**spoiler alert** Representation: Black, Asian and Latino/a characters Trigger warnings: Death of a mother from a car accident and a father, physical i**spoiler alert** Representation: Black, Asian and Latino/a characters Trigger warnings: Death of a mother from a car accident and a father, physical injury, grief and loss depiction, sexism Score: Nine and a half points out of ten. This review can also be found on The StoryGraph.
After reading and not enjoying Our Missing Hearts which sounded so promising but ultimately did not deliver, I was hoping this one would be better and when I discovered it hiding on the shelves of one of the two libraries I go to, I immediately picked it up and read it. When I finished it, it was so enjoyable that it made an outstanding impression on the author, and made me want to read more of her works. It starts with the main and titular character Carrie Soto, or Carrie for short, living with her father after her mother passed and from there she trained playing tennis with him (which is the point of the entire narrative.) Here's where the narrative shines: I rooted for Carrie as a character and I appreciate how well she's written given that she's so complex and even has development from being an unlikable character to a more humble one which I enjoyed reading. Is it me or does this story feel well executed since it has so many events and actions going on yet it never feels disjoined or forcibly crammed and manages a fast pace? I've heard there are some references to the author's other pieces of literature and I can't wait to read those (they sound promising.) Only a few pages in Carrie is at the top when she retires and stops playing for a few years until I get to the 1990s where she discovers another (British Asian) tennis player, Nicki Chan, is catching up to Carrie's prestige, because Carrie earned 20 awards but soon enough Nicki meets and overtakes that, so now it is Carrie's goal to return for one last time to attempt to beat Nicki at tennis which takes up the second half. The action was swift and snappy throughout but sometimes it can slow down (which is mostly great but that all depends on circumstances) to explore character dynamics and other issues like sexism. It all comes to a bittersweet head as Carrie does so well ever after her retirement but she accepts that her time is over (she even befriends Nicki) making a satisfying conclusion. Now that's the level I want to see for future reads. I know not all of them can reach that but I hope I will find some outstanding ones....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: Character with a physical disability, side Latina and Black characters Trigger warnings: Ableism, death of a parent i**spoiler alert** Representation: Character with a physical disability, side Latina and Black characters Trigger warnings: Ableism, death of a parent in the past Score: Six and a half out of ten. Find this review on the StoryGraph.
I enjoyed Air by Monica Roe, but it could've been so much better. I'm not saying it missed the mark, I'm saying if the author made some improvements to Air, I would've given it more than six and a half out of ten. I wanted to read it, but I put it off for a few months, and when I closed the final page, it was okay.
It starts with Emelyn 'Emmie' Ethrige recounting her life by telling me about mundane events like going to school, all while using a wheelchair, because of her spina bifida. Everything appears typical until Emmie had an accident on the school ramp, forcing the school to develop a special plan for her, much to her dismay. A person without a disability tried to help Emmie by grabbing her wheels, but she didn't feel like it helped. They put Emmie in a program for people with 'exceptional needs,' whatever that means, but I'm assuming it means it's a program for neurodiverse people or people with physical disabilities like Emmie.
I liked some parts of Air, like the likable characters, but not others, like the absence of intersectionality. How come no one talked about how Emmie is white but also has a disability and goes to a public school, giving her less privilege over people without disabilities? Putting a POC with a disability would help explore that subject. The one Latina character, Ale, and other Black characters mentioned were in the background most of the time. Really?
There wasn't a support network for Emmie as her school didn't help, her mother passed before the narrative began and her father dismantled her ramp, making her life harder. Adding a support network would improve the reading experience. I liked the plot point where lots of people without disabilities raised money for Emmie's new wheelchair, but they all ignored the problem of the underfunded public school not being accessible for people with disabilities. Emmie donates the money back to improve the school's accessibility, contributing to a satisfying climax....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: Black characters Trigger warnings: Near-death experience in a body of water, racism, internalised racism, bullying, a**spoiler alert** Representation: Black characters Trigger warnings: Near-death experience in a body of water, racism, internalised racism, bullying, anxiety Score: Six out of ten. Find this review on The StoryGraph.
Problematic would be the best way to describe this. If you want to read this story, go ahead. If you liked it, good for you. The subtitle looks like something from Atomic Habits by James Clear. The author must acknowledge that racism, including pool segregation, doesn't only affect Black people—it also affects other races. Racism isn't the sole reason someone can't swim. There are others, but it can be one. A person aged 15 wouldn't be part of the target audience for this one.
Here's a summary: Problem One: Bree was forced to swim. Problem Two: She almost died. Problem Three: There is no way she became that proficient a swimmer within a year.
I first saw this nine months back, then in my library. Later, I finally read this. I had high expectations for this illustrated novel, but despite enjoying this text, I had issues. I can't comprehend how it got awards, but we have different tastes.
It starts with Bree who moved to Florida and a new school. When she chose her elective, there was only Swim 101 since the math elective was unavailable, but why? I already had a problem with this situation because it doesn't feel great for one to be forced into doing something they don't like, so why did this happen here? I was concerned for Bree because it looked like she had anxiety but didn't receive help for that, and all she did was cope and outpace it. Literally. Why not go to the nearest mental health service?
Bree skips that class to try and avoid that to the point where she almost dies. However, the pacing was too fast for me to wrap my head around. She eventually swims, and a person called Ms Etta contributed to this. Then, Bree joined the team, hence the title, but I found it unrealistic because of how fast that was since it felt like she only learned that within a year. It doesn't work like that. Swimming takes a while to perfect and not a short time. The characters... "sighs", they were a mixed bag. Bree and her team win the state championship against another school called Holyoke Prep toward the end, concluding the narrative on a high note.
Addendum: Also, where's the intersectionality? Where are the other POC? The protagonist is a young Black girl, but the composition only discusses her race. At least the art was good. Bree's school is privileged because it has a pool even though it's majority POC. That's a rare sight....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: Black characters Trigger warnings: Sexism Score: Seven out of ten.
Hoops by Matt Tavares was a good graphic novel but i**spoiler alert** Representation: Black characters Trigger warnings: Sexism Score: Seven out of ten.
Hoops by Matt Tavares was a good graphic novel but if the author just tried a little bit harder it would've been even better. The main character, Judi, wasn't that particularly exciting or remarkable yet I could still root for her and her team which I liked. The colour palette was fine and the art style looked kind of familiar, maybe it had a similar art style to the Sunny series by Jennifer L. Holm and the Smile series by Raina Telgemeier, due to how the author drew the faces but it could just be all a coincidence. The ending was well written and it was thoughtful of the author to make the team win and then have an epilogue with the next female basketball team, I enjoyed that part. If you like a thoughtful and entertaining story about basketball, like graphic novels or like books similar to The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat and The Crossover by Kwame Alexander this is the book for you....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: Biracial (half Asian and half white) and Asian characters Trigger warnings: Racism, bullying Score: Seven out of ten. F**spoiler alert** Representation: Biracial (half Asian and half white) and Asian characters Trigger warnings: Racism, bullying Score: Seven out of ten. Find this review on The StoryGraph.
The Tryout, by Christina Soontornvat and illustrated by Joanna Cacao, was a good graphic memoir.
I usually don't expect graphic novels to be that good, but this exceeded my expectations. The art was good, the story was engaging, the characters were well made and their struggles were relatable. However, the ending was bittersweet, because Christina didn't make the tryouts, but she chose a different thing instead and she was satisfied. Definitely recommended if you want an easy read about relatable struggles in school. I just hope that the other graphic novels I want, such as Frizzy, Play Like a Girl, Isla to Island, Freestyle, and especially Swim Team, are as good as this one.
Update: I can't judge the two books I mentioned after the first one but I can say for sure that this book is better the last two books I mentioned. The fourth one is problematic. The first one rivals this....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: Black characters Trigger warnings: Hospitalisation of a child, bullying, physical assault, racism, medical content (s**spoiler alert** Representation: Black characters Trigger warnings: Hospitalisation of a child, bullying, physical assault, racism, medical content (surgery) Score: Nine out of ten.
Booked was an amazing verse novel, but I liked the Crossover more, but this was still a good book to read. The main character, Nick, was fleshed out, realistic, and experienced struggles, such as bullies, divorce, and not liking books, but he overcame those challenges, so he experienced character development, which I liked. Some of the other characters in the book, like his parents, friends, and teachers, were so supportive of him, and I liked his dynamic with all of them. He is very passionate at soccer, and the scenes where he played soccer were enjoyable parts of the book, but he can't always play soccer all of the time without encountering issues, however he learns to accept that and control the parts of his life he can control. If you like a story with character development or like soccer, this is the book for you....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: Black characters Trigger warnings: Death of a father by a heart attack and stroke, grief and loss depiction Score: Eig**spoiler alert** Representation: Black characters Trigger warnings: Death of a father by a heart attack and stroke, grief and loss depiction Score: Eight points out of ten.
I only discovered The Crossover and Kwame Alexander last year and I enjoyed that so I picked up this novel and turns out it was a prequel but still this is one of the few novels that I enjoyed so much, this will not change the fact that I liked The Crossover more; everything here is executed almost perfectly, where do I even begin. It starts off with the main character Chuck Bell and he's the father of Josh and Jordan Bell in The Crossover and this already made me feel a tinge of sadness considering what would happen after this book. Only a few pages in and this book already packed an emotional punch when Chuck's father dies which kind of foreshadows things to come, nice touch. Chuck slowly recovers from that loss and soon enough he discovers a thing called basketball and that takes up most of the book and sets up future events. I liked the illustrations interspersed and the character development and the cherry on top was the flashforward? 30 years later with Chuck now a father with his sons with some metaphors added in to boot. Not to mention the poetry here is top tier....more
**spoiler alert** Representation: Black characters Trigger warnings: Hospitalisation and death of a father and a grandfather mentioned from a heart att**spoiler alert** Representation: Black characters Trigger warnings: Hospitalisation and death of a father and a grandfather mentioned from a heart attack, grief and loss depiction Score: Eight out of ten.
Looking back, The Crossover by Kwame Alexander was one of the few that still holds up really well even to this day ever since I first read and enjoyed it and it would be highly likely that I would pick this up and enjoy this again for a second time; by the way this was the first poetry book that I've read and that made me read more of them. It begins with the two main characters Josh and Jordan Bell and all they do is play basketball which they are good at and everything looks amazing until they begin to grow apart. This comes from one character losing a bet and then he's forced to cut off his hair and another character grows more distant from his brother as he develops an attraction with his new partner. Josh and Jordan try to navigate their lives in middle school and they still play basketball as part of the school team and I liked the writing style since all the poems are so different yet still tell one cohesive story; it shows how poetry can do a lot with very little. Anyways Josh and Jordan's father gets sick from a condition which might have something to do with his diet and he doesn't want to go to the hospital after the death of his father who is also Josh and Jordan's grandfather in there. Eventually towards the end Josh and Jordan's father dies as well however after a while they move on wrapping the book up in a bittersweet manner....more
Representation: Black main character Trigger warnings: N/A? Score: Seven points out of ten.
I liked how the verse style of the novel combined with the arRepresentation: Black main character Trigger warnings: N/A? Score: Seven points out of ten.
I liked how the verse style of the novel combined with the art....more
Representation: Black main character Trigger warnings: N/A? Score: Seven points out of ten.
I liked how the verse style of the novel combined with the arRepresentation: Black main character Trigger warnings: N/A? Score: Seven points out of ten.
I liked how the verse style of the novel combined with the art....more
![The Crossover [Paperback] [Jan 01, 2001] Howard Hughes](https://cdn.statically.io/img/i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1444743688l/25493882._SY75_.jpg)
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