Posted in 2021 Books, Book Reviews, NetGalley

Meant to Be: If the Shoe Fits

If the Shoe Fits: A Meant to be Novel: Murphy, Julie: 9781368050388:  Amazon.com: Books
I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley back in April, and this review is scheduled to post the day the book releases.

So far this year, I have read 50 books. Most of these books have heavy subject matter: death, rape, abuse, and even murder. When I requested this book from Netgalley, I wasn’t sure when I would even have a chance to read it, but I was able to read it during the first few days of July, after summer school ended, and I was just enjoying a few days of nothing.

It was the perfect, relaxing summer read. This book is a retelling of the classic Cinderella story. As you can see from the cover, our Cinderella isn’t the typical model thin beauty. The author also makes the change with the relationship between the stepmom and siblings and Cindy. They actually have a good relationship, and I loved how the author incorporated Jaq and Gus Gus (my personal favorite characters from the Disney version).

Brief summary – After having a less than stellar senior year in design school, Cindy leaves New York for Los Angeles to help her television producing step-mother by nannying her three younger siblings. Upon arrival, Cindy and her step-sisters Anna and Drew find themselves contestants in their mother’s next season of Before Midnight (basically The Bachelor) due to some last minute drop outs. But how will America, the women in the house, and the suitor respond to a plus sized contestant? Cindy is willing to take a chance in order to give herself the exposure she needs to get her foot in the fashion industry.

I enjoyed this book for what it was: a romantic, fun read. The main character was likable, but she still had her flaws. You definitely want to cheer for her. This is my first book that I have read by Murphy, but I’m pretty sure I’ll pick up another one in the future.

Posted in 2021 Books, Book Reviews, NetGalley

Trouble Girls Review

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley, and I was very excited to read it. It was hyped as a modern day Thelma & Louise story integrating the #metoo movement. I’m all about girl power, so, like I said, very excited to dive in.

Now, I don’t know if the advanced reader copy I received had not gone through its final edits, but right from the start there were major continuity-type errors. The scenes would shift abruptly where a new chapter should be, but there were no chapters in the book. Like you will literally be reading one paragraph and in the very next paragraph, you are in different location. There isn’t even a gap to indicate a shift in time. The lack of chapters in books always makes it hard for me to read because it’s hard to find a stopping point, but this book desperately needed page breaks for it to even make sense.

The story, though, is super interesting. The girls find themselves on the run after Trixie, the main character/narrator, makes a snap decision. And in all honesty, what she does is completely justifiable self-defense. But, of course, when something traumatic happens, many people lose the ability to think clearly. While on the run, the girls meet some interesting people, but they are constantly running into problems. The major one being the lack of money. I don’t want to say too much here in case you choose to read it, so I’ll stop with that.

I did scan a few other reviews and the blurbs people wrote for the major retailers, and it seems that this is a “fast-paced, thrilling novel” according to them. It was definitely not that way to me. The book dragged, and I was bored through a lot of it.

The other part I have issues with is Trixie and Lux’s (the other main character) relationship. The author never really develops Lux since it is told through Trixie’s point of view. This was really hard for me as a reader because Trixie honestly felt obsessive and a bit possessive over Lux. The beginning of the book, Trixie makes it clear through her narration that she’s in love with Lux, but Lux sees them as friends (this opinion apparently changes, and it’s stated that Lux has always loved Trixie, but I just didn’t get that vibe from anything else that happened in the book). The idea of this being written with dual narrators would have been something I would have suggested if I were an editor.

All in all, I’m not mad I read the book. Like I said, the story was good. The execution of the story could have been much better. This is a book that I wouldn’t personally buy for my classroom, but if someone donated it, I would add it to my class library. Some people, who may be less critical than I am, would probably really enjoy this book.

Posted in 2021 Books, Book Reviews, Possible Trumans 2021-22

The Unteachables – A Review

Goodreads summary here. And while you’re clicking things, add me as a friend on Goodreads.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

My quick summaryMr. Zachary Kermit is beginning his very last year of teaching. He has worked the numbers and he can claim early retirement at the completion of this year. He’s in for a surprise at the beginning of the year when he is told he is teaching the “self-contained” classroom. (Side note – as a public school teacher, the way this classroom is described hopefully does not exist.) The classroom has been labeled by the staff and the district as “The Unteachables”, and no teacher lasts. Mr. Kermit doesn’t fight the placement. He’s been pushed around from class to class, and he knows this is the superintendent’s way of getting him to quit. However, Mr. Kermit is not going to quit. He’s got one more year, and he can do anything for one year.

This was my third Gordon Korman novel. Only three! From someone who has written over 80 books. I cannot even imagine writing that many books. From a quick glance at his website, he writes mainly middle grade/teen books. The three I have read are all more for middle grade, maybe even upper elementary.

The Unteachables was definitely my favorite of the ones I have read by Korman. The book is written from multiple different perspectives. While there have been a lot of novels published over the last couple years from dual perspectives, this novel dedicates at least a chapter to nearly every character in the book. I’m torn about this writing technique. It’s nice to see the story from different view points, but I also feel that I’m sometimes not getting enough character development. I didn’t feel like that with this book.

The book is really funny. There were plenty of times that I laughed out loud which drew looks from my daughters as I disrupted their video gaming. I do think that even though this book is clearly written for middle schoolers that many adults (especially teachers) will really enjoy it. I will probably purchase it for my classroom library, and I could see using it at a whole class read to discuss point of view.

Posted in 2021 Books, Book Reviews, ProjectLitBookClub

Dear Justyce Review

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Check out the summary from Goodreads here.

When I first read Nic Stone’s Dear Martin, I was blown away. Her style of writing drew me in from the first sentence. Dear Martin is still one of my most favorite books, and when students are searching for a book to read during SSR, it’s one of the first I grab. When I found out that Dear Justyce was coming out, I did something I have never done before. I pre-ordered it…twice.

When we first went home for the pandemic, I started searching for new people to follow on social media. Finding Nic Stone on social media was probably the best little gem I found. Through her, I have been introduced to a host of other authors as well as Project Lit. If you aren’t following her, you should. She is full of wisdom, inspiration, and just realness.

Dear Justyce is just another example of the wisdom that Stone has for us all. We follow the main character Quan throughout most of his life. In the present, Quan is in holding at a detention center awaiting trial. I think the blurbs out there give it away at to what sentence he is facing, but (as I’ve mentioned many times) I try to stay away from any sort of information about a book before I read it, and by doing that, it was a real mystery to me as to why Quan was in the detention center. It does come out, but not before the reader has a true sense of who Quan is.

I feel like this novel really opened my eyes to the way our justice system works. I’m not naïve enough to think the the system is flawless, but I had no idea how many people are in prison simply because they are awaiting trial. Have not even been convicted, yet they’re locked up, sometimes for years.

Another thing that really stood out to me (probably because I’m a teacher) was how Quan’s downward spiral happened after an incident with a teacher. He had a teacher that believed in him, supported him, encouraged him, but when she went out on maternity leave, the substitute didn’t have the same thoughts. This lack of faith, support, encouragement, and downright belief that Quan was a bad kid had a direct impact on the choices he makes.

Reading this book has made me really examine what I am doing with my students. Where do I need to be more encouraging, supportive? Where do I need to push them a little more?

I HIGHLY recommend this book to all educators. It will definitely be another Nic Stone books I shelf in my classroom and recommend to students.