JerryJennings
East Lansing Public Library
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JerryJennings's rating:
Added Mar 23, 2024
The Eyes & the ImpossibleThe Eyes & the Impossible, Book
by Eggers, DaveBook - 2023Book, 2023
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JerryJennings's rating:
Added Mar 17, 2024
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The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers (2023) is a novel for people 8 years old and up. It was honored as the 2024 Newbery Award winner.
The story takes place in a large urban park close to the shores of the sea. There is a dog – Johannes, who is the “eyes” of the park. He regularly tours the park, moving from place to place, often at remarkable speed. As he tours, he is looking, observing, and remembering. He processes what he sees within the limits of his dog brain and shares his perceptions and conclusions with the three aging Bisons – who are known, to all the animals of the park, as the Keepers of Equilibrium.
This is a novel with talking animals in what ‘remains of the wild’ in large park. The main characters, among a cast of many animals are a dog, three bison, goats, a squirrel, a racoon, a pelican, and a gull. There are many more animals and a few humans who are in the active in story and we don’t hear from them.
This is a story about friendship, identity, a sense of being in something together, change (both resistance and acceptance of change) and being free.
I consider this to be a character driven story more than plot driven. Eggers has created a stimulating group of characters.
I sense that this story will likely be appreciated by adults as well as kids. Eggers' word choice is so inviting to young and old. The animal characters and their interactions are apt to provoke thought for readers of all ages.The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers (2023) is a novel for people 8 years old and up. It was honored as the 2024 Newbery Award winner.
The story takes place in a large urban park close to the shores of the sea. There is a dog – Johannes, who…
The Lost YearThe Lost Year, Book
by Marsh, KatherineBook - 2023Book, 2023
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JerryJennings's rating:
Added Mar 17, 2024
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The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh (2023) is a remarkable novel about family, survival, and sacrifice. Th Lost Year has been acknowledged as a National Book Award Finalist, a Golden Kite Award winner, recipient of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and the School Library Journal Best Middle Grade Book - among many other recognitions. This award-winning book is a riveting story told with exceptional skill.
This is a story of a 13-year-old boy, Matthew, who is confided to his home during Covid-19 with his mother and Matthew’s 100-year-old, very frail, great grandmother. His dad is a journalist and stuck overseas because of Covid-19 travel restrictions.
The Covid pandemic has upended their normal lives. Matthew, in his mom’s eyes, is spending too much time on his Nintendo Switch – so she confiscates it. His mom tells him he needs to spend time daily with GG, his great-grandmother, to help her sort through her boxes of keepsakes. Matthew is not excited about being cooped up and having to spend lots of time with GG.
The boxes of keepsakes stimulated GG to begin to tell Matthew stories. Matthew knew that when GG was about his age, she immigrated from the Ukraine. The stories GG told Matthew were about three pre-teen/teen-ages girls in the years around 1930, in the Ukraine and New York City. The Ukraine, then part of Russa, was suffering through a horrific famine which history now shows killed millions of Ukrainians. This was the time of Stalin’s rule in Russa, and he led the Soviet government in covering up of the truth of the famine. Many Ukrainian adults and children faced a thin line between life and death on a daily basis during the famine.
Matthew begins to look forward to his time GG. He found himself learning so much about what it was like growing up in the Ukraine. The famine caused starvation, devastating poverty, and the social order came undone in the country. Some families who were following Stalin, and thus, in his good favor, were able to experience comfort and not be directly impacted by the famine.
Most importantly, for Matthew, as GG stories got deeper and deeper they began to reveal the complexity of everyone’s lives during these times. These stories ultimately exposed how GG navigated this period of her life and the impact of how the decisions she made then affected the rest her life.
The author The Lost Year, Katherine Marsh, grew up in a three-generation household in Yonkers, New York with her maternal grandmother, who emigrated from the Ukraine in in 1928. Her grandmother told her stories about the genocide of “death by hunger” that Stalin was leading in the Ukraine. For Marsh, as an author, her grandmother’s Ukrainian experience and the historical facts of the political attempt to cover up a famine made her think about the possibility of how she might write a historical fiction novel about this time.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic started to affect Marsh’s life and the lives of people all around the world. The result of unique set of circumstances (thinking about her grandmothers’ stories and Covid-19) led to the writing of The Lost Year. In this book Marsh has written a contemporary fiction story - Matthew’s. A historical fiction story - GG’s. And through Marsh’s many gifts as a writer, she has made the two stories – one excellent novel.
The Lost Year is a compelling story providing readers with a provocative and fascinating page turner. The
School Library Journal calls The Lost Year, “A grand work of recent and distant history”.
As a reader, I appreciated seeing Matthew develop through the months that this story spanned. I think he
learned a lot about himself and about himself in the relationship with his great grandmother. Furthermore,
I see GG being willing to share deep secrets with Matthew due to the time in her life, and her relationship
with Matthew, and the boxes of keepsakes. Memories became unlocked and shared.
I highly recommend this book.The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh (2023) is a remarkable novel about family, survival, and sacrifice. Th Lost Year has been acknowledged as a National Book Award Finalist, a Golden Kite Award winner, recipient of the Jane Addams Children’s Book…
The Heaven & Earth Grocery StoreThe Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, BookA Novel
by McBride, JamesBook - 2023Book, 2023
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JerryJennings's rating:
Added Mar 13, 2024
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The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (2023) is a story of America in the 1930’s and the challenges between White Christians and the other Americans who happened to be: Jews, African Americans, immigrants from Italy and Greece, the Mennonites and others. It is a time of tension in America.
Readers will get to know many characters and their stories. There is a mystery to solve, but that isn’t what keeps you reading, mostly you will find yourself caught up in this realistic tale of believably complicated life in a small Pennsylvania city and specifically, in one of its neighborhoods, Chicken Hill.
As McBride fills in the picture of the people and times, his story reminds the reader that the “Ku Klux Klan wanted to preserve America” and “stop the pollution of the pure white race”.
The main characters, a young Jewish couple, are Moshe and Chona Ludlow. Moshe is a theater owner who brings both Jewish and African American performers to town. Chona operates a grocery store she and Moshe own. They live upstairs. McBride describes Chona as, “never one to play by the rules of American society. Instead, she sees America as a place where every act of living was a chance for ‘tikkum olam’- To improve the world”. She is a vital positive source of energy for the people of Chicken Hill.
Other important characters are the African Americans: Nate and Addie Timblin and their 12-year-old nephew, Dodo, who lost his hearing in an accident. Nate and Addie work for the Ludlows. The Ludlows wind up taking in Dodo to live with them and help in the grocery store.
Each of these characters and many more are richly developed by McBride. This complex tale presents a wide range of human motivations and emotions. These interesting and intriguing personalities, their individual back stories, the community we come to know, and the time in America make for ‘a real-life kind of substantial’ and thought-provoking novel.
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store was named Best Book of the year by NPR, Washington Post and Time Magazine. I loved it and recommended it highly.The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (2023) is a story of America in the 1930’s and the challenges between White Christians and the other Americans who happened to be: Jews, African Americans, immigrants from Italy and Greece, the…
The Undocumented AmericansThe Undocumented Americans, eBook
by Cornejo Villavicencio, KarlaeBook - 2020eBook, 2020
Available
JerryJennings's rating:
Added Jan 30, 2024
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Villavicencio, the author of this book, was accepted to and then graduated Harvard University as an undocumented American. The undocumented are people. They are here. They are contributing to our economy. They deserve more than to be misunderstood.
The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio (2020) is a biography/memoir/current events/general history/social issues work of ‘creative’ nonfiction. It is a pertinent and poignant book about today in America. Villavicencio focuses on the challenging and complex issues that many/all undocumented people in America navigate, and the issues of how current U. S. immigration policies play out in the lives of those who are undocumented Americans.
Fearing the real threat of deportation - undocumented people do not want to be interviewed and have their personal stories told. And Villavicencio wanted to tell contemporary factual stories of real people.
To accomplish her goal, she had to build trust with the undocumented people she came to know in cities around the country and then change the identifying data and tell their story in her words – not quotes from them. Villavicencio explains, “I took notes by hand during the interviews and after the book was finished, I destroyed those notes.”
Part of this book is Karla Cornejo Villavicencio ‘s story. She writes about herself saying, “as an undocumented person, I felt like a hologram. Nothing felt secure. I never felt safe. I didn’t allow myself to feel joy because I was scared to attach myself to anything I’d have to let go of. Being deportable means you have to be ready to go at any moment, ready to go with nothing but clothes on your body. I’ve learned to develop no relationship to anything, not photos, not to people, not to jewelry or clothing or ticket stubs or stuffed animals from childhood. Sometimes to prove my ability to let go, I’ll write something long and delete it, or go on my phone and delete all the photos I have of happy memories. I’ve never loved a material object. When my parents took me home after my Harvard graduation, we took the Chinatown bus, and we each took one suitcase. If it didn’t fit, we threw it out. We threw out everything that wasn’t clothes.”
In the book, Villavicencio tells the stories of undocumented people from New Your City, Miami, Flint, Cleveland, and New Haven. These were compelling human accounts of a strata of life that Americans may not consider when they think about who is washing dishes in restaurants, digging koi ponds in back yards, or picking the fruits and vegetables we Americans eat. Most undocumented immigrants come to the United States because of work opportunities.
According to the New American Economy - these individuals are far more likely than the rest of the population to be in the prime of their working years, ranging in age from 25-64. Studies also indicate that undocumented immigrants are not displacing U.S.-born workers. Rather, they are filling jobs that few Americans are interested in pursuing. https://www.newamericaneconomy.org/issues/undocumented-immigrants/
I highly recommend this book. It brings a clarifying light to the human and moral issues that are currently part of this country’s identity and integrity.Villavicencio, the author of this book, was accepted to and then graduated Harvard University as an undocumented American. The undocumented are people. They are here. They are contributing to our economy. They deserve more than to be misunderstood.…
JerryJennings's rating:
Added Jan 23, 2024
Comment:
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good (2020) is an exceptionally well written, well researched book! This is an important book for anyone who wants to think about the realistic effects on individuals and cultures of long term dramatic physical, emotional, and/or sexual battering.
From my understanding of life – a person’s positive self-esteem is built in large part on positive messages we get from our world. The world around us is made up of parents, siblings, friends, community, and our experiences - as we learn about ourselves and our selves with others.
Five Little Indians is a story of what can happen when negative self-esteem is built at a young age instead of positive.
Systematically traumatizing children leads to intergenerational trauma lived through the lives of individuals. *
This is the fictional story of five deeply and differently traumatized indigenous people of Canada who were held in a residential school for much of their early life and how they move back into society as sixteen-year-olds and then follows them into their future lives. In one sense, at the age of sixteen each of these five - are survivors, and, sadly, they each have been undeniably profoundly scared by the complexity of the purposeful, destructive intent and actions of those working in residential schools. Michelle Good presents Clara, Kenny, Lucy, Howie, and Maise to the reader to tell their truths.
Canadian author Michelle Good won the 2020 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction and the 2021 Amazon Canada First Novel Award for this book. Five Little Indians was also on the 2020 Writer’s Trust Fiction Prize shortlist and the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist.
Michelle Good is a Cree writer and retired lawyer, as well as a member of Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. Good’s mother was confined to a residential school in her youth. Good earned both a MFA and a law degree from the University of British Columbia and, as a lawyer, formally advocated for residential school survivors. Five Little Indians is her first book.
As a result of Good’s life experience, of being mothered by a survivor and then representing survivors in the court system, she is an authentic person to create and share these stories of five fictional individuals who are heavily scared by the lived through experience of being held, often for ten years, in what were called residential schools run by a church.
To introduce you to the fine writing you will experience in reading this book, here are two passages.
“What I so desperately needed was to be standing on that stool by the stove, carefully stirring under her watchful eye like when I was little. To be little again, living again, living without fear and brutality – no one gets that back. All that’s left is a craving, insatiable empty place.” Page 60
“Lucy left the lights off and quietly sat at the kitchen table. She watched the usual going-on outside her window but remained distracted and overwhelmed by the flood of memories she’d worked so hard to keep below the surface. Clara had been there with her at the Mission School, but she was older and they hadn’t talked about it much. It was an unspoken agreement between them: the past was the past. It’s hard to run from the past, but once stuffed away, they knew it couldn’t be allowed to poison the present. They couldn’t be who they were now, with their lipstick, pay cheques and rooms, if they were also those children, or the children who’d left the other children behind.” Page 101Five Little Indians by Michelle Good (2020) is an exceptionally well written, well researched book! This is an important book for anyone who wants to think about the realistic effects on individuals and cultures of long term dramatic physical,…
GatherGather, Graphic Novel
by Cadow, Kenneth M.Graphic Novel - 2023Graphic Novel, 2023
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JerryJennings's rating:
Added Jan 10, 2024
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Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow (2023) is a YA novel for readers 13 and up and was a National Book Award Finalist for 2023.
Early in the story Gather, a stray dog who Ian named Gather, wanders into his life, and stays. A bond between Ian and Gather develops which is a positive and powerful “anchor” in Ian’s life.
This is the story of a dirt-poor, rural Vermont boy Ian Gray who doesn’t much like school learning and is doing his vey best to be a good son. Ian lives with his mom. She has deep issues with drugs. She is struggling to be a responsible adult. She loves Ian and Ian loves her. There is rarely heat in their ram shackled farmhouse. Ian carries the responsibility of keeping things afloat for him and his mother. He earns a little money but how could a high schooler earn enough?
His father – who had abandoned Ian and his mother and is a negative force in Ian’s life - now wants Ian to come live with him. Ian begrudgingly goes. His father really does not show Ian any caring. Soon Ian runs away from his father.
This is, in many ways, a harsh and realistic novel about the kinds of lives some young people face. Moreover, there are caring loving people who help Ian along the way and some step forward dramatically to provide even more of an “anchor” than Gather ever could.
I believe this is a National Book Award Finalist because Cadow tells this story through plots lines and well-developed characters that reflect the values of perseverance, community, empathy, courage and the potential of good in humanity in a realistic family situation that displays severe challenges.
This is not a light read. It is a worthy read. I recommend this book.Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow (2023) is a YA novel for readers 13 and up and was a National Book Award Finalist for 2023.
Early in the story Gather, a stray dog who Ian named Gather, wanders into his life, and stays. A bond between Ian and Gather…
JerryJennings's rating:
Added Dec 27, 2023
Comment:
Huda F Cares? written and illustrated by Huda Fahmy (2023) is a graphic novel for readers 12 on up. It’s a fictionalized story of a Muslim American family very much like the Huda Fahmy’s family of origin. Fahmy is one of five daughters born and raised in Dearborn Michigan of an Egyptian father and a Syrian mother.
Huda F Cares? is a finalist for the 2023 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Huda F Cares? is entertaining, educational, and gently thought provoking. Huda is the main character of the book and she and her family are proud of their roots and their religion. At the same time Huda is self-conscious about some of the practices of her faith – such as praying in public. Our current times in America see many people being “otherized”. Muslim American are among those who find themselves to be “otherized.”
This is an interesting, realistic, positive, often funny story that I highly recommend. I also recommend Fahmy’s first book in this series: Huda F Are You?, another outstanding graphic novel for readers 12 on up.Huda F Cares? written and illustrated by Huda Fahmy (2023) is a graphic novel for readers 12 on up. It’s a fictionalized story of a Muslim American family very much like the Huda Fahmy’s family of origin. Fahmy is one of five daughters born and…
JerryJennings's rating:
Added Dec 19, 2023
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I especially recommend the book: If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth (2013) for teachers, parents and young adults (12 to 17), and especially boys.
If I Ever Get Out of Here is a novel about Lewis, who is a Native American seventh grader who lives on a Native American reservation in New York state. The story takes place in the 1970s Lewis loves the Beatles and Paul McCarthy and he doesn't have any friends. He is in the academic advanced track at school and there are no other Indians in his class. Being in this Middle School is the first time he is experiencing a non-reservation school. It is not easy to get used to the social isolation he experiences from his classmates.
A new boy, George, who lives on the military base, shows up in his class. They have similar interests and over time become friends. It is a realistic story filled with strong characters. The serious issues of bullying and cultural difference are a big part of this story. Lewis does not let George learn about his life on the reservation. On the other hand, George invites Lewis to his house and Lewis begins to learn about George’s family, their life and some of what it means to be a transient family due to the reality that George’s father can be reassigned to a new location at any time.
The bullying Lewis experiences leads to Lewis and, as time goes on, George responding. The tension and drama are real and the stakes are important. The story is straight forward and not sanitized to down play or remove the realities of life.
I recommend this book because it is a good story for middle or high schoolers. And I see it as being a great catalyst for family discussions. This is the kind of novel that both the parent and the teen might want to read at the same time and discuss together.
The potential discussion topics might include: reservation life, Indian boarding schools, bullying, the Beatles, children with a career military parent, friendship, parenting, the varying status of students within a school and so many more possibilities.
The author, Gansworth, is an enrolled citizen of the Onondaga Nation; however, he grew up in the Tuscarora Nation as a descendant of one of two Onondaga women present among the Tuscarora at the foundation of the nation in the 18th century.I especially recommend the book: If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth (2013) for teachers, parents and young adults (12 to 17), and especially boys.
If I Ever Get Out of Here is a novel about Lewis, who is a Native American seventh grader…
Julia and the SharkJulia and the Shark, Book
by Hargrave, Kiran MillwoodBook - 2023Book, 2023
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JerryJennings's rating:
Added Nov 16, 2023
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Julia And The Shark written by Kirin Millwood and illustrated by Tom de Freston (2023) is a realistic fictional tale that shifts a bit into a magical fairytale as the plot winds up. Millwood and de Freston effectively combine their talents to create a very interesting story which explores the complexity of ‘family’, entertains, and informs. Not the kind of informing that is done with a megaphone, but in a loving matter of fact, it is part of the story, kind of way. Its audience is people 10 and up.
The story is set in the current time and is about a scientist mom, a dad, and a daughter (Julia) who live in Cornwall, England and are summering on the island of Unst in the Shetland Islands. Dad is modernizing an old lighthouse (where the family is staying), mom is attempting to locate a very hard to find Greenland Shark to do more research and gather more data on the animal, and Julia is attempting to make friends and explore her summer surroundings.
Julia is our narrator. We learn about the people she meets on the island. These people all play important roles in the story.
Through Julia’s perspective we learn about her mom’s many unsuccessful efforts to find the shark. It appears that mom’s determination to succeed is so strong it could be considered unreasonable. Mom is a scientist, yet she is acting like she can’t see the weakness of her plans.
Yet, even when her mother’s plans seem irrational, Julia tries to follow through and succeed when her mother is no longer able to implement her plans. Millwood’s text artfully brings these characters to life in a realistic and engaging manner. De Freston’s illustrations set the stage for a dramatic mix of reality and the magical as action moves to the conclusion of this excellent story.
I liked this book. I recommend it.Julia And The Shark written by Kirin Millwood and illustrated by Tom de Freston (2023) is a realistic fictional tale that shifts a bit into a magical fairytale as the plot winds up. Millwood and de Freston effectively combine their talents to…
Saints of the HouseholdSaints of the Household, Book
by Tison, AriBook - 2023Book, 2023
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JerryJennings's rating:
Added Nov 16, 2023
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Saints of the Household by Ari Tison (2023) is a Young Adult novel that has been awarded best book of the year by the New York Library, the Chicago Library, and the School Library Journal. I found it to be captivating story of two brothers, eleven months apart in age, in their senior year of high school and an authentic telling of their life’s journey, so far. The brothers’ mother is Barbri, an Indigenous Group from Central America with ties to Anishinaabe and Mexican American cultures. Their father is white. Their father is physically and psychologically abusive.
The School Library Journal, in their starred review write: "A heartrending, contemporary debut novel about the repercussions of trauma and the healing power of family and art. ... Violence can be inherited but so can love and forgiveness. This vulnerable and magnetic tale of brotherhood belongs on every shelf."
The novel, by focusing on Max and Jay, allows the reader to begin to know the brothers and some of their scars and immediate behavior as they process what they have experienced from their father. This senior year is dramatic and challenging on a personal level for them. As is life at home. Max and Jay have always shared the role of trying to protect their mother and at this point in their lives they, the brothers are diverging in their direction and journey into the next steps after high school.
Ari Tison has artfully created a cast of believable characters, from the boy’s mother, their cousin, their grandfather, a school athlete, Molly a classmate, school officials, teachers, to the father - that make it, so the worlds of Max and Jay are genuinely complex.
The Kirkus Review calls the book; “Remarkably compelling.” I agree.
I found this so compelling – I would like to read the story Ari Tison might create of their lives 10 and 30 years into the future. Maybe the title could be Saints on Their Own.Saints of the Household by Ari Tison (2023) is a Young Adult novel that has been awarded best book of the year by the New York Library, the Chicago Library, and the School Library Journal. I found it to be captivating story of two brothers, eleven…
Thinning BloodThinning Blood, BookMemoir of Family, Myth, and Identity
by Myers, LeahBook - 2023Book, 2023
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Added Nov 06, 2023
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Thinning Blood: A Memoir of Family, Myth and Identity by Leah Myers
I want to learn and know more about the history of native Americans. I painfully examine the mind and heart disorienting facts like this one: According to the University of Pennsylvania online publication Penn Today - There were between 5 million and 15 million Indigenous people living in North America in 1492. By the late 1800s, there were fewer than 238,000 left. It is an historical fact that in the course 400 years a group of at the least - five million indigenous people were no longer here.
Stories help me to get my mind around the overwhelming. Thinning Blood: A Memoir of Family, Myth and Identity by Leah Myers (2023) is an exceptional memoir. Myers is a member of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. She writes in the book’s introduction, “No one taught me to be Native America. My mother taught me I was, but she did not have the context for what that heritage meant. My grandmother mentioned it very little . . . My name is Leah Kallen Myers. I am the last member of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe in my family line.”
Leah Myers is the last of her family to carry the native blood of her tribe.
She ponders what that means and what has come before her. Her thought journey is Thinning Blood. Her touch points on this identity expedition are thought proving, often beautiful, sometimes brutal, and always accessible essays/stories/myths. Myers’ writing is a combination of memoir, myth and tribal history rendered with grace and respect. Thinning Blood is her story told in four parts: the Bear, Salmon, Hummingbird and Raven. Her great-grandmother is the Bear. Her grandmother is the Salmon. Her mother is the Hummingbird. She is the Ravin.
Myers is striving to leave a record of her family and in doing so – she is providing readers with an intimate view of an indigenous family of four generations. Myers is a gifted storyteller. Thus, this richly stimulating book is a mere 163 pages. I highly recommend it.
Note: Wikipedia states: The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe is a federally recognized tribe of S'Klallam or Klallam Native Americans. They are on the northern Olympic Peninsula of Washington state in the northwestern United States.Thinning Blood: A Memoir of Family, Myth and Identity by Leah Myers
I want to learn and know more about the history of native Americans. I painfully examine the mind and heart disorienting facts like this one: According to the University of…
JerryJennings's rating:
Added Oct 22, 2023
Comment:
This is a compelling read for those who are ready for a self-reliant central character who finds herself facing dramatic challenges and who is trying to survive and grow and develop in her life – should she survive.
Be Not Far From Me by Mindy McGinnis (2020) is mostly an introspective YA novel set in a story of survival. Ashley Hunter narrates the story of becoming and being lost in the Smoky Mountains. The action of the story covers just a couple of weeks, and those weeks provide Ashley with lots of introspective time.
Through writing the talents of McGinnis - we get to know Ashley. She is smart, poor, a fighter (literally), a loner, angry (both above and below the surface), and very much a strong-willed teenager.
Be Not Far From Me moves fast and takes the reader from an end of the school year unchaperoned party in the Smoky Mountains with Ashley and a group of high school girls, beer, very little light (it is night), and boys. To a survival journey for Ashley in the mountains alone and lonely. Ashley finds herself on a self-reflective internal discovery journey of a girl/young woman processing learning about herself while trying to stay alive.
Life circumstances have made Ashley an independent teenager. Her mother left the family. It is just her and her laboring father living in a trailer in the woods, and he often works double shifts. She knows poverty because she is living it.
This excellent novel displays many threads of Ashley’s world. She is thinking about her future, racing against time, fighting for survival, sorting out loss, navigating poverty, ruminating on crushes, struggling to endure, responding to injury, and taking dramatic action(s) to try to save yourself.
In the ways of the woods - Ashley is a highly accomplished seventeen-year-old. She is less accomplished when it comes to knowing herself with others, and herself as an almost adult. Thus, her deep knowledge of the forest and how to survive is tempered by the intensity of her emotional state and the tangle of limited options she faces. Because of her dangerous survival experience and its literal toll on her, she is sure she will lose her cross-country scholarship which she saw as her only hope of escaping poverty and getting to college.
I recommend this book.This is a compelling read for those who are ready for a self-reliant central character who finds herself facing dramatic challenges and who is trying to survive and grow and develop in her life – should she survive.
Be Not Far From Me by Mindy…
Momentous Events in the Life of A CactusMomentous Events in the Life of A Cactus, Book
by Bowling, DustiBook - 2019Book, 2019
JerryJennings's rating:
Added Oct 20, 2023
Comment:
Not all sequels build on the strengths of the first book. Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus (2019) by Dusti Bowling is an excellent sequel to Bowling’s first book, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus (2017) which received multiple highly positive reviews. Aven Green, the main character of both books, was born with no arms and does everything she can with her feet. Everything from writing to eating. This is not a fictional condition. This specific limb difference does occur. In fact, as I mention in my review of the first book, Dusti Bowling asked two women who have lived with this specific limb difference to read her book before it was published to let her know if she had accurately portrayed her character Aven Green. Both assured her she had.
Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus is an authentic next step for Aven, who is now fourteen years old and beginning high school in a building of over 2000 students.
High school is a challenge for many and, as Kirkus writes in their review, “Those preparing to ‘slay the sucktastic beast known as high school’ will particularly appreciate this spirited read.” I agree.
Once again, Bowling doesn’t dodge tough and realistic topics. Among them are the awkwardness of adolescence, disability, adoption, aging and death, friendship, targeted humiliation from schoolmates, family, self-confidence, and self-acceptance. As in her first book about Aven . . . Bowling masterfully has created a story that doesn’t become a sterile textbook of how to handle the trials and challenges of adolescence. The plot, subplots, characters, and pacing all ring true.
Both books, Momentous Events . . . and Insignificant Events . . . are written to be accessible to and appeal to middle school audiences – even with the setting of Momentous Events . . . is a high school. I wholeheartedly recommend this book.Not all sequels build on the strengths of the first book. Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus (2019) by Dusti Bowling is an excellent sequel to Bowling’s first book, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus (2017) which received multiple…
I Was Their American DreamI Was Their American Dream, Graphic NovelA Graphic Memoir
by Gharib, MalakaGraphic Novel - 2019Graphic Novel, 2019
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JerryJennings's rating:
Added Oct 20, 2023
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For young people growing up in America - there is not one path. There are many. Being born in America, child of immigrant parents, from two distinctly different cultures, creates a unique path for a child.
I Was Their American Dream (2019) written and illustrated by Malaka Gharib is an excellent YA graphic memoir for readers 12 to adult. This is Malaka’s life story from her elementary school years into her early marriage years in 156 pages. So, obviously, she focuses on the highlights.
Malaka’s first-generation American story is universal and at the same time – a clearly “her” and that is what makes it very appealing. Kirkus writes in their starred review, “A graphic memoir about being half Filipino, half Egyptian – and 100% American.” That sums up the content. The illustrations are vivid and flow with the text. The story is told with warmth and honesty.
It is a solid memoir and may lead the reader to want to read more about what it can be like to be a first generation American.For young people growing up in America - there is not one path. There are many. Being born in America, child of immigrant parents, from two distinctly different cultures, creates a unique path for a child.
I Was Their American Dream (2019) written…
Insignificant Events in the Life of A CactusInsignificant Events in the Life of A Cactus, Book
by Bowling, DustiBook - 2017Book, 2017
JerryJennings's rating:
Added Sep 01, 2023
Comment:
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling (2017) is a well written middle school fictional novel that earned starred reviews from the School Library Journal and the ALA Booklist. Bowling created believable and likeable characters, an original and unusual setting, and social and emotional content that seldom appears in young adult literature.
This is story of a thirteen-year-old girl, Aven Green, who was born with no arms and does everything she can with her feet. This limb difference does occur. In fact, Dusti Bowling asked two women who have lived with this specific limb difference to read her book before it was published to let her know if she had accurately portrayed her character Aven Green. Both assured her she had.
Aven grew up in a town that saw her grow-up - as a baby, a preschooler, and a school age girl - that was different, and they were used to her. So, she was able to be herself. She could write holding a pencil in between her toes and eat her lunch in the cafeteria with her feet and play soccer. Then her father lost his job and the family had to move to a new town in Arizona where her father got a job to manage a rundown theme park.
As a result, Aven had to start a new school in a new town as a person with no arms. Not knowing anyone and trying to fit in - in a new middle school would be hard for anyone. It was hard for Aven. It took a while before she met two other classmates that also were not fitting in. A very self-conscious boy with Tourette’s syndrome and shy overweight boy. These three bonded by eating lunch together far away from the cafeteria and other students.
I know – that sounds like a heavy load for a middle school read. And, if it weren’t for Bowling’s skill in creating an engaging plot, strong characters, dramatic tension, and lots of humor- this book would not have earned any of these and more accolades:
Library of Congress's 52 Great Reads
List Autumn 2017 Indie Next Pick
Junior Library Guild Selection
2017 Cybils Award Finalist
Youth One Book, One Denver
Chicago Public Library "Best of the Best"
Austin Public Library Best Tween Fiction
The Children's Book Review Best Kids Books of 2017 for Tweens and Preteens
The News & Observer Best Books of 2017 for Young Readers
2017 Nerdy Book Club Awards Middle Grade Fiction
And one more thing, the old theme park has a mystery to solve. Aven and her two school friends set out to solve the mystery. It turns out the answers to the mystery were never anticipated.
I found this to be an exceptionally fulfilling read. This is a book about differences. Moreover, it is a book about learning about and accepting yourself and learning about how you might be yourself with others. I highly recommend this book as a family or classroom read aloud. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus is a book for everyone nine years old and beyond.Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling (2017) is a well written middle school fictional novel that earned starred reviews from the School Library Journal and the ALA Booklist. Bowling created believable and likeable…
JerryJennings's rating:
Added Aug 29, 2023
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Foster by Clare Keegan (2022) is an adult novella, set in Ireland likely in the 1980’s about an unnamed girl who becomes a foster child of a childless working-class couple. The girl’s mother has just given birth to another child, and it is decided that the girl needs to go away for an undetermined amount of time.
Clare Keegan has written a compelling, dramatic, and both painfully and humanly realistic account of this girl’s journey, the foster parents past blended with this fostering experience, and the dramatic challenges that the girl’s birth family must be facing.
The unnamed girl becomes our narrator. Her point of view, the point of view of a child dropped off at the house of others, is authentic. She feels a range of emotions as do the fostering parents.
This short book is markedly engaging and packs a several blows.
I found myself thinking deeply and lingeringly about: the life’s challenges faced by parents in raising/fostering children, the decisions parents/foster parents face, the needs of children for love and belonging, the adaptability and/or rigidity of people (young or mature), the challenges of “tomorrow” in family life, and the unique human journey people (young and mature) are on.
Any book that stimulates my thinking that much is certainly worth the read. Even though this book is considered a book for adults, I see it being valuable for high school students. There is a lot to think about and no reason to not consider this as a YA read.
I recommend this book.Foster by Clare Keegan (2022) is an adult novella, set in Ireland likely in the 1980’s about an unnamed girl who becomes a foster child of a childless working-class couple. The girl’s mother has just given birth to another child, and it is decided…
The Labors of Hercules BealThe Labors of Hercules Beal, Book
by Schmidt, Gary D.Book - 2023Book, 2023
JerryJennings's rating:
Added Aug 07, 2023
Comment:
The Labors of Hercules Beal by Newberry Honor winner and National Book Award finalist, Gary D. Schmidt (2023) is middle grade fiction at its best, in my opinion!
Hercules Beal is a contemporary 12-year-old who suddenly lost his parents in a car accident a year and a half before this story starts. Achilles, Hercules’ much older brother, left his job as a writer for National Geographic to come home to be a family of two with Hercules.
These two have inherited their parents’ business and home on Cape Cod. Achilles runs the business with the help of his girlfriend and - after his school day ends, Hercules. The brothers are both high functioning while still grieving and trying to move forward after their life-changing and shockingly painful loss.
Hercules starts a new school as a seven grader. His language arts and humanities teacher is retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer. He is hard-nosed and demanding. Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer assigns each of his students a year long project. For Hercules Beal, Hupfer assigns Beal to perform and write about the 12 labors of Hercules the greatest of Greek mythological heroes from centuries past. Hercules Beal’s 12 labors are to be performed as they might unfold in today’s life. Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer rather authoritatively announces to Hercules that myths can be surprisingly relevant in modern life. Hercules has big doubts about that as he attempts to fulfill the assignment.
Hercules Beal struggles to execute the labors. And the journey is a delightfully captivating story of courage, growth, awareness, connection, parallels, perspective, and perseverance. It is a story of a family that is forever changed. It is a story rich in friendships and growth. Hercules and many other characters learn about themselves, themselves with others, and themselves with others getting stuff done.
Schmidt has created a great cast of supporting characters and story lines. This is a satisfying read. To many, it will be a deeply satisfying read!
Publishers Weekly, in their starred review write: “It’s a moving hero’s journey that serves as a reflection on the durability of mythology and the necessity of community.” And Kirkus writes in their review: “At once an epic journey toward self-discovery and a wonderfully entertaining yarn.”
I recommend this book as a family or classroom read aloud. The Labors of Hercules Beal is a book for everyone nine years old and beyond.The Labors of Hercules Beal by Newberry Honor winner and National Book Award finalist, Gary D. Schmidt (2023) is middle grade fiction at its best, in my opinion!
Hercules Beal is a contemporary 12-year-old who suddenly lost his parents in a car…
JerryJennings's rating:
Added Jul 31, 2023
Comment:
A Long Stretch of Bad Days by Mindy McGinnis (2023) is a YA mystery that could be an assigned book in a social studies class because it demonstrates small town America and the real social issues of: class, power, privilege, stereotypes, relationships across differences, and gender that often play out in small towns.
I like a good mystery and I get hooked on a realistic story that juxtapositions differences. McGinnis has accomplished both targets in this contemporary work: A Long Stretch of Bad Days.
McGinnis has created compelling characters in Lydia Chass our narrator and Bristal Jamison. Lydia and Bristal are starting their senior year at the public high school in the town of Henley. As the school year starts, they both are informed that they must each earn one more credit than they had planned, due to an error the school staff made. This lack of one credit is all that Lydia nd Bristal share.
Other than that, they have very, very little in common. Lydia comes from an established family of status in town, the Chass’s have always had generational financial security, her father is an established attorney in town, she has plans to apply to and get into an elite university, and she is used to having things work out for her. Bristal is a Jamison and Jamison’s have also been in Henley for generations. And, they have not been achievers. If Bristal were to graduate from high school, she would be the first Jamison to do so. The Jamison’s are poor, they often display rule breaking and/or delinquent behavior, live in trailers, and are used to fighting (sometimes literally) to get by.
These two seniors are being told they need to earn one more history credit and the principal suggests they earn it by doing a project to highlight the history of their town, Henley, Ohio. For interesting reasons Lydia and Bristal decide to work together on a project of local history.
They decide to study a stretch of a few days that took place 30 years ago, in 1994, when a tornado hit the town and then a flash flood occurred leaving two citizens dead, and one citizen went missing and remains unaccounted for.
Lydia and Bristal set out to uncover the truth, expose secrets (should they find any), and share their findings widely. Their differences are not easy to overcome. They are truly two people with lives and world views that are dramatically different. The story they are uncovering is compelling them forward to find a way to work together. For their own reasons, they are drawn to find out what really happened in the stretch of bad days back in 1994.
McGinnis is successful in getting the readers’ attention and keeping it! She has created a strong cast of well-developed characters beyond the two main characters.
I recommend this book to readers who like a good mystery with a dynamic plot and written very well.A Long Stretch of Bad Days by Mindy McGinnis (2023) is a YA mystery that could be an assigned book in a social studies class because it demonstrates small town America and the real social issues of: class, power, privilege, stereotypes,…
JerryJennings's rating:
Added Jul 29, 2023
Comment:
Solitaire by Alice Oseman (2023) is a YA novel published first in the UK in 2014 and here in the US, with only slight changes.
Sixteen-year-old Tori is our narrator. Alice Oseman introduces her on page one. “My name is Victoria Spring. I think you should know that I make up a lot of stuff in my head and then get sad about it. I like to sleep and I like to blog. I am going to die someday.”
Tori, in my mind, is depressed, angry and very alone. Plus, she has deep negative feelings about many things in her life – including herself. So, this is, according to The Bookbag in the UK, a “dark, complicated book about danger, obsession, relationships, struggling with yourself, the pain of school and growing up, and realizing you never know the people around you.”
The book is written very well. The seriousness of Tori’s behavior and her questionable mental health are presented very realistically – thus, she is relatable. This is one of those books that, even though it is a solid and important work of art - it might be more realistic than many readers prefer.
Tori cares about her two brothers and is attempting to figure out how to fit in with other teenagers. She is a blogger. The novel centers on a blog named Solitaire that has appeared and is directed at the students at the private high school Tori goes to. The Solitaire blog and purpose is a mystery that Tori wants to figure out.
I really appreciated this book and Oseman’s artful presentation. It is an important and worthwhile read.Solitaire by Alice Oseman (2023) is a YA novel published first in the UK in 2014 and here in the US, with only slight changes.
Sixteen-year-old Tori is our narrator. Alice Oseman introduces her on page one. “My name is Victoria Spring. I think you…
JerryJennings's rating:
Added Jul 16, 2023
Comment:
Coming Up Cuban: Rising Past Castro’s Shadow by Sonia Manzano (2022) received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist. This is a novel for middle schoolers. The subtitle, “Rising Past Castro’s Shadow,” in my mind, is the focus of this work.
How does an author bring historical events from another country to life for middle school readers – more than sixty years after the events happened? Manzano decided to tell the separate stories of four Cuban children who are each about 12 or 13 years old. The four young people are of different genders, classes, and races - they are Ana, Miguel, Zulema, and Juan. Each of their narratives paints a unique perspective around the impact of the rise of Fidel Castro in a turbulent 1959 Cuban Revolution and the life-altering effects on their families.
Each of their stories standalone as one unique family’s experience in their unique community. Each story is hugely different from the others while the general Revolution’s impact is a common thread that is a driving force within each of the accounts. These four dramatic tales represent four of the thousands of unique family reactions and adjustments that Cubans made because of the Revolution. The four accounts also display the complexity of the Revolution’s effect on life. Members of the families face their apprehensions, their confusion over the new rules, and the new expectations for citizens in the country.
Manzano created authentic characters that are facing decisions for themselves and those they love during a time that their country is recreating itself. Moreover, she created four fictional narratives that are compelling and will draw readers in.
Manzano is successfully innovative in her approach to children’s historical fiction. I recommend this book.Coming Up Cuban: Rising Past Castro’s Shadow by Sonia Manzano (2022) received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist. This is a novel for middle schoolers. The subtitle, “Rising Past Castro’s Shadow,” in my mind, is the focus of this…
JerryJennings's rating:
Added Jul 06, 2023
Comment:
Big Tree by Brian Selznick (2023) is a book for kids seven and up that focuses on two seeds and their journey to become trees. It is also more than that because it spans time – like a billion or more years. Big Tree is both a straightforward story and a representational telling of plant life on a changing planet.
Brian Selznick tells the story through pictures and words in more than 500 pages. The pictures are often potential stimulus for discussion about what is happening on our planet. The words which are on only about 200 of the pages, likewise often present messages that beg for conversation to help develop meaning for both the straightforward and representational stories.
I see this book as an excellent read aloud with the reader allowing and encouraging lots of time to chat, question, and explore the many stimulating ideas presented.
This is an ambitious endeavor by Selznick. I think it is worth bringing the book to children (with a guide spurring discussion) and seeing their reactions. I am quite sure this approach can lead to many kids wanting to explore the book on their own.Big Tree by Brian Selznick (2023) is a book for kids seven and up that focuses on two seeds and their journey to become trees. It is also more than that because it spans time – like a billion or more years. Big Tree is both a straightforward story…
JerryJennings's rating:
Added Jul 04, 2023
Comment:
Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow (2023) is an extremely well written novel for 9 -13-year-olds.
Erin Bow was interviewed by The Nerd Daily in their February 3, 2023 edition. She was asked to describe Simon Sort of Says in five words. Her answer was “a comedy about healing from trauma”.
This is a “trauma healing comedy” that treads the needle to not traumatize. Well done Erin Bow.
Simon Sort of Says is an exceptional novel for middle schoolers. The plot starts with Simon joining the seventh-grade class in Grin And Bear It, Nebraska. He and his mom (a mortician) and his dad (a Catholic deacon) are moving to a town way, way off the grid in Nebraska. They are there because they wanted to move away from the site of a very traumatizing event that happened more than a year before this story starts. Simon was the only student in his fifth-grade class to survive a school shooting.
Simon has had a year of therapy and home schooling. He is still not ready to talk about the trauma he has experienced. His mom and dad support him and don’t want him pushed to engage in any conversations about what he has experienced. He and his family want to start someplace new – someplace his story is not known. He wants to be just another normal seventh grader.
All of this is so darn serious and so darn real – I am guessing you are wondering where and when the healing and comedy comes in. Right from the start!
Obviously for Simon to mature and grow he must learn about himself and himself with others just like any seventh grader. His mom and dad and his new school friends Agate and Kevin are characters that Bow brings into this story with laser like clarity – revealing their dispositions, motivations, and individuality. Bow’s creativity of plot lines is outstanding and will bring giggles, laughs, and wonder to readers. Throughout the book with all its unique incidents, action, and events the characters present authentically they are empathic and connected.
This is a story about Simon’s journey toward finding what the Kirkus Review calls, “the inner stuff and outer support to weather” the realities of his past. With family and friends, he is doing more than “weathering” – he is on a healthy path to keep learning about himself and himself with others.
This is an uncommonly good middle grade novel! I highly recommend it!Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow (2023) is an extremely well written novel for 9 -13-year-olds.
Erin Bow was interviewed by The Nerd Daily in their February 3, 2023 edition. She was asked to describe Simon Sort of Says in five words. Her answer was…
JerryJennings's rating:
Added Jul 03, 2023
Comment:
The Turtle of Michigan by Naomi Shihab Nye (2022) was honored as a Michigan Notable Book.
This is a contemporary novel for 8- to 12-year-olds about Aref’s (pronounced R-F) move from the Arabian country of Oman to Ann Arbor, Michigan and how he and his parents (who came to attend graduate school) adjust to their new life. It is a big adjustment for Aref. He misses his grandfather, who stayed in Oman.
The Kirkus Review says it best – this is “a humorous, sensitive, and poignant family centered take on coming to a new county”.
My impression of this excellent story is that it would be a wonderful family read aloud book. The story has all kinds of possible topics for conversation for the family. There could be many gentle probing questions around the new experiences of traveling to America, the small new apartment, Aref starting third grade in Ann Arbor, and the new surroundings. Plus, just thinking about Aref’s feelings of being eager and unsure as he learns about Michigan and makes new friends.
Aref wants a turtle. The turtles in Michigan are small compared to the turtles of Oman. Things are different in America. And Aref embraces the difference. He meets his neighbors, makes friends at school, and experiences a new climate. And he still misses his grandfather who stay in Oman.
This is a stand alone second book about Aref. The first is The Turtle of Oman also by Naomi Shihab Nye (2014). The first book is the story of Aref learning about his parents’ upcoming 3 years of study in America and preparing for the move to America. Kirkus says in its starred review, “A warm and humorous peek at the profound and mundane details of moving from one country to another—a perfect pick for kids...”
I recommend this book to young independent readers and/or as a great read aloud with lots of room for discussion.The Turtle of Michigan by Naomi Shihab Nye (2022) was honored as a Michigan Notable Book.
This is a contemporary novel for 8- to 12-year-olds about Aref’s (pronounced R-F) move from the Arabian country of Oman to Ann Arbor, Michigan and how he and…
The Marsh King's DaughterThe Marsh King's Daughter, Book
by Dionne, KarenBook - 2017Book, 2017
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JerryJennings's rating:
Added Jun 30, 2023
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The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne (2017) is an adult novel. It is a psychological suspense thriller set in the upper peninsula of Michigan – written by a Michigander.
This is a novel for readers who enjoy an attention-grabbing journey. There is action. Yet, much of the book is flashbacks and the psychological/analytical sorting out of options the criminal, on the loose might, pursue next. And how to thwart him. The criminal is the father of the woman who is trying to catch him.
The father (the Marsh King) kidnapped a 14-year-old girl and took her to a cabin in a very remote marsh in the upper peninsula and kept her there as his prisoner. When his captive was 17 years old, she gave birth to his daughter.
The novel is the daughter’s (The Marsh King’s Daughter) story. She does not know her mother was kidnapped and is a captive of her dad. She doesn’t know she, herself, is a captive.
All she knows is that she is one of three people in a marsh. She has never seen another human being, other than her mother and father. She knows no life but the life in a marsh. And as a child she literally followed and learned about existing in a marsh from her father.
When the daughter was about 12, she discovers that her mother was kidnapped and that her father kept her in the marsh by force.
The story continues with the mother and daughter escaping and the father being arrested and put in prison.
Thirteen years pass and the criminal father breaks out of prison.
The daughter knows her father’s ways after spending 12 years learning from him. She is compelled to find him.
Dionne knows how to create a story full of tension. Moreover, how to stretch and twist that tension. She knows how to unfold a story of trauma in a way that is accessible to the reader. She knows how to develop characters with depth and nuance. If you are looking for a gripping story - The Marsh King’s Daughter may be it! I recommend it!The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne (2017) is an adult novel. It is a psychological suspense thriller set in the upper peninsula of Michigan – written by a Michigander.
This is a novel for readers who enjoy an attention-grabbing journey.…
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