molly_dettmann's reviews
1817 reviews

I thought this was a really solid realistic fiction (though maybe a bit historical being set in 2008) where we have a teen boy deciding to get his grades and life together so he can go to college but ending up involved in helping his siblings. One brother is going through PTSD post Iraq tour and the other sister tried giving up her music career to help their older brother. There’s a sweet romance and lots of dark moment a with the older brother but overall was a really interesting and authentic look at PTSD and what it means to be there for your family. 

It’s really hard being a librarian now. So quickly are some of the best in our profession defamed and threatened all because of the work they do providing books for youth. Amanda Jones faced just that when she spoke up for her public libraries and attempts to censor books and outright lie that libraries have pornography in their children’s collections. This memoir details the beginnings of all this including her fight against the defamation. She also gives such a sweet snapshot of her hometown in Louisiana and insight into her life growing up with a love of literature, a strong faith, and her journey to becoming a school librarian . I’m proud that we have school librarians like Amanda fighting for us all and highly recommend everyone read this book. 

This was definitely more of a dark and hellish dystopian with a plot line that reminded me just a smidge of Gladiator with some Hunger Games than I thought it would be. I was interested enough to keep reading and got through the first book pretty quickly but I’m not sure personally if I’ll continue the series. 

This was a really engaging way to shed light on the 1992 Los Angeles uprising (also known as riots but the book goes into how uprising is a more appropriate term). I was a  baby when this all happened and I vaguely knew the story from various pop culture references here and there, but wow, this book put me into 1991-1992 and I felt the anger, despair, unrest, and more as LA burned and lives were lost because of brutality that had built up over time. I mourned for Latasha Harlins, Rodney Glen King, and Edward Song Lee as their stories were used to share more insight to what happened during that time and also what led up to it. This was a powerful read that I highly recommend for young adult collections. 

I thought this was just a story of a football player and had no idea who this man was, but now I’m a huge fan! He shares his upbringing and how he got into football along with how he came to live his true self and be an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community he proudly is a part of. He gets detailed about his love life and football that felt a little repetitive so some parts I maybe hard skimmed to get the gist but overall this was a solid memoir. 

I thought this was a fine memoir about a journalist who also covered the infamous Murdaugh Murders. It all started with a boat accident in 2019 and the powerful/untouchable Murdaugh family and then ended in a murder conviction that made national news. I guess I was living under a rock because I hadn’t heard of this at all, so I’m glad I read this to catch up on everything. I liked Mandy Matney also sharing about her start in journalism, including the highs and lows, but the investigation itself was the best part of this read. 

I was hyped for this book when I first heard about it and it was even better!!! It was delightful and fun and 90s and had great artwork and lettering. I loved the messages different faiths coming together to fight evil and also the ones about acceptance and loving one another (though told through a really goofy/interesting plot of fighting demons). There were a few plots that didn’t fully flesh out, but I would highly recommend this one for the nostalgia alone, and also because it was a quite a ride of a read

This was a solid read as a reflective look at colonial trauma and healing for Indigenous young adults. As someone not Indigenous I thought it was eye-opening and informative. The books centers Indigenous readers and finding hope, healing, and background about a history of violence and identity. The format was very readable and there was lots of straightforward passages with lots of graphics, text boxes and bullet points, as well as warnings for difficult topics, and lots of quotations from Indigenous folks highlighting a lot of experiences and feelings. There was a nice list of resources and references at the end as well. This is a must-buy for high school libraries and a must-read for all educators. 

This was such an interesting collection of poems with a lovely organization to the overall book. You’d have an intro blurb from the poet, then the poem, then an essay of commentary and analysis from Pádraig Ó Tuama. I feel like I learned more about how to understand and read poetry from his commentary and it gave me better insight overall about a lot of different perspectives and experiences. There’s a podcast that I’m may check out just because I enjoyed this collection so much. 

I don’t know if I 100% understand what I read but it was still beautiful.