I’m very glad the author chos CWs: (view spoiler)[ colonialism, heart problems (resulting in death), racism, micro/macro-aggressions (hide spoiler)]
I’m very glad the author chose someone to finish this book before she died, because this story needed to be told and I’m grateful to all the people who worked so hard to make this a finished book.
It’s a semi-autobiographical story about something I didn’t know anything about before this. Between the 1940s-1960s the federal government would tell certain Native American tribes that their tribes were terminated and were no longer recognized by the government. This obviously had some horrible consequences, sometimes including being forcibly removed from their homelands by the Indian Relocation Act (yeah, f*ck that) of 1956.
In 1954, The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde were terminated, and that’s where the story begins. What follows is a story of protagonist Regina trying to hold onto her identity even when she is moved from her homeland, her people, and no longer technically considered Native American. In this new community, she wants to hold onto their traditions, but it seems like her dad just wants them to assimilate and let go of what makes them Native American.
I loved this as a coming-of-age story. There wasn’t much of an overarching plot that I can remember, but I don’t mind that much. It’s made special by being grounded in family history and personal experiences....more
This was an entertaining book to read, but there’s a lot of irritating things about this series over all. Normalizing bullying is one of them. CompareThis was an entertaining book to read, but there’s a lot of irritating things about this series over all. Normalizing bullying is one of them. Compared to that, this is a minor annoyance. Molly and her friends play Capture the Flag at a summer camp, and Molly and Susan felt blindsided when Susan decided to play by the rules and tag them out. It was framed as being “too serious” about the game, but that’s how the game was supposed to be played! What was she supposed to do, betray her team for her best friends? Apparently so. It was supposed to be an analogy for war and how war changes people, but it just doesn’t work.
It’s too bad Emily didn’t show up in this book. Why have a friend doll and only put her in one book? Emily could’ve gone to summer camp too. She would’ve given an interesting perspective on the whole thing too. ...more
The perfect example of how whimsical science can be. One of Brian Selznick’s best. He was originally developing the story into a movie with Steven SpiThe perfect example of how whimsical science can be. One of Brian Selznick’s best. He was originally developing the story into a movie with Steven Spielberg, but when lockdown happened he was given the approval to make it a book instead. A beautiful story about change and following your heart and better intuition during times of crisis. ...more
Margaret Peterson Haddix was CWs: (view spoiler)[ car accident (death), depression, dissociation ptsd, emotionally unstable parent (hide spoiler)]
Margaret Peterson Haddix was one of my favorite writers growing up. I read almost her entire catalog at my library, and that’s saying a lot because there were a LOT of them. I adored her Found series, Uprising which was about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, Leaving Fishers where the protagonist escapes a religious cult, etc. Her books were formative in my fascination with history and the first book where I encountered the important topic of how people get stuck in cults. She introduced a lot of important topics to me growing up.
This is one of the only books by her (pre-2014) that I hadn’t read. The cover scared me away. I’m glad I didn’t read it because Haddix used Bethany’s mother’s mental illness as a fear factor, which would’ve been very upsetting to me as a kid. I wouldn’tve known then that mental illness was nothing to be afraid of, that my mental illness was nothing to be afraid of. Having that insight made the book more enjoyable in some ways.
I love this quote a lot:
“I don’t know why mom cried only every once in a while then, and cries all the time now. I don’t know when I learned how to separate, so I could watch Mom crying her heart out and feel absolutely positively nothing.”
It goes to show there’s a lot of depth to this book, even if it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of content....more
Molly and her friends kind of suck, their “pranks” were so much worse than Ricky’s imo. They decide to take his punishment into their own hands becausMolly and her friends kind of suck, their “pranks” were so much worse than Ricky’s imo. They decide to take his punishment into their own hands because they thought their mom’s (very fair) punishment for Ricky pouring water on their costumes was “too nice.” Not sure I can handle her as a protagonist if she keeps being mean to everyone. ...more
I took my time with this book, and I’m glad I did. I wasn’t sure I would CWs: (view spoiler)[ child abandonment, depression, trauma (hide spoiler)]
I took my time with this book, and I’m glad I did. I wasn’t sure I would like this as much as Kay’s other books, but I really did, if not more! Kay always has themes in their books that resonate with me so strongly. I’m glad I decided to pick it up. I was in a dark place when I read it, but like the protagonist, I recognize that I need help from other people to come back to the light.
Sometimes we think we can hide what we’re feeling and keep going on independently without any help, and that eventually everything will get better or go away. It takes strength to admit when things are getting worse and ask for help and take a rest. This book has a lot of important things to say, but the highlight is that we need to remember to take care of each other. ...more