January 2024 - A book by a Palestinian author
I am participating in @the_fold's #readingchallenge again this year, and was excited to pick this book up as part of January's prompt: a book by a Palestinian author. I had requested The Called me a Lioness by Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri on @netgalley quite a while back but with the constant straining conflict in Palestine and Israel, it is one that I knew I needed to pick up.
I don't want to get into too much detail on Social Media about my personal feelings and opinions about this war, mostly because I do not feel educated enough to be commenting on it, but I do feel it is our duty to learn about the history and the problems and call for change and support. Tamimi does a fantastic job giving the important background details juxtaposed with the current atrocities occurring in recent years. Near the end there is a large paragraph that I highlighted and think really summarizes the book. Essentially, Tamimi asks readers to consider, what if this was you, your family, your country, how would you respond, and how will you decide what you will do now that you known the truth about what the Palestinians are facing. Learning is a great first step, but action is also important.
I would definitely recommend this book and would like to thank the publisher, @randomhouse and #netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book.
What other books should I read to learn more? I would love some recommendations! I also look foward to seeing what other people doing the #foldchallenge2024 read this month!
February 2024 - A Book that has been challenged in Canadian Schools
I went a little overboard with this prompt and spent the whole month read and reviewing banned and challenged books. Check out my journey in this separate blog post here: https://teachreadinspire.wixsite.com/website/post/banned-and-challenged-book-reviews
March 2024 - A Young Adult Mystery by a Racialized Author
I have been meaning to read The Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf since I was approved for it on Netgalley in February 2022... It has a prominent shelf placement in my school library (which is great!) and so I also see it at work almost daily and it reminds me of how I really should have prioritized it sooner! I'm really glad I did finally get to reading it, and the timing is perfect with this fold prompt!
The Queen of the Tiles takes place over the course of one weekend in a hotel/conference centre where a teen scrabble competition brings together a unique cast of characters still reeling after the sudden death of the former champion, Trina, exactly one year prior. Najwa and her fellow competitors are all vying for the coveted role of champion, and but can't help but be distracted when messages and instagram posts begin trickling in through Trina's account. How can someone who they all watched die suddenly start posting on instagram? And what secrets are these posts trying to reveal? Najwa knows her best friend is dead, but this unusual social media activity makes her start to question whether or not Trina's death really was an accident. And with everyone back together again, maybe now is the perfect time to find out what really happened that fateful day one year ago.
I really enjoyed this book. It is a fantastic clean YA, with enough twists and turns to keep readers interested without anything that might be inappropriate for younger YA readers. I truly was guessing as to what exactly happened to Trina right up until the end of the book. The characters were interesting and well developed and the writing was really well done. My only uncertainty had to do with the setting, as I may have missed or was unaware that it took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, so there was the odd word or description I didn't quite understand right away, but I love that it is set there and that it exposes readers (especially those like the ones at my school in North America) to stories set in other countries and featuring diverse characters!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read this fantastic book. My only wish is that I got to it sooner than I did!
April - A Book by a Sikh Author
Love & Courage (audiobook)
Jagmeet Singh
I was a little late finishing this month's selection, but was glad to cross it off my TBR as I had been planning to read this one for a while.
Recently one of my students, who is also Sikh, corrected me on how to pronounce his name. We had tried to get the pronunciation straight back in September, but I couldn't hear the difference between what he was saying and how I was pronouncing it. Eventually once he became pretty strong with the English vowel sounds in phonics class, he came to be and explained that the two As in his name both were pronounced like short u. Instantly I was able to better pronounce it and I helped the students with pronunciation too. It is too bad that it took me until April to figure it out, but I am glad that I can help other students and adults pronounce his name correctly going forward. As I was listening to Love & Courage, I learned that I had been pronouncing NDP leader Jagmeet Singh's name incorrectly. Much like my student's name, the a is pronounced like a short u sound so Jug instead of Jag.
Beyond learning how to pronounce his name, I learned a lot about his life growing up in Eastern Canada, with a father who struggled with alcoholism and financial planning as a result. Singh opens up about several challenging experiences like dealing with harassment, racism and other forms of discrimination and violence. Many of the lessons Jagmeet learned and shared in his story could be valuable to a variety of readers, who might connect with his experiences or learn from them. By far the most interesting and informative learning opportunities that can be taken away from this story are related to a better understanding of the Sikh culture and how his religion makes him the man that we see campaigning for a better Canada. It is common for people to have a lot of questions about other cultures and religions they are not familiar with, but unfortunately unanswered questions often lead to fear rather than curiosity or an urge to learn more. By sharing his beliefs, the reasoning behind choices he makes like not cutting his hair, and explaining the significance of cultural traditions like wearing a turban, Jagmeet answers the questions his readers may not have even realized they wanted to ask. To me, this is the value in the FOLD challenge and reading diverse books. The more we read, the better we understand the world around us, and the more diverse books we read, the better we understand people. If everyone diversified their reading, maybe we would see a decrease in conflict and discrimination. Anyway, I really enjoyed this memoir, and would definitely recommend it. The audiobook version was great and even though Singh only narrates the prologue, the other narrator is easy to listen to and did a great job with the narration.
May - Historical Fiction by a South Asian Author
The Perfumist of Paris - Alka Joshi
The last few days I have been looking back at my old reviews for the first two books in this series, while preparing to write a review for this one. I had requested this book on @netgalley last winter, but kept putting off reading it after I felt so disappointed with the middle book in the series. When I saw The Perfumist of Paris recommended as @the_fold 's May challenge, a Historical Fiction by a South Asian Author, I decided it was time to finally read it.
In this story we see Radha as a successful professional woman who creates perfumes based on formulas and scent profiles. She is married to a French man named Pierre and together they have two young daughters. Despite being several years later and in a new country, Radha will never forget the child she gave up or the life lessons she learned from her sister Lakshmi. Torn between finding success at work, and being the mother and wife she feels she should be, Radha in the 1970s expresses the same desires and concerns of many middle-aged women today.
I went into this one with a lower expectation than I did with The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, and unfortunately it met those expectations. At about 40% I paused and asked myself "what is actually happening in this book?". There were areas that were interesting, I liked learning about Paris in the 70s, about the job of a perfumist, and having an update on the characters I followed for two books now, but very little action took place. In the words of another reviewer on goodreads @lovefoundinpages : "is this book necessary? no. but is it a nice addition to the series? sure."
The Perfumist of Paris gets ⭐️⭐️⭐️ from me.
Thanks to the publisher @_mira_books_ and @htpbooks for giving me the chance to finish off this series.
June - A book by a Cree author
Life in the City of Dirty Water - Clayton Thomas-Müller
Omg... it's literally the last day of September, but I FINALLY finished and posted on this book!
Check out my full review and post here
July - A Translated Book by a Canadian Press
Sanaaq
Sanaaq
by Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk
Well I'm a little behind, as usual... It's October... but I finally got the chance to read and review Sanaaq. It was a pretty quick read but also one that I got a lot out of. Sanaaq is told in a series of short chapters, which the author refers to as episodes, it has a very large list of characters, but centers primarily around one family. Sanaaq is the mother of two children, and adopts a third. She lives in a tent part of the year and an igloo the rest of the year. Her family subsist primarily on hunting arctic animals such as belugas and seals.
The way of life in the arctic, including the danger, was so interesting. Simple elements in daily life such as getting ready for bed, setting up a tent, preparing food are things that we might not think about, but that can be entirely different depending where (and when) you live. The more harsh elements that are specific to the arctic, such as getting caught in a blizzard, hunting or fishing on thin ice, needing medical care, were of course very enthralling. I also appreciated the descriptions about elements of their culture, especially with families, including marriage and adoption.
The story includes some interactions with missionaries, but for the most part it is about Inuit lifestyle. I think it was pretty cool that the opening section also discussed the translation process, including the author's time working with missionaries as part of this process. I think that the relationship between missionaries and Inuit people is extremely complicated and cannot be described in any generalizations, but I also appreciated reading about those relationships both in the fictional story and in the foreword.
There were two pages that really made me pause and think. The first was a caution from one person to another about hunting animals that are unnaturally skinny. They explained that those animals could be a low weight because they are dying of a disease, making them not safe to eat. This just reminded me of how important the knowledge Indigenous people have and pass on through generations. This valuable information was lost through residential schools and other harms of colonization. The other section that made me think was a reflection on what happens when someone needed to be flown in to a town for medical support. The anxiety around losing a child and not knowing if/when they were coming back. Additionally, being in hospitals and treated by non-Inuit nurses and doctors meant difficulties with the language, the culture and food. That would definitely make the whole process more difficult.
I'm really glad I gave this one a shot, it was definitely a good fit for me and I learned a lot! Thanks to The FOLD for giving me the recommendation!
August 2024 - Novel or Book by a Caribbean Author
Once Upon a Quincenera
I had a really hard time with @the_fold 's August 2024 Prompt: A Novel (or Book of Poetry) by a Caribbean Author - hence why it is January 2025 and I'm just posting about it now.... 😅
My problems were:
A) August is an insanely busy reading time for me because of #thecanadianbookclubawards
B) I suck at reading poetry
C) I don't really know my Caribbean geography very well
D) I really didn't want to buy another book before the end of 2024
D.1) I couldn't source any of the books I wanted to read from the library
D.2) I had NO books by Caribbean authors on my Netgalley Shelf 🤯
E) I DNF'd the book I was planning to read...
And so here we are with Once Upon a Quinceanera by Monica Gomez-Hira, a Colombian author (from what I understand... Colombia sometimes counts as Caribbean?), that has been sitting on my TBR shelf for quite some time now!
This fun YA plays a little with fairytale themes, has just the right amount of closed door spice, features some chaotic family dynamics and strong tempers, and of course, shares a bit about the tradition of a Quinceanera - a traditional Latin American rite of passage for young females entering adulthood. When Carmen misses the chance to graduate on time due to limited number of volunteer hours (because she was sexually harassed by her mentor and couldn't continue with her internship...😬), she finds herself working with her best friend as fairytale characters at children's birthday parties. An old flame is also hired which adds a layer of added discomfort to an unpaid internship that is necessary for a diploma. If that wasn't enough to make a crappy situation, her role includes performing at her estranged cousin's quinceneara, along side her old flame and current flame who, happens to also be dating her cousin... throw in a few love triangles, dramatic family confrontations and a scandal or two - sound a bit like a telenovela? Can Carmen keep it together and make it to the end of the summer or will her high school diploma remain just out of reach?
I enjoyed this novel, it was a fairly light and entertaining read. It was at times somewhat predictable and a little trope-y but a decent YA romcom.
September 2024 - Fiction by a Neuro-Diverse Author
Turtles All the way Down - John Green
October 2024 - Non-Fiction by a Transgender Author
Page Boy - Elliot Page
Page's memoir covers his life from early childhood in Canada, to life in the film industry, to grappling with coming out and transitioning in both the public and private spheres. Page faced significant trauma related to his his gender dysphoria as a child and young adult. This trauma was further impacted by his role in film and television and the unrealistic expectations placed on him by the media and industry. Told in theme-based narrative, Page shares his most painful moments in a raw and emotional way, giving readers a clear understanding of his unique perspective and experiences.
I learned a lot about Page through this memoir. I was not a fan of Juno, so I hadn't spent much time learning about the actor prior to reading the book, but his unique experience of transitioning after becoming famous was something I found very intriguing. I would have preferred a more linear (chronological) narration, as I found it difficult to follow and, at alternating times, both repetitive and missing details as a result of the way the story is told. That being said, it is a very interesting story and if you embrace the writing style and let go of trying to figure out when exactly different things happened (ie. movie releases, family milestones etc.) I think it is a good story overall.
November 2024 - Accessible Book by a Marginalized Author
I listened to Turtles All the way Down on Audiobook, so I figured for this month, instead of listening to another audiobook, I would share some books about accessibility. These are all books I read in 2024 that are either memoirs written by people who have accessibility challenges, or feature a main character (or subject in the case of Freeing Teresa) who demonstrates the importance of accessibility. All 7 books featured here are excellent and I would highly recommend.
My Body is Not A Prayer Request by Amy Kenny is a careful examination of how Church and religion view disability and a thoughtprovoking series of anecdotes, reflections and personal experiences and analogies to help readers truly see another perspective.
Kenny does a great job bringing in a perfect mix of religious content, disability rights/advocacy and pop culture references (my favourite was of course Leslie Knope, with the sloth from zootopia coming in a close second). I also liked the analogies and descriptions she used to make readers understand her perspective. One example that stood out to me was the microaggressions as mosquito bites analogy because it shows that while they may be easily dismissed as not a huge deal, over time they add up. I also liked her anecdotal ideas like people dragging out vowel sounds in words signals awkward feelings and how "faking disabilities" is a more common trope on tv than I would have realized, and in that, how harmful that is. Her facts and messages were also really important. She said that 67% of people feel "uncomfortable" talking to a disabled person, and as awful as that sounds, I wonder if it is actually an underrepresentation...
I would definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about disability advocacy and rights, as well as for anyone who might want to rethink the way that the Church and religious people often view people with disabilities. It is well written and has some really great information as well as other thought provoking reflection opportunities. Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher @brazospress for giving me the chance to read and review this one!
Addy's Chair to Everywhere
By: Debi Novotny Ills: Jomike Tejido
This incredible book is a must have for all classroom libraries, mine included. Addy’s chair to everywhere introduces readers to life in a wheelchair in a positive way. Addy is a young child and enjoys imaginative play, dreaming of her chair as one in a submarine or a queen’s chariot, but she is lonely playing by herself. One day some classmates who are playing on the school’s (inaccessible) play structure come over to play with Addy in her chair. They dive into lots of imaginative play and show readers that children in wheelchairs can participate if you help and invite them. Children really can be more inclusive than adults as long as the right things are in place and the right modeling is done for them. Books like this one help create windows into other perspectives, especially in schools where physical ability diversity is less prominent. I would highly recommend this book and will definitely be purchasing a physical copy for my classroom (once it is published). Thanks to @Netgalley and the publisher, @freespiritpublishing and @tcmpub for giving me the chance to read and review this book!
Something's Wrong with Micah by Jamison Hill
I really enjoyed this YA book about disability advocacy and head injuries in sports. Micah was a football star with a proud dad as coach, but a car accident changes everything and soon Micah is in a wheelchair suffering from inexplicable pain and nausea and most people think he's faking it. I love that this book has all of the features of a good YA, romance, teen problems, bullying/discrimination, while also show casing several important ideas related to disability, including inaccessibility, saviour complexes, mental health, stereotypes, disability discrimination and new perspectives. I also think that the use of grief, problems with advocacy in the medical system and concussion management, which are areas that are not often showcased in adult books even, much less in YA, and yet important areas to consider and discuss. I liked that the author chose to have Micah be abled bodied and a jock in the past because it really gives a unique opportunity for an able-bodied person to see life through the perspective of someone with a disability. I also love that multiple characters in the story had disabilities, but were generally shown in a very positive light, aside from specific scenes related to discrimination, which is a good contrast to many stories where people with disabilities are seen using tropes and stereotypes. I really loved the relationship with Evie, especially closer to the end when their relationship was truly tested, Overall, this is a very well written YA with some really complex ideas and discussions that are important for both adults and teens to consider. I would highly recommend this book and could see it being a valuable addition to high school libraries and potentially class reading lists. There is a tiny bit of fooling around and mention of drug use, but it's just enough to draw in teens and still send these valuable messages.
Thanks to Netgalley and the author, @jamisonwrites for giving me the chance to read and review this excellent book!
Deaf Girl by Abigail Heringer
In The Deaf Girl @abigail_heringer tells her life story growing up as one of two deaf children in her family. Both Abigail and her sister Rachel have cochlear implants and can read lips. Abigail shares her journey learning how to communicate with others, the challenges of learning to adjust to hearing in different environments and how she learned to self-advocate. She also shares perspectives of the Deaf community, some misconceptions the general public have about hearing loss and Cochlear Implants (and disability in general), as well as what it was like being the one deaf person in a lot of situations even though she grew up with a deaf family member and went to schools where she was very much a part of the Deaf/deaf community. Of course the final section of the book also looked at her time on The Bachelor and The Bachelor in Paradise and what things were like behind the scenes and being deaf in a house full of people all vying for the spotlight.
I really enjoyed this memoir, and even watched a bit of #thebachelor to see her season and see what Abigail was really like on TV. I think she is a fantastic role model for young women and people with disabilities, as well as a great advocate for disability rights and awareness. Throughout the story she demonstrates the importance of being true to yourself and being proud of who you are. This would be a great read for anyone who wants to know a bit more about disability advocacy and representation, as well as bachelor fans! It is a fairly light and quick read, but also gives you lots to think about! I would definitely recommend it, and would like to thank @sourcebooks for the chance to read and review it!
Out of My Heart by Sharon Draper
Out of My Heart tells the story of 12 year old Melody Brooks, an intelligent, witty and strong-willed young woman who happens to have Cerebral Palsy. While Melody is non-speaking, she does have a device that allows her to communicate with those around her, and this time, she is using her device to communicate at sleepaway camp! At Camp Green Glades, a camp designed specifically for children who have disabilities, Melody is introduced to new adventures and great group of new friends. A week away from home is a scary thought, for both her and her family, but having the chance to be a regular kid heading to camp is one that Melody will never forget!
Out of My Mind does such a good job showcasing the importance of inclusion, accessibility and re-thinking bias and assumptions when considering children with disabilities in the school system, but Out of My Heart shows the value of creating experiences tailored to children with a wide range of disabilities, through community, accessibility and an appropriate level of support. When we think first about how to create something accessible, rather than creating something and then adapting it to be somewhat accessible, we show people with accessibility needs that they aren't an after thought, and reach true equity and inclusion.
I would highly recommend this book, and I'm sure my students will too - there is already a fight over which student gets to read my copy first!
The Hard Parts by Oksana Masters
Masters tells her story from the beginning, including a remarkable amount of details from her early childhood in an orphanage in Ukraine where she suffered severe abuse and neglect. Oksana was born with multiple congenital malformations as a result of Chernobyl and was likely given up for adoption because doctors convinced her birth parents that they would not be able to handle the health care that would be needed to care for her. Oksana lived in the orphanage until she was about 7, when she was adopted by a woman from America who had to jump through several hoops to navigate the complex system and eventually bring her daughter home. Despite the immense trauma she suffered, Oksana actually adjusted really well to her new life, but carried that with her and was re-traumatized many times as a result of medical procedures to correct or treat the problems that arose from her birth defects, as well as difficulties related to learning English and adjusting to an unfamiliar school system. When Oksana found the sport of rowing, she began to heal some of these traumas out on the water and she embarked on new dreams and set her sights on the paralympics.
This memoir is very well written and is filled with emotion, but also bravery, pride and achievement. Her story is inspiring while also vulnerable and honest. I really appreciated all of the information I learned about the paralympics and paralympic sports, as I didn't know very much about rowing, skiing or the games in general. Masters is a wonderful role model and she does a great job representing adopted children, Ukrainians, people with disabilities and survivors of trauma, among other groups that form parts of her identity. I would absolutely recommend this book as there is a lot one can learn from such an incredible story.
Freeing Teresa by Franke James
Freeing Teresa by franke.james chronicles a very difficult period of time in her family's lives where Franke had to go from artist and climate activist to disability advocate and navigate some very difficult social systems. Teresa is in her late 40s, enjoys attending day programs and loves sharing a condo with her elderly father. Franke and Teresa's other siblings are all somewhat involved in hers and their father's lives, but have very differing ideas on what is best for their futures, especially once some of the siblings begin to believe that more care is needed for their father.
I really appreciated the way Franke carefully documented the many challenges she came up against in trying to advocate for her father's and Teresa's goals and aspirations for this next stage in their lives. All the way through it was very clear that listening to what Teresa and their father wants was paramount to Franke and is in line with inclusive practices. Unfortunately their siblings did not see the importance of this kind of person-centred planning. It is really difficult to navigate social systems for elderly and/or disabled adults who are in need of some support to be relatively independent, and finances can impact which services or choices families have open to them. That being said, family members who are charged with making decisions on another's behalf (ie. power of attorney) have a duty to make choices that are in the best interest of the family member they are representing, and must consider what the person wants, not just their own idea of what they may need.
I was sad to see the book end, and am looking forward to the follow up story that was mentioned at the end, as I really need to find out what happens next in this family! Thanks to @thecanadianbookclubawards and the author for giving me the chance to read and review this memoir!
December 2024 - A Book by a Congolese or Sudanese Author
The Tears of a Man Flow Inward
Pacifique Irankunda
This was a placeholder I read for @the_fold 's 2024 challenge. December's prompt was a book by a Congolese or Sudanese author. I spent quite a bit of time looking for a book for this category and struggled to find one in my library that was available. I did manage to put one on hold, so I plan to read it soon, but in the meantime, I did just finish this book and it is about Burundi, so I felt that it worked as a place holder for now.
This short, but intense, memoir tells about the author's life growing up in Burundi during the civil war where, as a member of the Tutsis, he had to constantly be on the run, in hiding or fighting for his life. The story is quite interesting and gives a lot of good background content as well as detailed personal descriptions. The author also did extensive research and supplemented his personal stories with information and at times, the personal accounts of others. This was nice because it gave more information than he would have been able to give if just relying on his own experiences, but it also felt a bit disconnected at times. I also really appreciated the portions of the story where he describes life after, for example, when a roommate is playing violent videogames and invites him to join, he declines because he doesn't need to; he lived it. Overall, a quick and informative read, one I would recommend for anyone interested in this topic. Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher, Random House, for giving me the chance to read and review this book!
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