The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson

The year is 1932 in Berlin and now that Hilde is eighteen, she must leave her orphanage and set out on her own. She quickly discovers, however, that finding a job is near impossible in these economically depressed times. But fate intervenes one night when she meets Rosa, who brings Hilde to Café Lila where she meets a cast of characters that soon become her chosen family. 

As Berlin falls further and further into the authoritarian grip of the Nazis who are scapegoating Jews and the queer community, Hilde along with the employees and patrons of Café Lila continue to remain quietly hopeful and defiant... until trouble comes loudly knocking on their door. 

Just as the title suggests, this YA historical fiction in verse by Kip Wilson is dazzling.  Berlin is my favorite city on earth, mostly because there has always been a provocative, defiant, avant-garde, and counter-cultural energy about it. That was true in 2004 when I visited for the first time, and it was certainly true when this novel takes place. 

But just as this book is a window into 1930s Germany, it's also an alarming mirror to societies, including American society, that allow idealogues and populists to rise to power. 

In addition to being a cautionary historical fiction in verse, The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin is also a gentle queer/lesbian love story, which is a much-needed addition to the canon of LGBTQ+ YA fiction, which seems to lean more heavily towards male romance. Because this book is many things (historical fiction, novel in verse, queer romance, a cautionary tale for modern times), there would be potential in the hands of a less adept writer for this book to have taken on too much. But never fear, dear reader, Kip Wilson manages to weave all of these elements perfectly and seamlessly. 

The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson*
Published: March 29, 2022
Publisher: Versify
Pages: 416
Genre: Historical Fiction/LGBTQ+ Romance
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Advance listening copy provided by publisher

*Purchasing the book from the above Bookshop affiliate link supports independent bookstores and gives me a small percentage of the sale. 

Advance Review: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

When Will's brother Shawn is killed, Will knows that he must avenge his brother's death. So he grabs the gun out of Shawn's dresser drawer, gets on the elevator to leave his apartment building, and over the course of the next six floors and 60 seconds, Will is stunned by who gets on the elevator with him at each floor.

The fact that this novel takes place over a single minute AND is a novel in verse is both innovative and gusty. Major props to you, Mr. Reynolds. However, I'm sure there will no doubt be people who read this book and spend their time overanalyzing the time frame,  saying, "This couldn't possibly have happened over a single minute." I was certainly temped to do that very thing. And who knows? Maybe those overanalyzers are right. But here's why I chose not to overthink Reynolds's stylistic choice: If I did, I'd be missing the point. The point is that Will has only six floors convince himself that he's doing the right thing by following "The Rules" of his family and neighborhood. In a single minute, he is on his way to enacting vigilante justice for his brother and possibly ruining his own future. This complex moral crisis is not the time to nitpick on timelines. It's a literary convention. As readers, let's just appreciate how it helps move the story forward.

I was elated that a friend of mine who works for Simon & Schuster and knows what a huge Jason Reynolds fan I am sent me the bound manuscript of his newest YA novel. I can't go too long without getting my Jason Reynolds fix, you see. But here is the downside of getting to read such an early copy of the book: I HAVE NO ONE TO TALK TO ABOUT IT! And I need to talk to someone. What the heck happened at the end?! I guess I'll just have to wait until someone else reads it before a consensus can be reached (or perhaps a spirited disagreement. Who knows?)


Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Expected Publication: October 17, 2017
Publisher: Atheneum
Pages: 240
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Novel in Verse
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Bound manuscript provided by publisher

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ARC review: Booked by Kwame Alexander

Note: The following review is based on an unpublished advance reader copy.

Just like The Crossover does with basketball, soccer circumvents what Booked is really about: family relationships, this time the main character Nick is dealing with his parent's impending divorce and a strained relationship with his parents, particularly his father. 

While it doesn't have the same bounce and groove of The Crossover, Booked is a fantastic stand-alone follow-up to Alexander's Newbery-winning novel in verse. I especially loved the character of Mr. MacDonald, AKA "The Mac," the rapping librarian.

What I love most about Alexander's work is that he has made it cool for kids to be lovers of words and language. Booked only further strengthens that conviction. While I try to tell this to my students, Alexander's books are actually showing it to them.

Other things I loved about Booked:

• How the title has multiple, layered meanings throughout the story
• The subtle and not-so-subtle homages to the poetry of Langston Hughes
• While it is mentioned in passing and with lowercase letters, Alexander gives a shoutout to the Nerdy Book Club
• Nerds and Words is a great name for a book club. I kind of want to steal it.  :)

Booked by Kwame Alexander 

Published: April 5, 2016
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Pages: 320
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Novel in Verse
Audience: Middle Grade/Young Adult
Disclosure: ARC received at ALAN workshop, November 2015

*Purchasing the book from the above Bookshop affiliate link supports independent bookstores and gives me a small percentage of the sale. 

Burned by Ellen Hopkins

Raised in a religious LDS home, Pattyn von Stratten doesn't know much more of life than helping raise her younger sisters, going to seminary every week, and helping her mom around the house with doing all the household chores for her lazy mother. At home, Pattyn fears the wrath of her father, especially when he's under the influence of his friend, Johnny Walker Black, which is pretty much every day.

When an incident at school forces Pattyn's parents to send her away to live with her Aunt J in the rural highlands of Nevada, Pattyn sees this as not only an opportunity to get to know a long estranged relative, but to also enjoy the freedom of being away from her demanding family, especially her father. What Pattyn wasn't expecting was to find love and acceptance in Ethan: the son of the man who caused Aunt J's long-time family estrangement in the first place. It is through Ethan that Pattyn learns of physical and emotional intimacy and from both Ethan and Aunt J, Pattyn finally discovers the meaning of unconditional love. But despite her contented life living with Aunt J, Pattyn still feels a sense of foreboding: wondering when her father will come and take it all away.

Oh I am feeling ALL THE THINGS! What an emotionally powerful novel! I really rooted for Pattyn all throughout this story and could feel the love and acceptance she found with Ethan. Despite the fact that novels with any kind of romance tend to make my eyes roll, I found the intimacy written in the pages of Pattyn and Ethan's love story necessary to rooting for them as a couple. The tenderness shared between the two of them juxtaposes the dysfunction and violence Pattyn experiences in her own home.  

After finishing Burned, I immediately started reading Smoke because I desperately wanted to know how Pattyn's story ends. I pray it's more hopeful than how this book ended, something Hopkins herself admitted the sequel will hopefully mollify for her beleaguered readers. 

Burned is my second Ellen Hopkins novel I've read, Crank being my first, and I have to say that I felt much more emotionally invested in this book than her first one. The verse format seemed more like a gimmick in the first book but felt more purposeful in Burned. Then again, maybe that's just because I have become more familiar with Hopkins's style of writing.

I would hand this book to readers who are fans of edgy YA fiction, but I might also suggest lovers of Eleanor and Park give this book a try since Eleanor and Pattyn's stories are quite similar. 


Burned by Ellen Hopkins
Series: Burned #1
Published: April 1, 2006
Publisher: McElderry Books
Pages: 532
Genre: Realistic Fiction/Verse Novel
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Purchased Copy

Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay

You don't know what lonely is
until you've asked
for a table for one.

After discovering a devastating secret about her marriage, Marcie's mother drags her daughter from their Idaho home to New Hampshire for what Marcie initially thinks is just the summer. But summer comes and goes and Marcie sees no signs of her mother returning to Idaho. Now she must start at a brand new school as she longs for home and the boyfriend she left behind, not to mention missing the mother who, while physically present, has seemingly abandoned her daughter to drown in her own grief.

So not only is Marcie desperately homesick, but that yearning for her life back home is compounded by the fact that she must take care of herself and her mother. So when a handsome, popular boy starts paying attention to her at school, Marcie's loneliness forces her to question her already existing romantic relationship with her current boyfriend.

Love and Leftovers is Sarah Tregay's first foray into the YA world and oh boy did she begin on an ambitious note. Written entirely in verse, many might consider this an easier format in which to write, but they would be vastly incorrect. While a novel in verse is certainly easier on the reader, writing a whole novel as a poem means you must use such a precise economy of words. In poetry, one word has to do the work of five... or ten.

I loved the fact that despite being such a quick read, the story still has depth and breadth. The plot moves along quickly and yet there's still time to contemplate a great deal of empathy for all of the characters, not just the main character. This is one of those novels where there's no true antagonist. There are lots of people who make poor decisions, but not necessarily a  "bad guy" and "good guy." It's a complex and satisfying plot all done in about 1/3 of the words of a novel in prose. Lots of contradicting elements happening and yet it all still works. I hope this won't be Sarah Tregay's last novel in verse. I can definitely see this becoming her niche.

Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay
Published: December 27, 2011
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 432
Genre: Realistic Fiction/Novel in Verse
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Library copy