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By: Read Now Sleep Later,
on 7/20/2011
Blog: Read Now Sleep Later
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5 stars, sex, race, GLBT, realistic but fantastic too, YAsaves, DiversityinYA, genderissues, LauraGoode, CandlewickPress, SisterMischief, religion, Add a tag
Sister Mischief by Laura Goode
ISBN 10/13: 0763646407 | 9780763646400
Category: Young Adult Realistic Fiction
Format: Hardcover (Also available on Kindle)
Keywords: Hip hop, GLBT, suburbia
Alethea's review:
I can't do a better blurb than the one that's already on the jacket, so here it is, from goodreads.com:
A gay suburban hip-hopper freaks out her Christian high school - and falls in love - in this righteously funny and totally tender YA debut, for real.
Listen up: You’re about to get rocked by the fiercest, baddest all-girl hip-hop crew in the Twin Cities - or at least in the wealthy, white, Bible-thumping suburb of Holyhill, Minnesota. Our heroine, Esme Rockett (aka MC Ferocious) is a Jewish lesbian lyricist. In her crew, Esme’s got her BFFs Marcy (aka DJ SheStorm, the butchest straight girl in town) and Tess (aka The ConTessa, the pretty, popular powerhouse of a vocalist). But Esme’s feelings for her co-MC, Rowie (MC Rohini), a beautiful, brilliant, beguiling desi chick, are bound to get complicated. And before they know it, the queer hip-hop revolution Esme and her girls have exploded in Holyhill is on the line. Exciting new talent Laura Goode lays down a snappy, provocative, and heartfelt novel about discovering the rhythm of your own truth.
I cried about 6 times in 360 pages, and I laughed about 30 times or more. Esme's voice is so vivid that I felt every twinge of hurt and every sweet burst of joy she experienced. I loved that she's a booklover, and a biker, and a writer. I loved the way she thinks! Though I have to admit, at times some of the lyrics sounded weak to me (this, from a brain mostly hardwired more for showtunes than hip-hop--I'm no expert, is what I'm saying) they got progressively stronger throughout the book. And anything I might have found lacking in the lyrics, the prose made up for in spades.
This novel struck me as vastly educational: I loved how Goode worked in not just poetry and music theory (and the history of hip hop, of course) but also religion, law, ethics, gender/race issues--even chemistry. The author clearly loves language, as do the mischievous sisters. They speak and sing in praise of intelligence, creativity, courage, freedom, and love. Think Sister Act 2, set in the suburbs but easy on the cheese and with a little more Lauryn Hill.
One of the other things I like about this book is how there's no outright villain (ok, Ma
By: Read Now Sleep Later,
on 7/17/2011
Blog: Read Now Sleep Later
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middle school, historical, 5 stars, kimberlybuggie, Henry Holt and Co, DiversityinYA, MargaritaEngle, HurricaneDancers, pirates, middle grade, Add a tag
Hurricane Dancers by Margarita Engle
ISBN 10/13: 0805092404 | 9780805092400
Category: Middle Grade Historical Fiction
Format: Hardcover
Keywords: Pirates, Diversity, Historical Fiction
Kimberly's review:
A gorgeously written account of the first Caribbean pirate shipwreck in the 1500s. Our hero, Quebrado, is a slave of Taino Indian and Spanish ancestry. He belongs to no one, a child of two worlds, of two languages. He is a slave on the famous Vernardino de Talavera's pirate ship, the first of its kind in the Caribbean Sea, and a very important hostage is on board with them, Alonso de Ojeda.
The story is based on actual events, though Quebrado himself is fictional. After the shipwreck, Quedbrado is taken in by local natives where he befriends young star crossed lovers Caucubu and Narido and their native families. Here, he begins to belong and live as one of them, his old life coming back, before he was a slave. But fate has a mind of her own as Bernardino de Talavera and Alonso de Ojeda also survived the shipwreck, and find Quedbrado and his new friends.
The five characters' voices are strong, swimming in emotion and lyricism. I felt the rocking of the hurricane, the shipwreck, Quebrado's thoughts. No wonder the book's setting is near water. The prose flows gently, waving up and over catching you and pulling you in.
I read it in one sitting and had to re-read this powerful book. (I already have plans to buy it. This is definitely a book to keep on the shelf, recommend it to friends, and pull off the bookcase for a delightful journey.) The magic is there. The strong themes of hope, forgiveness and survival propel this story forward. It's amazing to read in the author's note she is a descendant of the indigenous Cubans, like her characters in this book, who survived after years of genocide.
Do yourself a favor. Get this book. Relax for an hour or two one afternoon and be swept away in a world of pirates, natives and one boy who had the strength to not lose hope.
Visit the author at http://www.margaritaengle.com
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Thank you for sharing today. It is interesting to see such a timely title being reviewed, as this is the month of Ramadan for this year. I think it is lovely for young people to get a taste of different cultures and religious beliefs, as well as how these affect a young person's everyday life. For me this sounds like a thought provoking fun read.