nadjatiktinsky's reviews
87 reviews

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

I know, I know, I'm very late to the game reading this! But the best compliment I can give it is that I, as a non-sci-fi, non-YA reader, simply could not resist reading this sci-fi YA novel. It really is that good. I particularly enjoyed the structure, which is a patchworked third-person perspective that dips into the consciousness of many different characters, including many minor ones we never hear from again. It gives a satisfying sense that you're getting to know the world itself as a character rather than just the characters themselves.

Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay In Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli

Non-fiction with a heart. Luiselli recounts her time spent working as a translator for undocumented children who have traveled alone to America in order to seek asylum. The book's structure is list-like in a way that feels stark yet appropriate; Luiselli works off the format of the intake questions she is required to ask each child: "Why did you come to the United States? Who would take care of you if you were to return to your home country? Are you scared to return?" In answer to each question, she dips into encounters with children she's worked with, her own experiences as a Latina immigrant in America, and analysis of immigration policy.

King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender

This is a coming-of-age story not only for the protagonist, King, but also for his family. King must learn to let go of his identity as it's been defined by his late brother and be brave enough to come out and live as his true self. At the same time, King's mom and dad struggle to shed their prejudices and grow into the parents he needs them to be. Each character in this book is deeply flawed. Each one of them is trying their damn hardest to be better. Beautifully, beautifully told.

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

This book is the epitome of that elusive British storytelling voice - the one that makes realistic fiction feel so ethereal and mysterious that it reads like fantasy. And the plot itself certainly furthers that feeling: a mother-hunting expedition, children who live in trees, women playing the cello on Parisian rooftops, and a pigeon-eating boy on the run from an orphanage. Rooftoppers will bewitch you.

I'm Not Missing by Carrie Fountain

Fountain is one of my all-time favorite poets (she was the 2019 poet laureate of Texas!) so I was eager to read her debut novel. The plot of this book isn't anything you haven't read before, but that's beside the point. The craft is extraordinary, especially the detail-work. This is what Fountain does best, in her poetry as well as her prose: she takes something pedestrian and pays excruciating attention to it, pinning down an image and focusing in closer and closer until it twists away from her and transforms.

Alone in the Woods by Rebecca Behrens

In this book, the classic plot structure of two estranged best friends beginning to repair their relationship is complicated by a wilderness survival setting. Lost in the Wisconsin woods, Jocelyn and Alex are forced to work together, even though they've lost trust in each other after their falling-out. I like that Behrens leans into the ick factor of the outdoors to amp up tension and lets her meticulously-rendered setting drive the plot.

When Life Gives You Mangos by Kereen Getten

As if Sandra Cisneros wrote a kid's book set in small-town Jamaica. The sense of place is so deep that the protagonist's neighborhood feels like its own character, and the plot is driven not by individuals' actions but by the community as a whole. Truly excellent writing.

Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson

A slice-of-life novel-in-verse. Eleven-year-old Lonnie's parents died when he was seven, and his little sister was adopted by a woman who didn't want to "deal" with a boy. Now, he's living in a foster home, getting by on once-in-a-while visits with his sister, and searching for something to hope for. This book is electric in its stagnancy. You want so badly for more to be happening for Lonnie that you're just as on-edge as you would be reading a thriller.

Together, Apart by Auriane Desombre, Jennifer Yen, Brittney Morris, Natasha Preston, Erin Hahn, Bill Konigsberg, Rachel Lippincott, Sajni Patel, Erin A. Craig

The perfect blend of escapism and realism - exactly what we all need right now. Each short story featured in this collection is set during COVID quarantine, and each features teens falling awkwardly, delightfully in love. Ideal for anyone struggling with feeling isolated during quarantine.

Chance: Escape from the Holocaust by Uri Shulevitz

This is the first novel by Shulevitz, who is one of America's most celebrated picture book artists and theorists. It's a memoir of his childhood, and tracks his family's movements as they flee Poland just before Nazi occupation, then travel through several refugee camps in the Soviet Union before eventually moving to Paris after the Holocaust is over. It's intensely personal, and is kept from being too heavy because the refugee stories are balanced with the narrative of Shulevitz growing into himself as an artist and storyteller.