Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok (review by Anya W. '20)

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When eleven-year-old Kimberly Chang moves to New York straight from China with her newly widowed mother, severely lacking English skills and with little help from her uncaring aunt and uncle, hope seems dim. Indeed for her first few years in America the young genius struggles in a rat and cockroach-infested apartment, working every day after school in a Chinatown sweatshop. But gradually, as her English improves and she pushes herself onward--even getting accepted into her dream schools--she begins to create a beautiful future for herself. Until, that is, the day she realizes she must choose between love and the future she wants for herself and her family. In this touching coming-of-age novel about hard work, social inequality, friendship, first love, and infatuation, Kwok paints a beautifully realistic portrait of a teenager struggling and succeeding to take control of her own destiny.

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Dawn by Olivia Butler (review by Catherine H. '17)

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sometime in the future, Lilith Iyapo dies after humans make the Earth inhospitable in a nuclear war. Centuries later, Lilith is Awakened by aliens known as the Oankali who are trying to save the human species--taking them aboard their ship to be Awakened and teaching them how to live on Earth again. The Oankali have redeveloped the Earth and hope to use human genetic material to merge with their own and evolve as a species. Chosen to act as a leader and teacher for humans meant to be sent back to Earth, Lilith must learn to live among the Oankali and accept that the human race will be changed forever. She must learn to accept the Oankali, who as a species, have three sexes: male, female, and Ooloi. The Ooloi are the humans’ only chance at reproduction, as they can mix the genetic material of both species to create new children.

I thought Butler’s perspective on the Ooloi was very interesting, and appreciated that the Ooloi were referred to with neutral pronouns. Though this book was written in 1987, I still find the ideas regarding gender in this novel are something we can learn from today.

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Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer (review by Amelia H. '19)

Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Myra Carlyle’s senior year of high school is going perfectly normally until her classmates start spontaneously exploding. Starmer’s witty narration and snarky protagonist take a tragic story and give it a comedic twist, following Myra through her senior year as everyone tries to both solve the mystery of the senior class and move on from it.

I enjoyed reading the narration, which was unexpectedly humorous, and Myra’s own growth as a result of her struggling is fascinating to read. Some might find the ending unfulfilling, but I liked how the story closed and would recommend it to anybody looking for a highly unusual coming of age story.

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The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama (review by Catherine H. '17)

The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Gail Tsukiyama’s simple yet beautiful writing style draws the reader into this well crafted tale of two brothers whose stories span several decades. Set in Japan in 1939 on the eve of the second world war, Hiroshi finds his passion in sumo wrestling while his younger brother Kenji discovers the ancient art of carving masks for traditional Japanese theater. When the war comes, the two must readjust their lives, and when it is over, they must take part in the rebuilding of their nation.

I found this novel to be deeply touching and greatly appreciated the way Tsukiyama wrote about the struggles that each of the characters face and would highly recommend it to any reader looking for a coming of age story.

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Girls Like Me by Lola StVil (review by Anya W. '20

Girls Like Me by Lola St.Vil
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Girls Like Me is an artistic collection of prose starring Shay, an overweight, quirky, junior still coping with her father’s death with the support of her two best friends, and her budding romance with "Blake," someone she talks to exclusively online. As their connection deepens, she finds out Blake is actually one of the most popular guys in her school. Because she deems him to be way out of her league, she attempts to conceal her identity. Mishap and mayhem ensue, just as her friends' lives start getting tougher and tougher, sending Shay--and the reader--on an emotional roller coaster. Along with giving readers a (very) relatable protagonist, all the main characters have some level of depth and uniqueness. Although at least one plot point that could have been quite interesting was dropped (but not badly enough to make,**horror of horrors**, a plot hole!), all in all Lola StVil crafts a realistic story about first love and friendship that is pretty much guaranteed to give every reader major feels.

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Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me by Karen Swallow Prior (review by Mr. Hurshman, Teacher)

Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me by Karen Swallow Prior
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you've ever thought that you could tell the story of your life through the books that you read, you will find a kindred spirit in Karen Swallow Prior. Her Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me is a memoir of her growth from a young child to a professor of literature.

Prior organizes each chapter around a book that proved especially formative to her experience or that shed light on it in hindsight. To give but a sampling: Milton's "Aeropagitica" taught her the virtue of "promiscuous reading," Charlotte's Web reinforced her love of animals and revealed the power of words, Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles helped her better to understand the grace her grandparents extended to her mother, and Flaubert's Madame Bovary warned her of the perils of losing herself in books and fantasy. In each case, Prior's interpretation of these works reveals her sensitivity to and her abiding love of them, and she interweaves the biographical elements smoothly and sensibly.

Prior's book hit all the right notes for me. There are a few typesetting errors that distracted my attention at times, and Prior's emphasis on her formation as a Christian may be off-putting or disorienting to some, but her book still earns my warmest recommendation.

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