Book Review - Charming as a Verb

   📖Recommend for Grades 9 and up📖

Charming as a Verb

by Ben Philippe

Henri “Halti” Haltiwanger can charm anybody, except for his neighbor and classmate Corinne Troy. After uncovering Halti’s dog walking scheme, Corinne decides to blackmail him into helping her improve her image at school and getting her a better recommendation to her dream school. As the two spend time together, Halti discovers he enjoys hanging out with Corinne and that maybe she may provide a way to help him get into his own dream school.

A fun romantic comedy that starts with a nice dose of blackmail. The story is told from Halti’s point of view. Readers will get insight into what it’s like for him to be a first-generation Haitian-American looking to meet his father’s expectations. While Halti and Corinne are terrific and likable characters, Halti’s friend Ming often steals the scene or makes it better. Readers will love the authenticity of the characters and the ways they can relate to them.

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Book Review - We Are Not Free

   📖Recommend for Grades 8 and up📖

We Are Not Free

by Traci Chee

After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, things changed for Japanese ancestry people living in the United States. That following February, American residents of Japanese descent living on the west coast were forced to leave their homes and move to internment camps. This book is the fictional story of fourteen teens and young adults who have grown up together in Japantown, San Francisco. Now they are among those who were relocated to Japanese Internment Camps. Throughout the years, they face many ups and downs, and they and their families are forced to make tough decisions.

Intriguing and eye-opening, this is a wonderfully written book and portrayal of Japanese-American experience during World War II. The author pulled from the stories of family members who went through this experience. The story is told from fourteen different perspectives that follow each other in chronological order.  Except for one character, each view occurs just once in the book. We Are Not Free is not an easy story to read as the character’s experience and witness many emotional and difficult situations. Readers who feel they can handle the topic, especially if they are Historical Fiction fans, should give this book a read.

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Book Review - A Place at the Table

 📖Recommend for Grades 6 and up📖

A Place at the Table

by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

In many ways, sixth-graders Sara, a Pakistani American, and Elizabeth, a Jewish girl, are different. When the two end up kitchen partners in a South Asian cooking class taught by Sara's mom, a friendship takes form. Despite their cultural differences, the girls learn that they do have similarities, such as both their mothers being immigrants. Together they face the challenges the world throws at them all while trying to come up with an award-winning recipe.

A wonderfully written story about two young girls and how they can find similarities and form a friendship despite their different cultural backgrounds. The book alternates between both girl's perspectives giving intriguing insights into both their thoughts and feelings. There is some anti-Semitism in this book, but it is handled in an age appropriate manner. The story involves the girls have to create a recipe, and it is included in the back for readers to try for themselves. 

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