Tag: ya

If These Wings Could Fly

~ rachelbenzine ~ Leave a comment

Plot:

Home is supposed to be a refuge. For Leighton, it’s the center of the storm. Most of her peers are figuring out what college to attend when their senior year is finished. Leighton is trying to decide if she’s going to be able to escape her hometown, or if it’s more important for her to stay home continue to protect her mom and younger sisters from her dad’s rage.

While she’s navigating the murky waters of her last year of high school, thousands and thousands of crows are descending on her hometown. No one knows why the crows are lingering, or how to get rid of them. Between writing a column for her school newspaper about the crows, fighting her growing attachment to a great guy named Liam, and keeping her sisters safe in her room while her dad escalates in violence toward her mom, Leighton has to figure out how to chart a course forward.

Favorite Passage:

“I take Mom’s hand.
I see a fractured system, delicate and damaged, that could collapse right under our feet.
She sees home.”
— Chapter Fifty-One
[This passage was quoted from an ARC; as such, it may change before final publication.]

What I Loved Most:

Violence at home is such a real issue in our society. In the author’s note of the Advanced Reader’s Copy that I got from Katherine Tegen Books (thanks, friends!), Kyrie McCauley shares that she’s writing the book she wishes her sixteen-year-old self would have been able to read. If These Wings Could Fly is heart breaking and empowering and motivating. It calls attention to emotional abuse, as well as the way that domestic violence is cyclical and tends to escalate over time. Especially in this time of quarantine and staying-at-home, my heart has been drifting to those who home is not a safe place for. It’s crucial reading at any time, but seems extra important right now.

I want to put this here in case anyone needs it: the National Domestic Violence Hotline number is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), and you can also chat with an advocate on their website. If you need help, and can get to a place where it’s safe to reach out for help, please contact them. Also, I love you, and it’s not your fault, and you deserve to be safe.

Read this book if you like:

Strong female protagonists, magical realism, gut-wrenchingly real pain mixed with hopefulness

Book Details:

 

Renegades

~ rachelbenzine ~ Leave a comment

Review:

Renegades is one of those books that has been on my TBR list for approximately forever. It got so much hype when it came out, and I’ve heard so much positivity around the book… but I just never seemed to get around to reading it. Then a few months ago, two of my dear friends told me they had read it and loved it (shoutout to Natalie and Adah!), and it seemed like time to pull the trigger. And I’m so glad I finally did!

Renegades takes place in a world of people who have superhuman abilities (prodigies), superheroes (the Renegades), and villains (the Anarchists). That seems like it should be cut and dry – but one of the protagonists, Nova, is an Anarchist bent on destroying the Renegades. And the other is Adrian, whose parents are currently on the ruling Renegade council. Honestly, I don’t want to say much more about the plot than that, because there are so many delicious twists and turns in this book that I don’t want to spoil anything. Just trust me, and trust the seeminly-millions of other people who have read and loved this book, and read it. Renegades didn’t hook me right away… but I finished reading it this morning, and am definitely heading to the library to pick up the second book right after I finish writing this review because UGH SO GOOD.

Favorite Passage:

“Nova shut her eyes and thought, if she were a villain worthy of the name, she would be with them right now. Celebrating, or mourning.
And if she were a hero, she would be hurting to help any Renegades who might be trapped and hurt beneath the rubble.
Instead, she listened to the sounds of a city in distress, and did nothing.”
— Chapter Twenty-Eight

What I Loved Most:

Adrian never knew his father, and when he was a child, his birth mother (one of the original Renegades) was pushed off of a building – presumably by a villain. Adrian was adopted by Captain Chromium and the Dread Warden (two more of the original renegades). And his adoption is treated matter-of-factly… and isn’t the focus of the story. So much of the fiction about adopted kids focuses on the actual adoption – we see them getting placed with their adoptive family, hear about the struggles of adjusting, and then end the story with the adoption ceremony and assume everything is wrapped up with a big, shiny, red bow. Renegades features a main character who low-key was adopted… and it doesn’t define every aspect of this story or of his life. I am HERE for stories about adopted kids just living their lives.

Read this book if you like:

Superheroes, redemption arcs, seeing the good in all people, plot twists, a slow release of information that leaves you craving more

Book Details:

  • Author: Marissa Meyer
  • Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
  • Date of Publication: November 7, 2017
  • Series: Renegades #1
  • Age Recommendation: 7th – 12th grade
  • Check out Renegades on Worldcat to find it at a library near you!

Screen Queens

~ rachelbenzine ~ Leave a comment

Review:

ValleyStart is a tech competition, aimed at helping high schoolers showcase their coding/design/creative skills. The goal for all contestants is to land an internship at one of the most prestigious companies in Silicon Valley. Lucy, Maddie, and Delia are paired up by the competition administrators to be a team – and when they arrive, they realize they are the only all-female team. Screen Queens is an incisive examination of what it means to be a teenage girl with hopes of making it in the male-dominated field of technology. It touches on sexism and female friendships and achieving the high goals one sets for oneself. I have nothing but positive things to say about this novel – go pick it up.

Favorite Passage:

“‘I had drinks with him.’
‘So?’
‘I smiled and laughed. I flirted.’
‘And?’
‘I led him on. I -‘
‘Did nothing to invite him to put his hands on you — and not remove them when you said to.'”
— Twenty

What I Loved Most:

This is one of those books where you’re super mad while reading it, but it’s the good kind of mad. It’s a great depiction of being a woman in a male-dominated field. Screen Queens doesn’t pull any punches in its exploration of abuse of power by men, particularly to more vulnerable, younger women. I’m here for any story about women in STEM fields, and I think Screen Queens does a great job of helping teenagers learn about this crucial social justice issue in a way that is age appropriate.

Read this book if you like:

Feminism, girls in STEM, subtle diversity

Book Details:

  • Author: Lori Goldstein
  • Publisher: Razorbill
  • Date of Publication: June 11, 2019
  • Age Recommendation: 10th – 12th grade
  • Check out Screen Queens on Worldcat to find it at a library near you!