It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs and comment to spread the love.

If you want to know more about what I am reading, visit me at my Goodreads shelf. Cover images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

Last week on the blog:

Celebrating Exchange Students

Last week in books:

I read A Wish After Midnight and The Door at the Crossroads for the Rich in Color book discussion coming soon. I am not usually into time travel, but these are really well done. I'll talk more about them during the discussion, but Zetta Elliott has created two very compelling novels that take place both during the U.S. Civil War and the the year of 9/11. The books deal with family and romantic relationships, but also with racism and social issues in a unique way. I'm eager to see how she follows up with the characters in the third book. 

You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen is a middle grade book written in verse and tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen in a clear and compact way. I appreciated the way she is able to deliver the information in such small packages. I wasn't bowled over by the poetry, but was impressed by the way she was able to tell the story succinctly. The back matter was great too. There is an  interesting timeline and a great collection of resources which included links to great primary sources.

It Looks Like This was one that may require tissues. I hope that isn't too much of a spoiler. It was emotional, but I am not sure I would hand it to a gay teen because of things that happen in the book. It would maybe be a great one to hand to a parent struggling after their child has just come out. Maybe. I appreciated Dahlia Adler's review (beware it's a little spoiler-y) after I read it. I also really enjoyed the same quote she liked in the book. A gay teen says this to a parent, "This will always be harder for me than it is for you, so get over yourself."

Little Red Gliding Hood is a cute re-telling. It includes many aspects of Little Red Riding Hood, but it is a completely different story. One thing I liked was how many folk/fairytale characters were included in the story.

The Coming Week:
I'm listening to the Alexander Hamilton book by Chernow and I'm reading Rani Patel in Full Effect in preparation for an interview and review. Other than that, I may read some picture books, but I'm not sure if I will get to very much with school starting this week. It is sure to be a week full of excitement, but I'm betting not much reading will happen. 

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge - 429/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2016 - 197/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)
LGBTQIA Challenge - 28/31
ReadPOC Challenge - 139/125
#MustReadin2016 - 23/54
Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - 79/100
Around the World with Books 2016

Celebrating Exchange Students

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on weekends where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every week.

This week I celebrate having exchange students. We hosted a student from Germany for ten months. We hosted a girl from Japan for one month. We hosted a boy from South Korea for 11 months. Now, we have a girl from Brazil staying with us for about 6 months.

Hosting students has been both a challenge and a blessing. It's a bit daunting to bring a stranger into our home knowing that we have committed to keeping them and parenting them too. At the same time it's also very exciting to meet someone new, find out about another culture and form relationships with them and their family.

Without sharing too much about our new student, I will just say that we are truly blessed to have her with us and I hope that we are able to make her stay here a positive learning experience.

We've spent the past few weeks getting to know each other and touring around our community. It's a great way to remind ourselves about why we've chosen to live here and what treasures are around us.

I feel almost like an advertisement for hosting exchange students, but it is certainly a life changing experience not only for the students, but for the families they stay with too. I'm glad we've had the opportunity to do this so many times.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs and comment to spread the love.

If you want to know more about what I am reading, visit me at my Goodreads shelf. Cover images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

On the blogs:

Review of Labyrinth Lost at Rich in Color

Not much else happening as I took my youngest to college, helped my oldest move to a new apartment and got my new exchange student settled in along with training for an upcoming half marathon. Ack!

Last two weeks in books:

All three of these were for review. I had a final copy of Playing for the Devil's Fire and ARCs of Another Brooklyn and Labyrinth Lost. I'll review Playing for the Devil's Fire next week at Rich in Color. I enjoyed the story though it's a rough one. I'll review Another Brooklyn here soon. It was one that made me look to my own past. It also made me think. Labyrinth Lost was a fun adventure (see above for more) and was a great escape type of story.

My audio of the Nelson Mandela book expired for a second time and I still wasn't 3/4 of the way through so I am going to move on to something else for a while. My hold for the Chernow book about Hamilton was available so I'll try that until it expires before I can finish. I think audio books should definitely have a longer checkout time especially when they are so massively long.

The Coming Week: I've started reading A Wish Before Midnight for the Rich in Color book discussion coming soon. When I finish that, I'll move on to The Door at the Crossroads. With school meetings starting this week, that may be all I read. I'm enjoying the first one so far. Happy reading!

Reading Challenge Updates:

Goodreads Challenge - 424/550
Diversity on the Shelf 2016 - 191/225 (goal = 50% of my books by and/or about POC)
LGBTQIA Challenge - 27/31
ReadPOC Challenge - 136/125
#MustReadin2016 - 23/54
Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - 77/100
Around the World with Books 2016

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs and comment to spread the love.

If you want to know more about what I am reading, visit me at my Goodreads shelf. Cover images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

Group Book Discussion at Rich in Color

Review of The Last Cherry Blossom

Last Week in Books:

 

I'm running off to Minneapolis to pick up our exchange student so I won't thoroughly review the books, but really enjoyed Save Me a Seat, Maxi's Secrets and Monsoon Diary. I had mixed feelings about the new Harry Potter book. Gifts, was interesting, but not enthralling. 

The Coming Week:

I'm still listening to A Long Walk to Freedom by Mandela. I just started reading the ARC of Jacqueline Woodson's newest book which is for adults. Since our exchange student is arriving today, my reading will likely slow down. Have a great week!

Review: The Last Cherry Blossom

Title: The Last Cherry Blossom

Author: Kathleen Burkinshaw

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Pages: 240

Genre: Historical Fiction

Review copy: Digital ARC via publisher

Availability: On shelves now

Summary: Yuriko was happy growing up in Hiroshima when it was just her and Papa. But her aunt Kimiko and her cousin Genji are living with them now, and the family is only getting bigger with talk of a double marriage! And while things are changing at home, the world beyond their doors is even more unpredictable. World War II is coming to an end, and Japan's fate is not entirely clear, with any battle losses being hidden from its people. Yuriko is used to the sirens and the air-raid drills, but things start to feel more real when the neighbors who have left to fight stop coming home. When the bomb hits Hiroshima, it’s through Yuriko’s twelve-year-old eyes that we witness the devastation and horror. 

This is a story that offers young readers insight into how children lived during the war, while also introducing them to Japanese culture. Based loosely on author Kathleen Burkinshaw’s mother’s firsthand experience surviving the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, The Last Cherry Blossom hopes to warn readers of the immense damage nuclear war can bring, while reminding them that the “enemy” in any war is often not so different from ourselves.

Review: The Last Cherry Blossom pulled me into the past and held me there from beginning to end. Yuriko and her family are living in wartime Japan and the author brings readers into their daily life. I thought that the book was mostly going to be about the bomb in Hiroshima, but the vast majority of the book is about life before the bomb. Readers get to see into the everyday activities and worries of children during the war. It was interesting to find out that in the media the government was narrating a story about the war that was inconsistent with what was actually happening. Though the news was announcing victories, you see the clues piling up that show a country at the end of its rope. There is no more metal for constructing more planes, they're looking for alternative fuel because they are running out and they have enough workers to be making more things, but there simply aren't enough supplies.

Aside from the war issues, Yuriko is slowly discovering secrets within her family. These secrets will shake her world. Fortunately, Yuriko has a good support system. I love seeing Yuriko's relationships with her family and with her best friend Machiko. Again, the author seemed to aim for showing everyday interactions and typical activities. I really got a sense of what life would have been like for a wealthy young Japanese girl during the war. With Machiko, we also got to see what it was like for someone with less money and standing. Machiko eventually has to start working in a factory by order of the government.

And then there is the bomb. Obviously, that is a disturbing part of the book. There is no way to make that day easy to recount. The fear, death, pain, and gruesomeness of such an event is evident. This is an ugly piece of history seen through the eyes of a young girl. War is terrifying and deadly. It's a truth expressed clearly through Yuriko's experiences. This would be an excellent book to use for discussion around war and how it affects the individual people in a country.

Readers may want to have some tissues handy, but Yuriko does have a bit of hope at the end which keeps it from being entirely overwhelming for sensitive readers.

Following the story, Burkinshaw provides an afterword explaining how the book came to be. It was loosely based on memories of her mother who grew up in Hiroshima and was twelve when the bomb was dropped. She also included a selected bibliography and information about the Japanese words in the book along with a glossary. One thing that had a big impact on me was the page of statistics. When I looked at the numbers after having been immersed in the lives of the people affected, I was overwhelmed. 80,000 people died immediately and 140,000+ died within the next five years. The loss of life is staggering.

Recommendation: This is an excellent choice for readers who enjoy historical fiction. It would be a great addition to classroom and school libraries especially if WWII is part of the curriculum and would be perfect for a book club or discussion group.