Book Beat Reviews

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy

Hi, my name is Rya. I am a sophomore and I enjoy reading, swimming and traveling.

The Miss Teen Blue Bell Pageant is the pride and joy of Clover City, Texas. When pageant season rolls around, competitors become obsessed with how to impress the judges, where to buy the most flattering dresses, and what the best way to slim down before the competition is. But for Willowdean, slimming down is not a concern. As someone who is overweight, Will plans to compete in the pageant by defying beauty stereotypes and walking onto the stage with utmost confidence.

While trying to achieve her goal, Will is still mourning the death of an aunt, who was like a mother to her. She must also navigate a complicated love triangle while overcoming her self-consciousness, and journey through the perils of broken and new friendships.

At first glance, this book seems to be a solid read, but I was quite underwhelmed by it. Personally, I found the plot to be weak and the characters to be lacking in dimension and likability. Upon finishing the book, I was not left with any significant life lessons, besides the anecdote that this book is obviously based on: to be confident in who you are. Although this message is valuable, I didn’t feel that this book brought any new meaning to an otherwise cliche saying. That said, Dumplin’ was a simple read that kept me turning the pages more easily than I would have for many other books, so it might be worth a try if it sounds interesting to you.

Find the book, ebook and eaudiobook here.

It Ain’t so Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas

Hi, I am Sarah. I am fourteen years old and an avid reader; it is one of my favorite things to do. Inspired by authors’ creations of magnificent places and surprising havens built by simple letters, I aspire to be an author and, meanwhile, nurture the love to write.

Zomorod Yousefzadeh is just a normal teenage girl. At least, that’s all she wants to be. After bouncing between Iran, her home country, and California for most of her life, she’s ready to just settle down somewhere and not stick out like a sore, Persian thumb. She decides to go by Cindy, hoping for a Brady-Brunch level of American normalcy, and tries to get her mom to learn English so she no longer has to be her translator.

As she starts the sixth grade, everything is looking great: new friends who are actually interested in her, great Halloween costumes, Girl Scouts, the whole shebang. But it’s the late 1970s and the political unrest in Iran is mounting. Suddenly everyone knows about Iran, and everyone’s asking Cindy about what the heck is going on in her home country—but for all the wrong reasons. As protests turn into full-on revolution turn into the taking of American hostages, Cindy feels less and less safe in her new school, and in the country that has been her home for much of her life.

In this hilarious, wonderfully written semi-autobiography, Firoozeh Dumas explores the complicated notion of otherness, and what it really means to see someone for who they are, culture and all. Cindy’s story is an ode to kindness, and to the importance of the way we respond the stories we are told, and the way we tell our own stories in the future.

Find it in print and ebook here.

Santiago’s Road Home by Alexandra Diaz

Hi my name is Kire. I am in 6th grade and I love to read. Other than reading I like to do gymnastics and play viola.

Santiago’s Road Home is the kind of book that puts you on the edge of your seat, and makes you want to finish the book as fast as you can. The book follows a twelve-year-old boy who is trying to flee an abusive home in Mexico. After a couple of days living in an old beat-up barn by himself, Santiago runs into a kind lady named Maria Dolores and her daughter, Alegria. Maria Dolores is going to the United States to work at her sister’s restaurant. This sparks Santiago’s interest as he wants to get as far away as he can from his abusive grandma. Santiago asks Maria Dolores if he can come with them, and just like that they are all off onto a dangerous journey to the United States.

The journey is treacherous, as they must cross the desert. They almost make it, but as they are getting to the border, they faint from dehydration. Santiago ends up in an immigration detention center at the border of the U.S. and Mexico. What will become of Alegria, Maria Dolores, and Santiago? You will have to read to find out. In my opinion, this is one of the best books I have ever read, and I would highly recommend this to people who love a story that is really interesting and makes you want to keep reading.

Find it in print here.

Solito by Javier Zamora

Hi, I am Sarah. I am fourteen years old and an avid reader; it is one of my favorite things to do. Inspired by authors’ creations of magnificent places and surprising havens built by simple letters, I aspire to be an author and, meanwhile, nurture the love to write.

What were you doing when you were nine? I was a happy fourth grader, playing games with my friends after school, and reading books about characters who had wild adventures. Every night, I came home to my parents. Javier Zamora, on the other hand, was on his own “wild adventure.” A three-thousand-mile journey, from his home in El Salvador to his parents, whom he hadn’t seen in years, off in the U.S. And he was doing it alone.

When Javier embarked on this trip, April 1999, he could only think about what it would be like to see his parents after so long of only hearing their voices through the phone. He had no idea of the challenges that stood before him and the U.S. border; that the simple line on the map would stretch into a trip of terrifying desert treks, boat trips, and dangerous, gun-filled bus rides. He didn’t know the two weeks he expected would turn into two months, and that the migrants he traveled with in order to see his family again to become his makeshift family and surround him with love.

Solito is a testament to strength: the strength to leave home for a hopeful other, the strength to face border patrol and harsh deportation and the unforgiving immigration policies of America. Most of all, it celebrates the strength of hope and the power to keep it—even when you’re nine years old, on an impossible journey.

Find it in print and eaudiobook here.

Medusa by Jessie Burton

I am Sarah. I am sixteen years old and an avid reader; it is one of my favorite things to do. Inspired by all the amazing stories built by simple letters, I aspire to be an author and, meanwhile, nurture the love to write.

We all know the myth of Medusa: a beautiful girl, caught up in a godly scandal, scorned by the powerful goddess Athena for desecrating her sacred temple. Athena turns her gorgeous locks into a head full of snakes, and, just to make sure she never forms a relationship again, curses Medusa’s gaze to turn anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with her to stone.

Essentially, Medusa commits a crime, godly justice is bestowed, and she becomes the fearsome, serpentine monster we know and hate.
But Jessie Burton proves that there’s way more to the story.

You open this book ready to meet a monster. But instead, you’re seeing a windy exile, through the eyes of a lonely, cursed eighteen-year-old girl. Medusa is reeling, confronted with her new features, unable to grasp the concept of her newfound immortality. And just when she fears she can’t get any lonelier, a boat arrives at her island, carrying a person (a friend): Perseus.

But we know how this story ends, and who Medusa will fall to. After all, the golden boy always defeats the monster. Only, is Medusa the monster he’s after?

Peppered with breathtaking illustrations, Burton retells Medusa’s story the way it really happened. This powerful almost-romance perfectly captures themes of consent, abuse of power, and ultimately, believing in yourself and your own identity no matter what lives on your head. They say we can all learn from ancient stories, but this? This is the beautiful, relevant lesson for every one of us.

Find it in print here.

I Will Always Write Back by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda, with Liz Wench

Hi, I am Sarah. I am sixteen years old and an avid reader; it is one of my favorite things to do. Inspired by all the amazing stories built by simple letters, I aspire to be an author and, meanwhile, nurture the love to write.

The world is a big place. Seven continents, one hundred and ninety-six countries, eight billion people—millions of different cultures and life experiences.

Caitlin Alifirenka‘s life experience is that of a typical American teenager. She lives in the suburbs of Pennsylvania, loves shopping on the weekends, and thinks of school as just another thing she’s got to do. Early in her seventh-grade year, however, something changes. Caitlyn’s class gets pen pals, and suddenly—through internationally traveling letters—the world gets a little smaller.

Martin Ganda, Caitlyn’s Zimbabwean pen pal, lives a life vastly different than his American friend. He shares a one-room house not only with his parents and five siblings but with another family like his. He loves school with a passion, in part because, unlike Caitlyn, it isn’t something he can ever take for granted.

Through a six-and-a-half-year pen pal correspondence, the two form an unlikely friendship that changes the course of both of their lives forever. Caitlyn’s eyes are opened to the world beyond her town, sparking compassion and a desire to learn, and eventually, a drive to help others in need. Martin finds not only a lifelong friend, but also a lifeline when poverty falls on his family and threatens to take away his education. I Will Always Write Back inspires anyone who reads it not to be afraid to look a little farther and learn a little bit more about this massive, amazing world we live in—and the people in it whom we might meet.

Find it in print and audiobook here.