Ms. Anderson's ATM

What a year! Here we are at the last week of library instruction for 2020-2021. I have so many mixed feelings--especially about not actually having students in the library this year. It has been great getting to be in reading classes, develop new ways to think and connect with literature, and try different technology. But not seeing your faces here in this space. That's been hard. I am hopeful that next year will be different. Until then, I'll keep reading in my quest to find more great books to share with my beloved students. I am happy to report that this week there are some amazing stories!

I am just about finished with The Night Diary (20 pages to go) and I'll tell you it was a struggle to put it down so that I wasn't late for work. The story is told in letters that Nisha is writing to her mother who died in childbirth. Nisha lives in India and the country is on the brink of civil war. It is 1947, and after 200 years of British rule, India is going to be independent. But part of the independence agreement is that India will be divided into India (Hindu, Sikh and everyone else) and Pakistan (Muslim). Nisha and her family live in the new Pakistan but are Hindu so they must race south to the new India and safety. The story is heartbreaking and harrowing. I love how the author captures Nisha's personality and the events in her honest and lovely letters. Just so good!

Two audio books that couldn't be more different but also similar. Just Like That is set in Maine and is the story of Matt who desperate to stay hidden from his past and Meryl Lee who is struggling to cope with her future. The story is well crafted, filled with suspense, and loaded with awesome literary references. Follow the Yellow Brick Road to the nearest library and grab this one post haste!

I just started the audio version of I'm Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter this morning and am already hooked. Julia knows she's not the perfect Mexican daughter, that was her sister's role. But when her sister is killed by a bus (she's on her phone instead of paying attention), Julia discovers lots of secrets and struggles to figure out what her sister was hiding. This has been on my Want to Read list for way too long.

A Wish in the Dark is a cozy fantasy about a world lit by magic but whose light is only for the rich.

There is a boy on the run and a girl determined to find him. Life will make Tok and Christina enemies but their truth will bring them together to light the word.

This is a story well told. I am tickled it is on next year's GJ Book Voyage list. This is a quiet gem.

Mmmmeh. I wanted this to be so much more. It is an award winner but I wasn't captivated by either the art or the story. I will say that I love that the story is about queer characters but that their being queer isn't an issue or a thing. It's just a fact of the story. But beyond that it wasn't super memorable for me.

My summer reading list is crazy long but I feel like I'm off to a solid start (and it's only May!)

Happy reading everyone!

Ms. Anderson