This Kid Lit version of IMWAYR focuses primarily on books marketed for kids and teens, but books for readers of all ages are shared. We love this community and how it offers opportunities to share and recommend books with each other. The original IMWAYR, with an adult literature focus, was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.
The Kid Lit IMWAYR was co-created by Kellee & Jen at Teach Mentor Texts.
I post about my reading here, at the YA blog Rich in Color and as crystalreading at Storygraph.
The Past Week Or So: I have been out of the habit of posting on Mondays now for a few months, but I won't try to post everything I've been reading since March because that would be too much. ;)
Young Adult: I've been reading several nonfiction books for young adults lately and some contemporary fiction.
Generation Queer: Stories of Youth Organizers Artists and Educators by Kimm Topping illustrated by Anshika Khullar - I'll review this at Rich in Color later this week, but it is an excellent collection of short biographies of LGBTQ+ leaders with great illustrations.
Future Millionaire: A Young Person's Step-by-Step Guide to Making WEALTH Inevitable by Rachel Rodgers - nonfiction self help book that has a lot of good advice for creating wealth. I listened to the audio and found a lot of the tips to seem helpful and some of them to seem a little unrealistic, but overall, it would be a good book for someone interested in learning some financial skills and skills for navigating the job market.
Eliza, from Scratch by Sophia Lee was a fun rom-com revolving around an academically motivated young woman getting placed in a culinary arts class against her will and being paired with someone who has less than average grades. It was interesting to see a character who is used to getting A's actually struggle with assignments because they are hands on and she didn't have prior cooking knowledge. She begins to get help with her mother and it really reminded me of Robin Ha's experience with her mom that she shares in the graphic novel Cook Korean! I shared about that here.
A Constellation of Minor Bears by Jen Ferguson is a contemporary story that I really wanted to read because the brother of the main character had a fall while in a climbing gym with her best friend. She is working through the anger and grief and the many emotions around that while traveling along the Pacific Coast Trail. I climb and hike and had to manage a lot of the same emotions after a major climbing fall a few years ago that resulted in a temporary disability (about eight months of braces, crutches, or wheelchair) and a major surgery. The book takes a good look at disability and how we see recovery, but also has a splintered friendship and a bit of a romance. Several characters are Indigenous and there are themes around identity and family. It is complex and was well done.
Run Like a Girl by Amaka Egbe is another contemporary that I was looking forward to. I reviewed it at Rich in Color. The surgery after my climbing injury happened three years ago and in just the past few weeks I had finally started to run again. I had tried off and on over the past year, but it always felt like a bicycle chain that wasn't quite on correctly. My knee is now cooperating and feels smooth, but it sure took a long time to get to that. I enjoyed reading Dera's story though it didn't actually get into a lot of details about running. I still appreciated this story about a young woman who transfers to a school that doesn't haven't a girls' track team so she has to run with the guys and all of the complications that accompany that. There's also a touch of romance.
Middle Grade: I finally read The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon by Grace Lin and it was a delight. The design of the book is extraordinary and the story is, like many of Grace Lin's books, filled with stories within the story and characters that are endearing.
Currently Reading: A friend has written a really interesting book called Until My Memory Fails Me: Mindfulness Practices for Cultivating Resilience and Self-Compassion in the Face of Cognitive Decline. It comes out tomorrow and I have been reading an advanced copy. Sharon had an early Alzheimer diagnosis and looked for books and couldn't find what she wanted and needed so she decided to write for herself and others who will follow her. She's a former hospital chaplain (who worked with my husband back in La Crosse) and has a lot to offer people going through the same thing or who have loved ones who are traveling this path.
The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa with translator Louise Heal Kawai is one of those that I've found on Japanese and Korean cozy book lists like this one. I have been reading quite a few of these since the election in the fall. They're usually about 200 pages or less, often have tight communities and nice happy endings and often feature cats and/or coffee or good food. It's lovely escapism that feels like getting a hug. Even though I don't drink coffee and am allergic to cats, in a book it works for me. This one has a teen main character so it almost feels like YA, but I think it is marketed to adults.
I've started listening to Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor, but am not sure if I will stick with it because it apparently involves time travel and that's one thing that my mind really rebels at in books. I'll give it a few more chapters at least, but may drop it.
I was lucky enough to go to the Bay Area Book Festival this weekend and picked up some new books there like Zetta Elliott's prequel to the Dragons in a Bag series, Kaya of the Ocean by Gloria Huang, the Glade by Naseem Jamnia and a few others so will likely be reading some of those next.
Have a great week full of wonderful reading!
