This is a powerful , touching story about discovering who you are, finding your place in the world and learning to love who you turn out to be.  It deals with a lot of heavy issues: rape, sexual abuse, sexuality, gender identity and victim-blaming in such a sensitive and meaningful way.
 The main character Mara is trying to recover from a trauma she has never shared with anyone not even her twin brother Owen with whom she is so close.  When Owen is accused of raping his girlfriend, her best friend Hannah, what is she to believe? 
All the characters in this book are so deeply crafted you feel you know them.  Hannah is not a girl who would make this up so why is she being blamed by her classmates?  How could Mara’s beloved brother have done such a horrible thing?
But Mara knows the truth and her support of Hannah is strong and real. Hannah is not ruled by what has happened and she faces the world with strength and resilience.  These girls are powerful.
Mara’s ex-girlfriend Charlie is genderqueer and struggling to find the courage to express who she really is. They were also best friends and grieve over being apart. Together they struggle to evolve their relationship while dealing with their emerging identities.
I loved this book and the power that each character finds in themselves and in their friendships.  This is a beautiful and stunning book that will touch you and make you wiser.
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“Sweetie, this will blow over. It’s a misunderstanding. You know your brother”.
“You keep saying that”.
“Saying what?”.
“That it’s a misunderstanding. That I know Owen. But...Mom, I know Hannah, too”.

“What do we do?” What’s going to happen to Owen? And Hannah... we can’t just not listen to her. You’ve always said that we have to listen to girls no matter—“
“He’s ours, Mara, Mom says, a kind of quiet fury edging her words. He’s my son. And we love him. That’s what we do”. 

 Tessa's Picks
​8th grade, Contemporary fiction,Character driven, Issues fiction, Friendship, LGBTQ

When Taylor's blocks are knocked over, everyone has advice about what they* should do. Chicken thinks Taylor should talk about it. Bear thinks they should get angry and shout. Snake thinks they should knock over someone else's blocks. But only bunny sits next to Taylor in silence and listens when they feel ready to talk. Eventually Taylor feels better and they make plans for a new, even bigger, structure. 

This sweet story has a lot of emotional wisdom. Taylor rejects everyone who tells them how they should feel. Only rabbit is willing to sit quietly and listen to Taylor actually process their feelings. This book is a great way to start a conversation with a child about how to work through big emotions. It's also great for teaching children how they can be good friends to others. I love that Taylor's gender is ambiguous and never explicitly stated. The illustrations make great use of white space to show Taylor's feelings of isolation. The use of a purple background at the beginning and end show that Taylor has recaptured their excitement about building with blocks. 

*I use they/them pronouns for Taylor in this review rather than assigning a gender to the character. 

Erica's Picks
K-2

A young boy is less than excited to spend time with his grandpa. They don't eat the same food. They don't watch the same shows. They don't even speak the same language! The boy soon grows bored and takes out some paper and markers to entertain himself. When his grandpa sees, he excitedly takes out his ink pot and brush. They have finally found a common language! Together, they go on an adventure combining their styles. 

The way Santat combines the grandson and grandfather's styles is simply breath-taking. The format goes from comic panels at the beginning to show time passing to full-color spreads in a more traditional picture book layout. I love the way the characters choose to draw themselves and that they exchange their preferred drawing implement at the end. The end papers bring it all together with the front displaying the grandson's style and the back the grandfather's. A sweet, inter-generational tale.

Erica's Picks
k-2
​Picture Books, Art

This seemingly simple book shows that if we each do our part using bravery, kindness, and friendship we can make the world a better place. A perfect message for the very young.
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“When the news reports are flooded with tales of hatred and fear, a girl asks her papa what she can do to make the world a better place. “Come with me,” he says. Hand-in-hand, they walk to the subway, tipping their hats to those they meet. The next day, the girl asks her mama what she can do—her mama says, “Come with me,” and together they set out for the grocery, because one person doesn’t represent an entire race or the people of a land. After dinner that night, the little girl asks if she can do something of her own—walk the dog . . . and her parents let her go. “Come with me,” the girl tells the boy across the hall. Walking together, one step at a time, the girl and the boy begin to see that as small and insignificant as their part may seem, it matters to the world.”

Success to Jade means living her neighborhood, taking every opportunity.  Like accepting a scholarship to a mostly white private school.  Like joining “Women to Women” a mentorship program for “at-risk” girls. Meaning black girls like her from a bad neighborhood. It feels wrong, especially when her mentor Maxine does not understand her. Maxine is black and successful and she grew up wealthy. This class division seems to be a road block in their relationship.
Jade describes herself as a bigger girl and you cringe when she is harassed because she doesn’t fit someone’s standard of beauty.
“And this makes me wonder if a black girl’s life is only about being stitched together and coming undone, being stitched together and coming undone. I wonder if there’s ever a way for a girl like me to feel whole. Wonder” 
“I don’t know what’s worse. Being mistreated because of the color of your skin, your size, or having to prove that it really happened.
Jade's powerful voice explores identity, friendships and self-worth in this compelling coming of age book.  
 
Tessa's Picks
 
6th-8th grade, Character driven, Friendship, Issues fiction, People of color
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