The Eyes and the Impossible / Dave Eggers

May 8, 2023May 8, 2023 / Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

The Eyes & the Impossible
By: Dave Eggers
Genre: Middle Grade
Number of Pages: 256
Published: May 9, 2023
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Dates Read: May 4, 2023 - May 7, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

Johannes, a free dog, lives in an urban park by the sea where it’s his job to be the Eyes for the park’s three elders, the Bison. His friends – a seagull, a raccoon, a squirrel, and a pelican – are Assistant Eyes, observing the comings and goings of the park who report their findings to Johannes, who then gives their, along with his own observations, to the Bison.

But changes are happening at the park – a new building means more humans, and more humans means more Trouble Travelers. And then there were the new animals called goats that literally appeared as a boatload. Upon their arrival, new, shocking revelations change Johannes’ whole world.

After I read Pax by Sara Pennypacker, I’ve kind of been on the hunt for another middle grade, animal book. I know there’s all kinds of these out there, but this one… it’s the way that Johannes’ voice is written I believe, that just gives me a warm, good feeling in my chest.

It was fun to hear Johannes and his friends explain things from the humans – sometimes they’re way off and it would give me a good giggle (like their viewpoint on time is way off, everything is 1,000 years and it’s just adorable).

This is going to be a book I can see myself recommending to anyone who just wants a chill, feel good book with animals. I’ve already talked about it pretty much nonstop since I got to work this morning. I know animal books are hard, and can be weird, but this one is cute and adorable.

*Thank you Knopf Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Daughters of Snow and Cinders / Núria Tamarit, Jenna Allen (Translator)Daughters of Snow and Cinders /

May 4, 2023May 4, 2023 / Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

Daughters of Snow and Cinders
By: Núria Tamarit, Jenna Allen (Translator)
Genre: Graphic Novel
Number of Pages: 216
Published: May 9, 2023 (1st Published May 4, 2022)
Publisher: Fantagraphics
Dates Read: May 3, 2023 - May 4, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

Fleeing her fire and war-torn homeland, Joana travels to the New World in search of gold to rebuild her life. Along the way she meets friends, foes, and an unlikely companion who may turn into her good luck charm. But the men in this New World are greedy and bloodthirsty for gold and along with a fearsome beast that’s lurking in the shadows, Joana has a lot to look out for if she wants to return home.

The themes of this graphic novel are of nature and protecting and living among/with it, human violence and what colonization has done to the plant.

The art of this is beautiful and interesting. I first saw this book as an ARC, so it was in black and white, and even then I knew I needed to read it in full color. Also, I’m a sucker for three legged animals and Peg had my heart within seconds, so I knew I needed to know her adventure.

I can see myself recommending this ecofeminist graphic novel to quite a few people.

*Thank you Fantagraphics and Edelweiss+ for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Queen in Comics! / Emmanuel Marie, Sophie Blitman

May 4, 2023 / Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

Queen in Comics!
By: Emmanuel Marie, Sophie Blitman
Genre: Graphic Novel
Number of Pages: 176
Published: May 3, 2023
Publisher: NBM Publishing
Dates Read: May 2, 2023 - May 3, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

The history and making of the world famous band, Queen, in graphic novel form.

This is a great graphic novel about the highlights of the band Queen’s journey.

I enjoyed having bits in graphic novels and then covers in regular text format – it allowed me to read and get more about the band than one tends to get while reading a graphic novel.

Queen is one of my mom’s favorite bands, so it was nice to kind of read up on them more to see their history. Freddie Mercury is a legend.

*Thank you NBM Publishing for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Where You See Yourself / Claire Forrest

May 3, 2023May 3, 2023 / Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

Where You See Yourself
By: Claire Forrest
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Number of Pages: 320
Published: May 2, 2023
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Dates Read: April 30, 2023 - May 1, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

By the time Effie Galanos starts her senior year of high school, she’s been looking at colleges for what feels like forever; there’s a spreadsheet and everything. But she’s had to, because finding a college that’s not only the perfect fit, but also accessible enough for Effie to get around on her own in her wheelchair has created a lot more boxes to check off on her selection.

Effie hasn’t told anyone yet, but she already has her heart set on a school in New York City with a major in Mass Media & Society that would set her up on her dream dream. She’s never been to NYC, but she can picture herself on campus via the pictures she sees in the brochures. When she finds out her longtime crush, Wilder, is not only applying but getting accepted early admissions, she feels like it’s the best place.

But, everything isn’t always as simple as it seems, and the universe seems to have other plans. As Effie navigates through her senior year with college visits, senior class traditions, internal and external ableism, and a lot of firsts (and lasts), she learns that she needs to be open to the change being presented in front of her and that by doing so, dreams she never even knew were there could flourish.

The representation in this book is amazing and beautiful and I just loved it so much. Effie, who is a wheelchair user, is learning throughout this novel how to advocate for herself and which battles she wants to fight and what others she may have to either come back to, or leave alone. In the later part of the book, she sees other wheelchair users in relationships and she mentions how she’s always wondered how she would have ever do x,y, and z, but that the others that she sees are doing it and it gives her hope and reminds her to kind of reevaluate how she thinks of her capabilities.

The friendships in this story are so cute and adorable – even the romance between Effie and Wilder. It’s nothing super crazy, and not the main focus of the novel, but still cute nonetheless.

I will be highly encouraging quite a lot of people I know to read this book. It has great representation and deals with the scariness of being a senior in high school and trying to find out what and where you’ll be going the next year. I think a lot of people will feel seen while reading this book.

*Thank you Scholastic Press and Edelweiss+ for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Chasing Pacquiao / Rod Pulido

May 3, 2023May 3, 2023 / Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

Chasing Pacquiao
By: Rod Pulido
Number of Pages: 272
Published: May 2, 2023
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Dates Read: April 29, 2023 - April 30, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

Trigger Warnings: violence, assault, homophobic language

When Bobby is unwillingly outed at his notoriously violent high school, he no longer has the luxury of being invisible. After a vicious encounter with a group of boys from his school, Bobby must find a new way to survive (and fight back). Inspired by Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, Bobby takes up boxing and challenges his attacker. But when Pacquiao publicly declares his stance against the Queer community, Bobby must figure out what and how he’s going to find the strength to continue.

Be aware there is a lot of homophobia and violence in this novel. It’s not dark or gory or anything like that, but it’s a book about boxing – so there’s fighting, you know?

It took me a bit to get a feel for Bobby. Male YA main characters and I tend to not get along very well to begin with so I wasn’t his biggest fan at the beginning, but he definitely grew on me.

I had also wanted to read this book because of boxing. I box myself so I’m always interested in how writers write about boxing and if the descriptions make sense or not. I feel like Rod Pulido did a wonderful job at describing the different strikes and foot movement needed to box. It’s not all just arm movements and that’s sometimes forgotten when writing about this sport.

Overall, I enjoyed this contemporary, queer, YA novel about a new boxer learning the sport alongside finding out what he stands for. I can see this having a little bit of everything for everybody, but again, it is a book with bullying violence, so keep that in mind.

*Thank you Viking Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss+ for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Secret Rules of Being a Rockstar / Jessamyn Violet

May 3, 2023 / Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

Secret Rules of Being a Rockstar
By: Jessamyn Violet
Genre: YA
Number of Pages: 288
Published: April 18, 2023
Publisher: Three Rooms Press
Dates Read: April 20, 2023 - April 28, 2023
Format: ARC / Paperback

Trigger Warnings: fat shaming, drug use, alcoholism, anxiety, talk of suicide, abortions

18-year-old Kyla Bell dreams of getting out of her dusty basement and playing the keys professionally, but she hardly gets any support from her parents. One night, her dreams are answered after the rocker Ruby Sky, frontwoman of her favorite band, Glitter Tears, hears Kyla perform and asks her to join the band for their upcoming tour.

In order to be ready for tour, Kyla must drop out of high school in the last few weeks of her senior year and immediately move out to LA to live with a producer who has agreed to put her through “rock star boot camp”.With her feelings towards Ruby emerging and the lifestyle of a rockstar, Kyla has a lot to learn as she stumbles through the 90s music scene of Lose Angelos.

This book definitely doesn’t sugar coat anything about the hard truths of rockstar life in the 90’s – there’s drugs, alcohol, fat shaming, abortions, and the stress of being in the public eye. I’m a ‘92 baby and grew up reading about all the craziness that happened back then, so it was interesting to see it from a band member’s point of view.

I had a little bit of a hard time with this one because of the exploitation of Kyla – which, the hard truths of rockstar life in the 90’s, I get that, but I wanted someone to look out for her better <spoiler> it didn’t seem like it was going to get any better by the end of the story and now I’m sitting here worrying about Kyla… </spoiler>.

Overall, I see a lot of people enjoying this book and behind the scenes of the rockstar life. It wasn’t 100% for me, and that’s okay. The story is interesting and kept my attention throughout it, but I kind of wish there was more to it.

*Thank you Three Rooms Press and LibraryThing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Stoked for This: May 2023

May 1, 2023May 1, 2023 / Alisha Helms / Leave a comment

I was already pretty bad at keeping up with this, wasn’t I? April kind of got out from under me, but I am trying to get my feet back on the ground for these next few weeks. I was lucky enough to have two extra days off last week and that allowed me to get caught up in some things. Of those things included my Stoked for This: May 2023 edition!