Mrs. HP Teacher Librarian!

  The Radius of Us by Marie Marquardt is about Gretchen and Phoenix.  Both have experienced extreme trauma resulting in mental health issues that plague them and prevent them from moving forward in life. Despite Phoenix inadvertently triggering a panic attach in Gretchen, they come together and support one another as they battle through extreme anxiety and halting guilt.   What I loved about the book was that the author, Marie Marquardt, is an active member at El Refugio - a non profit that serves detained immigrants.  When she tells Phoenix's story as he makes his way out of El Salvador with his younger brother, and awaits the US Courts decisions about remaining in the US, it is authentic.  She knows the stories of people like Phoenix and writes his story with compassion and empathy. What I did not understand was why Gretchen seeks out Phoenix, after fleeing from him when he appears out of nowhere at the park.  Not only does she take off with her litt...

Vanished by Sheela Chari   Vanished I am not sure how Vanished   by Sheela Chari came to my attention.  Truly, I have only really been looking at middle school and young adult novels written and published in the past couple of years for my school library.  Yet somehow I found it, and somehow I bought two copies.       I so enjoyed this story of Neela, and Indian - American girl, whose cherished instrument, a veena, is stolen from under her nose.  Determined to find it, Neela fits together clues; enlist the help of an unlikely friend, and travels to India in pursuit of it.        I love learning from books.  I learned about the veena - an instrument I am not at all familiar with. And if one talks about the music of India, one must start with the veena. Neela and her family speak Tamil. I was also not familiar at all with this South Asian language till this book.  I also loved that Neela was both Ame...

Days of Tears I read Day of Tears by Julius Lester. Day of Tears takes place in Georgia, a southern state in the United States, beginning March 2, 1859 and ending approximately 50 years later. At this time, slavery is legal in the United States, and Georgia is a slave state. Day of Tears is based on the largest slave auction in the United States, selling 436 enslaved African Americans over the course of two days. Slave owner, Pierce Butler was addicted to gambling, and sold the slaves to cover his gambling debts. He made over $300,000 at the slave auction. At the start of the auction, a torrential rainstorm occurred, finally stopping at the end of the auction.  I was unfamiliar with this event, and the people involved. I learned not only about the largest slave auction, but Pierce Butler, his ex wife Fanny Kimble, and their two daughters, Sarah and Frances. Piece and Fanny divorced because she was not a subservient wife, and did not be believe in the institution of slaver...

    Sia Martinez & the  Moonlit Beginning Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland plot twist  Sia Martinez is angry! The local sheriff stalked her mother, reported her to ICE, and had her deported to Mexico. Her mother is denied re-entry into the the USA, so she chooses to cross the Sonoran Desert and disappears. Presumed dead, Sia publicly accuses the sheriff of murder. But while Sia is out in the desert for a school project, UFO crash lands and out steps her mom. Sia Martinez & the Moonlit Beginning of Everything  has unique plot twists that intertwine with first love, conspiracy theories and racist social views about migrant people.  

Dragon Hoops        I read Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang. I picked this book because I have seen a lot of notoriety about it on social media, but I had really no expectations. In fact, I am embarrassed to say that I was not paying attention to the title or the cover, which if I was, would tell me that it was about basketball. (Honestly, I focused on the word dragon and thought I would be reading a graphic novel about them). This book was AWESOME! It is based on the high school basketball team of the school Gene Leun Yang taught at: Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, California. Going to MSHS and being a teacher, I connected with the book at the get go. Like Gene Luen Yang, I am a nerdy teacher, and not into sports. Like him, as he retells the 2014-2015 O'Dowd Basketball season, I could not help but root for this team, hoping they make it to the state championship. In addition, I learned a little bit about the history of basketball, the integration of pe...