Author: Erin Yun
Published: 2020 Pippa was born in the United States, but her mom wasn't a citizen and was not able to renew her work visa when it expired when Pippa was five. Her mom went back to South Korea, and Pippa has been living with her sister, Mina, and her sister's husband ever since. When Pippa gets a bad grade in math yet again, Mina tells her she can't be on the basketball team at school unless she gets her grades up. Mina also tells her that she now has to go to tutoring. Pippa's tutor goes to Lakeview, a private school. Eliot is gorgeous and smart and also very serious. Pippa immediately has a crush. When Pippa gets a surprise letter in the mail stating that she received a scholarship to go to Lakeview to play basketball, she is extremely surprised. She never applied and the only person she knows who goes there is her tutor. She jumps at the chance and when she gets there, she decides to keep it a secret that she got a scholarship. She thinks this is her chance to reinvent herself. She makes friends with the popular girls on the basketball team, but they always want to go do things that are expensive, and Pippa can't keep up. She is hiding a big part of who she is, and she worries that if the truth comes out, she will lose her friends. Pippa Park Raises Her Game was a very enjoyable read!
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Author: Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Published: 2018 Jarrett grew up being raised by his grandparents. His mom tried to take care of him when he was little but she was a drug addict and kept making decisions that put Jarrett in danger. Eventually she ends up in jail, and Jarrett goes to live with his grandparents. Jarrett writes about his life growing up with a mom who had a lot of different struggles and was not around very much. When Jarrett gets a chance to meet his father for the first time, he needs to decide if he is going to take his chance to get to know him. Included in the memoir are letters written to Jarrett from his mom while she was away, drawings Jarrett did as a child, along with other artifacts from his early life. I loved putting together all these artifacts to really understand his childhood. Hey, Kiddo is a fantastically written graphic memoir about a boy who had to deal with a lot growing up. Author: Mariama J. Lockington
Published: 2019 Keda is Black, but her family is white. She was adopted, and while she loves her parents and her sister, she can't help but feel like she doesn't really belong. She has her best friend Lena, whose life is very similar--she also is Black and was adopted by a white family. But when Keda's family has to move across the country, she has to leave behind the only person who truly understands what Keda goes through every day. When Keda gets to her new school, she immediately experiences microaggressions. Microagressions are slights or insults based on someone's identity; for example one girl comments on how it's gross Keda doesn't wash her hair every day and another tells her she talks white. Meanwhile, Keda's mom is dealing with some problems of her own. She is a musician but hasn't played in a long time. She and Keda's dad are always arguing, and sometimes she acts really odd. When Keda's dad has to leave for a couple months for work, Keda starts to notice that things aren't alright with her mom but she doesn't know how to help her. For Black Girls Like Me is a story about a girl who loves her family but wonders what her birth mom was like, wonders what it's like growing up with people who look like her. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I adore Keda! Author: Lamar Giles Published: 2020 Del has had a crush on Kiera for as long as he can remember. So when he's not paying attention at church and sees that Kiera is walking up front with other kids their age to volunteer for something, Del doesn't even think about what he's signing up for and volunteers as well. He hopes he can spend more time with Kiera now that she's single again. Del soon realizes that he signed up for a Purity Pledge. Through the Purity Pledge, Del meets Jameer, one of Kiera's friends. Jameer offers to help Del get Kiera as long as Del gets some of his questions answered in return. Jameer has very protective parents and can't even Google embarrassing questions he has because his parents keep that close of an eye on him. When Kiera starts making decisions Del doesn't agree with, he starts to get angry and he wonders why the nice guys never get the girls. Not So Pure and Simple is an excellent book about toxic masculinity that is extremely relevant today. This is an excellent book recommended for grades 8 and up. |
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