Loved this book- kept me on my toes until the very end.

I don't give away spoilers in my reviews. I am admittedly not usually the reader who loves fantasy but I knew from reviews that I wanted to read When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley. The cover is eye-catching with the graphic of Benny and the merman. I loved the oceanic colors used for it. Benny is on his own in life after losing his aunt. He has come to America and is working as a blacksmith. Benny has difficulties with his breathing and being in an environment such as a metal shop really affects his health. Benny is a talented blacksmith and his art is noticed by the owner of one of the local amusement parks - Luna Park in Coney Island. Benny is hired to build a large tank for a new exhibit and isn't told of all the details. Benny finds himself becoming attached to the new exhibit - a real merman from the ocean. I loved Benny's compassion and moral struggles within himself and with the merman. The other characters in the book that make up the menagerie were also such a great group of characters to read about. My two favorite parts in this book were the illustrations and the storyline. The illustrations added to the story and worked together with the cover. I usually don't read much fantasy but this was such a good story. (from my Goodreads review)

This is the kind of book that's best as an audio, because the narrator (author J. P. Romney) is funny and entertaining. Even as an English major (and former teacher), it turned out that I apparently knew next to nothing about the history of books, because this book was enormously educational. Highly recommended!

I had to read this after reading we were liars and felt like it was okay. I thought it followed the same type of trajectory and had many parallels to we were liars, just with the previous generation of Sinclairs. I think I liked Carrie’s POV better than the narration of we were liars, although both characters had their flaws and issues.

I enjoy Sepetys books. She always does a nice job weaving history into her stories and this one is no different. It offers an interesting glimpse into life in New Orleans in 1950.

Fast paced, as is to be expected for a YA book. Would be a great intro to the genre.

This book is the last book in a franchise about aliens fighting a hostile alien race in order to save the world. I highly recommend it for science fiction readers.

This book takes place in the near future where Muslim Americans are being forced into internment camps by order of the president. Layla, a 17 year old Muslim American is forced from her home into an internment camp. But Layla won’t stay quiet. She organizes protests with help from her friends, and with help from her boyfriend David, shows the world outside the camp what it’s like being forced to live in the internment camp.

This is a pretty good book about a girl named Mariana whose dad is running for president. Mariana has been supporting her dad completely even when she doesn’t like it that she is involved in his campaign. But when the activism club at school grows and starts activism that seems pointed against her father and an incident that breaches her privacy occurs, Mariana starts to learn that maybe her father isn’t the honest man she thought he was. Mariana wants to stand up to him. But how can she?

Maybe it's because it's in translation, but this book promised some torrid love affairs and all I got were sad people who were too philosophical.