Review: Everywhere You Don't Belong by Gabriel Bump

Everywhere You Don't Belong by Gabriel Bump
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Published: Feb. 2020
 

Claude is your typical high school kid, trying to figure out what he is going to do for the rest of his life. He lives on the South Side of Chicago, where life is not always the greatest. Surviving his parents leaving him, rioting and violence in his hometown. When he meets Janice, he think he may have found the one person to make the journey a little better, but Janice has plans of her own that may or may not include Claude. Together or apart, will Claude be able to make it through this tumultuous life, or will he fall victim to his circumstances.

Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I can say that I was hooked on this book from the start. Claude seems like a shy guy who doesn't have too many friends. Not that he doesn't want friends, but he just likes to stick to himself. At first while reading the book, I was a little concerned about the writing style. But it fits for a boy of that age who is unsure of himself. This book was a quick read with a lot of dry humor.

You don't hear as many reports about the violence in Chicago, but it is ever prevalent. Thankfully, I have never felt the fear of violence just from sitting on my porch, but Claude feels it and even though he tries to escape it, it seems to follow him.

I really enjoyed this story and highly recommend for high school boys who are unsure of their future.

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Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Published: 2017

Starr Carter lives in Garden Heights, which is the ghetto. She goes to the predominately white private school, Williamson, where she has to pretend to be someone she is not. When she witnesses the murder of one of her closest friends, Khalil, from the neighborhood, by the hand of a white police officer, she has to take a closer look at herself, her neighborhood, and the friends she chooses to hang with.

I have been wanting to read this book for a long time. Now, that it's a movie, I had to get it in before I went to see it.

This book really resonates with the times we are now living in. For people of color in this country, every day is a reality that your life can be cut short, by one wrong move. Even if that move is not going to harm another person.

For Starr Carter, being the only witness comes with a lot of pressure to speak about what happened or to keep it inside. Speaking out can mean trouble for her family and herself. Keeping it inside, means that Khalil will never get justice for his death. While Starr decides what to do, life must go on. She examines her relationship with her friends at Williamson, she reflects back on her life with Khalil, and she grows closer to her family.

This is a great book for everyone to read. Please read it and see the movie.

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Review: The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Kate Moore writes a compelling and heart wrenching story about a group of women from New Jersey and Illinois whose job it was to use radium paint to paint watch dials so they would illuminate at night. Little did they know, that every time they would put their brush in their mouth to get the point just right to paint the dial precisely, they were killing themselves. They were told that the paint was perfectly safe and there was no way that the paint could be causing all of their medical problems. But the companies knew that the radium was dangerous. Scientists and others in the radium plant used gloves and had lead aprons on, but the dial painters were not given that luxury.

Slowly the effects of the paint began to show on their bodies. Women who were in the prime of their life were losing their teeth, their jaw bones were falling out, it was difficult for them to walk, and no one could explain it. They went to several doctors and no one could find the reason they were getting sick. The radium companies refused to admit that they were at fault. For years and years, they fought for justice. Justice for women who were dying in their 20s. This book made your heart ache for these women.

While I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was quite a slow read for me. I wanted to know if justice was going to be served, but it took a while to get to that point. This is quite an interesting story and this was the first that I had ever heard of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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Review: The Mothers by Brit Bennett

The Mothers by Brit Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nadia Turner, Aubrey Evans, and Luke Sheppard are young adults living in Oceanside, CA. They are each going through their lives trying to overcome their individual struggles. One summer they are all joined together by unforeseen events and these events will help to mold them into the people they will be for the rest of their lives.

We all have people in our lives who know everything think that is going on in our lives or think they do whether we want them to or not. In this book, a few ladies at Upper Room Church fill this spot. They narrate the scene for most of the chapters in this book and give their honest opinion on how the story will unfold. They have known these young people most of their lives and have been in their position many years before.

I have been looking forward to reading this book or a long time. I will say that even though I read this book rather quickly it wasn't quite what I was expecting. I would have liked to seen more of a voice from "The Mothers". Other than that, this was an enjoyable read for me.

Nadia, Aubrey and Luke are all around the same age and live in Oceanside. Luke and Nadia date briefly the summer before she leaves for college. Then Luke suddenly cuts her out of his life like a bad habit. She takes a job working as the First Lady's assistant at Upper Room. There she meets Aubrey. Aubrey is quiet and shy, but is instantly drawn to Nadia. Both of them having lost their mothers, although in very different ways, have a connection that no one would have seen. The story follows the trio as they move through life and deal with their pasts in order to move forward with their futures.

This was a very good debut novel and I look forward to more books by Brit Bennett.

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