https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq Real Thoughts from a Real Reader en-us 2020-05-24 04:12:31 UTC 2020-07-02 17:02:23 UTC hello@padlet.com stapleac https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/590899627 Natasha is going to be a scientist until her Dad gets a DUI and her family is forced to return to Jamaica. 

Daniel is going to be a poet until his brother gets kicked out of Harvard and he is forced to meet his parent's expectations of success for a Korean immigrant.

The two meet and have only a day together before fate pulls them apart. Daniel is convinced its destiny. Natasha doesn't believe in abstract concepts.

Review: Two very different characters that are both easily relatable as they struggle to create their own paths despite the direction the world pushes them in. This book is beautiful and tragic in its delivery of their stories. It also has a unique and driving narrative style that switches between main characters, side characters and facts of how the world functions. In addition to this being an engaging story I also felt I learned a lot in reading this.
Genre: Realistic Fiction/Romance
Topics: Fate, Immigration and Deportation


]]> 2020-05-24 04:16:26 UTC https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/590899627 stapleac https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/590901828 Nita and her mother work as part of the Black Market. They live in an alternative universe in which the world is populated by humans and unnaturals: creates who look and act human but have strange abilities and have inspired many legends about them (vampires, unicorns, kelpies) throughout the centuries. The two have made a living selling monsters on the Black Market - Nita's mother murdering the victims and Nita dissecting them for sale - until one day starts with Nita's mother bringing a live boy home for sale and ending with Nita on the Black Market in his place.

Review: I originally found this book through a comic adaptation available on Webtoon. I was originally apprehensive about reading the book due to the amount of gore within it but I found I could not put it down. The twists are unexpected and you are forced to ask yourself hard questions about the ideas of right and wrong as you read Nita's fight for survival.
Genre: Horror Fiction
TWs: Gore, Violence, Murder, Human Trafficking]]> 2020-05-24 04:25:41 UTC https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/590901828 stapleac https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/590905496 Jacob Reckless has always lived a double life. One is in the real world with his family. The other is through a mirror is his father's office - a gateway to another world. As the years passed, Jacob began to spend less and less time in the world of mortals and more time behind the mirror searching for treasure and the location of his father. 

But one day, his brother finds out about the world behind the mirror and Jacob's universes implode. Now, his brother has a disease that is slowly turning him into a monster and Jacob must race against time in order to find a cure.

Review: I picked Reckless up on a whim from a teacher's book collection and became immersed in the lore. The world building is elaborate and detailed and creates a unique setting for the story. Jacob's fight for his brother and internalized guilt at the situation really hits home and leaves you rooting for Jacob in his seemingly impossible quest.
Genre: Fantasy]]> 2020-05-24 04:36:59 UTC https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/590905496 stapleac https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/590908061 Kaz is a thief looking to score big on the heist everyone else has declared impossible. To succeed, he must gather a team of unlikely allies each with their own motivations to break into the most secure stronghold in Ketterdam. In the end, there may be more than money on the line as the thieves realize just what it is they have been hired to steal.

Review: If there was an Ocean's Six, it would be the story of Kaz Brekker. If this Ocean's Six had the morals of Game of Thrones. Everyone is out for themselves and trust is not something that is easily come by in this novel. The politics of the world are engaging as you view the team's struggle within themselves and against a far greater enemy.
Genre: Fantasy]]> 2020-05-24 04:47:03 UTC https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/590908061 stapleac https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/590912428 Two girls living very different lives meet by chance. 

One is isolated, bullied by her peers and seeking to fit in. Unknowingly falls victim to a crime of cyber-bullying that changes how she is perceived both by others and by herself.

The other is the young daughter of a prostitute in India's red light district. She lives a constant fight to protect herself and her younger siblings all the while herself at risk of being forced into her mother's line of work.

Review: While it is no secret that these things happen, this book gives a detailed look into the lives of these two girls and the struggles they face. The lens of this book brings these issues to attention with clarity. I'm pretty sure I cried when I read the dedication and I still remember it vividly even though I write this review several months later. It says "How can I dedicate a book to girls who may never have the freedom, education, or leisure to read it? How can I not?"
Genre: Realistic Fiction
TWs: Sexual Content, Self-Harm]]> 2020-05-24 05:00:27 UTC https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/590912428 stapleac https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/590916121 The Libby App: accessible with a library card (get one for free at your library or online) Libby allows you to borrow ebooks to read through their app or on the Kindle app. Libby offers both books and audiobooks.

Webtoons: a free website and app for reading original graphic novels. Most are updated weekly and provide comment sections in which you can interact with other fans of the series.

Goodreads: creating an account on this website allows you to track books you have read and view the reading habits of your friends. By rating books you have read, Goodreads will also recommend new books for you to read.]]> 2020-05-24 05:14:31 UTC https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/590916121 stapleac https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/612240974 Rashad had been lectured by his father for as long as he remembered how to be a respectable young man - especially as an African American. But it didn't matter when he was wrongly accused of theft and was beaten by a cop after being perceived as resisting arrest.

The officer was basically family to Quinn. Quinn, who helped raise his brother during his mother's night shifts and was competing for a starting position on a basketball team that was capable of winning it all. Quinn was there and watched as Rashad was pushed into the pavement.

What do you do when facing an incident has you grappling your perceptions of the world while the rest of the town is picking sides?

Review: Purely by chance, I read this book right after the death of George Floyd. I want to be honest with you, I am not always sure how to process events like this but reading All American Boys alongside this incident brings voices to the perspectives you see on the television or in other distanced ways. It becomes more personal. I feel I understand more because I read this book and it has helped me work through my thoughts. This book is on a hard topic and the way is addresses it is hard but it is an important one that is breached with skill and precision in this novel.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Topics: Police Brutality, Racism, Activism]]> 2020-06-05 03:01:43 UTC https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/612240974 stapleac https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/627304573 With her return to the school year imminent, it is clear to Annabel that things are not going to return to normal. After a falling out with her best friend, Annabel has been cast out of her social circle and has found herself utterly alone. Sitting an appropriate social distance from Owen - resident delinquent and former anger management student - is not the ideal way for Annabel to spend her lunches but it might just turn into a good thing as Owen begins to open up to her and help her through her struggles with her identity and home life.

Review: This is your traditional high school romance novel hiding some heavy topics between its pages. This was my first Sarah Dessen novel and I found it to be a unique experience as you sort through what happened to Annabel, her family and where they go from here
Genre: Romance
TWs: Sexual Assault, Mental Health Disorders]]> 2020-06-15 13:04:16 UTC https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/627304573 stapleac https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/646157885 1941 Lithuania is occupied by Russian forces and the NKVD (later renamed to the KGB). Anti-Soviet families are moved out of Lithuania, Finland, Estonia and more and transported to Siberian labor camps. One such family is Lina's. We follow her family's journey as 10-year old Jonas, 16-year old Lina and their mother are taken from their home in the dead of night and are put on a train leading them to a struggle for survival and to reunite with their father. Lina asks us, "What is the price of a human life?"

Review: I never read Anne Frank's diary but this is very reminiscent of it. While I am usually deeply bothered by these topics - to the point where I have been known to be unable to read about them in the past - this book was written in such a way that both vividly described the conditions but drew in its reader to binge page after page. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely sobbed at points in this book but I am so glad that I read it.
Genre: Historical Fiction
TWs: horrifying living conditions including starvation, abuse and murder]]> 2020-07-02 16:49:46 UTC https://padlet.com/stapleac/8m4b3cw538qwwrbq/wish/646157885