identity and with her parents; it is about finding yourself and challenging traditions that are done just for traditions sake. It is about women standing up for themselves. It is about spouses having a say in the way that their children are raised, and those children being happy and being given the opportunity to choose and fight for their dreams and being allowed to fail. This book was everything. I loved every second of it. Thank you, Gloria Chao. I hope that not only other Asian Americans can relate to this book and find comfort in knowing that they are not alone, but also EVERYONE who wants to break away from family traditions and gender ideologies. I really enjoyed Archival Quality and its emphasis on mental health. The main character, Cel, has left her job as a librarian after a breakdown and has taken a job as an archivist in a creepy old museum. She begins having weird dreams and losing chunks of time where she has no idea what happened. Her dreams feature a young woman whom Cel believes was an inmate in the asylum that the museum used to be and sets her sights on finding a way to set the spirit's soul to rest.
Cel not only has to solve the mystery of the museum's past, but she also must prove that her own mental health is not declining again and in the end, learns how to ask for help. Overall, a fun and enjoyable book that displays great teamwork (even with people you may not WANT to work with) and the importance of mental health and knowing when to ask for help. OOMMGG! Everyone who lives in Austin needs to read this book! Actually, EVERYONE needs to read this book. Such a beautiful story of Barbara Jordan and her persistence, all because of her great and booming voice. As an African-American girl from Houston she broke many barriers by going to law school, being on the Texas State Senate, and eventually the US Congress. Barbara Jordan fought for civil rights by giving a voice to those who could not speak for themselves.
Y'all. This series was so much fun to read. It is set in WW2 and is what would have happened if Hitler had won the war. The main character, Yael, is a BADASS! She is traumatized after being experimented on in a Jewish containment camp and watching her family die, but allows nothing to stop her from accomplishing her mission-to kill Adolf Hitler. IT WAS SO FREAKING GOOD! Watch the vlog review for more details. If you like adventure, sci-fi, or historical fiction, this series is for you. Readers who enjoy Throne of Glass will love this series!
Sorry that I've been MIA, friends, the start of a new school year in a new school has been CRAZY! But I'm loving every second of it :) I've been reading many graphic novels to prepare for the end of the Maverick committee's voting season and of course, I'm still looking for the prefect anime book to nominate. The last three that I've read and really enjoyed are: The Bride Was a Boy by Chii is a webcomic turned into a book. Chii chronicled her journey of trans-womanhood to full womanhood to marriage. She shares her story in a truly honest and understandable way. I appreciated the interruptions after chapters that explained what different terms were. Overall, it was a cute "fluffy" story.
Giant Spider and Me was suggested to me at Austin Books and Comics after I asked them for recommendations on recent anime. It starts off slow and picks up gradually; a story of a girl left alone by her father in a post-apocalyptic era who enjoys cooking (easy recipes are strewn throughout the novel). She finds a creature-a giant spider-that she names Asa and invites them to live with her. They find a soft of comfort in each other and learn about each other. This first volume ends with a cliffhanger as an "unexpected visitor" arrives and threatens Asa. Reading this book reminded me of watching the Totoro movie. Goldfisch is definitely my favorite of the three anime titles. It was recommended to me by Karina, aka "Cue." It is such a fun story of unexpected friendships and adventure. The main character has the Midas touch and turns everything to gold. As the story goes on, the readers find out that he is being hunted by people who want to abuse his powers and take the treasures that he has found. Happy Reading! GoldA fluffy graphic novel about a transwoman planning to marry a man in Japan. It goes through her transition process through their marriage. The book is a blog turned Into a graphic novel. Very Informative and cute drawings.A fluffy graphic novel about a transwoman planning to marry a man in Japan. It goes through her transition process through their marriage. The book is a blog turned Into a graphic novel. Very Informative and cute drawings.A fluffy graphic novel about a transwoman planning to marry a man in Japan. It goes through her transition process through their marriage. The book is a blog turned Into a graphic novel. Very Informative and cute drawings.A fluffy graphic novel about a transwoman planning to marry a man in Japan. It goes through her transition process through their marriage. The book is a blog turned Into a graphic novel. Very Informative and cute drawings. The Book Tree is a fun story about what can happen when all books are taken away. Arlo accidentally drops a book on the mayor of his town's head while he is reading in a tree and as a result, the mayor takes all of the books in town and tears them up into tiny pieces. One tiny piece is all that is left of them and Arlo watches it get buried in the dirt. Arlo observes his town fall apart as there are no books left. There are no cookbooks, so the restaurant can only serve dry cereal, the actors at the theatre have no plays to act out, and the library-Arlo's favorite place in town-is completely empty. Finally, Arlo decides to write his own stories and grow his own book tree. Arlo saves the town as it flourishes once again thanks to books! This book is gorgeous! The illustrations are like I've never seen before as they are whimsical and the people are not drawn as "white." I really enjoyed this picture book and I think that it will be welcome in all libraries. It would be especially fun to read during Banned Books Week in September. The Book Tree will be published September 30, 2018 by Barefoot Books. |
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