Revenge of the Red Club

~ rachelbenzine ~ Leave a comment

Plot:

At Hawking Middle School, after you get your period for the first time, you’re invited to join the Red Club. It’s an after school club that serves as a safe space for girls to support each other through having their periods, and also through all the complexities entailed in the lives of middle school girls. Riley has loved being a member of the club; however, when a parent complains to the school, the club is no longer allowed to meet. Riley and her friends decide to fight for their beloved club to remain open, and try to create a more positive environment in their school while they’re at it.

What I loved most:

Man, at the age these characters are at, having your period is just such a big deal. In our current culture, it’s also so stigmatized. Every woman has hidden a tampon in their sleeve for a walk to the bathroom at one point in their life. Yet periods are a natural thing, and literally half of the world’s population gets periods. I love the concept of girls these age coming together to support one another through this process, and to remove the stigma from this natural bodily process. Also, I’m HERE for teaching kids to advocate for themselves, and to fight for what they think is right. Middle school girls are going to love this book.

Read this book if you like:

Activism, social justice, being proud to be a girl, contemporary fiction

Book details:

  • Author: Kim Harrington
  • Publisher: Aladdin
  • Date of Publication: October 22, 2019
  • Interest Level: 5th – 8th graders

Hard Truth

~ rachelbenzine ~ Leave a comment

Plot:

Dr. Lynda Ince-Greenaway was born in Barbados. Her father died when she was young; her mother migrated to England in hopes of creating a better life for her family. Lynda was able to join her eventually, fell in love, and got married. Her husband died just shortly before the birth of their son. She was a single parent, determined to make it through. Hard Truths is a reflection on grief and persistence and overcoming adversity and God’s faithfulness. It shares her story of prevailing over all of the obstacles she’s faced in her life, culminating in her son’s success in the medical field, her own successful attainment of a PhD, and a life lived in service to other people.

What I loved most:

Being vulnerable is one of the hardest things of all time to do. Yet being vulnerable, showing who you are and what you’ve been through, is the only way to form real connections. Ince-Greenway models vulnerability beautifully in this book. She never shies away from being honest about her trauma, her losses, what she’s been through – and this is what allowed her to grow.

As I live in my truth, I am able to take one step at a time and it gives me the confidence to keep moving forward with the intention of increasing my capacity to cope with adversity located in the past and the present. Knowing where I am coming from, remembering my roots and hot hiding the truth has been a powerful way to overcome adversity. As I accepted truth as it stood, I was able to accept the negatives and with time, grew out of them.

Hard Truths, page 164

Read this book if you like:

Pulling yourself up by the bootstraps, processing trauma, social work, reflecting on values

Book details:

  • Author: Lynda Ince-Greenway
  • Publisher: Balboa Press
  • Date of Publication:July 27, 2017
  • Interest Level: Adult

I received a free copy of this book from the author, but all the thoughts in this review are my own. I only write about books I enjoy, and was not financially compensated for this post.

American Wolf

~ rachelbenzine ~ Leave a comment

Plot:

American Wolf shares the life story of O-Six, a wolf born and raised in Yellowstone. She was an Alpha, fiercely leading her pack and raising pups and creating a legacy, in the midst of a controversial time for wolves. Avid wolf watchers in Yellowstone grew to admire O-Six. Elk hunters saw her kind as competition for their prey. Cattle ranchers resented the loss of their livestock to wolves. This book explores not only O-Six’s life, but also the greater cultural context in which she lived. I listened to this in audiobook format, and would highly recommend it – Mark Bramhall is such a wonderful narrator, and he brings this story by Nate Blakeslee to life.

What I loved most:

Humans, y’all. We think we know best, and we’re just wrong sooo much. It was fascinating to hear the story of humans trying to manage wildlife – from “oh there are too many wolves, let’s kill them” to “wait we need more wolves, let’s create a new program to bring the wolves back” and everything in between. This is the kind of book that makes you ponder what life would have been like back in ye old days, before we chopped down all the trees and paved all the roads, when animals were able to roam in their natural habitats and just live their lives.

Read this book if you like:

Nature, conservation, animals, celebrating God’s creation, considering the impact of human intervention

Book details:

  • Author: Nate Blakeslee
  • Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
  • Date of Publication: October 17, 2017
  • Interest Level: Adult