The illustrator of this picture book is JiaJia Hammer. The illustrations are crisp, colorful, and inviting.
This is a sweet and timely children's pictuThe illustrator of this picture book is JiaJia Hammer. The illustrations are crisp, colorful, and inviting.
This is a sweet and timely children's picture book focusing on how kindness can make a hard day better. This highlights representation for multiple kids while encouraging them to be the change they needed for someone else. This is truly what we need to be teaching children in these troubled times.
Thank you to Megan Murphy, Familius, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ebook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
The illustrator of this is Tequitia Andrews.The illustrations are colorful, soft, and have a sweetness to them. The illustrations are inviting and relThe illustrator of this is Tequitia Andrews.The illustrations are colorful, soft, and have a sweetness to them. The illustrations are inviting and relevant to the story itself.
This is a sweet book perfect for younger children. This has more illustrations than dialogue and feels like it was written for toddler age children. This is also important for grade school-age kids, maybe pre K-grade 2. My toddler aged grandson loved the illustrations and kept hugging my tablet as I was reading the story. It was somewhat adorable.
Thank you to Alexs Pate, Capstone, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ebook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
This audiobook is narrated beautifully and respectfully by Yinka Ladeinde & Leo Anifowose. This story deals heavily with generational trauma, CPTSD, aThis audiobook is narrated beautifully and respectfully by Yinka Ladeinde & Leo Anifowose. This story deals heavily with generational trauma, CPTSD, and war. The narrators voices hold so much pain, frustration, empathy, compassion, and anger that it makes the characters feel like real. Almost like friends. This was a good choice to narrate the story this way.
Basically, this is set in Orlando, Florida, amongst the Ewerike family who has immigrated from Nigeria. Husband and wife, Fidelis & Adaobi with their teenaged children Chuk & Amara. Fidelis was formerly a POW during the Nigerian Civil War. He lost his sister, Ugochi, during the war. Fidelis is struggling with CPTSD and his family is suffering right along with him. This novel focuses on how the family reacts to and manages with Fidelis' unresolved trauma. Some scenes were quite harrowing to read.
This was a first novel, and it could be felt in places. There were a few pacing issues, and this almost had too many side characters. It was hard not to invest as much in the side characters as the main characters. Not all of the side characters got a complete story, and I find myself wondering what happened to them.
Thank you to Julie Iromuanya, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
I found this a bit melodramatic but good with multiple respectability politics style viewpoints. This is told in alternating timelines and with alternI found this a bit melodramatic but good with multiple respectability politics style viewpoints. This is told in alternating timelines and with alternating point of view chapter characters.
Evelyn's story opens in the mid 80's in Toronto but bounces back into her childhood in Nova Scotia and time as a newly married woman in Jamaica. Her chapters move forward until the late '00s. She's white, married to a Black man, Kinglsey, and has 2 kids: Antony & Kareela.
Kareela's story is set in 2022. During the summer the Black Lives Matter protests for George Floyd became global. Her brother and father are dead. She is estranged from her mother and desperately misses her paternal grandmother, Violet, who helped raise her.
I loved the audiobook as it is beautifully narrated by Tebby Fisher. Her Jamaican accents are delightful. As is her ability to hold emotion in her voice. She was the perfect choice for this story.
This story dealt with race in a very shallow way. It felt like Evelyn's story was being weighted down with trauma, so her story and feelings could be centered in a story about Black trauma. Evelyn's voice felt much more central to the story than her daughter's voice. We see Evelyn's flawed view of racism but her Black husband, son, and mother-in-law don't get full agency or even fully fleshed out storylines. They exist so that the character of the white woman can grow. I'm not interested in how white folks feel about the trauma of police violence in Black communities unless we're gonna truly deal with race, and this simply doesn't. Evelyn's experiences are harrowing but feel like they may have happened in the 50's or 60's. Her shunning by the Black Community doesn't fit with my experiences, and I'm older than Antony. So, I just find this experience odd in Toronto. I'm currently living in Canada, and this seems a bit much for my biracial Black friends from Toronto and of similar age. Evelyn's story felt unrealistically harrowing. As if to balance the Black characters' struggles with racism.
Kareela just felt two-dimensional. Partially because her story is a tragic mulatto story in many ways. All of which would've been acceptable for me if this had dealt with race in a real way. Instead the reader is consistently shown racial violence through the eyes of a white woman. Which could've been profound but wasn't.
I was deeply engrossed in this narrative, but this story ultimately felt somewhat superficial. I think because it deals with weighty Black community matters but mostly based on the emotional impact of the narrative on a white mom. If Evelyn had looked at her internalized racism and its impact on her husband, son, and daughter, this could've been deeply relevant. Instead, this is mostly about Evelyn's trauma and pain, when she was the character I was the least interested in in this story. This needed Violet, Antony, or Kingsley to also be point of view characters.
Thank you to Charlene Carr, RBmedia/Recorded Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
This was light hearted, cozy and delightful. I truly love this author's Christmas novels. This was light hearted, cozy and delightful. I truly love this author's Christmas novels. ...more
This was delightful, charming, and light-hearted. The story kind of reminded me of a Hallmark Christmas movie set up: busy big city pro4.5 Rounded Up
This was delightful, charming, and light-hearted. The story kind of reminded me of a Hallmark Christmas movie set up: busy big city professional woman has life changing experience, moves to small town USA and falls is love with a sweet local.
I liked that the third act misunderstanding wasn't a frustrating lack of adult communication. I loved the side characters in this. While this isn't holiday centered, its got cozy fall romance vibes.
The narrator of this audiobook is Wesleigh Siobhan. Wesleigh has a real gift for narrating these types of stories. I'll definitely be seeking out other works narrated by her.
Thank you to Lucy Eden, Hachette Audio , and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
This is a sweet story about Princess Minna, who lives in a Castle Tall-Towers with her parents, the King, Queen, and Raymond the wizard. This has mostThis is a sweet story about Princess Minna, who lives in a Castle Tall-Towers with her parents, the King, Queen, and Raymond the wizard. This has mostly simple language and is a perfect transition for newer readers to chapter books. My grandkids read the words they knew, and we worked on the larger words they needed help with. They really liked the way the words of the story were part of the illustrations. It was cleverly done, and they seemed to really enjoy reading the word illustrations. This incorporated elements of other fairy tales, like kissing frogs that my grandkids enjoyed. The focus on unicorns was a hit with my unicorn obsessed granddaughter.
The illustrator of this picture book is Sahar Haghgoo. I love how bright and engaging the images are. My youngest grandson kept taking my tablet from me so he could point at the pictures. He's too young to read, but the illustrations were a hit with him.
Thank you to Kirsty Applebaum, Nosy Crow Inc., and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ebook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
This ebook was made available for me to read and review by Elliott Smith, Lerner Publishing Group, and NetGalley.
The illustrator of this picture ebookThis ebook was made available for me to read and review by Elliott Smith, Lerner Publishing Group, and NetGalley.
The illustrator of this picture ebook is Subi Bosa. Subi does a fantastic job. The illustrations of the characters are warmly colored and beautifully rendered. With pops of brightly colored objects that help to enhance the text. Like the brightly striped Barbers Pole in the corner of the barber shop.
This book is part of a series featuring Bo and his grandfather, Roger, better known as Pop-Pop, and largely set in the Grandfather's Barber Shop. This book in the series focuses on the celebration of Juneteenth with a community picnic. This features important information about this newest of American holidays as well as relevant cultural information. I look forward to reading this with my grandkids. Juneteenth is a favorite holiday of theirs.
I love the setup for this series and look forward to reading about more of Bo's adventures in the future.
Thank you to Elliott Smith, Lerner Publishing Group, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ebook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
Honestly, I quite enjoyed this. I'm pretty sure the target audience for this is YA, and the story has enough angst to fit nicely into that genre. I diHonestly, I quite enjoyed this. I'm pretty sure the target audience for this is YA, and the story has enough angst to fit nicely into that genre. I did feel frustrated with some of the unnecessarily complicated narrative, but it all came together in the end.
This is a coming-of-age story primarily with a Black main character. Noni is an only child, finished with high school, and the story begins the summer before she is set to attend Boston University. Her parents have recently divorced, and the parents agreed that Noni would join her mother in Virginia.
This is about ancestry, small southern towns, and white supremacy dressed up as "culture wars." This felt relevant, timely, and current. While awkward in a few areas and some of the supporting characters aren't well developed, this is well worth the read.
I look forward to reading more novels written by this author in the future.
The narration of this audiobook really brought this story to life for me. Maggie Thompson did a fantastic job, particularly with her use of alternate tones for the supporting cast of characters. This was extensive and could be confusing, so the tonal changes helped to differentiate between the supporting characters.
Thank you to Kalela Williams, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Kirti Bhadresa, ECW Press Audio, and NetGalley.
This audiobook is narrated by RoveeThis audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Kirti Bhadresa, ECW Press Audio, and NetGalley.
This audiobook is narrated by Roveena Gnanabakthan. Roveena did a great job. She used different voices and accents to bring these stories to life. I would recommend that readers consume this on audiobook. The narration really adds to the experience of the stories.
This follows the theme of the children of immigrants to Canada. Some stories covered days while some stories covered decades. Most of the stories dealt with and focused on family relationships and dynamics. Some stories were simple domestic dramas, some were coming-of-age focused, and some employed magical realism. It was a mixed bag focused on familial and cultural expectations pressed against the cultural norms of Canadian and the larger Western worlds' expectations. My favorite of the short stories was Backstage Passes, a tale of 2 sisters that followed them both for decades.
Oerall, I found the stories touching, engaging, and relatable. My maternal grandmother was an immigrant with my mother and her siblings, the first generation born in the US.
Thank you to Kirti Bhadresa, ECW Press Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Shauna Robinson, Spotify Audiobooks, and NetGalley.
The narrator of this audiobook This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Shauna Robinson, Spotify Audiobooks, and NetGalley.
The narrator of this audiobook is Chante McCormick. Ms. McCormick's voice was perfect for Mae. With slight alterations in tone and pitch, Chante was able to effectively give each character their own voice. This allows the reader to simply settle in and enjoy the story. I quite enjoyed her and plan to seek put novels narrated by her in the future.
This was my first time reading a novel written by Ms. Robinson, but it won't be my last. I adored everything about this comfortable adult coming-of-age story.
The reader joins Mae just before her wedding to Conner. Conner is wealthy, from a well-connected family and white. Mae's background is different. Mae's father was Black, and her mother is white. Mae's parents both grew up in North Carolina and left before she was born. There was some drama about her parents interracial marriage that caused a rift in her father's family. As a result, after the death of Mae's father, she loses touch with her father's side of the family.
As a soon to be bride, Mae yearns to learn why her father's family isn't a part of her life. With her weddinh increasingly becoming a society affair put on by the groom's parents, Mae decides to head down to North Carolina.
Mae finds out some truths about those she loves that surprise her. This handles the complexity of interracial families well. I have a white mom and a Black father. Now I was born in the 70s, but it's surprising how much things stay the same.
Thank you to Shauna Robinson, Spotify Audiobooks, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own. ...more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Jo Leevers, Brilliance Audio, and NetGalley.
This kind of an adult coming-of-age stThis audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Jo Leevers, Brilliance Audio, and NetGalley.
This kind of an adult coming-of-age story told in dual timelines. Georgie is at the tale end of her first pregnancy when a viral new story about the rescue of a child, reveals the hero to be the mother who abandoned Georgie and her brother 20 yrs ago. Determined to discover how and why their mother left, Georgie and her brother Dan, set off on a road trip to find Nancy, their absent mother.
Nancy has her own hard tale to share. This is a story of loss, abandonment and the resulting trauma in childhood, informs and forms adult personalities. This mainly focuses on healing generational trauma and is beautifully handled. I don't want to give too much of the story away and am unsure how to speak in more detail without revealing the salient plot points, so please excuse my relative brevity.
The narrator of this audiobook is Karen Cass. Ms. Cass does an amazing job of using her convey the emotions and depth of feeling in the narrative while simultaneously fading into the background. Perfect for this style of story.
Thank you to Jo Leevers, Brilliance Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own. ...more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Rhonda McKnight, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, and NetGalley.
This is so goodThis audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Rhonda McKnight, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, and NetGalley.
This is so good! I was unfamiliar with this author before this review but I am most definitely a new fan. This is a family drama about love, growth, and faith. The main characters are Mariah and her younger sister Sabrina. There is a third supporting character, Tabitha, the sisters great-great-grandmother who opened the family restaurant that the sisters are there to save.
This is set in the south with alternating timelines between Mariah & Sabrina in our current times and Tabitha starting about 1910. Mariah is reeling from a sudden unexpected separation and pending divorce which has turned nasty when she gets a call from her grandmother asking her to come immediately. Her grandfather is back in the hospital and they need help with the family restaurant. Sabrina is living an alternative lifestyle in her van and recovering from the loss of her partner and temporary separation from her daughter while trying to build a business when she gets the call from her grandmother to come help at the restaurant.
There is a deep wound between the sisters with its roots in childhood. This addresses parent loss, partner loss, and child abuse. It's handled delicately with respect for how these issues impact a lifetime. It felt very relatable. This presents a wonderful example of the transformative power of therapy. There's also cute kids and light romance.
I'm not a Christian and found the religious aspects of the story mostly sweet, nothing preachy or awkward at all. The importance of love, forgiveness and family are the main Christian themes.
The narrators are Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Angel Pean and Lynnette R. Freeman. All three ladies are amongst my top five narrators. I also love, love, love when audiobooks have individual narrators for each pov character.
Thank you to Rhonda McKnight, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own....more
This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Kekla Magoon, Spotify Audiobooks and NetGalley.
This was surprisingly good. I plan This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Kekla Magoon, Spotify Audiobooks and NetGalley.
This was surprisingly good. I plan to pick up a physical copy for my grandkids. They're too young now but won't always be. I was engaged from the beginning and very quickly became invested in these characters. The story is told using 2 alternating timelines with 3 main characters from the 2005 storyline: Penny daughter of a teen single mom, Mina biracial with a father from Ghana and an upper middle class family, and Sheryl a foster kid who has bounced around a bit because her mom struggled with substance abuse. The second timeline from 2024 included 3 new main characters in addition to those from the 2005 storyline: Amber, Penny's daughter, Blossom, Mina's daughter, and Cole, Sheryl's son. In both timelines the story is centered around and focused on high school senior prom.
This deals with some heavy issues including abortion, birth control, foster care, sexual assault, substance abuse, LGBTQA+ struggles, gender expectations, the politics of consent and adoption. Some of these issues are merely mentioned and others are plot points. I don't want to be more specific because of spoilers. So I would say the publishers suggested age of 14 is probably a good benchmark for parents. These issues are crucial for understanding for teens of all genders so I'm glad this novel exists.
I loved that this audiobook has multiple narrators to go with its multiple pov characters. This was narrated by Andy Garcia, Imani Jade Powers, Krysta Gonzales, Matt Bridges, Victoria Connelly and Yinka Ladeinde. The individuality of each separate character voiced by their own narrator truly helped to differentiate the characters as well as made the story easier to follow.
Thank you to Kekla Magoon, Spotify Audiobooks and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own. ...more