YA and Vacay...Yes, I still read young adult literature

      If you are reading this and don't know me personally, I was a high school librarian for many years. I retired from education in 2020 after 29 years of working in the school system. I was a librarian for 23 of those 29 years. I started in the elementary library and ended up in the high school library. I grew to love young adult literature. Now that I am retired, I miss having access to the YA library. Now, I work at our public library part time and I do acquisitions for adult books and materials and young adult books and materials, so I can keep up with the new titles. For the month of September I decided to concentrate on some of the Kentucky Bluegrass Award nominees. These are YA books that are voted on by actual students who read the books. I am working with our public library to promote the KY Bluegrass Awards this year. You will be surprised how many young adult novels appeal to adults.  I had a few good YA books when I was young, but many of the books I read as a YA were not as relatable as the YA books are today. So, let's get to the books.

     Let's start with What I Carry by Jennifer Longo which is one of the KBA nominees. There are always those books that really stand out or mean something to you. This book was one of those. Muir never knew who her parents were. She is growing up in the foster care system. This book is about her last year in the system before she ages out. She is worried about what is going to happen to her since she never got adopted. She spends her senior year of high school on an island off of Seattle and stays with Francis. Francis has had many foster children and she decides that Muir will be the last one before she retires. How their relationship develops is just heart warming. Muir also makes new friends and worries about what she wants to do after graduation. This is not your typical story of a girl in foster care that gets molested, abused, etc. It is a great story about how a girl has overcome not having a permanent family for 18 years. The relationships she develops and the character of this girl is so heart warming. It is a book that restores your faith in our youth. I gave it five stars and very few books warrant five stars from me. 

 

      Another book that is on the nominee master list for the Kentucky Bluegrass Awards for grades 9-12 is Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson. This is the story of a high school girl who has a dream of being a singer and meets a popular music star that she develops a crush on. However, the relationship turns abusive and she is caught up in a world of fame, but it comes at a cost. This story is well told and it allows you to  see how easy it is for young people to get swept away into a world that is not what it seems. 

     Kiss Me in New York by Catherine Rider was a young adult book that I read as an ebook. This story is about a British young lady who was in New York as a foreign exchange student at a high school. She is at the air port flying home for the Christmas holidays and her flight is delayed due to weather. While in the airport, she meets a guy who is dumped by his long distance girl friend. He came to the air port to surprise her as she came home for the holidays, but she breaks it off with him and is meeting someone else at the airport. Charlotte has just been dumped herself, so she knows what Charlie is going through. Since her flight is delayed until the next day, they decide to explore the city as they work through the steps of a book, How to Get Over a Break Up. This is a cute story about finding someone who gets you at unexpected times. 

     I was able to find, through interlibrary loan, a book I read when I was in sixth or seventh grade. It was the typical young adult book of the times in my library at Irvington Elementary. I could not believe I was able to find it. Jenny Kimura by Betty Cavanna was about a young girl whose mother is Japanese and her father is American. She lives in Japan, but is going to visit the grandmother she has never met before in the United States for the summer during her sophomore year. This book was written in the sixties and it was very interesting how it dealt with prejudice against the Japanese. It was interesting to see the differences in the cultures as far as what Jenny would be allowed to do with kids her own age, especially a boy, without adult supervision in the U. S. vs. Japan. It was just kind of fun to read something that I hadn't read in over 40 years. 

 image from Amazon.com

     I did read two other books during September that were not young adult novels. One of my audio books was The Restaurant  by Pamela M. Kelley.  Three sisters inherit a Nantucket restaurant from their grandmother with the stipulation that they each work at the restaurant at least one year before they decide what to do with it. Each sister has their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to working at a restaurant, plus they have their own issues going on in their lives. They want to  make it work so that they can decide what to do with the restaurant. Do they really want to sell it, or could they make a go at owning it? It was a cute read with a hint of romance. 

image from barnesandnoble.com

        The last book I wish to share is Mrs. March by Virginia Feito. I took this book to read on the ship when we took our retirement cruise. I read that it was an interesting read on social media so I thought I would give it a try. Mrs. March is the wife of an author, George March. Everyone is talking about her husband's latest novel. Someone commented that the main character, a woman of questionable character, must be based off of Mrs. March. Thus begins the spiral that causes Mrs. March to try to figure out if George modeled the main character after her. Which leads to her thinking her husband is responsible for a murder. How does she go down this rabbit hole? Mrs. March definitely has some anxiety issues. I could see this book being a Hitchcock movie. This is a very interesting story with a twist. 

     My husband and I decided to take a cruise for our retirement when we retired last year. However, when Covid hit, we had to post pone our trip. Mid September we drove down to Port Canaveral and got on the Allure of the Seas with Royal Caribbean and experienced our first cruise. It was wonderful!! We had 7 days to explore the boat and the ports we stopped at along the way. Since we had to postpone our cruise, the travel agent at Priceline helped us upgrade to a room with a balcony at no extra cost. I highly recommend the room with a balcony. The view is breath taking. 

     The ship was beautiful and the crew was so very friendly and helpful. I have never been waited on so much. They take very good care of everyone on the boat. My goal was to see the deep blue water and how clear it is. Our first port was Cozumel. We did not do an excursion, we just took a cab to a local resort and enjoyed the beach, pool and some wonderful authentic Mexican food. There was hardly anyone there. It was almost like we had the resort to ourselves. 

Our next port was Costa Maya, Mexico. At this port we took an excursion to the Mayan ruins. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and passionate about the ruins. He made the tour very educational and fun. 

    The days at sea were amazing as well. The ship's capacity is about 6,000 and we only had 2,200 passengers. So, it was not crowded, the restaurants were readily available, as well as the shows. It was a great time to explore the boat and to check out the pools and hot tubs. There were so many on board, it was like we had our own hot tub at times. How cool is that. The shows were wonderful and the music and musicians on board were top notch. It was nice to just sit, enjoy a drink and listen to a quintet or piano or even jazz. There were many choices for all kinds of taste onboard. 

    When we got off the boat in the Bahamas, we were not able to get off of the van and explore during the excursion much due to Covid. It was very limited to where we could explore. This was probably the most disappointing part of the trip, but it was still neat to see the sights, even from a van. 

(Sidney Poitier bridge)

                                                (of course the library)

                              

                                                    (hand rolled cigars)

(Margaritaville)

(Atlantis)

     Our last port was Coco Cay, which is owned by Royal Caribbean. It is a private island that has lots of beaches and water rides, a zip line, and all kinds of fun slides and activities for kids. Our favorite part was the huge pool that was mostly for adults that had a swim up bar. It was no deeper than 4 1/2 feet and it was very relaxing. There were also beaches with clear water and sand that was amazing! I just can't get over how blue the water is and so clean. 

     A cruise was the perfect way to celebrate our retirement. We both enjoyed the experience and I think I would do it again. On the boat we met people who were regular cruisers. They cruise yearly, monthly, and some even cruise two or three weeks at a time on the same boat. I don't think I want to be a monthly cruiser, but I could definitely do it at least once a year or so. The warm water and sunshine were just what I needed leading into this dark, cooler, fall weather when we returned to Kentucky. I miss the beach already.  

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Make sure you come back for my review of October reads. 

Be Who You Are and Love Who You Love

      

     Since June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month, I chose a variety of books with lgbtq characters or themes. There are more and more authors writing for this community and I am so glad. Everyone needs to be able to find a book to read that allows you to put yourself in the character's place so that you can escape for a few minutes a day in a story. People read for many different reasons, but one of the reasons I enjoy reading is that it allows me to step into another person's shoes for just a little bit. It gives me the opportunity to view the world through the eyes of a character that has a totally different personality, nationality, sexual identity, or even in a different time period. This is why reading helps children develop compassion and empathy for their peers. I really haven't met an avid reader that reads a variety of genres that is not compassionate for others.  

Let's start with one of my favorite young adult authors, Julie Murphy. I first read her novel, Dumplin'  a few years ago. Being an overweight person myself, I could so relate to Willow Dean. I totally understood what she was going through at school and how she felt about her body. Pumpkin is another one of her books that includes Willow Dean and some of her friends. Pumpkin, or Waylon, is an openly gay student in a West Texas small town. His twin sister, Clementine is also one of his best friends. Waylon is not sure what he is going to do after graduation, he really doesn't have a plan. He finds out that his sister does, and it doesn't include him. Waylon's favorite on TV is Fiercest of Them All, a drag show competition. Could Waylon have a future in drag? The book also addresses the issue of prom and how lgbtq+ students deal with the prom "norms", especially in a small southern town. You will finish this book cheering for Pumpkin and his friends. 

                                               

     Grace is not the type of woman who goes to Las Vegas and celebrates, gets drunk and wakes up married to a woman, who she doesn't even know her name. She just completed her PhD in astronomy and always has her life organized and follows a plan. How did this happen? Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers was a little slow and superficial at first, I thought, then as I got into it, it touched on mental wellness and taking care of yourself. It also addresses the problems Grace has getting a job as a biracial, bisexual woman at a research facility or university. She is a very strong person and was an advocate for lgbtq students while in college. When her life long dream is not as fulfilling as she hoped it would be, it forces her to look at what really makes her happy and why were her goals so important to her, or were they more important to someone else in her life? There is a cast of very interesting characters and I realize that many times those in the lgbtq+ community often stick together because they do not always get family support and they want to be with people who understand what they are going through. 

     Being a part of the "First Family" is not always easy. We often hear how the pressure of being in the public eye is difficult for the children of U.S. Presidents. Add to that being biracial and bisexual and the pressure is even more difficult. Alex and the Prince of England didn't get along. Alex thought he was stuck up and boring. Does Prince Henry feel the same way? This is a cute romance from the viewpoint of the son of a female U.S. President. I listened to this audiobook and really enjoyed the characters. It is a love story from a bisexual male's viewpoint and it is very well done. Make sure you check out, Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. 

     The Sky Blues by Robbie Couch is a young adult novel whose main character is an openly gay male, Sky, who navigates his life in a small town and a small high school. He deals with bullying and harassment, even though he tries to fit in the best he can. He lives with his best friend because his mother threw him out of the house after he came out to her. As their senior year draws to a close, Sky plans to throw caution to the wind and ask his big crush, Ali, a middle eastern brainiac ,to the prom. An email hack causes Sky to reconsider. Will he even go to his senior prom? This book addresses being yourself, standing up to bullies and supporting your friends. I caught myself cheering for Sky towards the end of the book. Young adult students are very brave, especially when they have to deal with bullying and how others treat them, on their own, without their family's support many times. Again, they rely on the kindness of friends. It is very important that we support young people who are dealing with bullying after coming out, even by family members. 

     The last book I wish to talk about tells the story of a movie star from the 1950's & 60's who had seven husbands. She is aging and all of her husbands are dead, so she decides to have a young writer for a local magazine write her "Tell All" biography. Why does she choose Monique to write her story? This book made me stop and think about many people in Hollywood during this time period who may have been in the same boat. They had to do things they didn't want to do to make it in the movie industry. The twist at the end when you find out why she chose Monique to write her book is a surprise. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid will have you loving, then hating the main character, Evelyn. This is definitely a page turner that will keep you up late at night reading just one more chapter. I don't want to give too much more away, so you will just have to read it to see how it fits this month's category. 

     Since we finished renovating our kitchen, I have been trying to get back into my sour dough starter and making items with the starter. I had a friend at work give me some of her starter that was good and bubbly. I started by making some homemade English muffins. They turned out nice and fluffy. They are delicious toasted with butter and jam. 

Then I got to thinking that it seemed like such a waste to toss dough starter after it is fed. So, I thought why not keep using the starter if it continues to be bubbly. So I next made some homemade cinnamon rolls. I forgot to get a good photo of the rolls, but they turned out well. 

Then, I surfed Pinterest and decided to try some sourdough pizza crust. I made two pizzas and they turned out nice and crispy. We like the homemade pizza because we can control the toppings and it is not as greasy as delivery. 

I used a pizza pan and a stone. I prefer the stone. It makes the crust crispy. My favorite way to make the pizza sauce is to use roasted red peppers. I buy a jar, drain them and blend them in the food processor. They make a mild sauce which is less acidic than the tomato sauce. 

Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog. Make sure you stop by next month to see what my book topic will be. Remember to always be true to yourself.