Tag: poc

Internment

~ rachelbenzine ~ Leave a comment

Review:

In this YA dystopia set in America, we have decided to round up all of the Muslim Americans and put them in internment camps. The collective American attitude is that Muslims are a threat to our national security, and that we need to take this dramatic action in order to keep our country safe. Layla Amin in seventeen years old when she and her parents are put into a camp. She becomes the unlikely leader of a revolution within the camp, fighting for her freedom and what she knows to be right.

Internment is a call to action. It forces us to acknowledge the prejudices in our current society, and looks at what might happen if we continue down the path that we’re on. It’s urgent and it will motivate you to create change. I devoured this book, and highly recommend adding it to the top of your TBR list.

Favorite Passage:

“What’s that thing people always say about history? Unless we know our history, we’re doomed to repeat it? Never forget? Isn’t that the lesson? But we always forget. Forgetting is in the American grain.”

What I Loved Most:

Before I read Internment, I read Uprooted by Albert Marrin, which is a nonfiction book about the Japanese Internment Camps in WWII (check out my review of it here). It’s not that long ago that we forced all of the Japanese Americans into camps… and it doesn’t seem that far fetched that we would do it again. I love dystopias in general, but I have never read one that seems as plausible as Internment does.

Read this book if you like:

Dystopias, teenagers who create change

Book Details:

Twinchantment

~ rachelbenzine ~ Leave a comment

Review:

In the Kingdom of Kalloon, magic has been outlawed for decades. After a magical attack on the royal family, it was decided that the only way to keep everyone safe was to get rid of all magic and potentially magic beings. Black cats, twins, and other potentially magic beings obviously also had to go. Any magic-weilders were banished from the land to the Twists. And this sounds great in theory… until the twin princesses Sara and Flissa are born, and their parents decide to conceal their twin-ness and introduce them to the world as Princess Flissara. The girls have lived as one for twelve years, and their Ascension Day (when they will officially be in line for the throne) is drawing near. However, when the Queen is attacked with magic, Sara and Flissa must go on a journey to the Twists in hopes of saving her and the Kingdom of Kalloon.

Favorite Passage:

“It was like Sara had reached inside Flissa and twisted her stomach.
“I like sharing a life with you,” she said. “I thought you did too.”
Sara sighed. She looked tired. She squeezed Flissa’s hands. “I like you. I love you. But I don’t want to be you, and I don’t want you to have to be me. It’s not fair. To either of us.””
– Chapter 16, Flissa

What I Loved Most:

Flissa and Sara are extremely different girls. Flissa is athletic and adventurous, ready to race horses or compete in swordsmanship tournaments. Sara loves people – making connections with both nobility and servants, speaking publicly to the kingdom, etc. Their strengths complement each other, and they can fill in for one another’s weaknesses. I loved that one personality type isn’t prized over the other. It doesn’t matter if you’re outgoing or shy, if you’re athletic or charismatic… what matters is learning how to embrace who you naturally are.

Read this book if you like:

Magic, people of color, adventures, siblings, things that aren’t always as they appear

Book Details:

With the Fire on High

~ rachelbenzine ~ Leave a comment

Review:

The two most important people in Emoni Santiago’s life are her daughter (two year old Emma, affectionately called Babygirl) and the grandmother who is raising her (‘Buela). Emoni is a senior in high school this year. When her school decides to offer an elective class in culinary arts, she is torn between the desire to improve her cooking skills and the knowledge that she doesn’t have time for a seemingly frivolous class. But Emoni’s cooking seems to be magical – it brings out emotions in the people who eat it. In her heart, she knows that cooking is her calling.

I absolutely adored With the Fire on High. The chapters are written in short vignettes, so it’s a great book to read if you only have a couple minutes at a time. But be forewarned – it’s so compelling that you can’t help but pick it up again shortly after you put it down. It’s a great read for high school students, particularly for those who are trying to decide how they want to navigate life after high school. It comes out one week from today, and is a must to add to your TBR list!

Favorite Passage:

I dream everyday for Babygirl. I see people in business suits on the bus and I imagine Babygirl grown up with a briefcase and a nice executive office job. I watch a TV show and imagine Babygirl as a famous actress winning an Oscar. There’s so much I want for her that somethings I think the seams of my skin aren’t enough to contain every hope I have. And I whisper it to her all the time. When I’m feeding her. When she’s asleep in my arms. When we are playing at the park. I whisper all the everything I know she can be and the ways I’ll fight for her to be them. I want her to know her entire life her mommy may not have been much but that her moms did everything so that she could be an accumulation of the best dreams.
— Dreams

What I Loved Most:

I’ve read several books about teen pregnancy, but they always seem to be about that moment when the girl finds out she’s pregnant and is deciding what she wants to do. With the Fire on High is an empowering story of a teenager who is successfully raising her daughter. It goes beyond the “OMG I’m pregnant” time period to focus instead on what it looks like to raise a child while being in school and working to help support a household. Emoni is a great mom, and I loved exploring her mindset and the way she cares so fiercely for her daughter.

Read this book if you like:

Contemporary fiction, teen moms, dreaming, charting your own path

Book Details: