This Town Is On Fire (YA fiction)

     If you're in the mood for a fast paced narrative with a very believable protagonist trying to cope with volatile situations both off and online, triggered by a post that went viral on social media, you can't do better than Pamela N. Harris's This Town Is On Fire. The story line flips between a pretty grim now full otf EMTs and ambulances and police and people in handcuffs and the debris from a bombed building and the events leading up to it.

     Naomi and the twins, Kylie and Connor, are starting their senior year of high school. Naomi and Kylie are best friends who feel more like sisters, probably because Naomi's mother took care of the twins until she started her own business. They both are trying out to keep their cheerleader spots. Naomi may be crushing on Connor. 

     One day Kylie, Naomi's ride, texts last minute that she might not be going to school. But it's not for being sick. There's a video online of Kylie calling the police on two Black teens outside Target. 

     Oh, yeah, Kylie is white.

     And the video is spreading. People have dubbed Kylie Parking Lot Becky.

     Naomi is put in an awful position. While Kylie and her rich family are expecting Naomi to bail her out--whatever it takes--the other Black students are questioning whose side Naomi is actually on and Naomi is starting to see some inconvenient and downright ugly truths. 

     And things have only have just started to heat up.

     Here we have a plot practically torn from today's headlines pulling in a lot of inconvenient issues and providing much food for thought. It's the kind of book you hate to reach the last page of. This Town Is On Fire is Harris's sophomore novel and you'd better believe that as soon as my laptop regains internet access I'm gonna seek out her first on inter library loan. 

On a purrrsonal note, I sure did have a fine time Tuesday. My friend Mazie were stepping out. First we went to Sweet Frog for their fabulous fro yo. I got the biggest size--raspberry pomegranate and blue cotton candy with toppings. Heavenly! Then we hit Goodwill where we made out like two bandits. 

A great big shout out goes out to Mazie, a good friend with whom to celebrate 🥳 🎉 🎊 good times!

Jules Hathaway 

     

     

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

What She Missed

 "My parents are liars. They told me anything was possible. They said if I worked hard enough that I could create the life I wanted for myself. They said all I had to do was paint the sky with my dreams and reach and reach and reach. And I was stupid enough to believe them."

     Ebony, protagonist of Liara Tamani's What She Missed, feels like her life is over. Her parents have lost their jobs. Unable to afford the cost of living in Houston, the family had to move to a small rural town. She's lost her home, her community, and her friends. Enroute to their new house, she gets a group text.

     "Just leave it alone, I responded. Jealous they'd get to stay together. Mad they'd get to hang out all summer and go back to Houston's Academy of the Arts in the fall while I was stuck in the boonies."

     Ya see she isn't just leaving any old urban school. It's the school that she's dreamed of graduating from since she was eleven, the school she worked so hard to get into, the school where she'd come into her own as an artist. There's no way her new school can live up to it.

     The new home isn't really new to Ebony. It used to be her deceased artist grandmother's. Until six years ago she'd spent happy summers there. But things and the proverbial boy next door (and her feelings for him) have changed. Spiraling into despair, unable to communicate her feelings, and blind to many clues (the things she missed) she's acting impulsively and making serious mistakes. Maybe ones she can't come back from. 

On a purrrsonal note I had a move that felt like the end of the world. It was so that my severely brain damaged sister could be closer to her special education school. I was losing my home, my community, and my friends. I was starting high school at a place where I knew nobody. We'd moved away from my beloved ocean and into a no pets allowed apartment. My growing up home had been full of animals: cats, raccoons, red foxes, flying squirrels...I even had an ocelot, my beloved Sheba. After Harriet's life altering illness when I increasingly felt like I didn't matter in my family it was so 💔 to lose this source of unconditional love. 

A great big shout out goes out to all the kids who lose so much in moves they have no say in.

Jules Hathaway 

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Here are my good friends Bailey and Catherine running their table on Black Bears Care Day. We're going to have so much fun this summer ☀️ when school is out and no snow. 

How To Live Without You (YA fiction)

   When he was a young adult my cousin shot himself. He left behind three very young children, parents, three sisters and friends and extended kin with many questions, no answers. 

     If you've lost a loved one to suicide you know that it's not like any other kind of death. We don't have language to talk about it. It's a topic we tiptoe around, if mention at all. We especially don't talk about it with our teens and young adults out of fears we'll put ideas in their head...

     ...but for too many the ideas are already there until living gets too hard and they pull the trigger or swallow the pills and leave grieving relatives and friends with many questions, no answers.

     Silence enables a vicious cycle that we as a society need to break. In this context Sarah Everett's How To Live Without You is a much needed breath of fresh air. 

     Emmy and her older sister are inseparable Even after they were split up in their parents' divorce, Rose staying in her home with their father and Emmy moving thousands of miles away with their mother, they did their best to keep the relationship up. They made a list of exotic places that they plan to explore together. Rose is never going to leave Emmy...

     ...until she does. And it isn't like previous times when she's disappeared for a few days. Emmy goes back to her hometown to talk to the people in Rose's circle and search for clues. 

     The more Emmy learns the more she's tormented by painful maybes. Maybe she wasn't as close to Rose as she believed. Maybe Rose wasn't as happy and confident as she appeared.

     Maybe Rose is somewhere Emmy can't join her.

     I would highly recommend this book for high school juniors and seniors and college students. It distills solid timely non judgmental information within the context of a gripping plot. I would also recommend it way beyond its target demographic to parents, teachers, professors, guidance counselors, mental health professionals, and anyone else who works with and cares about teens and young adults. 

On a purrrsonal note, today at UMaine it was Black Bears Care Day. Tables lined the sunny Union atrium while music from a live band filled the air. Students engaged in fun activities--I think bracelet making was the most popular--while learning important self care, mental health, and suicide prevention information. People who got their passports stamped at six tables were eligible for a lottery with super prizes. There was good food. Attendance was quite high and students were highly engaged. 

A great big shout out goes out to all who made Black Bears Care Day truly engaging and memorable. 

Jules Hathaway 

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My new friend, Bailey

Isn't she gorgeous. And such a good girl--so sweet natured and friendly. The Orono Public Library is a favorite place for both of us. 

Rules For Camouflage

 "RULES FOR CAMOUFLAGE 

1. Whenever you need to 

2. Anytime it seems necessary 

3. Not with people you trust 

4. How do you figure out who to trust?

5. Almost always in public.

6. Definitely with grown-ups

7. ALWAYS at school 

8. Never at the zoo."

    Evvie, protagonist of Kirsten Cronn-Mills' Rules For Camouflage, is neurodivergent. Life was challenging after her sophomore year diagnosis. Now she understands her brain and  how to work with it. And she's discovered a real passion. She volunteers after school at a zoo where they're testing the intelligence of a day 🐙. She's become enamored of Aretha and her species. She's also met kindred spirits among the staff and caught the interest of a cute fellow volunteer. In fact he may be more than just a friend. 

     Unfortunately high school can be a very unkind space for anyone who is different. At Bluestem Lake Area High School, in addition to the student bullies there's a teacher who is determined to keep Evvie from graduating 🎓 if she won't conform to her rules. 

     Hence the need for rules for camoflage. 

     There is one place in the school that has been created as a sanctuary for neurodivergent students. The Lair is a place where they can get a break from the pressure and stress and be valued for who they truly are.

     But its continued existence is being threatened. 

     Evvie is a shero you can't help rooting for. Please join her for her (hopefully) final year of high school. 

On a purrrsonal note, today when I went to Orono Public Library to get my new bunch of inter library loans I met and befriended by a very gentle, dignified, friendly and big dog named Bailey. I'll post a picture tomorrow. She was bred a lot and then discarded. Fortunately she now has a loving home and time to make friends at the library. 

A great big shout out goes out to Bailey and all the good rescue dogs and cats. 

Jules Hathaway 

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These are the treasures I got for myself, (Thanks, Amber!!!) on my final trip to Joann Fabrics. I hate it when really good stores and restaurants go out of business.