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Submitted by YAatBooksInc on Fri, 09/16/2022 - 2:51pm
See That Beauty
A Book Review by Madeleine Keiser
This book is about a young French-Korean women living in her hometown of Sokcho, South Korea. She works at a local inn, cooking and doing housekeeping. During one of Sokcho's harsh winters when rarely any visitors come, a french cartoonist arrives to stay at the inn. He hopes to find artistic inspiration from the town, and so she begins to accompany him on his tours of the area. While she's getting to know this new man, she also deals with her aging mother, distant boyfriend, and her own destructive thoughts. I enjoyed this book mainly because of how beautiful the language is. It draws you in with very strong imagery of the town of Sokcho. Both main characters see the town as beautiful, and you see that beauty with them. The women sees what she thinks is the true nature of Sokcho. The fish markets, neon signs, food, and everything she has grown up knowing. On the other hand the French man sees a natural beauty in the town, from the eyes of an outsider. He sees the beaches and snow covered mountains that surround Sokcho. I would recommend this book to an older teenage audience. As a a warning, it does deal with subjects such like eating disorders, and has heavy sexual scenes. This book is perfect for people who enjoy being consumed by books, and reading them frantically in the span of a couple hours. It's a very short read, and the narrator's thoughts can feel like a constant spiral, which gets you caught up with her. The obsession with her body and the cartoonist become all-consuming at points, and makes the book impossible to put down. I gave this book a 4.5/5 because I can't bring myself to give any book a 5 unless after reading it I just know it's my new favorite. If you read this book, and find yourself looking up "books like Winter in Sokcho" like I know you will, here are two beautiful books I found to have similar themes of obsession: Death in her hands by Otessa Moshfeh and The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides.
Submitted by YAatBooksInc on Mon, 06/13/2022 - 4:42pm
**Spoiler Warning**
I'll Give You the Sun
I recently read I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson, and it's now one of my favorite
books ever. I had this book sitting on my shelf for months, and I never got around to reading it,
but I wish I had sooner. It is a heartwarming story of two twins spanning their high school and
middle school years.
Throughout their childhood, Noah and Jude had been inseparable. They
were each other's best friends. In middle school they start to grow apart. Jude is going to
parties all the time, while Noah is constantly bullied by the same people Jude hangs out around.
Jude has lots of friends, and Noah has none. Jude even ruined the one friend Noah managed
to make.
Their mom encouraged their love of art, which lasted even after her death, and Noah's
biggest wish is to go to the local art school for high school, but when Jude gets in and Noah
doesn't, their relationship takes a huge hit. Noah goes to the public high school, and Jude goes
to the art school, and their roles are reversed. Noah has made a lot of friends, while Jude has
pulled away from people, including Noah.
When Jude enlists the help of a grumpy old artist to
make the sculpture of her life, a series of relationships and connections are unveiled that bring
the twins back together and uncovers secrets about their mom previously unknown.
This story was impossible to put down.
The hint of mystery and romance woven into a
tale of familial healing and love created an incredible novel. I also loved the writing because it
was so unique, and enhanced the story and characters so much. It captures the hopelessness
and confusion of being a kid, but was also hilarious at times. I've read a lot of contemporary
young adult novels, and this book is easily at the top of my list.
Submitted by YAatBooksInc on Thu, 10/14/2021 - 5:11pm
the “forever is the sweetest con” chapter
By Tiffany and Avalon
Taylor Swift put some of her songs from Folklore and Evermore into her “Forever is the Sweetest Con” chapter, implying that the idea of loving someone forever is simply a glorified illusion. These six stunning songs put us in our feelings and reminded us of these six books:
Cowboy Like Me - A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN by Roseanne A Brown
For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran. But when a vengeful spirit abducts Malik’s younger sister, Nadia, as payment into the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal—kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom.
But Karina has deadly aspirations of her own. Her mother, the Sultana, has been assassinated; her court threatens mutiny; and Solstasia looms like a knife over her neck. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic . . . requiring the beating heart of a king. And she knows just how to obtain one: by offering her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition.
When Malik rigs his way into the contest, they are set on a course to destroy each other. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to see their tasks to the death?
The first in an fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore in which a grieving crown princess and a desperate refugee find themselves on a collision course to murder each other despite their growing attraction.
“Dancin’ s a dangerous game”
Malik and Karna both find that “dancin’ is a dangerous game” and “got some tricks up [their] sleeve” as they each have their own goals in mind when first meeting each other before they fall in love.
Mirrorball - SING ME FORGOTTEN by Jessica S. Olson
Isda does not exist. At least not beyond the opulent walls of the opera house.
Cast into a well at birth for being one of the magical few who can manipulate memories when people sing, she was saved by Cyril, the opera house’s owner. Since that day, he has given her sanctuary from the murderous world outside. All he asks in return is that she use her power to keep ticket sales high—and that she stay out of sight. For if anyone discovers she survived, Isda and Cyril would pay with their lives.
But Isda breaks Cyril’s cardinal rule when she meets Emeric Rodin, a charming boy who throws her quiet, solitary life out of balance. His voice is unlike any she’s ever heard, but the real shock comes when she finds in his memories hints of a way to finally break free of her gilded prison.
Haunted by this possibility, Isda spends more and more time with Emeric, searching for answers in his music and his past. But the price of freedom is steeper than Isda could ever know. For even as she struggles with her growing feelings for Emeric, she learns that in order to take charge of her own destiny, she must become the monster the world tried to drown in the first place.
“I’ll show you every version of yourself tonight.”
Like Mirrorball’s singer, Isda often has to pretend to be someone she’s not, but her musical talent also ends up leading to her showing Emeric “every version of [himself] tonight.”
Evermore - HISTORY IS ALL YOU LEFT ME by Adam Silvera
When Griffin's first love and ex-boyfriend, Theo, dies in a drowning accident, his universe implodes. Even though Theo had moved to California for college and started seeing Jackson, Griffin never doubted Theo would come back to him when the time was right. But now, the future he's been imagining for himself has gone far off course.
To make things worse, the only person who truly understands his heartache is Jackson. But no matter how much they open up to each other, Griffin's downward spiral continues. He's losing himself in his obsessive compulsions and destructive choices, and the secrets he's been keeping are tearing him apart.
If Griffin is ever to rebuild his future, he must first confront his history, every last heartbreaking piece in the puzzle of his life,
“I had a feeling so peculiar that this pain would be for evermore.”
After losing Theo, Griffin's feelings reflect those of Evermore's narrator as he often feels alone and like “this pain would be for evermore.”
Long Story Short - NIGHTBLADE by Ryan Kirk
Ryuu is a boy orphaned by violence at a young age. Found by a wandering warrior, he learns he may have more strength than he ever imagined possible.
A quiet child, Moriko is forced into a monastic system she despises. Torn from her family and the forest she grew up in, she must fight to learn the skills she’ll need to survive her tutelage under the realm’s most dangerous assassin.
Young, beautiful, and broke, Takako is sold to pay for her father’s debts. Thrust into a world she doesn’t understand and battles she didn’t ask for, she must decide where her loyalties lie.
When their lives crash together in a Kingdom on the brink of war, the decisions they make will change both their lives and their Kingdom forever.
If they can stay alive.
“I tried to pick my battles ‘til the battle picked me”
Like in long story short, Moriko “fell from the pedestal” when she was exposed as a Nightblade before getting close to Ryuu.
Invisible String- THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR by Amal el-Mohtar, Max Gladstone
Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.
Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There's still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war.
“Time, curious time gave me no compasses, gave me no signs [...] isn’t it just so pretty to think, all along there was some invisible string, tying you to me?”
Despite a war and world separating them, Red and Blue feel like they're bounded together by an Invisible String and find ways to communicate through letters.
willow - TALES FROM THE HINTERLAND by Melissa Albert
Journey into the Hinterland, a brutal and beautiful world where a young woman spends a night with Death, brides are wed to a mysterious house in the trees, and an enchantress is killed twice―and still lives.
“And there was one prize I'd cheat to win”
TALES FROM THE HINTERLAND is sure to satisfy our cravings for the mystical world of willow!
Submitted by YAatBooksInc on Sat, 09/18/2021 - 8:01am
SEPTEMBER 15th - OCTOBER 15th
National Hispanic Heritage Month is a period from September 15 to October 15 in the United States for recognizing the contributions and influence of Hispanic Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States.
*Included near the bottom of the list center around more Indigenous/ Latin American History and some are Adult for later teens/ interested youths.
Submitted by YAatBooksInc on Wed, 08/11/2021 - 2:23pm
How Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is One of the Most Reflective Books of Our Generation
By: Kaia B.
One of the first things I thought of and questioned when I began reading Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of The Universe is, “Both Ari and Dante are fifteen, and they act so much younger than me.” Since I’m ‘only’ fourteen and always called ‘mature for my age’ by my teachers and other adults, seeing how teenagers acted in 1987, the year the book takes place, really got me thinking.
In the book, Ari and Dante spend their time during summer swimming, playing at the park, and overall having fun without their parents. The book mentions many times how Ari doesn’t like to watch TV, and how Dante especially does not like to wear shoes. This, compared to how I grew up and how I, being a year younger than them when the book starts, am experiencing things, made me think, as stated.
As spoken on social media such as Tik Tok and Instagram, there have been many reports that my generation has been forced to grow up too fast. There’s evidence of it, too.
With big events such as 9/11, the Stock Market Downturn of 2002, Hurricane Katrina of 2005, and the Great Recession of 2008 surrounding our births, Gen Z was already around traumatizing happenings from a young age. And this only adds to the greater exposed crime, which is a factor in the common saying of parents to kids of “be home when the street lights turn on.”
In Ari and Dante’s case in 1987-1989, they and presumably other teenagers were able to stay out late at night (per one of Ari and Dante’s favorite activities of driving to the desert to see the stars), head out to the park without parent supervision, and other things that I wasn’t able to experience.
I don’t know about my peers, but as a kid, going out to the park three blocks away and other activities weren’t as accessible to me as it was to Ari and Dante. Even now, my parents constantly remind me to be careful on the bus, pay attention while walking, and don't display that you have things worthy of taking, among other things.
In the 1980s, crime rate was at an all time high. Surprisingly, it’s lower now. However, with social media and more news outlets, crime is displayed more frequently. Not to mention the constant fear mongering and other fear tactics.
Crime isn’t the only thing taking the teenage life from teenagers today. “Forced to grow up too fast” is also the work of societal expectations.
Another trending topic on social media, pre-teens or tweens today are skipping the phase that younger generations went through, which was mainly glitter and unicorns and things society would now call ‘cringey.’ It’s in statistics, too. Multiple pre-teen stores like Justice and Claire’s have been having to shut down due to lack of business. Even older siblings question why 11-14 year olds look older than they were at that age.
Pre-teens are exposed to more social media, which includes not only beauty standards but issues around the world, as brought up with crime. Racism, homophobia, religious debates, global warming, and many more types of prejudice is what I and many others have found themselves surrounded by. Older politicians are influencing how they leave the world for us to deal with, and many, like myself, want to do something about it. It’s a lot to think about when you’re exposed to it.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is an overall fantastic book in many aspects. The story features relationships between parental figures, dealing with the effects of a parent’s trauma as a child, LGBTQ+ issues, and more. But the thing that stood out to me was the reflectiveness of my own life and the discussions about Gen Z’s childhood going around social media. I, personally, like where I am at now, and my childhood, but it got me wondering how my childhood and now could be different if social media hadn’t been brought to the surface.
So, the real question is, how does this upbringing affect future kids?
