“And then, Boom!” Lisa Fipps

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. Nancy Paulsen Books (Penguin Random House). To be published May 7, 2024. 244 p.

Joe is in 6th grade with a mother who regularly disappears, leaving him with his grandmother. To understand the many changes in his life he uses comic book analogies, knowing change happens with “and then BOOM!” moments. Joe has had many of these, but the biggest came when his mother got arrested, his grandmother put her house up for bail money, but it had to be sold when his mom didn’t show up at court. Now homeless they lived in his grandmother’s car, struggling to find places to wash up and eat.

After a few weeks they found a rickety mobile home, but change came when his grandmother died. Joe’s mom returned but abandoned him. With no money or food, Joe ate the free breakfast and lunch at school plus his teacher’s snacks, but worried about the upcoming summer break. Two friends loaded him up with food before leaving for vacation, but it spoiled when the electricity was turned off. As days and weeks passed without eating, Joe was starving. Will he make it through the summer?

“And then BOOM!” is a heartbreaking story played out across this country, and the world, every day. In her foreword the author indicates Joe’s story is also her story, and she wrote it to let kids like Joe know they’re not alone. THIS is why books need to remain on shelves and not be banned. Every book has a reader who sees themselves, and that book could be the difference between life and death for them. This book would make an excellent middle school book club read, as students could discuss what each “and then BOOM!” moment meant to Joe as well as ways to help kids like him.

Highly recommended for ages 11-14.

“Into the light” Mark Oshiro

4 stars **** Tor Publishing Group (Tom Doherty Associates/Macmillan). 442 p. (Includes “Author’s note.”) 2023.

For years Manny and his older sister Elena had been shunted from one foster home to another, but Elena was always by his side. One day Elena excitedly told him she’d found Christ’s Dominion on the internet where Deacon Thompson promised kids of color like them could be adopted. Manny found it strange that the Sullivans (a White family who’d only met her a few months ago) were thrilled. Why had they already adopted them without first meeting him?

After he had been with them a short while he sneaked out to be with a boy. When they found out, he was forced to attend Reconciliation camp with other kids of color who weren’t following the rules of their new parents. There they were compelled to listen to sermons, while members of the compound prayed over them against their will, urging them forcefully to turn to God. Manny didn’t understand how he was supposed to forget everything to become someone new but, when he wouldn’t change, Elena turned her back on him. The Sullivans took him miles away and abandoned him at the side of the road.

For the next year Manny made his way from town to town, hitching rides, trying to survive, and missing his sister. When he saw a news report of a body found at the compound, he knew he had to return. Was it Elena’s body? Could he face Deacon Thompson and the Sullivans again to find out?

Using a narrative that goes back and forth from the past to the present, Manny recounts his trials and tribulations during his time with the Deacon and the Sullivans, and after he was abandoned. His memories may be triggering to readers who have had forceful encounters with religious relatives.

Recommended for ages 16 and older.

“The lost Kings” Tyrell Johnson

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. ebook. Anchor Books (Penguin Random House). To be published August 2, 2022.

When Jeanie’s mother died unexpectedly in a car crash when she was eight, she and her twin brother Jamie lived in California for 3 years with an aunt and uncle until their father took them to a rural cabin in Washington State. War had messed him up mentally, so he was constantly drunk and left them to fend for themselves. Through their wanderings they met Maddox, another lost soul, and the three were inseparable. One night Jeanie’s father came home with his hands covered in blood. That was the last night she ever saw him or Jamie, as they both disappeared and she was left to fend for herself.

After high school Jeanie moved to England for college, seeing a therapist to help her come to terms with her many issues. She spent 15 years having one-night stands, sleeping with her married professor, drinking, and drifting along in life. For years she wondered what happened to Jamie, and was filled with anger at her father for abandoning her in the cabin. When Maddox turned up with a lead on her father’s whereabouts, Jeanie finally has a chance to get answers to her questions. Will she be brave enough to face up to the truth?

Told through flashbacks and the present time, the author engaged the reader, invested us heavily in Jamie’s life, and then slammed us with a shocking ending. Well-done Mr. Tyrell. Very well done.

Highly recommended for Adults.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Things we couldn’t say” Jay Coles

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. Scholastic Press. To be published September 21, 2021. 308 p.

Seventeen-year-old Gio has never gotten over his mom walking out on him and his little brother Theo eight years ago when he was 9 years old and Theo was 4. Though their father had remarried and they had a new family, both of them have unresolved anxiety issues caused by her abandonment.

One day, out of the blue, Gio’s mom sends an email wanting to see him. Gio is in a tailspin as he wonders whether he should confront her to get answers or ignore the email. As if talking to his mother wasn’t stressful enough, Gio has to deal with his preacher father. Though he knows Gio is bi his father refuses to accept it, so Gio is afraid to come out to anyone except his two best friends.

Playing on his high school basketball team is Gio’s only release from the stress he’s facing, but then he meets David. Suddenly the happiness he feels whenever David is by his side is threatened by his inability to trust. Gio will have to dig deep into his heart to make a decision about whether or not he’ll let his future happiness be tied to the hurt he’s been carrying around for years.

Gio’s story of abandonment, anxiety and learning how to trust again will resound with Jay Coles’ teen readers.

Recommended for ages 16 and older.

I received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Thirteen doorways, wolves behind them all” Laura Ruby

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins). 359 p. Published October 1, 2019.

Frankie, her sister Toni and her brother Vito grew up in an orphanage because their father didn’t want them after their mother died. They saw him every other Sunday when he came bearing gifts and food for them. Those meatball sandwiches were the highlight of their lives as they were served slop, so were always hungry. Sister George made their lives miserable with beatings, sometimes for no reason at all, while Sister Bert was the gentler of the two. When their father remarried he took his wife’s children and Vito from the orphanage, leaving Frankie and Toni behind, and moved to Denver. They were devastated, but life continued onward as time passed and World War II veered its ugly head.

While Frankie and Toni struggled, Pearl flitted in and out of the orphanage. She had died in the 1918 flu, but couldn’t figure out why she was still in the world. She had sad memories from her life, interspersed with joyful ones. Though she and Frankie lived in different times and places in history, and though one of them was dead, eventually their search for “right” amidst life’s “wrongs” caused their paths to cross and sparks to fly.

At times Pearl’s actions and insight as narrator reminded me of Markus Zusak’s “Death” in “The book thief.” The author’s interweaving of the stories, actions and memories of those who’d gone before with Frankie’s desperation to find hope and love will keep readers eagerly turning pages. I read 246 out of 359 pages in my first sitting, and only stopped because it was 2:00 in the morning. That’s how good this book is!

Highly recommended for ages 14 and older.

Finalist, 2019 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.

“Taking flight: From war orphan to star ballerina” Michaela DePrince with Elaine DePrince

Rated 4 stars **** 2016. Ember. 246 p. (Includes an interview with Michaela DePrince).

Her parents in her Sierra Leone village loved their daughter Mabinty Bangura but, because of her leopard-like spots from vitiligo, she was shunned and despised by the villagers. Her parents could read, and defied tradition by educating her. They were a happy family until rebels killed her father. Without his support, she and her mother were forced to move into her despotic uncle’s house where they were starved. Within a short time her mother died, and she was abandoned at an orphanage.

Mabinty recounts her hard life in the orphanage, her adoption by an American family at the age of four, and her rebirth under the new name of Michaela. Inspired by a magazine picture, she was determined to become a ballerina. “Taking flight” is Michaela’s story of how she soared past the pain of her early life and into the world of ballet.

Michaela does an excellent job recounting her many trials and tribulations, the love she has for her parents and family members, as well as her successes. However the technical ballerina jargon used to describe various dance moves in several different chapters was very confusing. It would have been helpful to have a glossary, with photographs, of these dance terms at the end of the book.

Recommended for ages 12-18, due to the graphic nature of some of the war crimes described.

“Seven ways we lie” Riley Redgate

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. 2016. Abrams.343 pp.

Olivia hates that her mother walked away from her family three years ago. Kat holes up in her room with Internet games. Matt fills his days getting high. Juniper is the perfect queen of Paloma High. Valentine is a loner. Lucas is everyone’s go to guy for beer and weed. Claire wonders why she can’t be like Olivia and Juniper.

When the news breaks that someone is involved in a secret affair with a teacher, everyone is shocked. Each of these students has the power to reveal the truth, yet they all have their own secrets. Are someone else’s secrets more important than your own? As truth and lies blend, this unlikely group of students become bound together in ways they never imagined.

“Seven Ways to Lie” was very thought provoking, with each character having their own chapter to articulate their issues and thought patterns. She challenges her readers to think about the “why” of situations, reminding them that things are not always as they seem.

Recommended for ages 14 and older.

“Girl in Pieces” Kathleen Glasgow

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. Published August 30, 2016. Delacorte Press.

Who are cutters? Why do they cut? What can be done to get them to stop? Do they want to stop? Can they ever live a “normal” life? Will anyone ever love them? Can they ever love themselves? Can “regular” people learn to see beyond their scars? Can THEY learn to see themselves beyond their scars?

Seventeen-year-old Charlotte Davis answers these questions and more as she narrates her personal story of abuse, neglect, fear, despair and homelessness in short, revealing chapters. Charlotte’s narrative is a small window into the souls of the millions of teens who feel the only way they can release their personal pain is through self-mutilation.

“Girl in Pieces” is raw, truthful, despairing and inspirational. It will stay with you long after the last page is turned. Several copies should be in every public and high school library to show these teens they are not alone, and that they are loved.

Highly recommended for ages 16 and older.

“The love she left behind” Amanda Coe

Rated 2 stars ** ARC. EBook. W.W. Norton & Company. To be published July 6, 2015.

Nigel and Louise are all grown up but have never forgotten their mother, who abandoned them for another man when they were just children. Her defection from their family created Louise’s lifelong insecurities and Nigel’s aloofness, leading to a rift in their relationship. Having grown apart through the years, they are thrown together when their mother suddenly dies and they are called to the home she shared with her new husband Patrick.

As they forge through the cluttered remains of their mother’s life, and try to make sense of why she left them so many years ago, they each drift into flashbacks of their younger years not realizing that the past has a way of becoming the present in unexpected ways.

I had a very hard time making it through this book, as it kept boring me. I could never “bond” with the characters, and had more fun trying to figure out the meaning of British words than I had in reading Nigel and Louise’s story. I was determined to finish it for this review, but will leave it up to you to Decide if You Want to Read it or Not.

“Secret of the Sevens” Lynn Lindquist

Rated 5 stars ***** ARC. EBook. Flux. Published June 2015.

Eighteen-year-old Talan Michaels is about to graduate from the Singer School for poor, unwanted and troubled children. Having been there since he was 7 years old, his housemates, house parents and friends are the only family he’s ever known. Upon graduation he will face a future of homelessness and uncertainty, which fills him with fear. Thus when an invitation comes to join the Sevens, a secret society at the school, Talan is ecstatic. He is sure the Sevens’ promise of riches will be his ticket to freedom after graduating.

Talan knew that William Singer’s wife, founder of the school, had died under mysterious circumstances. He also knew that William Singer and five of the original Sevens had also died, with the Sevens accused of his murder. He and his house sister Laney embark on a series of secret missions destined to save the school from someone who knows what really happened to William Singer, his wife and the original Sevens. Talan and Laney will have to be careful, or they will share the same fate. With time running out, the two will have to pull out all the stops to save their school before it’s too late for everyone.

The plot twists and mysteries hidden in “Secret of the Sevens” had me mesmerized. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next to the new group of Sevens. Lindquist will keep readers on the edges of their seats.

Highly recommended for ages 14 and older.