BIPOC characters

Tagging Freedom

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by Rhonda Roumani
First sentence: “Kareem picked up the black spray paint and studied the sandy-colored wall.”
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Content: There is some talk of war and protests where gunfire opens up. There are also instances of microaggressions and blatant racism. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Kareem is a 13-year-old in Syria in 2011, right as the protests and the civil war began. He is fired up about the abuses by his government and wants to help do something so he and his friends take to spray painting slogans and art on the buildings around Damascus. This lands him in trouble – with his parents, not the government, fortunately – and they ship him off to live with his aunt and uncle and cousin in America.

Said American cousin, Samira, is having her own problems. She wants to join the Spirit Squad, but the girl who runs it is the same girl that bullied Sam all through 4th and 5th grade. But people change, right? And it’s 7th grade now. But joing the Spirit Squad makes her end up fighting with her best friend, and when her cousin arrives, it makes everything a lot more complicated.

The most striking thing in this book is the huge juxtaposition between Kareem’s Syrian life and the way he cares deeply about his family and friends who are still being affected by the uprising and government retaliation and Samira, who is concerned with, well, #firstworldproblems. If there is anything that brings to light the huge disparity (and nonchalance) that we Americans (even children!) have with the other world, this is it. I thought Roumani handled it well – making Kareem care so deeply, you can’t help as a reader but care about what he cares about. And I liked Samira’s growth arc, and the way she shook off superficial concerns compared to the problems that Kareem and his family have.

And because it has a lot of similarities with the genocide in Gaza right now, it was that much more powerful and relevant. An excellent book.

Lunar New Year Love Story

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by Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham
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Content: There is romance, talk of teenage pregnancy, and a kind of spooky ghost. It’s in the Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Valentina Tran’s favorite holiday was always Valentine’s Day. She loved making personalized cards for her classmates and her father, and one of her best friends is a projection of Saint Valentine – Cupid. Then, her freshman year of high school, things fall apart: her classmates don’t appreciate the valentines; one even goes so far as to tear it up and throw it away. And the worst news: her mother isn’t dead, like her father always told her, but had just left them when Val was a baby.

Then she meets Les and his cousin Jae, who are lion dancers. They convince her to join up, and she starts a relationship with Les, but it’s not everything she wants it to be. She’s torn: her father’s been nursing a broken heart her whole life and doesn’t believe in love; her best friend doesn’t want to commit to any relationship; Les is unwilling to call her his girlfriend. Is there anyone who actually believes in love?

I loved this graphic novel. It deals with cultural identity – kids trying to stay connected to their heritage and the disconnect that is often between generations. It deals with grief and loss, not just because of abandonment and heartbreak, but also from death. And it deals with the hope of love. I adored its humor and tenderness, and Pham’s illustrations are just delightful.

It’s practically perfect and a delight to read.

Canto Contigo

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by Jonny Garza Villa
First sentence: “I want to grab this guitar by the neck and smash it on the floor.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: April 9, 2024
Review copy sent by the publisher.
Content: There is a lot of swearing, in both English and Spanish, and a number of f-bombs. There is also fade-to-black sex and some teenage drinking. It will be in the Teen (grades 9+) of the bookstore.

Rafie was raised to be a Mariachi singer. His father was one, and his beloved grandfather was one. He’s been the star of the North Amistad High School’s award-winning Mariachi band for three years. And then his life fell apart: his abuelo died and his parents uprooted and moved to San Antonio. Rafie is upset and devastated, especially when the school he’s being sent to is the perpetual Number two to his Number one. He’s grieving, he’s alone, and then the absolute kicker: he’s no longer the lead singer of a Mariachi band.

This is the story of how Rafie finds his way, finds love, and learns to trust other people.

I really liked this one. I love the way Villa is writing about LGBTQ people inside of Mexican culture and challenging the hyper-masculinity of it. The perpetual Number two – Todos Colores – is a very gay Mariachi band: they have trans men and women and proudly gay people in the band, and they embrace it. They are pushing against the cultural stereotypes that Mariachi’s a man’s world. I also appreciated following Rafie’s grieving process. There was a bit of magical realism which was done incredibly well. I also appreciated that the conflict was all internal: Rafie’s parents were incredibly supportive and loving.

Villa is definitely quickly becoming one of those authors whose books I will read, no matter what.

Audiobook: Leslie F**king Jones

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by Leslie Jones
Read by the author
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: This is sweary. SO very sweary. Like, I don’t know how many sentences didn’t have the f-bomb. (Plus 10 uses of the n-word, but that’s her prerogative.) It’s in the humor section of the bookstore.

I tell so many people that the best way to read a celebrity memoir is to listen to it on audio. I’ve even gone as far as to say that I actively won’t read a memoir if the author doesn’t read it. (Case in point: I have yet to read Elton John’s memoir, even though I have a copy of it on my shelf downstairs. He doesn’t read the audiobook.) I don’t know why I put Leslie Jones’s memoir on hold at the library (it was a good two months between when I put the hold and when it came in; I no longer remember it), but I have to admit I was curious about the book.

Friends: this audiobook is NOT the book. Well, it’s loosely the book. But you will get an entirely different experience listening to it than reading it. See, Jones says “Chapter X” and then just takes off. Like pretty literally. It’s a 16-hour audiobook for a less-than-300-page book. This is not a criticism. Once I realized that she was riffing on the book, taking the chapters and just going with the flow, telling you her story, I got into the groove of the insanity and enjoyed myself. (At a certain point, when she said “Hey, I like what I wrote here, let me read it” I pretty much figured that if I wasn’t willing to change my expectations about this book, I needed to get off the train. Reader: I stayed on the whole way.)

She’s had a hard life, but she is one of the most positive people I’ve read about. She laughs at herself, her past mistakes, she has Thoughts about pretty much everything, she doesn’t take any crap from anyone, and she knows her worth. It’s pretty amazing. I appreciated her vulnerability, her laugh, her story. So, yeah: not at all what I expected from an audiobook, but definitely worth my time to finish it.

Blood Justice

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by Terry J. Benton-Walker
First sentence: “Granny was dead, and no one gave a damn — a truth that Velntine Savant choked on for the entirety of her grandparents’ poorly attended joint funeral service.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: April 23, 2024
Others in the series: Blood Debts
Content: There’s a lot of violence and a lot of swearing, including many f-bombs. It will be in the Teen (grades 9+) section of the bookstore.

Spoilers for Blood Debts, obviously.

There’s so much going on in this book it’s going to be hard to sum up. Let’s just say Valentina’s grandparents are dead, and she hates her parents and wants revenge on the Trudeau twins and get her power back, and will do anything to it. Clem has an undead (or mostly alive?) boyfriend that he’s been hiding from the world while he tries to figure out how to more alive him. Cris is Angry at Everything and Everyone and is taking Justice into her own hands. Adults are somewhere in there, but not doing much of anything. And there’s an unhinged evil god lurking around.

I was talking to co-workers about this one and this sentence came out of my mouth: “It’s like Riverdale, but with magic and set in New Orleans.” Honestly, that’s the most accurate description for this train wreck of a book. It’s so very soap-y and twisty and all the 16-year-old are acting like grown adults and like children at the same time. Everyone is always so full of Guilt and Secrets and Plots, it’s ridiculous.

And yet. I finished it. I am invested in this silly, overly dramatic, very Queer soap opera. I do want to know how it ends, though i think Benton-Walker could drag it out as long as he wanted to; much like Riverdale, Something is always happening to put the Teens in Peril. Why does it have to end? I do appreciate Benton-Walker tackling racisim, homophobia, the abuse by cops, and general corruption in politics. It’s a lot to deal with, but it’s a lot of a book, so it fits in well.

I think this one gets filed under: it’s a hot mess of a book and not much fun at all, but it’s compelling, and so it’s worth reading.

Audiobook: The Misfits

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by Lisa Yee
Read by Cindy Kay
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: It’s a fast-paced novel, and there are illustrations in the print version. Some intense moments may be scary to sensitive readers. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Olvie Coben Zang has been an outcast her entire life. Her parents are too busy to pay her much attention, she doesn’t really fit in at school, she has no friends… the works. The only person who really saw her was her grandmother, Mimi, but she has passed on. And then, out of the blue, her parents tell her that she’s being transferred to a boarding school, RASCH, a unique school for unique kids. Once there, she’s lumped in with four other outcasts – James, who’s young but has an encyclopedic knowledge of words and history; Philomena (“just call me Phil”) who is a tech genius; Iggy, who has a bit of temper but a heart of gold; and Theo (TBH, I just thought of him as the White kid). Together, they form the Misfits, as part of an experiment to train kids as spies. Their goal, in the end: Catch the Bling King and get back the infamous, super expensive necklace of the school’s founder.

This was a lot of fun. I liked the mystery (I miscalled the ending!), I liked the characters – they were fun and interesting and sometimes silly. It was well-paced; I could see a kid falling into the book and plowing through it because it’s hard to put down. And Kay, as a narrator, is excellent. She definitely keeps the pace up as well as helping with voices to keep all the numerous characters (including the adults) straight.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and am looking forward to more in the series.

Finally Seen

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by Kelly Yang
First sentence: “I listen to the quiet hum of the plane and the not-so-quiet flutter of my heart in my chest.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is bullying and microaggressions both by other children and adults. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore. I read this book for the Cybils, and this reflects my opinion and not that of the whole panel.

Lina Gao has lived with her grandmother in China for the past five years while her parents and younger sister start a new life in America. She has missed her family but loved her time with her grandmother. But now, her parents have sent for her. She is racked with guilt for leaving her grandmother to go live in a retirement home, but excited to start a new life in America. Unfortunately, it’s not all happiness and roses. She can’t speak English well, so starting a new school is difficult for her. Her parents and sister have a bond that she isn’t part of. And then there’s her parents’ financial situation: back rent from the pandemic is due and her father’s boss at the organic farm is pretty sketchy.

Through the ups and downs of Lina’s life, she gains some friends, helps her parents figure out their finances, and figures out how to navigate her school. And in the end, she feels like maybe she can make a place for herself in her new life.

I liked this one. Reading the author’s note, it seems that some of this reflects Yang’s experience, which makes it that much more interesting. It’s a good immigrant story and a good reminder that everyone wants the best life they can have. Several white adults (mostly men) came off pretty bad in this – they were bullies and racist towards Lina and her family. (One of them – the father of a friend of Lina’s did start to learn and change…) This is a good reminder of how adults tend to use and abuse their power. I like the portrayal of the immigrant story, and I think it’s definitely an important book to have on shelves.

Sincerely Sicily

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by Taika Burgess
First sentence: “Demanding to see the email only shows me how real this all is.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is bullying and microaggressions. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore. I read this book for the Cybils, and this reflects my opinion and not that of the whole panel.

Sicily is upset: for her 6th grade year she is going to a new school, away from all her friends. She doesn’t want to, but she doesn’t have a choice. It’s made worse by the fact that there isn’t many non-white kids at her school. It’s made worse because she is a Black Panamanian – and the kids at school don’t understand that heritage. Then there’s her Abuela, who is critical of Sicily’s box braids, calling them “low class”. Sicily just feels picked on from all sides. How will she ever figure out this new school?

I liked this one a lot. I liked that Burgess focused on the Black Panamanian heritage, but also that she gave Sicily some friend problems as well as a new crush. It made the book well-rounded, capturing every part of Sicily’s journey. I also learned quite a bit about Panama and the heritage of Black people there, which I also liked. It was a really good book!

Tethered to Other Stars

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by Elisa Stone Leahy
First sentence: “Wendy and Tom sat on the plastic-wrapped sofa in the middle of the sidewalk and stared up at the crooked house.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is bullying and name calling and both racist microagressions as well as racist behavior. It’s in the Middle Grades (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.I read this book for the Cybils, and this reflects my opinion and not that of the whole panel.

Wendy’s family used to live in a bustling Latine neighborhood of their Ohio town, one where there were lots of families like hers. But then La Migra – ICE – started taking more and more people; parents would disappear, families gone overnight. And Wendy’s parents became unnerved. So they found the cheapest fixer-upper in a nearby town, one that was more white, in hopes that La Migra would leave them alone. Because, while Wendy’s dad was adopted by an American relative when he was little, and Wendy and Tom were born in America, Wendy’s mom has a green card, and maybe that’s not quite enough for ICE. The best thing is to keep their heads down and not make any waves.

Except, at Wendy’s new, mostly white, school for gifted student, she’s finding it hard to keep her head down. She make friends with a Black girl, K. K.; and a Muslim one, Yasmin; and the daughter of a white pastor who is giving sanctuary to a woman whom ICE is trying to deport. And when their little group becomes targets for the richer, whiter kids in school, things get, well, a bit messy.

It sounds like a lot, and it is, but Leahy makes it work. Wendy is the first-generation daughter of immigrant parents, and Leahy weaves that in. She weaves in treating those who are looking for a new, better home in America humanely. She weaves in STEM – Wendy is fascinated with space and astronomy and wants to be an astrophysicist. And she weaves in the real ways in which white kids absorb the opinons and actions of their parents. You can tell what kind of parents the kids have by the way their kids treat those not like them.

It’s a good book with a good heart, and some tense moments. And in the end, I loved how everyone grew, learned, and changed for the better.

Hands

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by Tony Maldonado
First sentence: “You promise?”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is violence, domestic and fist-fights. It’s in the YA section (grades 6-8) of the bookstore, but I’d give it to a 5th grader. I read this book for the Cybils, and this is a reflection of my opinion and not that of the whole panel.

Two years ago, Trevor’s stepdad was arrested and sent to jail for beating Trevor’s mom. On his way, he said that he would come back for her, and Trevor’s been on edge ever since. Now at 12, his stepdad is about to get out of jail, and Trevor is determined to become the sort of person who could protect and defend his mom and sisters. Which means he needs to be stronger, better at fighting.

But, in his quest, he discovers that maybe there is more to, well, everything than he thought. There are other ways of using your hands. There are other ways of confronting the bad things in his life, his neighborhood. And that “promise” means a lot of things.

I really liked this one. Maldonado captures not only what it’s like to be 12, and have to grow up before you’re quite ready, he captures the spirit of a neighborhood and a family. It felt real, and yet it was hopeful at the same time. There was violence and danger, and yet there are Other Ways that may be better. I liked the inner conflict that Trevor had: he wants to be a Man, and protect his family, and yet he really is just a kid and he wants that, too. And a bonus: Maldonado didn’t use extra words: The short book packs a powerful uch.

Quite a remarkable small book.