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