Review of May the Best Player Win, by Kyla Zhao

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

May the Best Player Win

by Kyla Zhao

G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2024. 225 pages.
Review written October 28, 2024, from a book sent to me by the publisher.
Starred Review

May the Best Player Win is about a middle school student named May who loves playing chess. As the book opens, she wins a trophy for being the top girl player at the State Middle School competition.

That gets her lots of attention from her school, and even from the media – but also prompts some jealousy from her competition on her own team. She thought Ralph was her friend, and they tied at the competition, but he tells her she’s not really that good and is only getting the attention because she’s a girl. So that starts a bet between them over which one will be named team captain when they compete at Nationals.

Meanwhile, her school’s doing a publicity campaign, and they pair May up with Mario, a soccer star, who turns out to be nice as well as athletic. But May needs to keep working on her chess game, and her friend Becca (who’s also on the team) wants time with her, and the school schedules picture-taking with Mario. When May starts telling little white lies to keep her schedule straight, Becca feels hurt.

This book does a great job of portraying middle school concerns and middle school pressures. We’re with May in her struggles to prioritize it all. And I like the natural way she gets to thinking about regaining her joy in playing chess that she had when she started playing at six years old, when she wasn’t thinking so much about winning.

The book gives each chapter a title that’s a chess term, with its definition, and they all fit remarkably well. It does a nice job of giving us the feel of what goes into being a serious chess player without getting lost in the details. It also felt like a genuine explanation of the game without hand-waving or magical abilities that just make the player “good” – I suspect because the author reveals at the back that she learned to play chess at six years old, like May – but later dropped out after encountering discrimination and criticism of girls and feeling pressured to win. I love that she’s got May facing those same obstacles and overcoming. May this be true for more and more girls today.

I love her letter to the reader at the back of the book (and the story is strong enough to carry it), which ends like this:

I hope May’s adventures inspire you to hold on to the joy of playing – in chess or in any activity you choose. Don’t let the weight of expectations dim the sparkle of your love for the game. Don’t let others tell you whether you are or aren’t good enough, because the only thing that should matter is your passion and determination. So, keep playing, keep dreaming, and most importantly, enjoy every moment on and off the chessboard.

KylaZhao.com

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Review of Sunrise Nights, by Jeff Zentner and Brittany Cavallaro

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Romance, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Sunrise Nights

by Jeff Zentner and Brittany Cavallaro
read by Alexandra Hunter and Michael Crouch

Quill Tree Books, 2024. 7 hours, 28 minutes.
Review written October 30, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Sunrise Nights is a sweet young adult romance described by the publisher as a “novel in verse and dialogue.” Since I was listening to it, I didn’t realize the verse was there until I got to a few spots that were artistically poetry. Most of the book read as the girl and the boy describing their night.

And the book takes place during three all-night parties at the end of a summer camp for the arts. Florence is there for dance, and Jude is there for photography. They don’t meet until the last night – Sunrise Night – of their first year in the program. They go out on the town, and they hit it off in ways that are delightful to witness. Then they make a pact not to contact each other until the next Sunrise Night the following year.

Their first night together, Jude has a girlfriend. So that keeps them both from acknowledging their attraction. The second Sunrise Night, Florence has a boyfriend. But, well, the discussion between the two of them makes her rethink that.

And still, despite Jude saying he’s not going to let a simple misunderstanding make this like a teen rom com, they still don’t talk about their attraction until the third Sunrise Night.

I like that Florence and Jude are nuanced characters. Florence is losing her ability to dance because she has a deteriorating eye condition that destroys her balance. Jude is the first person besides her parents that she’s talked with about it. Jude has OCD that is undiagnosed until he takes Florence’s suggestion to see a therapist. He only knows the first year that his thoughts spiral. He’s also hurting because his parents recently split up, and he’s afraid that he drives away love.

It all adds up to a sweet story of two teens who are open with one another and find a listening ear when they need it most. But then they go a year between these times of connection. Which builds exactly the right amount of romantic tension.

jeffzentnerbooks.com
brittanycavallaro.com

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Review of The It Girl, by Ruth Ware, read by Imogen Church

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Fiction Review, Mystery, Starred Review, Suspense 0

The It Girl

by Ruth Ware
read by Imogen Church

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2023. 17 hours, 9 minutes.
Review written August 9, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Well, I have to confess – as I began listening to this audiobook, I was sure right from the start that I knew who the killer was and that I’ve been listening to too many Ruth Ware books. Reader, I was wrong. I’ll say no more except that she can still keep me guessing! And even when I thought I knew the solution, the story still kept me listening.

The It Girl is about a murder that happened ten years ago at an Oxford college to April Clarke-Cliveden, the roommate of Hannah Jones, at the end of their first year.

April was everything Hannah wasn’t, beautiful and rich and popular. She did have a habit of playing practical jokes that edged on mean-spirited, and she obviously wasn’t faithful to her boyfriend Will – a guy Hannah had a crush on – but April was vibrant and alive and drew a circle of friends around them.

As the book opens in the present, the man who was convicted for April’s murder, the creepy porter of their college, has died in prison, still maintaining his innocence. It all makes Hannah very uneasy, since she gave the evidence that put him away. Could she have been wrong?

We get the story told us “Before” and “After” – the story leading up to April’s death, their happy days at Oxford, and in the present, ten years later, with Hannah happily married to Will and expecting their first child. But a reporter who’s friends with one of their friends from Oxford gets under Hannah’s skin with the idea that maybe that porter wasn’t guilty after all.

And yes, Ruth Ware managed to surprise me. She tells a story so engaging it’s hard to stop listening, with characters you feel like you know, and then she adds a compelling mystery with of course danger to the main character when she learns too much, too late.

There are still some Ruth Ware books I haven’t read, and let’s see how long I can stand to wait before putting the next one on hold.

ruthware.com

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Review of Death at Morning House, by Maureen Johnson, read by Katherine Littrell

Contemporary, Mystery, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Death at Morning House

by Maureen Johnson
read by Katherine Littrell

HarperTeen, 2024. 9 hours, 23 minutes.
Review written October 28, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

I believe that in reading this book, I’ve caught up on all the Maureen-Johnson-authored murder mysteries. And they’re good! As you can tell from her guidebook for adults, Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village, she knows the conventions of the great mystery novels and how to use them to create something modern and new.

Death at Morning House is a stand-alone murder mystery, not part of the Stevie Bell Truly Devious series, but like those books, there’s a place where mysterious deaths happened almost a hundred years ago – and there’s a more recent death – and then someone goes missing in the novel’s present day. We do get the story of the old deaths slowly revealed, and our teen protagonist Marlowe Wexler discovers clues to the modern-day deaths. And yes, finding those clues puts Marlowe in great danger – in this book, before she even knows who’s responsible.

As the book opens, it’s the start of summer, and Marlowe is taking the girl she’s long had a crush on to her aunt and uncle’s cabin – a place Marlowe is paid to watch over in their absence. Marlowe had gotten a special scented candle in a scent her crush likes – and while they are kissing, the candle explodes and the house sustains serious fire damage.

Marlowe does not respond well. She’s afraid to talk to her crush. She becomes famous in her small town as a pyromaniac (even though the police confirm it was an accident), and she decides the only way to cope is to mope around in bed.

But then her history teacher tells Marlowe about an opportunity to spend the summer on an island in the St. Lawrence River, part of a team of teens offering tours of a historic home there. It sounds like a great way to get out of town, but the teacher doesn’t tell Marlowe that the reason there’s an opening is that one of the local teens who was planning to be there recently died at a party after prom. And part of the history of the house is the two children who died there from the original family that owned the house.

It all adds up to a great story with interesting characters and a strong sense of place. And of course, a big storm comes in not long after someone new goes missing, so there’s no way to get off the island for help if anything bad should happen.

I have to say that I am completely on board with Maureen Johnson’s recent trend of writing mysteries. She’s good! The situations and characters are varied, but there’s always an intriguing puzzle and characters you enjoy spending time with – and hope will stay alive.

maureenjohnsonbooks.com

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Review of We Are Big Time, written by Hena Khan, illustrated by Safiya Zerrougui

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Graphic Novel 0

We Are Big Time

written by Hena Khan
illustrated by Safiya Zerrougui

Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. 233 pages.
Review written October 9, 2024, from a library book.

This graphic novel opens as Aliyah and her family are moving from Tampa to Milwaukee, to be near her grandparents. Aliyah’s not happy about it. She misses the beaches, her school, her friends, her neighborhood, the sunshine, and her basketball team.

In Milwaukee, everything is bigger – bigger house, a bigger job for her dad, and a bigger family with their grandparents and other relatives. But it makes Aliyah feel small.

And it turns out that her school is bigger, too. It’s a private Muslim school, Peace Academy. And they have a girls’ basketball team! Historically, though, they’ve always been pretty bad.

From there, this becomes a classic sports graphic novel. The school has hired a new coach who’s not Muslim but has great basketball skills. Aliyah’s named as co-captain, even though she’s a Freshman new to the school, and she has a lot of self-doubt.

But something interesting about this team is that all the girls wear a hijab. Their uniforms cover their arms and legs. And that seems to be what other people pay attention to.

So when they start turning things around and winning ball games, they get some media attention – and they seem surprised that Muslim families are supportive of their girls playing basketball, and that the girls can play just fine with longer uniforms and head scarves.

This graphic novel gets you cheering for these girls, who learn to work together as a team, represent their community, and have a whole lot of fun.

henakhan.com
safiyaz.com
rhcbooks.com

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Review of Unbecoming, by Seema Yasmin

Contemporary, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Unbecoming

by Seema Yasmin

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2024. 352 pages.
Review written October 21, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

Unbecoming is just barely speculative fiction – may it continue to be speculative! It’s about a near-future United States where abortion is illegal, and so is any and all type of hormonal pill. So birth control pills are illegal, as is hormone replacement therapy and IVF.

Our two teen protagonists, Laylah and Noor, are seniors in high school living in Texas in a Muslim community. Laylah is active with the mosque youth group, but Noor has been staying away for a couple years. They are working together to write an online website called “A Texas Teen’s Guide to Safe Abortion.”

But as the book opens, Laylah is in a sketchy mobile clinic disguised as a taco truck – and learns that she is pregnant.

This does not fit with her plans to go to medical school and become a doctor. She would like to take the abortion pill within 70 days since her last period – the time when it’s effective – but that clinic is out of them and says they’re impossible to find in Texas.

So the book is about Laylah trying to pretend nothing is wrong and that she’s researching for the Guide – but trying to find a way to get the abortion pill before she runs out of time. Her adventures include a couple of dangerous scenarios, and the clock is ticking the whole time. (If she has to get a surgical abortion, she’s told she’ll have to go to Mexico.)

Meanwhile, Noor is working to become an investigative journalist, and she’s convinced the wife of the iman and leader of the mosque’s youth group is up to something shady with mosque funds. But she doesn’t want to tell Laylah, because Laylah trusts the woman. And on top of this there are family expectations, not to mention the expectations of all the ladies in their community. So both Laylah and Noor have secrets from each other and feel guilty about it.

This is a good book to read before the election – may it never come true!

Now, if you believe abortion is murder (as I once did), this might be hard to read. Laylah doesn’t give a thought to the beginning life inside her and can be taken as an example of someone who forgot to use birth control and now is paying the price. (It didn’t help that the birth control pill is illegal, but her partner didn’t use a condom, either, and she’s kicking herself.)

But hold on. Even if you believe that, this book illustrates the exact thing that made me stop being a one-issue voter about abortion. Why would banning abortion work any better than Prohibition did? If you pass a law that the majority do not feel is right – it’s going to become a matter of pride and virtue to help people get around that law. All the mobile clinics, including the sketchy ones, the teen guide – you’d better believe a whole network would rise up to subvert the law. It would end up being only the people with the most resources and connections who could find safe treatment, but definitely a movement would rise up.

Either way, you’re going to have sympathy for a teen who made one bad decision, knows she did, and now must deal with the consequences. Seema Yasmin tells a good story about interesting characters. Oh, and there’s a historical story in this book about her grandmother in India who almost got involuntarily sterilized by her government in the 1970s. (I had no idea that happened.) Controlling people’s reproductivity has a long history.

This book gives you a good story, but it also makes you think.

seemayasmin.com

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Review of Ash’s Cabin, by Jen Wang

Contemporary, Graphic Novel, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Ash’s Cabin

by Jen Wang

First Second, 2024. 320 pages.
Review written October 8, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

This is a gorgeous and thoughtful graphic novel about a nonbinary teen named Ash who doesn’t feel like their family gets them. They often use Ash’s former name (shown with a black bar over it in the speech bubble) and use the pronoun “her” to talk about them. Ash thinks about the environment and climate change more than the people around them. They still miss their Grandpa Edwin, who died a couple of years ago. Fortunately, Ash still has Chase, the dog Grandpa Edwin gave them.

Chase is my familiar. We don’t go anywhere without each other. He knows me better than anyone else in the universe.

Ash’s family used to go to Grandpa Edwin’s ranch every summer – now owned by Ash’s uncle and aunt. Grandpa Edwin had a hidden cabin somewhere in the nearby wilderness area where he’d go when he needed to get away from people. But he never told anyone where it is.

When Ash hears their parents planning to go to Disneyworld next summer instead of the ranch, they make it very clear they want no part of that. After some negotiation, the family makes plans to take Ash to the ranch, staying with their older cousin there, to say good-by before it gets sold.

What Ash’s parents don’t know is that Ash is planning to sneak away, find Grandpa Edwin’s cabin, and stay there, with only Chase for company.

And Ash’s plan works surprisingly well. They have a few months to go through Grandpa Edwin’s journals to pinpoint the location of the cabin, and look at wilderness survival sites to figure out what supplies they’ll need and what skills they need to learn. When they get to the ranch, Ash’s cousin actually has a secret trip first – asking Ash not to tell that she’s going to spend the weekend away with friends. Ash schedules emails to their parents, and sets off into the wilderness with Chase to find the cabin.

And yes! They find the cabin and live in the wilderness for weeks. The book shows realistic setbacks as well as unexpected help. And we can see Ash learning and growing during the experience.

I squelched all my feelings about how badly I’d freak out if my kid did this and was actually impressed with all the skills Ash had learned – of course with some things they hadn’t planned for, too.

This graphic novel is a treasure, telling about a teen who discovers how strong they truly are.

jenwang.net
firstsecondbooks.com

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In a Dark, Dark Wood, by Ruth Ware, read by Imogen Church

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Fiction Review, Starred Review, Suspense 0

In a Dark, Dark Wood

by Ruth Ware
read by Imogen Church

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2015. 9 hours, 35 minutes.
Review written July 27, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Okay, you can see I’m catching up on Ruth Ware thrillers. I discovered them during my year of reading for the Newbery committee — as we weren’t listening to audiobooks of eligible titles, and they are quite the opposite of children’s books. They’re also along the same lines as the romantic suspense books or Agatha Christie books I loved in high school – only in these, the girl doesn’t get saved by the romantic hero.

In this book the death doesn’t happen until halfway through the book, but here’s the set up: Our viewpoint character is Leonora Shaw, a young writer who lives alone and enjoys her solitude. Like most Ruth Ware main characters, Imogen Church makes her sound just a tiny bit neurotic, or at least afraid she’s neurotic. Leonora has been invited to a Hen Party for her best friend when she was at school, Claire, whom she hasn’t seen in ten years. (This seems to be the British name for a Bachelorette Party.)

Nora doesn’t know why Claire invited her to the Hen Party, but not to the wedding. But she makes a pact with another school friend, Nina, to go to the weekend together.

The weekend’s happening in a house with lots of huge windows down a long, rutted driveway in the middle of the dark, dark woods in winter. Nora, out for a run, sees Claire arriving and has a little time with her privately in the car – and learns that Claire is marrying James, Nora’s high school sweetheart, and the reason she hasn’t talked with Claire – or James – for ten years. Claire says she wanted to tell Nora face to face. Nora pretends to be nonchalant and happy for Claire, but she knows full well she hasn’t gotten over James – or the thing that happened to make her leave.

The other people at the party are the oddly intense Flo, Claire’s current best friend, Melanie, who’s left her six-month-old behind and is feeling anxious, especially when the phone goes dead in the snow, and Tom, a gay actor who’s friends with Claire because of her connections to theater.

Mind you, all of this set-up is interspersed with scenes of Nora in the hospital, with police by her door, trying to remember what happened and when things began to go so very wrong.

I was proud that I did figure out whodunit and why almost right away – I think I’m getting used to Ruth Ware’s style. But that didn’t spoil the fun as I knew Nora was going to get into a dangerous situation before she figured it out.

If you’re in the mood for a thriller, you can’t go wrong with these books. They generally involve a young woman getting into an incredibly intense situation and coming out the other side discovering she has more strength than she ever gave herself credit for.

ruthware.com

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Review of I’m Sorry You Got Mad, written by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Julie Kwon

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

I’m Sorry You Got Mad

written by Kyle Lukoff
illustrated by Julie Kwon

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2024. 32 pages.
Review written October 2, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

Want to teach young children about apologies? This is the book for you!

But at the same time, the brilliance of this picture book is that it’s not a how-to book; it’s an engaging story that will make you laugh and make you care about the kids involved.

And it’s a scenario that kids will feel deeply. Read this book to kids before they need to apologize, and it will be much, much easier for them to understand when it’s needed.

The book begins with an obviously furious Jack writing notes to Zoe and throwing them in the trash. We get to read the notes as they progress. One of the first ones says this:

DEAR ZOE,
I’M SORRY YOU GOT SO MAD!!!
JACK

Dear Jack,
Please try again.
Love,
Ms. Rice

The next one adds “But it wasn’t my fault!!!” and a note from Ms. Rice to check in with her.

Later letters build the situation: Zoe built a castle and it got knocked over by accident. And then we learn that Jack thought it was really cool, but Ben and Jeremy said castles were for girls so he couldn’t play with them. And he got mad and knocked it over. (It takes many letters for us to get that story.)

Somewhere in the middle, Ms. Rice tells Jack that an apology needs three things:

1) What I did
2) That I’m sorry
3) And I’ll help you fix it.

It takes Jack many tries, and you can see his heart getting softer. Finally, we see him giving a note to Zoe:

Dear Zoe,
I’m very sorry I knocked down your castle. I know I hurt your feelings. I want to help you build a new one, if that’s okay. But you don’t have to let me.
Your Friend,
Jack

The book isn’t finished until we see Zoe’s note in reply, acknowledging that she was mad but she feels better now. And the book wraps up with a picture of them building a castle together.

Mind you, along this whole book, the pictures tell stories, too. First of Jack furiously angry. Then watching other kids having fun. Slowly softening (with setbacks). And there are two other kids who are pictured at the end angry and writing letters – so you go back and see what happened with them.

It’s all brilliant on many levels, including the simple one of modeling a sincere apology and how difficult it is to get to that place, but also telling us a story and making us care about Jack and Zoe and the restoration of their friendship.

Come to think of it, I can think of many adults who could learn from reading this to their child. And I take it as a good reminder myself.

kylelukoff.com
juliekwonart.com

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Review of This Golden State, by Marit Weisenberg

Contemporary, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

This Golden State

by Marit Weisenberg

Flatiron Books, 2022. 384 pages.
Review written September 17, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

The prologue of this book shows Poppy, almost eighteen years old, putting a DNA test in the mail. Then Chapter One begins one month earlier and as the book unfolds, we find out why she’d want to find out about her own ancestry.

Because one month earlier, Poppy was called Katie. Her friends were urging her to complete her application for the science fair with the project they’d worked on together. But instead, after school, her family picked her up in a minivan and they destroyed her SIM card and drove away without saying goodbye.

They drive to California, as the title suggests. And things are different from all the other safe houses where they’ve lived during Poppy’s life. Poppy realizes her mother has lived in this neighborhood before. Her father is uptight. And her little sister is pouting about not getting to have real friends.

Poppy doesn’t know what her parents are running from, but she knows that they are hiding from someone. All her life, her priority has been her family, but will things change now that she’s coming up on her eighteenth birthday?

Because they want Poppy to have a normal life, her parents sign her up for a summer class in advanced math, taught by a Stanford professor. She sits near a guy who’s obviously a big deal, and later she sees him at the country club pool where she gets an under-the-table babysitting job. But doing well in the class puts some interest on her. Seeing more of this guy means she starts keeping secrets from her parents. And then she gets tired of all the secrets they’re keeping from her. So she submits that DNA test. And she’s not quite ready for what she finds out when she does.

This book had me reading avidly, wanting to find out what the big secret was, as well as what would happen next. I went out on my balcony to read it for a half-hour, and instead decided to spend my afternoon that way. A thoroughly enjoyable book!

maritweisenberg.com

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