dutchessofbooks's reviews
133 reviews

adventurous hopeful lighthearted

3.5

Adorable, but the messaging was a little more on the nose than "Swim Team". I think it'll be great for teachers to hand to students who struggle with some of the issues mentioned in the book.

Also, did Major REALLY have to die 😭

The Anxious Generation: How The Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt

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3.5

Gevalletje Borderline by Kathelijn Hulshof

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad

Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas

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hopeful inspiring fast-paced

4.5

What a lovely graphic novel. I loved the Black history that was featured in this! I'll see if I can get more books from this author 😄

Morning Star by Pierce Brown

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

4.5

SPACE FIGHTS!! But also very touching and appreciative of the role friends can play in your life. Loved it!

The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert

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dark emotional mysterious tense

4.0

A fun YA horror read with lots of openings for discussion. I think the ending definitely left a little to be desired though, I felt everything was wrapped up a little too quickly, my students in the book club agreed. The

kiss at the end was a little cheesy. But ohwell, it's YA ;)

We talked about this book for a good 1,5 hours. I see what you did there, Melissa Albert,

with the story about the man who died in the mausoleum. Annabel Lee?

Well anyway that gave me an entry to introduce Edgar Allan Poe and the poem Annabel Lee to them. Once they saw the similarities, they saw where my hypothesis was coming from and they really appreciated their introduction to this writer ("whut, did gothics exist back then?! yes, my dear student, they certainly did").

The other subject we talked about for a good while was

Tate's story. We are in a high school, and we discussed whether something like that could 1. happen at our school and 2. to the present students. It was fascinating to hear some of their naivité. Because of course it could happen to anyone. What if a teacher gave them lots of compliments and lulled them into a sense of security.... A very good opening to talk about boundaries. Thanks to the author for including this story!

Content Warnings