Book Review - The Only Black Girls in Town

📖Recommend for Grades 6 and up📖

The Only Black Girls in Town

by Brandy Colbert

Alberta has been the only Black girl on her block, in her grade, and just one of the few in the Ewing Beach. Then Edie moves in across the street, and now suddenly she isn’ the only Black Girl around. When Edie discovers old journals written by somebody named Constance, the pair decide to read them and figure out who she is. Alberta loves having a new friend in Edie, but her presence complicates things with her best friend, Laramie.

A great tween read about self-discovery, friendship, and family. Alberta very much knows what it is like to be different, being one of the few Black people in her town and being raised by two dads. Her dealing with these differences shapes her throughout the book. Interwoven into Alberta’s story are Constance’s journal entries that she reads. While they play a role in Alberta’s story, the mystery of who Constance is is a mystery within the main story.

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E-books - Five Black Male Authors You Should Be Reading

• Read Kwame Alexander
• Read Jay Coles
• Read Lamar Giles
• Read Walter Dean Myers
• Read Jason Reynolds

E-books - Five Black Female Authors You Should Be Reading

• Read Elizabeth Acevedo
• Read Brandy Colbert
• Read Tiffany D. Jackson
• Read Nic Stone
• Read Angie Thomas

Book Review - Jackpot

📖Recommend for Grades 8 and up📖

Jackpot 

by Nic Stone

When Rico learns that a winning lotto ticket was sold at the Gas' n' Go where she works, she realizes she must have sold the winning ticket. She thinks this means that her luck is finally changing; she has to track down the winner first. Her popular and wealthy classmate Zan gets involved in helping her on her mission. Now, as the world of the haves and have-nots collide, this investigation gets interesting.

A delightful read that even reluctant readers will enjoy. Rico and Zan are both intriguing characters, and the dynamic between them is entertaining. They are both also mixed race but come from different financial backgrounds. The story is told from Rico's point of view. Still, there are interruptions between specific chapters of the winning ticket's story. It may sound weird but makes sense in the content of the book. Romance does play a part in their story, but readers shouldn't let that prohibit them from picking this book up. 

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Weekly Wednesday Quote

E-books - Black Tween Lives

• The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

• The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert

• A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée

• Clean Getaway by Nic Stone

• One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

E-books - Meet Cute

• Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli & Aisha Saeed

• Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles

• I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn

• Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds

• This Train Is Being Held by Ismée Williams

E-books - Teen Chefs and Bakers

• With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

• North of Happy by Adi Alsaid

• The Crepe Makers' Bond by Julie Crabtree

• Taste Test by Kelly Fiore

• The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo

Weekly Wednesday Quote

Book Review - Clap When You Land

📖Recommend for Grades 8 and up📖

Clap When You Land

by Elizabeth Acevedo

Camino Rios favorite time of year is summer, as that is when Papi comes back to the Dominican Republic. On the day he is set to return, she goes to the airport only to find people crying. Yahaira Rios was having a typical school day when she is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to take her home. Her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash. Little do these girls know, the man they are grieving is the same one. Kept apart by distance and secrets, their lives are forever altered by his death in this plane crash, and the discovery of each other. 

Written in-verse, this story alternates between Camino and Yahaira’s perspectives. In the last section, the girl’s voices are blended. The girls are both wonderfully distinct but yet contain certain similarities. The plane crash in which the girl’s father passes away is loosely based on the real crash of American Airlines 857 that crashed in Queens on November 12, 2001. The story though is about the girls and how their father’s secrets have affected their lives.

Library Catalog - E-book - Downloadable Audio

E-books - More Mystery

• I Was Here by Gayle Forman

• Paper Towns by John Green

• Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

• Also available on Hoopla 

• All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban

• Now Entering Addamsville by Francesca Zappia

Audio-books - Can't Miss Audio-books

• Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

• Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

• I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez

• Dear Martin by Nic Stone

• Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner

Audio-books - LGBT+ Characters

• Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

• The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle

• Anger Is a Gift by Mark Oshiro

• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

• They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Weekly Wednesday Quote

Book Review - The Leaving

📖Recommend for Grades 8 and up📖

The Leaving

by Tara Altebrando

After the first full day of Kindergarten, six children never came home. Now, eleven years later, five return with no memory of where they have been or the sixth child Max. Scarlet returns home, where her mother thinks aliens had abducted her. She seems to remember Lucas, who also seems to remember her. Lucas also returns to a life turned upside down. Then there is Max’s sister Avery. She can’t figure out why her brother hasn’t returned with the others and thinks they are hiding something.

Scarlet, Lucas, and Avery narrate this story with Scarlet and Lucas not exactly being reliable ones. However, wondering if they are lying or not is all part of the story. This book does have its flaws, but it is still a page-turner. Readers will be itching to figure out why the six had been taken, where they were, why they returned, where Max is, and why they don’t remember him. 

Library Catalog - E-book - Downloadable Audio

*Please note that UPL does not currently own a physical copy of this book but you can request it from another library

E-books - LGBT+ Characters

• What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera

• The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle

• The Other Boy by M. G. Hennessey (Tween Friendly)

• Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy

• Odd One Out by Nic Stone

E-books - MORE Historical Fiction

• The War Outside by Monica Hesse

• Butterfly Yellow by Thanhhà Lai

• The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee

• Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

E-books - European Setting

• The Wonder of Us by Kim Culbertson

• Just One Day by Gayle Forman

• 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

• Also available on Hoopla

• Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

• Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

Weekly Wednesday Quote

Book Review - Four Days of You and Me

📖Recommend for Grades 9 and up📖

Four Days of You and Me

by Miranda Kenneally

Every May 7th is field trip day for the students of Coffee County High School. During the freshman trip, Lulu and Alex go from enemies to more than friends. Now on every trip after, their relationship faces something significant, all leading up to their big trip senior year.

This story is told mainly on four days, different days, in four different years.  There are, however, some chapters that lead up to trip day. It is a sweet YA romance containing realistic teen characters dealing with fairly realistic teen problems. The main character Lulu, can be a tad annoying at times, as can her love interest Alex. Still, their story is an entertaining one of ups and downs.

Library Catalog - E-book - Downloadable Audio

Check me out as an e-book on Hoopla

E-books - Tackling Racial Conflict

• Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles

• All American Boys by Jason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely

• Anger Is a Gift by Mark Oshiro

• Dear Martin by Nic Stone

• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

• Stamped--Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning by Jason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi