Saturday by Oge Mora

Saturday is Ava's favorite day because she gets to spend it with her mother. So when everything during this particular Saturday seems to go terribly wrong, it is a test of Ava and her mother's resilience and sense of humor.

Oge Mora's sophomore effort is even more lovely and endearing than her Caldecott honor book Thank You, Omu. It reminds me a great deal of Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena and Christian Robinson. I wouldn't be surprised to also see some Caldecott hardware on this book come January. For what it's worth, this is one of my favorite picture books of 2019. 



Saturday by Oge Mora
Published: October 22, 2019
Publisher: Little, Brown
Pages: 40
Genre/Format: Picture Book
Audience: Primary
Disclosure: Purchased Copy

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Audiobook Review: Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love by Jonathan Van Ness

If you don't know who Jonathan Van Ness is, stop reading this review right now and go watch the first season of the new Queer Eye. He is the grooming expert who managed to be sweet, unassuming, and fierce all at the same time. He will quickly become your favorite of the Fab 5. 

So do yourself a favor if you're going to partake in this book: listen to the audiobook. Hearing Jonathan narrate his own story is essential for making it the most fulfilling reading experience possible.

This book will take you on an emotional roller coaster. Jonathan Van Ness has gone through so much trauma in his life that it's amazing what a positive, sunny outlook he has. He can come across so sunny and cheerful on Queer Eye that in the back of your mind, a viewer might wonder if he lacks substance.

Well dear reader, you need not worry. Johnathan Van Ness has substance in spades. Just be aware: there are trigger warnings all over the place in this book: drug use, sexual abuse, prostitution, and death. If you've dealt with any of these things that you might not be ready to tackle, it is probably best you set this book aside until you are ready.


Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness 
Published: September 24, 2019
Publisher: HarperCollins
Physical book length: 288 pages
Audiobook Length: 5 hours and 50 minutes
Genre: Memoir
Audience: Adults/Queer Eye fans/LGBTQIA+ identifying and allies
Disclosure: Audiobook provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Audiobook Review: Beautiful on the Outside by Adam Rippon

When Adam Rippon became the media darling of the 2018 Winter Olympics, it was because he made the decision to soak in the experience of the Olympics rather than pushing to win the gold medal. At 28, he knew that was likely not possible. But what he didn't expect was that despite not going home with a gold medal, Adam Rippon really was the winner of the 2018 Olympics. He was joyful and sassy and shared every exciting moment with his fans.

Adam's sass has become his trademark personality trait, but sass can quickly come off as bitchiness if you're not careful. The reason his sass never comes off as bitchy in this book or in his life is because Adam is not a catty gossip. If he is talking smack about anyone, it is only himself. The only time he speaks overwhelmingly negatively about people in this book are when he describes the actions of a possessive, borderline abusive ex-boyfriend, when he describes the horrible behavior of his former coach Nikolai Morozov, and also when he discusses the manipulative behavior of Mike Pence when he tried to have a meeting with Adam before the Olympics. But as you learn in comedy, always punch up, not down. He spoke truth to power in those moments and used the rest of the book to be both hard on himself and to give himself some grace.

Verdict: I wanted to be BFFs with Adam before reading this and I want to be even more so now that I've read what an amazing, hardworking, honorable man he is -- despite the Khardashian-like trashiness he tries to portray himself as in front of the cameras. That facade is all a fun ruse, a joke he even lets the public in on, but if you don't know a lot about him, doesn't always translate for those who see him on TV in small doses. Also, other than missing out on the included photographs in the physical book, I highly recommend listening to the audiobook instead of the physical book because, of course, Adam narrates it himself.

My only criticism of this book is more a commentary on our culture. All I could think about when I was listening to the audiobook is how much the public would not allow or excuse Adam's behavior in a female skater. She WOULD come off as bitchy and ungrateful and be expected to not show any sort of humor or emotion. So as much as I love Adam, I also recognize that loving this persona that he has created would only be granted to a man and not to a woman.


Beautiful on the Outside by Adam Rippon
Published: October 15, 2019
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 256
Audiobook length: 8 hours, 19 minutes
Genre: Memoir
Audience: Adults/Skating Fans/ LGBTQIA + identifying and allies
Disclosure: Audiobook purchased with my Libro.fm credits, which supports The Brain Lair Bookstore

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

ARC Review: Guts by Raina Telgemeier

When Raina and her mom wake up one night with a case of the stomach flu, they both think it will pass quickly. But soon, Raina finds herself getting sick whenever she feels anxious about food, school, and life at home in her crowded apartment. Guts is her journey of discovering how anxiety manifested in physical ways in her life and how she managed her fears. 

I wanted this book to be longer. Not because it felt incomplete, but because I saw so much of myself in Raina's story and I had someone to commiserate with. I have suffered from anxiety and IBS since middle school, so this story felt like my story. 

I think this will be an important book for kids and adults to talk openly about mental health struggles, particularly anxiety, and will help to normalize going to therapy. My favorite line from the book was when Raina is in a session with her therapist and struggling to find the words to explain how she feels:

"Thoughts can exist...
Feelings can exist...
But words do not always exist."

Finding the words for your thoughts and feelings is exactly why there should be no shame in going to therapy. To be able to name a feeling is so freeing. I'm grateful that a book like this will exist for kids to help give words to their thoughts and feelings. The fact that Raina is so open about these struggles will help end the shame and stigma many people feel about mental health and digestive issues. 


Guts by Raina Telgemeier
Expected Publication: September 17, 2019
Publisher: Graphix
Pages: 215
Genre/Format: Graphic Memoir
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: ARC provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

The Size of the Truth by Andrew Smith

Sam Abernathy is known as the boy who fell into a well and spent three days at the bottom when he was four years old. So he's already famous in his small Texas town. But pair that with being the age of a sixth grader who starts middle school in eighth grade and he's a regular sideshow.

While learning how to navigate the halls of middle school, Sam also learns how to avoid James Jenkins, the boy who is responsible for Sam falling in the well to begin with. He also must figure out how to disappoint his father who likes to take his son on survival expeditions that Sam absolutely hates, and wants his son to go to MIT when Sam would prefer to go to culinary school.

In true Andrew Smith fashion, he has managed to write a story that is both hilarious and poignant with a dash of absurdity, but this time for a middle grade audience. For those readers who wonder how a young adult author who has made a name for himself in his use of obscenities and pushing the envelope, one might wonder how that translates to a middle grade audience. Well, dear reader, don't you worry. Smith came up with a genius way around his inability to use swear words while also implying them, but you'll just have to read for yourself to find out how.

For loyal readers of Smith's YA novel Stand Off, you will be particularly elated to discover that his first middle grade novel is about the endearing and annoying young roommate of Ryan Dean West. If that's not a reason to read it, I don't know what is. But just in case you haven't read Stand Off (which if you're a middle grade reader, I hope you haven't), then just know that this book stands alone and leads readers nicely into both Winger and Stand Off when they are older. But also, I think Smith sets this story up nicely for writing another middle grade novel about another character in this book, James Jenkins (hint, hint Andrew if you're reading this).


The Size of the Truth by Andrew Smith
Published: March 26, 2019
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 272
Genre: Realistic Fiction/Magical Realism
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: ARC received at 2018 NCTE convention

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Georgia's Terrific, Colorific Experiment by Zoe Perisco

Georgia lives in a family of artists, but she wants to be a SCIENTIST. So she decides that she needs to design the perfect experiment to show the world her scientific prowess. When her artistic, imaginative family tries to help her by giving her advice, she tells them to leave her alone, only to soon discover that maybe art and science really do hold hands with each other. Georgia's Terrific, Colorfic Experiment is sort of the picture book embodiment of this poster you see circulating around the internet: So often we look at science and art as opposing forces. But these two ways of thinking really do need to hold hands with each other in order to make our world safer, fairer, and more humane. It is why I think so many people are concerned about the STEM movement and asked for STEM programs in schools to now become STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, ART, and Mathematics). When we forget about the creativity and imagination involved in our academic endeavors, this is when dangerous decisions are made on behalf of humanity. Schools that are running both STEM and STEAM programs would benefit from reading books like Georgia's Terrific, Colorific Experiment to students and staff alike as to prevent a myopic way of thinking.  Georgia's Terrific, Colorific Experiment by Zoe Perisco Published: April 2, 2019 Publisher: Running Press Kids Pages: 32 Genre/Format: Picture Book Audience: STEM/STEAM schools Disclosure: Library Copy

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.