October Wrap-Up!

October Wrap-Up!

I've done it again y'all. I read 19 this month! Pretty much the only reason is because of school, 8 of these were for my Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults class. I also read 5 volumes of My Hero Academia, a graphic novel, and a picture book for one of my other classes that I didn't include a picture of here. These shorter reads really push my numbers up! I know I'll be reading even more for my class in November, so hopefully I'll have a double-digit reading month again then. Without further ado, here are my thoughts on all the books I read in the month of October. ~Em

Esperanza Rising is a beautiful historical fiction book about a young girl named Esperanza who is forced to flee Mexico with her mother. When Esperanza reaches the US, she is forced to confront her privilege, as she no longer leaves on a ranch with servants. She and her mother must work to make a living and Esperanza has a hard time accepting this. I loved the discussion of privilege in this book and being shown how difficult immigration is. I had seen this book many times before but didn't pick up until I was required to for class, and I'm glad I finally read it. No Rating: Read for MLCYA

This was a re-read for me, but this time I read the physical book instead of listening to the audiobook. This was another one of the books I had to read for my MLCYA class and I just love it. It is such a powerful story about the expectations of teenage girls, what it's like to live in a religious family when you don't share the same beliefs, and becoming comfortable with who you are. There are many tough discussions in this book, but I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. Rating: 5/5

Rating: 5/5

This is a really awesome graphic novel. It is technically the second book in a series, but for my MLCYA class we had to read this volume. It is about a group of friends who own a body shop and one day their cat goes missing. The three friends go on a journey to find their beloved cat, but they run into several Aztec gods along the way. The art is incredible and there is a great mix of English and Spanish words throughout the book. I will definitely pick up the other graphic novels in the series. Rating: 5/5 

Under the Mesquite tells the story of Lupita, who is one of 8 children in her family. She and her family live on a border town, so they often go back and forth between Mexico and Texas. When Lupita's mother is diagnosed with cancer, Lupita has to take responsibility as the oldest child and take care of her siblings while trying to finish high school and express herself through writing and theater. This is an emotional story and it is well-written, which makes it even more impactful. Lupita struggles a lot with her identity as someone who easily goes back and forth between Mexico and the US, and she struggles with trying to be someone independent of her family. This is one of the lesser known books I read for MLCYA, but I think it should be on more people's radars. No Rating: Read for MLCYA

This is a book I have been meaning to get to for a while and just hadn't picked up, until I heard one of my coworkers talk about it and decided to bite the bullet. Boy, am I glad that I did! It's about a girl named Stevie who is extremely passionate about true crime and gets to go to a private school where a murder happened in the 1930s. Stevie goes to the school to try to solve the murder in present day, and when one of her fellow students gets murdered, she ends up trying to solve that one too. I really liked this book. Stevie is an interesting character and I was unable to predict most of the twists and turns in the plot. There is a diverse cast of characters as well, including a non-binary character, multiple people of color, and Stevie has severe anxiety that she takes medication for. I am excited to continue on with the series! Rating: 4/5

Rating: 4/5

Rating: 4/5

Rating: 4/5

Rating: 4/5

This is the third book in the Diviners quartet. I continued along with the Diviners readalong that I have been participating in for the last couple of months, though I accidentally read this one later than I was supposed to. That did stop me from enjoying the heck out of this book! I won't say much, because I don't want to spoil anything, but the stakes are SO HIGH in this book and there are a LOT more ghosts in this one (which I love.) This is the book where we get more information on Memphis's back story and more information about Jericho as well. I loved the development of all the characters and some pretty wild things happen at the end. I can't wait for the fourth and final book to release in February! Rating: 5/5

Unfortunately, this is my least favorite book I read this month. What was pitched as a paranormal thriller actually ended up being a book that used mental health as a plot device. It's about a girl named Lauren who becomes obsessed with finding a girl in a "Missing" poster. As she finds clues and digs deeper more and more missing girls start appearing to Lauren as what the reader thinks are ghosts. However, *spoiler alert* in the last 50-75 pages, it is revealed that Lauren is experiencing what could potentially be schizophrenia. (You can't diagnose schizophrenia from one episode.) Using mental health as a plot twist is harmful and it made me feel very uncomfortable. The author did leave a note in the back of the book with contacts for the National Mental Illness Alliance and other resources, which I appreciated. Rating: 2/5

Jenna wants to dance at the next powwow, but she must find jingles for her dress in order to do so. This was the first book I read for our Native American unit in MLCYA. It does a great job at telling a story of modern Native Americans. A stereotypical occurrence is to only include Native Americans as a part of history and not include them in the present day, so it was nice to see this picture book with Native Americans living in a modern community and not being stereotyped. No Rating: Read for MLCYA

This book was our faculty/staff book club pick for the month. As the subtitle says, it is about the six innovations that changed how the world functions. It talks about such things as glass, sounds, and cold, which make more sense if you read the book and see the points the author makes. I enjoyed our discussion of the book and I listened to the audiobook of this one. I think the author had some really interesting things to say. No Rating

Mooncakes is a graphic novel about a young witch named Nova who lives in a bookstore/coffee shop with her two grandmas. One day, she runs into her friend, Tam, who she hasn't seen in quite some time, while Tam is trying to fight a demon. Tam is a non-binary werewolf. The two rekindle their friendship and work to defeat the evil that has come to their town. This book is SOOOOO good! The diversity in it is wonderful. As I mentioned, Tam is non-binary, and other diversity includes Nova being hard-of-hearing, fat rep, and I don't know if it says for sure or not, but I think there are people of color represented as well. The story handles a lot of hard topics, such as accepting yourself and death of a loved one. The art work is stunning and it is overall a cute and heartwarming story. Please read it if you like graphic novels and cuteness! Rating: 5/5

In this book, Ivy's family's home is destroyed in a tornado. She and the other five members of her family are all forced to move into a one bedroom hotel room while they try to sort things out. In the midst of the storm and chaos, Ivy lost her notebook, which contained drawings that she wants to keep private. But then, the pictures from the notebook start showing up in Ivy's locker with notes attached. Ivy doesn't know who is doing this but she wants to find out. This is an incredible coming-of-age story. Ivy wants to keep her drawings secret because in them she is holding hands with another girl. She isn't sure how to tell her friend and family that she likes girls. I absolutely loved this book. Ivy goes so through so much over the course of this book and by the end I was sobbing. It is a powerful read that I think many young people will get a lot out of. Rating: 5/5

Code Talker is the fictionalized retelling of the Navajo Marines who became code talkers in World War II. This is another difficult book to read, because of the way the Navajo people were treated by their teachers at boarding school. The white teachers tried to erase the Navajo culture from those children. Even once the Navajo Marines became code talkers, which was a crucial part of the war, they were not recognized or promoted for an extremely long time after the war. The audiobook for this is really good, as there are many Navajo words used in the book and hearing the narrator pronounce them was helpful. I love reading books about a different side of history than is usually told. No Rating: Read for MLCYA

This was one of the books I read for our Inclusive unit for MLCYA. The book is about Adam, who has early onset schizophrenia and is participating in a study for a new medicine that will hopefully help him manage his hallucinations. The story is told through Adam writing in a journal to his therapist, instead of speaking to the therapist. Adam's experiences were hard to read at times which made the book impactful. Though some of the topics were really deep, the book was simultaneously very funny and had some great discussions on mental health. Rating: 4/5