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A review by rebecca_oneil
Simone Breaks All the Rules by Debbie Rigaud
4.0
Simone is about to graduate high school, and she's really feeling the restrictions of her strict Haitian immigrant parents, who say she has to stay home to attend college, and also, they will be picking her prom date (a boy from a nice Haitian family, of course). She teams up with two other girls with strict parents and writes "The Playlist," a list of things they want to accomplish before graduation -- even if they have to evade their parents to do it. As you might guess, a lot of sneaking and hilarity ensues, with a bonus "focused on the wrong guy" romance, and a happy ending.
This was a fun, fast read, full of slang and current references. At times it felt like too much (how soon will it seem dated?), but also, I admit I might be just feeling my age here! Plus there was a lot of cultural info about Haitian life in the US and back home, and that's educational to anyone from outside that culture. Things I looked up (none of which affected my understanding of the story, but I was curious) included Naomi Wadler, konpa music, "gang, gang, gang" song, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art (MoCADA, https://mocada.org/). Things I did know...Simone Biles, Greta Thunberg, "thinking man" GIF, "low-key feeling some type of way." :) I loved the final scene with Simone and her mom in the grocery store. And...the author thanks librarians from Columbus and Westerville in her acknowledgments!
Favorite quotes:
"Gavin steps off the bus with a crowd of guys and I'm relieved-bereaved to see him go."
"Gabby crushes everything she sets her mind to -- sports, hair styling, people's feelings."
"I love that I've grown up in a Black neighborhood alive with that African American, African, and Caribbean appreciation of thicker bodies...my family always reminds me to feel good about my body, whatever shape it's in."
This was a fun, fast read, full of slang and current references. At times it felt like too much (how soon will it seem dated?), but also, I admit I might be just feeling my age here! Plus there was a lot of cultural info about Haitian life in the US and back home, and that's educational to anyone from outside that culture. Things I looked up (none of which affected my understanding of the story, but I was curious) included Naomi Wadler, konpa music, "gang, gang, gang" song, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art (MoCADA, https://mocada.org/). Things I did know...Simone Biles, Greta Thunberg, "thinking man" GIF, "low-key feeling some type of way." :) I loved the final scene with Simone and her mom in the grocery store. And...the author thanks librarians from Columbus and Westerville in her acknowledgments!
Favorite quotes:
"Gavin steps off the bus with a crowd of guys and I'm relieved-bereaved to see him go."
"Gabby crushes everything she sets her mind to -- sports, hair styling, people's feelings."
"I love that I've grown up in a Black neighborhood alive with that African American, African, and Caribbean appreciation of thicker bodies...my family always reminds me to feel good about my body, whatever shape it's in."