Tag Archive | belonging

Time’s running short to Get It Together, Delilah! by Erin Gough (book review)

Jul16

US book cover of Get It Together Delilah, by Erin Gough, published by Chronicle Books | recommended on BooksYALove.comCan’t let Dad worry about the cafe,
can’t keep up with her schoolwork,
can’t stop dreaming about flamenco dancer Rosa.

Delilah’s senior year in Sydney is stress overload – mean girls, family cafe difficulties, and falling in love with the girl she can’t have.

What else could happen? Funny you should ask…
**kmm

Book info: Get It Together, Delilah / Erin Gough. Chronicle Books, 2017. [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk:
As Dad’s short vacation grows longer and longer, 17-year-old Delilah juggles schoolwork, her best friends’ expectations, and unfair business competition so she can keep her family cafe going, but is dreaming of dancing Rosa across the street of their Sydney suburb.

She refuses to ruin Dad’s trip (first since Mum ran off with another man) by telling him of their cafe manager’s arrest; she’ll just run The Flywheel till he’s back in a few weeks…

Being short-handed at the cafe means she’s falling behind on her classwork.

Helping Charlie with his wild plans to make his (older) tutor fall in love with him aren’t helping, either.

Best friend Lauren is completely ignoring Del’s coming-out, but the bullies at their school aren’t.

The underhanded tricks of a new restaurant nearby are cutting into The Flywheel’s business, Del actually talks to beautiful Rosa (and doesn’t faint) – and Dad extends his vacation – uh, oh.

Tales of outcasts, then and now – audiobooks with shivers!

Jul12

This year’s program of free audiobooks from SYNC is nearly over, so grab these eerie tales before Wednesday (19 July 2018), so you can listen to them any time on your computer or electronic device.

Click the link for either or both of these professionally recorded audiobooks, download for free, then read with your ears using the free Audible app.

CD cover of How to Hang a Witch, by Adriana Mather | Read by Adriana Mather Published by Listening Library | recommended on BooksYALove.comHow to Hang a Witch (download here free from 12-19 July 2018)
by Adriana Mather
Read by Adriana Mather
Published by Listening Library

A teen descendant of witch-persecutor Cotton Mather moves to Salem and is taunted by girls who are Descendants of those witches and haunted by a centuries’ old ghost – a curse? or worse?

 

The Scarlet Letter (download here free from 12-19 from July 2018)CD cover of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne | Read by Donada Peters Published by Listening Library | recommended on BooksYALove.com
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Read by Donada Peters
Published by Listening Library

The classic tale of personal strength in the face of societal expectations – Hester Prynne won’t name the father of her child and must wear the A of adultery in 1642 Boston.

Other Massachusetts-based stories to recommend?
**kmm

Tough stories? Listen and learn

Jul5

This week’s free audiobooks from SYNC bring us strong stories from real life and real-life situations.

Download these complete audiobooks from Thursday through Wednesday this week for free, then listen to them whenever you like.

If you miss the free download time, check with your local library through WorldCat to see if they have the CD (or print book or eBook) that you can borrow.

CD of The Invisible Girls, by Sarah Thebarge | Read by Kirsten Potter Published by Oasis Audio, LLC. | recommended on BooksYALove.comThe Invisible Girls (download free here from 5-11 July 2018)
by Sarah Thebarge
Read by Kirsten Potter
Published by Oasis Audio, LLC.

As a young woman remaking her own life in a new city, the author meets a refugee mother desperate to feed her five daughters in a new culture they don’t understand.
Girls Like Us (download free here from 5-11 July 2018)
CD cover of Girls Like Us, by Gail Giles | Read by Lauren Ezzo, Brittany Pressley Published by Candlewick on Brilliance Publishing | recommended on BooksYALove.comby Gail Giles
Read by Lauren Ezzo, Brittany Pressley
Published by Candlewick on Brilliance Publishing

After graduating, Biddy (fists raised against everything) and Quinny (so timid, so very scared) are placed together as apartment-mates and must learn to navigate the world beyond their special education program.

What memoirs and true-to-life fiction have you read lately?
**kmm

Being yourself – hard or horrifying?

Jun21

This week’s free audiobooks from SYNC feature teens who want to be just themselves – not labeled as gay, straight, or otherwise .

Download from Thursday through Wednesday (21-27 June 2018) by clicking either or both links, then listen to them any time (be sure to save on your computer or electronic device!).

CD cover of Doctor Cerberus by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa | Read by Steven Culp, Pamela Gray, Simon Helberg, Jamison Jones, Jarrett Sleeper Published by L.A. Theatre Works | recommended on BooksYALove.comDoctor Cerberus (download here free from 21-27 June 2018)
by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Read by Steven Culp, Pamela Gray, Simon Helberg, Jamison Jones, Jarrett Sleeper
Published by L.A. Theatre Works

Maybe appearing on the Doctor Cerberus horror TV show will help 13 year old Franklin endure his terrible brother, clueless parents, and not getting the guy of his dreams.

Openly Straight (download here free from 21-27 June 2018) CD cover of Openly Straight, by Bill Konigsberg | Read by Pete Cross Published by Dreamscape Media | recommended on BooksYALove.com
by Bill Konigsberg
Read by Pete Cross
Published by Dreamscape Media

Rafe reinvents himself at a new school, this time choosing not to be openly out, until a classmate’s distress and his own writing journey make the teen rethink his stance.

Share some books about claiming your true self in the comments, please!
**kmm

Tales of despair & hope – listen up!

Jun14

So many stories of enslavement and escape – here are two to read with your ears!

Thank you to the publishers of these audiobooks for making them freely available each week through http://www.audiobooksync.com/. 

Download either or both titles by clicking on the link from Thursday through Wednesday (14-20 June 2018), then listen to them whenever you want.

CD cover of My Name is Not Friday, by Jon Walter | Read by Dion Graham Published by Scholastic Audio | recommended on BooksYALove.comMy Name Is Not Friday (download here free 14-20 June 2018)
by Jon Walter
Read by Dion Graham
Published by Scholastic Audio

During the Civil War, young free-man Samuel stands up for his brother and is sold from their Northern orphanage into Southern slavery where he vows to remember his own name and regain his freedom.

Come August, Come Freedom: the Bellows, the Gallows, and the Black General Gabriel (download here free 14-20 June 2018)CD cover of Come August, Come Freedom by Gigi Amateau | Read by J.D. Jackson Published by Candlewick on Brilliance Publishing | recommended on BooksYALove.com
by Gigi Amateau
Read by J.D. Jackson
Published by Candlewick on Brilliance Publishing

Born into slavery, talented blacksmith Gabriel is inspired by Haitian revolutionaries to organize enslaved people of Virginia to rebel in 1800 – a little-known true story.

This Juneteenth, what other historical stories of rebellion and freedom should we be hearing?
**kmm

Love in the future? Love now? Listen and discover!

May31

One love story set in the future, one set in the present day – time to download this week’s free audiobooks from SYNC so you can read with your ears!

Click on the link for the complete audiobook you want to download before Wednesday (6 June 2018), then you can listen to it as long as you keep it on your device.

CD cover of Extraordinary Means, by Robyn Schneider | Read by Khristine Hvam, James Fouhey Published by HarperAudio | recommended on BooksYALove.comExtraordinary Means (download here through 6 June 2018)
by Robyn Schneider
Read by Khristine Hvam, James Fouhey
Published by HarperAudio

Did Lane do what Sadie thinks he did? As the teens in this near-future convalesce from a new tuberculosis, they redefine their new relationship. And then…

(I recommended Extraordinary Means  here when first published; no spoilers!)
 
Love and First Sight (download here through 6 June 2018)CD cover of Love and First Sight, by Josh Sundquist | Read by Pat Young Published by Hachette Audio
by Josh Sundquist
Read by Pat Young
Published by Hachette Audio

Blind from birth, Will’s first days at mainstream high school are tense, but he finds friends and the quiz team… and Cecily. When experimental surgery may grant him sight, who can predict what happens next?

Love amid challenging medical situations – any other titles to recommend?
**kmm

Listen, listen to maker-stories – free this week!

May24

This week’s free audiobooks from SYNC include stories about young women creating something personal and important.

Download these complete audiobooks from Thursday through Wednesday 24-30 May, so you can listen to them using a free Audible app, as long as they’re on your computer or electronic device.

Click on the link for either or both books to start the simple download process.

CD Cover of When Dimple Met Rishi, by Sandhya Menon | Read by Sneha Mathan, Vikas Adam Published by Dreamscape Media | recommended on BooksYALove.comWhen Dimple Met Rishi (download here free from May 24-30, 2018)
by Sandhya Menon
Read by Sneha Mathan, Vikas Adam
Published by Dreamscape Media

Dimple wants to win the app development contest, Mom wants to arrange the ideal Indian marriage, and Rishi wants Dimple to agree with their parents that he is the one for her! Was a summer after graduation ever so complicated?  (I recommended this fun book last May at https://booksyalove.com/?p=8797)
 
Baker’s Magic (download here free from May 24-30, 2018)CD cover of Baker's Magic, by Diane Zahler | Read by Tavia Gilbert, Michael Crouch, Stephen DeRosa, Kenneth Cavett, L.J. Ganser, Robin Miles, Stina Nielsen, Elisabeth Rodgers Published by Live Oak Media | recommended on BooksYALove.com
by Diane Zahler
Read by Tavia Gilbert, Michael Crouch, Stephen DeRosa, Kenneth Cavett, L.J. Ganser, Robin Miles, Stina Nielsen, Elisabeth Rodgers
Published by Live Oak Media

Bee discovers that her baking reflects her moods, a rare gift that takes the 12 year old orphan from small village to castle to pirate ship as she helps a new (and royal) friend escape an evil mage.

What stories about creating and making would you recommend?
**kmm

A filmmaker’s heart (broken?) – From Twinkle, With Love, by Sandhya Menon (book review)

May22

book cover of From Twinkle. With Love by Sandhya Menon, published by Simon Pulse | recommended on BooksYALove.comInspired by women filmmakers,
Enraptured by cutest guy at school,
Long beloved by his twin brother?!

Twinkle knows she’s just a background character at her Colorado high school, child of immigrants from India, longing to attend film school (big dream, small chance).

When classmate Sahil (twin of heartthrob Neil) offers to produce Twinkle’s short film for the school festival, of course she accepts – casting (almost former) bff Maddie in the lead for gender-reversed Dracula is inspired, Sahil is clever and funny and not Neal, but…

Happy book birthday to From Twinkle, With Love by the author of When Dimple Met Rishi (my no-spoiler recommendation here)

When has the unexpected become the best thing ever, for you?
**kmm

Book info: From Twinkle With Love / Sandhya Menon. Simon Pulse, 2018. [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: So many regrets in Twinkle’s life – from being a burden on her hardworking parents to letting best friend Maddie slip away into the popular crowd – but making a film for their school festival may let the Indian-American teen finally show her true talents (and impress her crush Neil and get Maddie back).

If only she can stay true to herself… and not get distracted by her attentive producer Sahil (Neil’s twin brother) or the ‘anonymous’ emails from N (who must be Neil, right?) or grandmother Dadi’s unnerving pronouncements from the beyond.

Staying true to yourself – free audiobooks this week

May17

This week’s free audiobooks from SYNC bring us stories of being one’s truest self despite others’ prejudices.

You can download these complete audiobooks from Thursday through Wednesday (17-13 May 2018) at zero cost, then listen to them whenever you like (as long as they’re saved on your device).

Big thanks to the audiobook publishers who share these super choices all summer long at http://www.audiobooksync.com/!

CD cover of Saving Montgomery Sole by Mariko Tamaki | Read by Rebecca Lowman Published by Listening Library | recommended on BooksYALove.comSaving Montgomery Sole (free download here 17-23 May 2018)
by Mariko Tamaki
Read by Rebecca Lowman
Published by Listening Library

Struggling as the daughter of two moms in their small narrow-minded town, Monty discovers that mysteries come in all forms and that true friends (and frozen yogurt) are true gifts.

 

Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen (free download here 17-23 May 2018)CD cover of Being Jazz, by Jazz Jennings | Read by Jazz Jennings Published by Listening Library | recommended on BooksYALove.com
by Jazz Jennings
Read by Jazz Jennings
Published by Listening Library

Jazz reads her second autobiography recounting her teen years and the challenges and bullying she has faced as a prominent voice for transgender youth in the years following her family’s support as she transitioned as an elementary school child.

What other books about fitting in versus being your true self would you recommend?
**kmm

Tales of escape and hope to read with your ears

May3

Songs of desperation and hope thread through his week’s free audiobooks from SYNC to read with your ears!

Remember that although these complete audiobooks are only available from Thursday through Wednesday, you have free use of them as long as you keep them on your computer or electronic device.

Click each CD title to reach the download site – enjoy!

CD cover of Solo, by Kwame Alexander, Mary Rand Hess | Read by Kwame Alexander Published by Blink | recommended on BooksYALove.com Solo (free download from 5-11 May 2018)
by Kwame Alexander, Mary Rand Hess 
Read by Kwame Alexander 
Published by Blink

Blade wants to escape his rock-star dad’s raucous reputation… but a family secret bursts onto the young musician’s present – a novel in verse.
 

The Devil’s Highway: a True Story (free download from 5-11 May 2018)CD cover of Devil's Highway, by Luis Alberto Urrea | Read by Luis Alberto Urrea Published by Hachette Audio | recommended on BooksYALove.com
by Luis Alberto Urrea
Read by Luis Alberto Urrea
Published by Hachette Audio

In May 2001, a group of men tried to cross the desert from Mexico into Arizona, but only half survived. Investigative reporting of a story that repeats itself often, even today.

What other stories of escape would you recommmend?
**kmm