About This Book:
In the tradition of Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between, this smart and emotional romance told through playlists and memories follows two young teens struggling to hold onto each other as their friendship changes.
Starting high school brings big changes for Immie and Jack, who’ve been everything to each other ever since Jack crashed his skateboard into Immie’s yard when they were seven years old. All of a sudden, a game-winning goal catapults Jack into star status with the soccer team, and Immie is meeting new girl friends whose questions are making her wonder about the identity of her father for the first time in her life.
And amidst all of this, they’re both realizing their feelings for each other might run deeper than they thought. Can their friendship—and the promise of something more—weather the storm that is growing up?
*Review Contributed by Beth Rodgers, Staff Reviewer*
“All My Bests” by Britnee Meiser follows the friendship between Immie and Jack. When they meet in grade school, they are immediately drawn to each other and become fast friends. As the years go by and high school begins, they each discover that their feelings for each other extend beyond their childhood friendship, but they don’t know how to show or say this to each other.
The book is written in three parts, with the first being from Immie’s viewpoint, the second showing Jack’s perspective, and the third wrapping up their story and giving details about both of them. Seeing how their lives play out from these differing perspectives is interesting and thought-provoking. They each are nervous about what the other is thinking, wondering if there is even the slightest possibility that their love is reciprocated. When other love interests begin to take shape, they question the way they feel about each other all the more.
This debut novel by Britnee Meiser chronicles the ups and downs of young love. The book has tons of music references mentioned throughout it, from the beginnings of chapters to the content within each. Immie’s path to self-discovery and learning more about the father she never met, as well as Jack dealing with trying to live up to his family’s expectations and the legacy his older brother left seems daunting. Over time, they find that there is strength in dealing with these issues. Sometimes they find solace in each other, and other times they don’t know quite how to talk to each other about their issues, but one fact remains—they are there for each other through thick and thin, even if they aren’t talking, because their friendship truly matters to the both of them.
The Boyfriend Wish (Swati Teerdhala)
About This Book:
There’s only one item left on Deepa Josyula’s high school bucket list: finding the perfect boyfriend. But when her meticulously planned Homecoming proposal crashes and burns thanks to Vik Mehta—both neighbor and long-term nemesis ever since he started their neighborhood prank war—she’s not sure how she’s going to finish the list. To make things even worse, she’s stuck working with Vik on a Student Council committee. So when her grandmother gifts her a jasmine flower and tells her to make a wish, Deepa doesn’t see the harm. She wishes for her dream boyfriend, just like she had imagined when she was younger. The next morning a new neighbor moves into their cul-de-sac, and Rohit D’Souza crosses off everything on her ideal boyfriend wish list down to a tee: thoughtful, handsome, and romantic as hell.She can hardly believe it. But according to her grandmother, the wish is only the beginning. To earn it, to complete it, the wish must be sealed with a kiss. But Rohit is quickly becoming the most popular new guy both in school and in her friend group, and Deepa hasn’t kissed a boy since freshman year. The more Deepa plans the perfect kiss with Rohit, the less sure she is of what her heart truly wants. Is it the perfect boy brought by magic—or the uncertainty of the boy who’s always been next door?
*Review Contributed by Beth Rodgers, Staff Reviewer*
Friendship, Crushes, and Pranks
“The Boyfriend Wish” by Swati Teerdhala tells the story of high school student Deepa and her friends and family. Deepa’s life revolves around school and her friends. She lives on a cul-de-sac with her closest pals, and she finds that life is going pretty well. That is, until a problem occurs when she tries to wish for the perfect boyfriend, and then is surprised when her wish seemingly comes true! Little does she know that the perfect guy may have been closer than she could have ever admitted. While Rohit seems perfect when he moves into the cul-de-sac and takes an interest in her, she finds herself continually pulled toward Vikram, her next-door neighbor and arch nemesis in the prank war that the kids on the cul-de-sac play against each other. Vik’s personality infuriates her, but it also keeps her on her toes, and despite her ever-growing annoyance with him, she finds that being around Vik isn’t quite as bad as she expected after not having been friends with him on a closer basis for several years. Yet, Rohit has it all, but the connection isn’t quite as deep. He doesn’t “get” her the way Vik does, and while she desperately tries to make her wish to have Rohit be her boyfriend pan out, she finds herself stuck in a conundrum—is that really what she wants?
Swati Teerdhala has crafted an engrossing, romantic, thoroughly enjoyable story about young love, crushes, and the worries that come along with it all.
Gigi Shin Is Not a Nerd by Lyla Lee
About This Book:
This first book in a sparkling middle grade series giving a fresh take on The Baby-Sitters Club follows a young Korean American girl who starts a business with her best friends to support her artistic dreams.
Jiyoung “Gigi” Shin loves to create, from her zany outfits to self-executed haircuts. She dreams of becoming an artist and doodles every chance she gets—at school instead of taking notes, in choir instead of singing, and at home instead of homework. Art is her way of escaping her boring life in suburban Middle of Nowhere, Texas. Unfortunately, her working class, immigrant parents want her to focus on her studies and pursue something more “practical.” Gigi only really feels like herself in art class and at lunch with her best friends, Carolina and Zeina.
When Gigi learns about an elite art camp on the east coast, she’s determined to go. But she knows her parents won’t let her, much less pay for it. After overhearing her little brother Tommy complain about how hard math is and how his teacher goes too fast for him, Gigi has a brilliant idea: forming a tutoring club with her friends to make enough money for the art camp.
With Carolina, Zeina, and Carolina’s friend, Emma, the girls go all in, each with a reason for wanting the business to succeed. But the first few sessions with their classmates are a little chaotic, and Gigi wonders if she will end up sacrificing more than she bargained for to achieve her dreams.
*Review Contributed By Beth Rodgers, Staff Reviewer*
High Aspirations
Gigi Shin Is Not a Nerd” by Lyla Lee takes readers into the world of Gigi, a middle school girl with high aspirations to be an artist. Growing up in a Korean-American family doesn’t make it easy for her, though, as she finds that there are expectations put on her to be good at math and science, and to plan for a career that follows from those subjects. She doesn’t know quite what to do to make her parents understand her profound love of art.
When she finds out about Starscape, a top-of-the-line summer art program in New York, she desperately wants to attend. Her parents can’t even wrap their heads around the idea, and she feels like she’ll never get their approval. She and her friends decide that the only chance any of them have of attending the prestigious Starscape program is to raise money on their own to prove that they are capable, responsible, and truly deserving of attending. So, they start a tutoring program, a la the Babysitter’s Club, so that they can raise funds and help people all at the same time.
All is going well until Gigi has some academic problems of her own on a science quiz, and her parents start to question her ability to handle everything she has taken on. She is determined to make it clear that she is perfectly able to handle everything, they just have to let her prove it.
Aside from academics and tutoring, crushes and friend drama fill the pages of this first book in a new series. Readers will be eager to learn what happens next to Gigi and her friends as they embark on more tutoring, art, and middle school adventures.
About This Book:
Did you know that the flag of the USA was inspired by that of the East India Company – a private shipping company that traded in the spoils of the British Empire? Do you know what the black star on the flag of Ghana means? Or why the Russian flag looks similar to that of the Netherlands? Find the answers to these questions and more in this gorgeously presented, accessible atlas of flags.
Through simple designs and colours, national flags can tell us a lot about the histories, identities and interrelationships of the countries they represent. Grouping flags together first by continent and then by theme, this illuminating book explains how countries relate to one another, and how their politics and histories are interconnected. It provides a great launch point for discussions around identity, geography and nation building, and is a timely addition to the reference shelf of any politically curious 6 to 11-year old.
*Review Contributed By Beth Rodgers, Staff Reviewer*
Learning about Flags
All About Flags” by Robin Jacobs, illustrated by Ben Javens, shares information about not only flags of different countries, but also about flags for different purposes, such as naval flags, flags used to identify groups of people, and more. Readers learn that there are unusual flags out there, including square flags of two countries, a flag with more than four sides, etc. Flags in the book are grouped by continent and then by theme, so there is a clear order for how to understand the flags as they are represented throughout the book.
There is also clarification of flags through the ages, as well as discussion of symbols that some flags have, including suns, moons, crosses, triangles, and stars, plus colors are presented as having specific meanings.
The book is not only explanatory about each flag, but also very colorful. There is so much to not only learn but to see and enjoy as you view the different configurations that all of the flags have. The glossary at the end as well as the index of countries rounds out the book, making it very easy to find whatever information necessary to learn about different countries and their flags.
About This Book:
Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl has captivated and inspired readers for decades. Published posthumously by her bereaved father, Anne’s journal, written while she and her family were in hiding during World War II, has become one of the central texts of the Jewish experience during the Holocaust, as well as a work of literary genius.With the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, the Frank family’s life is turned inside out, blow by blow, restriction by restriction. Prejudice, loss, and terror run rampant, and Anne is forced to bear witness as ordinary people become monsters, and children and families are caught up in the inescapable tide of violence.
In the midst of impossible danger, Anne, audacious and creative and fearless, discovers who she truly is. With a wisdom far beyond her years, she will become a writer who will go on to change the world as we know it.
Critically acclaimed author Alice Hoffman weaves a lyrical and heart-wrenching story of the way the world closes in on the Frank family from the moment the Nazis invade the Netherlands until they are forced into hiding, bringing Anne to bold, vivid life.
Based on extensive research and published in cooperation with the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, When We Flew Away is an extraordinary and moving tour de force.
Perfect for Alice Hoffman fans and readers of every age.
*Review Contributed by Beth Rodgers, Staff Reviewer*
“When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary” by Alice Hoffman delves into Anne’s life before she went into hiding, yet the experiences are still harrowing and strike a nerve in the fabric of society.
Anne’s life is pretty good overall. She has a family, including a loving father, a mother who can often be hard on her, but who loves her all the same, a sister, Margot, and a grandmother, whom she calls Oma. Their life is average, but it’s worthwhile. Until one day when life begins to change. Jews begin to have restrictions put on them, and while Anne’s family never really placed so much emphasis on their Judaism, they find that they are looked at no differently than those whose observances are strikingly different. Little by little, people around them begin to look at them in a changed light, treat them differently, and not accept them as equals. They are made to register with the government, and while it isn’t billed as “keeping track” of them, it is allowing the government to know exactly where each and every Jew lives, who lives with them, and more.
As their lives begin to unravel and they lose confidence that they will find a way out of the country to safety, Anne and her family try to remain calm to get through it, to see their way to their futures, but their world looks bleaker with each passing day.
In this fictionalized telling of Anne’s life before she and her family went into hiding, we learn how the world is not always so pleasant and welcoming. People can be viciously terrible, and the world may do nothing to protect you. Finding ways to protect yourself and those you love is difficult and troubling, and while one may feel alone at times, if one is to stop sharing these stories and trying to find ways to overcome the problems, it may keep happening. As Anne’s mother tells her at one point, “We are doing something. We’re refusing to believe the story they’re telling about us.” The Holocaust, and Anne’s experience leading up to it must never happen again, and this book is one way to understand how seeing it coming and stepping up to try to do something about it before it does is of vital importance to who we are as individuals and as a society. The back matter of the book provides more insight into the reality that was the Holocaust and how Anne’s family was captured, leaving only her father alive when the war was over.
We would like to take a moment to thank all the wonderful authors, publishers, and publicists out there who have so graciously sent these books to our review staff. We would also like to thank all our YABC community members who visit our site each day.
