Skip to main content

So Done

Image
By
So Done
By Paula Chase
HarperCollins Publishers, 2018. Fiction.

Tai is excited for summer to end so her best friend Jamila will come home from her aunt's house in the suburbs and back to their low-income housing projects called Pirates Cove. Tai and Mila have been inseparable since they were toddlers, but Mila hasn't even sent Tai a single text the whole summer - and then she comes back acting weird. Mila is happy to be home with her dad and brothers, but sort of wishes that he would send her to live in the suburbs forever like her older sister - then she wouldn't have to stress about her dance audition for the big new Talented and Gifted Program or about accidentally revealing her secret to someone. Especially to Tai.

This is a book that carries quite a bit of heft in a small volume. Tai and Mila are two very different and interesting Black characters dealing with crushes, secrets, and very real issues. The story is told in dual-perspective with alternating chapters from Tai and Mila which helps to remind readers that we don't usually know the whole story. This is a very brave book that doesn't back down from dealing with real issues that worry many young people, but the expertly handled Vernacular English is what gives this novel real life. Paula Chase has a clear understanding of young people and a good sense for Black youth culture which really shines through. This is a book for fans of contemporary realistic fiction who know that ordinary kids have stories to tell.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

By
KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Finding Lost

By
Finding Lost By Holly Goldberg Sloan New York: Rocky Pond Books, 2025. Fiction. 208 pages. Middle schooler Cordy, along with her mom and little brother, Geno, are still learning how to adjust to their life after “The Accident,” a tragic boating accident that cost their father’s life. When Cordy is walking home from school one day, she finds a little stray dog who the family nicknames Lost, and as he joins their family, he helps them rediscover all of the beauty that life has to offer. Holly Goldberg Sloane delivers a heart-warming and poignant novel about loss, family, and perseverance. This was a well-written novel that could appeal to a wide range of readers. Any middle schooler will be able to relate to Cordy’s experience of dealing with change, and those who have experienced a similar loss will be sure to find solace in this beautiful story.
Post a Comment
Read more