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Showing posts from February 17, 2019

You Asked For Perfect

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You Asked for Perfect  by Laura Silverman (March 5) Overview: Ariel has to be perfect. His whole identity rests on him getting the best grades, being first chair, being valedictorian, and, the culmination of all of his hard work... getting into Harvard. But the second chair violinist with nearly the same GPA also wants a spot in that freshman class, so Ariel has to work even harder than anyone could imagine to guarantee that it's his. But only a few weeks into senior year, Ariel starts to fall apart, and he's left to wonder if his well being or his pride is more important. Overall: 4.5  Characters: 5 There will be a lot of people who read this book and blame Ariel for being absent from his friendships, pulling away from his family, and sacrificing his physical well being for a goal that isn't even assured to him. All his effort and missed life could be for nothing. But those who say that don't understand how broken the education system is, particularly in America.

The Art of Losing

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The Art of Losing  by Lizzy Mason (February 19) Overview: Audrey is in a coma. Her older sister Harley is taking the blame even though she wasn't even there. Audrey got a ride home from the party with Harley's boyfriend Mike who got into a wreck while driving drunk. Harley had already left because she found them together, hooking up in her best friends bedroom during the party. Harley doesn't want explanations; she just needs her sister to wake up. Overall: 3.5  Characters: 3  Harley wasn't my favorite. She's a bit too guilt ridden and self blaming for my taste. It's obvious that she would feel some amount of something akin to survivors guilt, but the way that Harley dwells on her part in the disaster is borderline narcissistic. She's more consumed with thoughts about herself and how this affects her than her parents or her injured sister. The other characters just didn't have much life in my opinion. They all came off like means to an end instead

Starfish

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Starfish  by Akemi Dawn Bowman (343 pages) Overview: Kiko is nearly paralyzed by social anxiety. Emery, her best friend, is her lifeline, but she's leaving to spend the summer at the college she'll be attending in the fall, and Kiko doesn't even know if she got into Prism, the New York art school she has her heart set on. Kiko's trying to iron out her future, keep an eye on the prize, and ignore her narcissistic mother, but then Uncle Max moves back in, and it's too much for Kiko to take. Her mother has known for years about what Uncle Max did to her, and, yet, she treats him like nothing's happened. Left with nowhere else to turn, her old childhood friend, Jamie, offers her a place to pause and figure out a new way forward. Overall: 5  Characters: 5 Kiko is amazing. She has so much to deal with, and, instead of just crumpling it into a ball and throwing it in the corner, when she gets the chance, she unpacks her hurt and past trauma. Her social anxiety is