Girl Made of Stars

TW: discussions of rape and childhood sexual assault

Blake, Ashley Herring. Girl Made of Stars. HMH BYR, 2018.

Mara and Owen are twins, and Mara is also close friends with Hannah, Owen's girlfriend. So when Hannah accuses Owen of rape, Mara isn't sure what to do. She doesn't know whom to believe and isn't sure how to react, and it's bringing up memories she had tried to quash.

As a childhood assault survivor, I nearly didn't read this book, not because I didn't think it would be well-written or well handled, but because I wasn't sure if it would be triggering. Mara was assaulted at the end of eighth grade by one of her teachers, and she doesn't tell anyone about it, and then her brother is accused of rape and her family is all rallying around him and her school is rallying around him and no one is standing up for Hannah, and Mara ends up in a sort of tailspin. This is a good book, and a realistic book, in that Owen is never actually brought to trial or formally charged or given any sort of punishment for what he did, and in fact his family doesn't really acknowledge that he did anything wrong.

I am glad for this book's discussion of rape that occurs within a relationship and how difficult it can be for the survivor to be believed since they already had a sexual relationship with the rapist, how it becomes a "he said, she said" situation, etc. etc. I am glad for the Speak-esque plot for Mara, who finally finds the courage to tell others what happened to her. This is a good book, and a necessary book, and the story was handled with the delicateness appropriate for the topic. For survivors, the flashback scenes are in italics, so it would be easy enough to skip over them if you'd like. The assault scene is fairly descriptive and frightening as is appropriate for an eighth grader being assaulted by an adult man.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: descriptions of assault, discussion of rape, slut-shaming,
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Speak, All the Rage, Learning to Breathe

The Confectioner's Guild

Luana, Claire. The Confectioner's Guild. Live Edge Publishing, 2018.

Wren is an orphan who has been working in a bakery since the baker discovered her using a leftover piping bag to decorate a snowbank. She prefers her job over a life in the streets, until one day when a guild member whisks her away from her bakery and informs her that her bakery skills are actually imbuing her treats with magic and that she must be trained. Immediately after learning this, the head of her guild dies and Wren is accused of his murder. Now she has one month to find the actual murderer and clear her name.

This description made this book sound like it was right up my alley. I love fantasy stories and mysteries, and having recently read Changeling, thought this would be a great read-alike. Unfortunately, I was sadly disappointed. This book reads like a story for children or tweens, but multiple uses of the word "ass," as well as sexual encounters, make this a book for teens. Further, the main character spends most of her time ogling one of her fellow bakers, so there are long descriptions of his hair, his abs, what he looks like without a shirt, how sad she is when he puts a shirt on, etc. etc. And he's not the only character she pines after. All of this is to say that this book is best categorized as a teen romance novel, which is perfectly fine, but it is not a tween book nor a fantasy nor really a mystery at all, and readers looking for those things will be disappointed. I would recommend this book to fans of romance novels but not to those who prefer fantasy or mystery without a romantic subplot.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: multiple uses of the word "ass," underage alcohol consumption (although as this is a fantasy, I don't know that it's illegal per se), off-page sex
Overall Rating: 2/5 stars

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley for the purpose of review.

Changeling

Harper, Molly. Changeling. INscribe Digital, 2018.

Cassandra Reed is a new student at Miss Castwells, a finishing school and magic school for young ladies of high society. Before she came to Miss Castwells, though, she was Sarah, a non-magical snipe who was fated to serve her benefactors for the rest of her life. Because she has magic, though, Sarah has become Cassandra and must learn quickly to act and speak as a person of high parentage. She soon finds, though, that things are much more complicated than they seem.

It is very rare for me to begin reading a book and then discover that I like it so much I want to slow down so I can savor the story. This is one of those books. Cassandra has to navigate the social game of teen girls, which is complicated enough, but is also hiding the secret of her true family. Also, she's trying to learn magic. And she's become a Translator, a rare person chosen by an ancient tome to be one who can translate the text so that the information can benefit society, so now she's even more in the public eye than ever. This story was filled with court intrigue, magic, villains, love letters, action scenes, a jealous older sister - it's got a little bit of everything a person could want in a story. I'm glad to see that it's only the first in the series, because I am excited to read the second one when it comes out. Recommended.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: minor fantasy violence (a zombie-like creature chases a character, etc.)
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley for the purpose of review.

Pink Hair and Other Terrible Ideas

Pyros, Andrea. Pink Hair and Other Terrible Ideas. Capstone, 2019.

Josephine is the less popular of the twins, and she's already reeling from her parents' divorce and trying to navigate the halls of middle school when her mom tells her that she's been diagnosed with breast cancer. Josephine doesn't want to stand out at school, so she tries not to tell anyone, but then her brother, in a show of support, dyes his hair bright pink, and Josephine finds she cannot hide any longer.

This was a great idea for a book, but it ended super abruptly. There were lots of threads of the story that were picked up and then dropped. It reads more like a book for middle grade students (3rd-4th grade), but the main characters are twelve and have crushes and go to boy/girl parties, etc. etc, which makes it hard to place this book in the library.

I wasn't sure why the idea of the principal complaining about Josephine's brother's pink hair was placed in the story when it wasn't fleshed out more later on. The whole football team could have gotten their hair dyed, or Josephine's friends could have done it, or many people from the school or something. It seemed like a major plot point, but then it disappeared, along with most of the details of the mom's cancer and treatments, recovery, etc. The dad wasn't very well rounded, either; readers are told that he is fairly irresponsible and childish, but that's all we get.

I think this book would have benefited with more length to tie up the loose ends of the story or with editing to take away the unnecessary subplots (the dad being a giant child, the boy/girl party not actually involving any risque activity, the outlawing pink hair at the school thing, etc. etc.). I like the idea of this book, but it failed on the execution.

Recommended for: middle grade and tweens
Red Flags: none
Overall Rating: 3/5 stars

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley for the purpose of review.

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

Gemeinhart, Dan. The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise. Henry Holt, 2019.

Coyote and her father, Rodeo, are traveling the country in a school bus that has been redesigned inside to be a motor home. They don't talk about their past and they don't intend to return to their hometown. But when Coyote discovers that something precious to her is in danger of being destroyed, she schemes to get herself, the bus, and her father back home in time to save it. Along the way they pick up some passengers, including a young violinist, a teen runaway, and a blue-eyed goat.

This book was immensely readable and entertaining as well as heartwarming. Coyote's love of reading is apparent throughout the story, so readers will walk away with a decent list of books to read next. The story does read a bit like a fairy tale or an after school special in that everything wraps up neatly at the end, but this is not a negative factor for middle grade or tween literature at all. 

Recommended for: tweens
Red Flags: None
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Read-Alikes: This Would Make a Great Story Someday,  The Someday Birds, Ashes to Asheville

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley for the purpose of review.