Teen Tuesday and Audio Review: Kneel by Candace Buford

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

Kneel by Candace Buford. Unabridged e-audiobook. ~8.3 hours. Read by Preston Butler III. HarperAudio/ Inkyard/ HarperCollins Publishers, September, 2021. 9781488211805. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Happy rainy Tuesday! There has been a flash flood warning in my area since last night and it has been raining steadily. Hopefully, the winds will stay calm and my hundred year old American Beech tree will remain standing.

Teen Tuesday features Kneel by Candace Buford. Rus Boudreaux and his best friend, Marion LaSalle are co-captains of their football team entering their senior year with high hopes for a winning season, another chance at the state championship and a football scholarship to a D-1 college. A scholarship is their only way out of their racially segregated parish in Louisiana. At the start of their second game of the season, against the team's rival, one of the white co-captains hurls a racial slur after the coin toss and the other sucker punches Marion. The refs turn a blind eye to the slur and don't defend Marion as he is hauled off the field in handcuffs and eventually beaten by police for "resisting arrest." Rus knows that Marion's chances for a scholarship are nonexistent if he can't play football, so he takes a knee during the national anthem at the next game, earning himself the ire of his coach, his teammates, his parents and the press as the media choose to portray him and Marion as thugs.

Rus' first-person narrative is compelling from the start as this thoughtful athlete tries to play by rules that seem to change at the whim of the privileged. Kneel is the author's debut and it's an impressive one peopled with complex characters dealing with real issues of poverty, racism and broken dreams.

New-to-me narrator Preston Butler III turned in a well-paced, emotionally resonant performance as Rus. 

Teen Tuesday: Beasts of Prey by Ayana Grey

Image: Penguin Random House

Beasts of Prey by Ayana Grey. 388 p. G.P. Putnam's Sons/ Penguin Young Readers, September 28, 2021. 9780593405680. (Review of arc courtesy of publisher.)

Teen Tuesday features a mesmerizing debut fantasy called Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray. Sixteen-year-old Kofi lives in the city of Lkossa, which sits at the edge of the Greater Jungle, where the dreaded Shetani lives and feeds on unlucky citizens. Koffi is indentured to the Night Zoo due to a debt her now-dead father could not pay. She and her mother care for the dangerous beasts that are exhibited in the zoo. Ekon is the second son of a warrior/ hero who was slain by the Shetani years earlier. He is about to complete the final ritual before becoming a Son of the Six and warrior like his father and older brother.

Magic is outlawed in Lkossa and Koffi is brimming with it. Knowing that her life is at stake should this be discovered, she suppresses it, but the magic bursts free when those she loves are endangered. It seems that she has the power to tame the Shetani. The owner of the Night Zoo wants to add the Shetani to his menagerie, so he blackmails Koffi into hunting for it.

Ekon failed his ritual when he not only failed to kill the Shetani, but also allowed Koffi to escape. He will need to leave the temple in disgrace, but is offered a chance to redeem himself if he can capture the Shetani. He forms an uneasy alliance with Koffi and they head into the Greater Jungle where they become prey themselves.

Ms. Gray's world-building is vivid and immersive. Suspense is high from the outset and gradually ratchets up as pages fly by. Koffi and Ekon are flawed and instantly likable and Adiah, the occasional third POV, is mysterious. Fans of intricately layered fantasy might get whiplash from the plot twists. They will gobble this whole and pant for the next installment.

Beasts of Prey is due out September 28. Pre-order it! I can't wait to get it into my students' hands. Impressive debut!

Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: Root Magic by Eden Royce

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

Root Magic by Eden Royce. Unabridged downloadable audiobook. ~594 minutes. Read by Imani Parks. Walden Pond Press/ HarperCollins Publishers, January, 2021. 9780063064416. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.) 

Middle Grade Monday features Root Magic by Eden Royce. Jezabel Turner lives with her twin brother, Jay, their mother and extended family in South Carolina in 1963. They are burying Jez's beloved grandmother at the opening of this leisurely, lyrical debut novel. Gran was a respected root worker, one whom many members of the community came to for help, but who also garnered suspicion and fear. Jez's uncle, Doc carried the Gullah Geechee tradition of root work and wants to teach it to the twins. Their mother is hesitant, but changes her mind after a racist deputy unlawfully searches their property and threatens violence.

The real dangers of the Jim Crow south and the potential danger of a malevolent presence in the marsh quietly ratchet up the tension as Jez and Jay learn the ways of root. Jez is a thoughtful and charming narrator. Other characters, such as Jay, Doc and her mother brim with energy and life.

Imani Parks' performance matched the measured pace of the narrative well. I enjoyed reading this with my ears. Readers who enjoy intricately crafted suspense will love Root Magic.

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: Indivisible by Daniel Aleman

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Indivisible by Daniel Aleman. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~9 hours. Read by Adan Rocha. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers/ Machete Audio, May, 2021. 9781549138058. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Happy Tuesday! Today is the end of my first full week of summer break and it certainly has been eventful as have the last 26 days. I'm reading some awesome books and have just made my way through a stack of fun picture books. 

Teen Tuesday features Indivisible by debut author, Daniel Aleman. Sixteen-year-old Mateo Garcia leads a pretty good life in the lower east side of Manhattan. He's out to his supportive parents, he's on track to get into a good college, he has two best friends in Kimmie and Adam and, while he may be poor, he, his seven-year-old sister, Sophie, and his parents are close-knit and happy. All that comes crashing down when ICE agents arrest his parents. It doesn't matter that they have built a life in the U.S. after overstaying their visas. It doesn't matter that their children were born here and are U.S. citizens. It doesn't matter that Pa runs a bodega that is an important part of their neighborhood. 

With no relatives to turn to, Mateo and Sophie do their best to maintain normalcy. A family friend offers to take them in, but Mateo declines. His apartment is tiny and his wife just had a baby. Soon, the reality of keeping up at school, running the bodega, caring for Sophie and making rent sets it. A near-miss with Child Protection forces Mateo to face reality.

Mr. Aleman effectively puts faces on the faceless. He paints portraits of striving immigrants who love their adoptive country and work hard for very little. Mateo is an earnest narrator and Adan Rocha's performance is nuanced and emotionally resonant. 

Like Efrén Divided, Indivisible is powerful, timely and important. It belongs in all library collections. 

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: Fat Chance, Charlie Vega

Image: Penguin Random House

Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~665 minutes, Holiday House/ Listening Library, February, 2021. 9780593397183. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Last time! Happy penultimate Tuesday of the 2020 - 2021 school year! The final day of school is one week away! I hope you've got your summer reading lined up! If not, be sure to check this space for recommendations all through the summer!

Teen Tuesday features Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado. Sixteen-year-old Charlotte, "Charlie" Vega is a brown girl growing up in a mostly white Connecticut suberb. She's a writer and a reader. She and her mom still miss her dad who died. She has a gorgeous, Black and popular best friend named Amelia and Charlie plays the third-wheel, fat friend role pretty amiably. Her mom used to be overweight as well, but now she has slimmed down and is constantly nagging Charlie about her weight. Charlie longs for a swoony romance of her own and is so pumped when her crush, a football player named Cal invites her to a football awards dance. Can this really be happening?

Charlie is the smart, endearing narrator of this slow-paced, thoughtful romance. Debut author Crystal Maldonado explores mother-daughter as well as best friend dynamics and issues of self-acceptance and fat-shaming as Charlie struggles to find love and her place in the world. New-to-me narrator, Carla Vega's portrayed a thoughtful Charlie in a well-paced, engaging performance. While adult-me occasionally rolled my eyes at Charlie's naiveté, teen readers will root for Charlie to go for it.

Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston. Read by Imani Parks. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~11 hours. HarperAudio/ Balzer+Bray/ HarperCollins Publishers, January, 2021. 9780063057968.

Middle Grade Monday features Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston. This fantasy series starter is the author's debut and getting a lot of well-deserved Newbery buzz.

Thirteen-year-old Amari Peters has had it. She's a scholarship student at a fancy prep school and hates it. She's not as smart as her perfect older brother, Quinton, and is bullied relentlessly for being a scholarship student as well as the fact that her brother is missing-implying he was into drugs. Amari and her single-mom don't believe that for a second, but even the police have stopped investigating his disappearance. Now, she's facing expulsion for fighting and grounded as well. Then, she receives a mysterious package containing a message from her brother.

She learns that he was working for the Bureau of Supernatural Investigation and was one of their top agents. He and his partner were working on a case and disappeared. The message was to be delivered to Amari should something happen to him, but Amari refuses to believe that he's dead. He has recommended her to attend summer camp at the bureau. She wants to attend so that she can investigate Quinton's disappearance herself. Once there, she discovers that she has a magical power-only it's illegal.

Normal-kid-who-discovers-they-are-magical is a trope that has been done before, but this one feels fresh. It's fast-paced, suspenseful, twisty and narrated by gritty, gutsy Amari, whom readers will instantly root for. The world-building is excellent. The diverse cast of characters are all intriguing and the mystery is excellently constructed, with plenty of suspects and red herrings. I can't wait for the next installment of the Supernatural Investigations series.

I will be reading that book with my eyes however. I found the narration uneven, with odd pauses that distracted from the enjoyment of the story. 

Middle Grade Monday: Starfish by Lisa Fipps

Image: Penguin Random House

Starfish by Lisa Fipps. 256 p. Nancy Paulsen Books/ Penguin Young Readers Group, March, 2021. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Happy Monday! I hope you had a spectacular weekend! I spent a lot of time in my garden and took Boo on some really long walks. I have a 17 hour biography loaded on my phone and was able to to do my three favorite things at once.

Middle Grade Monday features Stafish by Lisa Fipps. Twelve-year-old Ellie is struggling. Not only is she bullied mercilessly about her weight at school, but she finds no respite at home. Her older sister dubbed her "Splash" at a pool party when she was five and the nickname stuck, along with whale and others even crueler. Her mother dictates what she can and cannot eat and is investigating bariatric surgery even though the surgery is dangerous, almost killing her aunt and not recommended for children. Now, she feels extra alone because her best friend and next-door neighbor has moved away.

Ellie is a swimmer. She finds refuge in swimming laps in her pool every day. She also appreciates the efforts of her dad, her only ally, though he is often ineffective. She's especially disappointed to learn that she has to visit a therapist and vows not to say a word. Her therapist is very good and allows Ellie the time for silence. Soon Ellie grows into her own voice and learns to use it.

This verse novel is so real and raw that it was hard to listen sometimes. Jenna Lamia is always convincing as a teen. Her voice sounds naturally youthful and her performance is emotionally honest. 

Readers will root for Ellie and hopefully ponder why so many people feel it's okay to fat-shame another. Starfish is Ms. Fipps' debut and was inspired by her own childhood struggles. I look forward to reading her sophomore effort and can't wait to share this powerful story with my students.