Oooh. I loved this one. So much. Thank you to @andreabeatrizarango for always highlighting great MG lit that is also accessible for all students.

I think this book is onto something special. Maybe I’m biased but a story about a half Filipino girl living her very normal life and going through relatable hiccups? Yes please. The other thing that makes me so happy about this book is that it is a planned series. There are so many middle grade series because kids LOVE THEM. But a lot of them feature all white characters. Don’t get me wrong I loved Judy Blume, Junie B Jones, Harriet the Spy and the like when I was a kid, but I can’t imagine how stunned I would’ve been to see a little girl like me within the pages of a book at such a young age. Dear children’s publishers, more of this please. I want to see middle grade series featuring kids of color from all backgrounds, religions, and don’t forget about LGTBQIA+ kids. ALL OF IT. It’s not hard. There are authors out there, but for goodness sake give them a chance. And yes. There is room for everyone.

If you’re a middle grade teacher I highly suggest you add this to your library and please give @andreabeatrizarango a follow. She has a great eye for amazing middle grade lit and is a writer herself!!

[image description: The book Maybe, Maybe Marisol Rainey by Erin Entrada Kelly resting on other middle grade books like Junie B Jones and The Boxcar Children] #WeLoveMGLit #ErinEntradaKelly #ITeachFourth #Bookstagram #AlwaysReading #FilipinoAuthors #FilipinoKidLit #MiddleGradeFiction #MiddleGradeLit #MiddleGradeBooks #BooksForFourthGraders

PLAIN, BAD HEROINES is a book about a haunted place called The Brookhants School for Girls. It is told through two interwoven timelines, one in 1908 and the other in 2014. From the beginning the narrator breaks the fourth wall and consistently refers to you as “Dear Reader.” There are also sometimes funny footnotes throughout the book to add more context to situations or different characters. I know there is a specific word out there for a book within a book but I can’t seem to find it. There is also a metaphor in this book having to do with a Russian Matroyshka Doll, but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone here. That being said, it definitely gave this book an odd feeling of being somehow real. It’d definitely make a good movie, which is funny because the 2014 timeline is about filming a movie.

I personally enjoyed the tone and overall feel of this book. It was definitely an escape from reality that I really appreciated at the beginning of this year. I felt like the author did a great job of creating some eerie, gothic feelings that gave the book a unique vibe. I was genuinely creeped out at some parts.

(MILD SPOILERS) My only critique is that it felt sort of rushed at the end and it didn’t quite stick the landing the way I was hoping for. I did have a fun time reading it, but proceed just knowing that this book is definitely more about the journey, not the ending. (Which I get is like the point of, well, LIFE, but I was expecting more of a cleaned up ending from a story about a cursed book and a haunted house). Anyways, get this book if you’re looking for a fun but creepy romp with a unique narrative voice.

ID: The book Plain Bad Heroines in a garden with orange flowers next to it.

#PlainBadHeroines #HauntedHouseStories #AlwaysReading #Bookstagram #gothicbooks

I was expecting a mystery type thriller when I picked up MONDAY’S NOT COMING, and I definitely got way more than I bargained for. I started to read this book on a random weekend, but then finished it up in one sitting on the following Monday. Cue me staring at my ceiling in bed unable to fall asleep for the next twoish hours. I know the word haunting gets thrown around alot to describe books but damn, this one is haunting. It is harrowing. And it is one of the best YA books I have read.

I obviously came at this book with a teacher’s lens and let me tell ya, it really made me think about the times that maybe I have failed students in my own classroom. And I know a lot of us can say “Oh that would never happen to me,” (and maybe not as extreme as this book, but heck even as I type this it still seems like me making excuses) but the fact of the matter is that it could. I am sure in some ways big and small I have failed kids in my classroom, and I am just one part of a vile system that continues to fail Black children across America. My heart ached for Ms. Valente. Could she have done more? Maybe? I don’t know. There is one part in particular where she apologizes to Claudia for failing her. And I felt that. I think I could be doing more. And yet…

There is so much more to this book though that I won’t unpack here. From family values, to how friendships between two girls can shift and change as they grow into teenagers, Tiffany D. Jackson has crafted a true standout in the YA genre. I will say this, the less you know about this book probably the better, but if you need content warnings, please check them out on stroygraph or you can DM me. Because when I say I was unprepared for that ending….I mean it. Some content warnings include descriptions of child abuse, addiction, and racism. Synopsis in the comments!
[ID: The book Monday’s Not Coming with green plants in the background] #MondaysNotComing #TiffanyDJackson #Bookstagram #LibraryGlareDontCare #alwaysreading

“He knows that a lot of the literary people in college see books primarily as a way of appearing cultured, It was culture as class performance, literature fetishised for its ability to take educated people on false emotional journeys, so that they might afterwards feel superior to the uneducated people whose emotional journeys they liked to read about. Even the writer himself was a good person, and even if his book really was insightful, all books were ultimately marketed as status symbols, and all writers participated to some degree in this marketing.”-Normal People, Sally Rooney

My best friend gave me this to read and pretty much bugged me every week until I finally picked it up. She told me nothing, just that I “had to read it.” I try to go into a book knowing as little as possible, so knowing I was going to read it ONE DAY, I steered clear of reviews. All I really knew before diving in is that this book is polarizing and it’s about two people and their relationship.

Did I want to throw this book across the room several times? Yes, I did. Was I completely frustrated by the lack of communication skills between the two main characters? Also, yes. But did I also gobble it up and get completely lost in Sally Rooney’s prose? Definitely, yes. Listennnnnnn….she can write, so once I opened it up I definitely got lost in the story. I did have to take a short break after one moment shared between the characters BECAUSE I WAS SO FRUSTRATED WITH THEM. I can see why this book is so loved and also not-so-loved. But at the end of the day I can’t decide where I stand and don’t think it matters. It got a strong reaction from me and it was a fun book to talk about with my friend. I texted her multiple times in frustration and asked, “DO PEOPLE LIKE THIS ACTUALLY EXIST?” (of course they do). Will I read the next thing Sally Rooney writes? Absolutely.

Anyways, Marianne I hope you get the help you need one day. Connell, you’re also a hot ass mess. Have you read this? Tell me your thoughts!
#NormalPeople #SallyRooney #AlwaysReading #Bookstagram #PolarizingBook #bookstagrammer