Review: ‘The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester’ by Maya MacGregor

“‘What is it you want, Sam Sylvester? …More than anything, what do you want?'
…‘I want to live,’ I say.” Rating: 3.8/5 paper planes A purple journal, hardback book and phone playing music leaning on a guitar. Around are mini mason jar lights and dried lavender, and the background fabric is dark with small metallic space-themed …

Review: ‘Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head: Poems’ by Warsan Shire

...At each and every checkpoint the refugee is askedare you human?The refugee is sure it's still human but worries that overnight,while it slept, there may have been a change in classification.(Excerpt from the poem 'Assimilation'.) Rating: 4.5/5 paper planes Genre: Poetry anthology; contemporaryPublication: 10th March 2022Pages: 96 (hardcover) Synopsis: With her first full-length poetry collection, …

Review: ‘If This Gets Out’ by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich (happy publication week!)

[E]veryone wants the world to see them as they are. The truth isn't the problem. The problem is that the world doesn't always make the truth safe for us to share.All quotes are from the ARC (advance reader copy), subject to change in the final edition. Rating: 4/5 paper planes Genre: YA (older) contemporary; LGBTQ+; …

Review: ‘The Other Black Girl’ by Zakiya Dalila Harris

"With heightened awareness of cultural sensitivity comes great responsibility. If we're not careful, 'diversity' might become an item people start checking off a list and nothing more - a shallow, shadowy thing with but one dimension."All quotes are from the ARC (advance reader copy), subject to change in the final version. Rating: 3.75/5 paper planes …

Triple round of First Lines Friday + September book haul!

White rectangle with large font swirly text reading 'First Lines Friday' and below it reads in smaller all caps font 'A weekly book feature hosted by Wandering Words'. Behind the white rectangle are teal and peach bokeh lights background design. Without further ado, here's round 1... First-day-back assemblies are the most pointless practice ever.And that's …

Review: ‘The Language of the Flowers’ (‘The Language of the Flowers’, #1) by K. Pigeon

“Vow to vow, blood to blood, soul to soul. For as long as the sun shines, the wind roams, the sea flows, and the earth pulses, may you belong to each other, never to part. I give you the Cadre Tiresias’s blessing.” Rating: 3/5 paper planes Genre: Fantasy (romance; shapeshifting; time-travel)Publication: 9 March 2021Pages: 257 …

Review: ‘Pride’ by Ibi Zoboi (narr. Elizabeth Acevedo)

Genre: YA contemporary romance; retelling ('Pride and Prejudice')Publication: 18 Sep 2018Listening length: 6 hours (1x speed) Synopsis: Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable. When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, …

ARC Review: ‘Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms’ by Crystal Frasier, Val Wise and Oscar O. Jupiter

"[N]o matter what I do, everyone is always looking at me. I'm always the center of attention. And they think if I screw up, or freak out, it's because I'm a trans girl... Never because I'm just not perfect."All quotes are from the ARC (advance reader copy), subject to change in the final version. Rating: …

Book Tour Stop: ‘Josephine Against the Sea’ by Shakirah Bourne

I find myself on top of Coconut Hill, in front of the view of the shimmering blue sea - inviting, magical, but dangerous.[All quotes are from the ARC, subject to change in the final edition.] Rating: 4.9/5 paper planes Genre: Middle-grade contemporary fantasyPublication: 6 July 2021 (Scholastic)Pages: 304 (hardcover) Synopsis: Meet Josephine, the most loveable …

ARC Review: ‘Afterlove’ by Tanya Byrne

All that time she wasted being too careful or too polite or too scared, when, in the end, nothing is as scary as watching your whole life narrow to a single moment that's about to pass, whether you're ready for it to or not.[Quotes from ARC, subject to change in final edition] Rating: 3.8/5 paper …