The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a very good coming-of-age YA in a poetic prose style. The scene with her mother at the end, this was so my mother, minus the religion.

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Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a wonderful story about first love. The characters are wonderful and perfectly imperfect. I enjoyed every minute of reading this book. In addition to the romance story, I appreciated the serious way the book dealt with the issue of poverty and abuse.

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Just Kids by Patti Smith

Just Kids by Patti Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

More of a love letter to her former boyfriend and famous photographer Robert Maplethorpe, rather than a traditional memoir. If you're interested in learning about Patti Smith's music career, this book doesn't really get there until nearly the end, and then only briefly discusses it. Otherwise really interesting and almost spell-binding narrative about being poor and artistic in the 1970s and 1980s New York City. Smith makes the city sound gritty, glamorous, and full of possibilities all at the same time.

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Adultolescence by Gabbie Hanna

Adultolescence by Gabbie Hanna
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

What is going on here? Is this supposed to be Shel Silverstein for confused and sad college students? Maybe I've been caught off guard because I didn't know the author is a YouTube personality in advance? (I mostly only ever look at BookTube, live news feeds, or late night comedy on YouTube.)

Some of the poems have value as a humorous or silly way to describe the confusion of your 20s or the millennial experience. Even these seem pretty unpolished. Who is the audience for self-deprecating silly poems? Then all of the sudden there are "serious" unhumourous poems. In many of these, Hanna overshoots a lot. Here's just one example, the poem about divorce-- missed the mark by a lot. Probably would have been better to work on a smaller number of good poems rather than 170-something quickly written poems.


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A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is not the sexy Buddhist nun story it promises to be on the first few pages. That was a disappointment. It is also not the realistic story it promises to be for the first 60% of the book as it descends into magical realism madness. But I fell in love with the characters and any book that weaves mindfulness and physics into a narrative about time is likely to win me over.

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This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff

This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Excellent memoir but had to withhold a star for the pitiless discussion of 15-year-old Miss Flood. What a horror.

Favorite quote:
"When we are green, still half-created, we believe that our dreams are rights, that the world is disposed to act in our best interests, and that falling and dying are for quitters. We live on the innocent and monstrous assurance that we alone, of all the people ever born, have a special arrangement whereby we will be allowed to stay green forever."
- Tobias Wolff, This Boy's Life

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The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book has great characters you can love. Despite the main character being a teen and struggling with how she is viewed by the outside world, the book itself still manages to handle the very important and sadly all too frequent topic of police shootings with great maturity. This novel is a clear young adult winner.

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Marlena by Julie Buntin

Marlena by Julie Buntin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A beautiful exploration of young friendship, its betrayals, and its lasting love and effects.

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Labor Day by Joyce Maynard

Labor Day by Joyce Maynard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a super weird coming of age story. Or is it a romance? A story about the crippling effects of personal trauma and mental illness? A story about the injustice of the criminal system? Yes, all that stuff.

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Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A middle school coming of age story about a girl struggling with religion, female puberty, and preteen/teen gossip. Well worth the read even as an adult. Extremely realistic depiction of middle school.

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The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really like the concept of using poetry to tell this story and works perfectly. The feelings the main character Josh expresses are very relatable young adult feelings.

My only complaint was that the very short story decides to deal with a major life issue and that seems too big for this smaller narrative. I would have enjoyed this more if the author had just remained focused on the feelings and coming of age story of the twin brothers.

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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I owned this book for many years before I picked it up to read it because I moved to Brooklyn, though I live in Cobble Hill the main character Francie lives in Williamsburg. I felt less of a connection to the location- Brooklyn is not what it once was- and more of a connection to the main character. She loves books and she loves learning, and she tries to push her brother to learn too. I also enjoyed how the relationship between Francie and her mother develops as they both "bloom."

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The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Total weirdness. Made very little sense in the beginning. The issue of the daemons was pretty straightforward, but "dust" still basically makes very little sense. Eventually, the other characters explained to Lyra (and to me) what was going on but I wasn't that impressed by then.

I like that this takes place in an alternate universe that acknowledges the possible existence of ours. The story seems like it would be especially fun if you first read it as a child. I also like that this is the anti-Narnia series (though I did love Narnia).

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Ask the Passengers by A.S. King

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a good YA coming of age book with a gay main character in a conservative town. It’s painful but it’s also appropriate for young teens.

I could have lived without the passengers’ monologues.

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