molly_dettmann's reviews
1817 reviews

What a dark read that sheds light on 4 older teens as they struggle in the poverty and violence that surrounds them on the island of Mauritius. Its short but powerful prose makes this a story I couldn’t put down and also will not forget. 

This was an interesting format and read and I’m excited it got picked up as a mini series because some metaphors maybe went over my head and seeing will hopefully clear up and bring life to some of the story I maybe didn’t all the way get. 

So I wouldn’t have any idea what was happening or any clue how to pronounce any thing if I hadn’t seen the movie. I was inspired to read this after seeing the movie and discovering the character Duncan Idaho. Duncan Idaho was indeed as much of a highlight in book form as in movie form. I don’t think I’ll continue anymore of the series but now I can say I read it and get the story a little more and that Duncan Idaho is the best book character ever. 

The artwork is wonderful and the flow and length of it make for a great readaloud and conversation starter or lesson opener about what it means to be a citizen for little kids. 

So I’m late to the game on Jo Boaler, but glad I know her now because this was an incredible book about teaching. While the examples and the focus are on math, I would recommend any educator check this particular title out because I was taking some notes I think could be useful across subjects (so a total win for me as a librarian). This was informative and reflective and made me want to incorporate more reflective practices in my teaching, but also read quick, had illustrations, and was just a warm fuzzy of a read. 

Rex Ogle has told his life story in a variety of books, but this one was one of the darkest chapters of his life. This part was hinted at in Don’t Forget Me, Abuela, and I knew it would be difficult but wow, I’m grateful Rex made it through this time to tell us about it and hopefully change some minds and hearts with it. I just want to give poor 17-year-old Rex the love, acceptance, and safety his father chose not to give Rex when he kicked Rex out of his home for being gay. Because he was on his own Rex faced homelessness, domestic violence, and a lot of other awful and scary things just because he was who he was. Ugh! I hate that this happens to so many LGBTQ+ youth and applaud Rex for sharing his story and living his best life, and giving so many experiencing similar situations hope.  

All of these authors really stuck hard to the theme of collecting, some a little too much on the nose for my taste. Out of all of the stories I like A Recording for Carole Before It All Goes the best. Play House grew on me the more I thought about it, as did Ring of Fire. Pool Bandits was good but drug on a bit. The White Savior Does Not Save the Day was interesting and I liked mix of story and screenplay. Overall this was a very mixed bag and I don’t necessarily know who to recommend this to or which stories I could use with classes and probably wouldn’t have bought it for my school library if it hadn’t had won the Printz.  

This book took a second to get into but then I was wrapped up in Johannes story and trying to free the bison, and all the adventures that happened in between. There were some humorous bits as well that made me smile. I’m not sure if kids would really get into it but if they like animals they might find it quirky and fun. 

This reminded me of Song of Achilles and Julie Berry’s Lovely War. I see why so many people have liked and recommended it to me and it lived up to the hype for me! I started it over morning coffee and finished by early afternoon because h was so engrossed in this story. The ending was not what I expected but I didn’t mind it. 

An interesting look at the 2020s culture war around public schools with a whole chapter on school libraries. This felt like a rehash of news reports and nothing particularly revolutionary. I do feel like while it opens with and fact checks a Moms for Liberty conference it seemed to just lay out what’s been happening and objectively trying to dispel some myths about public schools. I really enjoyed seeing friends quoted in it speaking about the truth of how school libraries run!