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Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

10/29/2018

Sophomore Darius Kellner is not doing great or even okay. He's overweight, lives with clinical depression, gets bullied at his Portland, OR high school, and he has a complicated relationship with his dad who he feels is always disappointed in him.
When Darius's grandfather falls ill, his family takes an extended trip to Iran where Darius struggles with getting to know family he's never met (besides on Skype), the language (his little sister is fluent in Farsi, but he is not), and fitting in (his mother is Persian, but his father is American; Darius refers to himself as a "Fractional Persian").
Things start looking up when Darius meets Sohrab, the son of one of his Grandfather's neighbors. For someone who's never really had a best friend before, this is a big deal. Darius notes, "I liked that I could be silent with Sohrab. That's how I knew we really were going to be friends."

I really liked Darius (he loves tea; he makes a lot of references to Lord of the Rings and Star Trek; and he's a great big brother to his little sister Laleh). His problems are real, but he faces them with a lot of humor. I also really enjoyed the peak into Persian culture (the food, traditions, and history).

Grades 8-12

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Dear Rachel Maddow by Adrienne Kisner

10/19/2018

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Brynn Harper's life could not get much worse: her older brother died; she has a stepdad she refers to as the "Fart Weasel" (and he fully deserves that nickname); her girlfriend broke up with her; and she's been put in remedial classes in the Blue room in the basement of her school.
When a school assignment requires Brynn to write to a "celebrity hero," she drafts emails to TV political commentator Rachel Maddow. She creates a journal of her life one email at a time beginning with the words "Dear Rachel Maddow."
When it looks like her nemesis rich bully Adam is going to take over the school, Brynn decides to do something and get involved in school politics (with a little inspiration from her hero Rachel Maddow).

I loved the epistolary format (the story is all told in emails), and Brynn's voice is so funny and sharp. Brynn struggles in school and at home, but her friends, her comrades in the Blue room, and even her brother's friend all provide a support system that help Brynn to keep fighting the good fight.

Grades 8-12

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The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X. R. Pan

10/8/2018

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When her mother commits suicide, Leigh's world shatters. In the depths of her grief, Leigh believes her mother has been transformed into an enormous red bird who talks to her and brings her clues.
Trying to put together the pieces of her mother's mysterious early life, Leigh travels to Taiwan to meet her mother's parents, grandparents she has never known and with whom her mother cut off contact after marrying an American and moving to the USA.
Leigh's present is interwoven with her mother's (and her own) flashback memories to create a bold book full of ghosts, art, culture, and color.

This magical realism-tinged novel that bursts with art and color sheds light on depression and captures the dark corners of grief and the feeling of being pulled between two worlds -- culturally, linguistically, generationally, and romantically.

Grades 9-12

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Sadie by Courtney Summers

10/2/2018

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Nineteen-year-old Sadie Hunter's life has not been easy. She's spent most of it caring for her younger sister, Mattie, without a father and with no help from her drunk and drug-addled mother (who eventually abandons her daughters when Sadie is sixteen).
When Mattie is found dead in a field, Sadie goes on a road trip in search of her sister's killer, upon whom she intends to take the ultimate revenge.
Sadie's gripping first person perspective as she follows one clue after another in search of Keith is interspersed with episodes of a true-crime podcast called The Girls which chronicles Sadie's and Mattie's story.

I was biting my nails all the way through this excellent mystery/thriller, hoping against hope that Sadie and Mattie would get justice and that Sadie wouldn't end up just "another dead girl."

Grades 9-12

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book reviews

Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

Dear Rachel Maddow by Adrienne Kisner

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X. R. Pan

Sadie by Courtney Summers

Ms. Wheaton

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