Needy Little Things (YA fiction)

"I spend an unhealthy amount of time thinking about brains. It's to the point where I've started to empathize with the zombies in horror movies. Not that I have any interest in eating brains--I'm just preoccupied with how they work, how mine is different, and what it'd be like to have to have a normal one."

     Sariyah, protagonist of Channelle Desamours' Needy Little Things,  has a very unusual talent. A voice in her head tells her things people need before they even know they need them. She can't stop hearing a need until she fulfills it. So she carries around a bag of random objects that she calls the Santa bag.    

     This talent is not exactly a blessing. It's very intrusive and distracting. It's tanking Sariyah's grades. Keeping the Santa bag stocked is not exactly cheap. And there is no guarantee that the objects she supplies won't be used for evil purposes. 

     Sariyah's life starts to go seriously sideways. A friend goes missing and the community has no reason to trust the cops who seriously drag their feet when a missing girl is Black. Her little brother's sickle cell disease flares up, requiring him to be hospitalized. Her mother loses her job. 

     Sariyah feels that she has no alternative to hustling her talent for cash. But it may turn out to be a risky or even fatal decision. 

On a purrrsonal note, actually I have a much milder version. I inexplicably know what friends and family members want or need. I'll share 2 examples. Once when I was a teen I was doing homework after school. Suddenly I put my book down, went to my mom's room, retrieved a pair of her shoes, and went to the bus stop to meet her. It turned out she'd lost the heel on one of the shoes she was wearing. Once in my school committee days I knew I had to bake a colleague a loaf of banana bread and take it to her office April 29. I did. I had no idea that it was her birthday, her grandmother always gave her banana bread on her birthday, and her grandmother had just died.

A great big shout out goes out to people who have similar neurodivergencies.

Jules Hathaway 

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These are the treats and toy that are brightening precious Tobago's days thanks to my bestie, Lisa Morin. It makes me so happy to be able to make my fur baby happy!!!

These are the treats and toy that are brightening precious Tobago's days thanks to my bestie, Lisa Morin. It makes me so happy to be able to make my fur baby happy!!!

Buffalo Dreamer

     The Indian residential school system represents a seriously dark chapter in Canadian and American history. Very young children were torn from their families and communities for the purpose of cultural erasure. They were taken to schools where they were stripped of their identities and punished severely for even speaking their native languages. They were also subjected to malnutrition, medical neglect, and emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Technology has recently verified that many died and were buried on site in mass unmarked graves.

     Violet Duncan, Indigenous artist, activist, educator, and mother of four, has a mission to empower Indigenous youth. She is motivated by the need for native representation and promoting cultural awareness in juvenile literature. She writes those much needed books. Buffalo Dreamer introduces middle grade readers to the residential school system through the interwoven narratives of two girls who connect across time. 

     Summer loves summer vacations when she and her family cross the border to Canada to spend time with her mother's relatives on the Cree reservation. This time on the way there she begins having a series of very vivid dreams. In them, as a girl whose name--Buffalo Dreamer--was changed to Mary, she is escaping from an abusive boarding school, fleeing through days and nights of hunger and freezing temperatures, only to encounter a blizzard and a friendly little dog. The dreams leave her with questions. Could Buffalo Dreamer be a real person? Could she have survived the blizzard?

     When they are almost at the reservation, passing the boarding school her grandfather was forced to attend, she sees a convoy of excavation trucks and news vans. It turns out that unmarked graves had been found at the school. 

     In her Author's Note Duncan tells readers "Even though Buffalo Dreamer is a work of historical fiction, truth is etched on every page; it is embedded in a real time and place. It shares the buried stories of the courageous and often nameless warriors: the children who suffered in the Indian residential school system, which is intentionally omitted by our history books. This story is deeply personal to me, as it echoes the intergenerational narratives of my own family's experiences."

On a purrrsonal note, yesterday was National Pet Day. I really wanted to give Tobago a treat but had none and no way to get to a store. When I went to see my best friend, Lisa Morin for computer help I saw a basket of dog and cat stuff. She said I could take what Tobago can use. You'll see what I got her tomorrow. Needless to say the treats and toy are making precious Tobago a very happy 😺.

A great big shout out goes out to Lisa. 

Jules Hathaway 

     

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Togetha

     Remember back in the middle of March we looked at Keith F. Miller Jr's Pritty, the hard hitting, dynamic narrative that combines a love story, a social justice story, a story of gangs and loyalties, and a story of the importance of family and community?

     Well when I discovered a sequel you'd better believe I tracked it down via inter library loan. Let me tell you--Togetha is a totally worthy successor. 

     Jay and Leroy have survived near death experiences. But they and their families and community are still far from safe. And the degree of danger is ramping up. The new gang in town is undermining the the ability of the Black Diamonds, a coalition of gangs, to protect the Black neighborhoods of Savannah. They're controlled by Louis Bainbridge, the sinister patriarch of a filthy rich and connected family with the popos in their pocket. 

     Bainbridge is demonizing the Black Diamonds, trying to terrify Savannah's Blacks into buying into his plans. He's been working on getting them to sell their homes (at well below market prices of course) in hopes of getting into a development unironcally called Promise Heights. 

     The Diamonds and their families and community are desperately trying to find evidence of Bainbridge's crimes and corruption in order to stop his takeover of their neighborhoods...

     ...because he and his minions will do whatever it takes to achieve his nefarious goals...

     ...and time may be running out faster than they think. 

On a purrrsonal note, we got good numbers on the blood drive, 102 pints, a bunch of new donors, and 0 😱 people fainting. The whole blood drive couldn't have happened if a Black doctor hadn't discovered the science that made this life saving procedure possible. 

A great big shout out goes to the donors, the volunteers I supervised, and our rock star Red Cross nurses.

Jules Hathaway 

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After Life (YA fiction)

     I almost didn't borrow Gayle Forman's After Life. When, scanning it, I read that Amber biked home only to have her mother go into hysterics because she actually died seven years ago--hit by a car while riding the bike--it seemed a little too R. L. Stine like.

     But then I did take it out and am glad I did.

     Amber is understandably perplexed. Her previously madly in love parents are separated. Her weird little sister has grown up. Her boyfriend with a promising future is bar tending in a dive. People are not as she remembers them.

     Who was she in her time on Earth? And why has she been able to come back?

     The narrative, told in multiple voices across a wide time span, builds a picture of the impact Amber's life had on family members, friends, and even people she barely knew.

     In her After Word Forman reminds us that in many cultures the beloved dead have a continued presence in the lives of the living. She speaks of a love that "has the power to bring comfort and joy not yoked to a physical presence. Somewhere in there is a suggestion for how we might might look to other traditions to better marry life and its inevitable end together."

On a purrrsonal note, I have no clue if I have a living sister. Harriet is severely brain damaged. She is/was needlessly afraid that I'd try to be the boss of her. The last I heard she was in a group home a thousand miles away. For years we've kept in touch by email. That's the only way she wants/wanted me to get in touch. OnIy I haven't heard from her since last year's hurricane season. I'm respecting her boundaries. But it's really weird. Now and then I google her name and obituary. So far nothing. I guess I can try to email her again tonight.

Jules Hathaway 

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You Will Never Be Me (adult fiction)

     Did you ever pick up a book recommended by a friend reluctantly out of a sense of obligation only to discover yourself LOVING it? That was my experience with Jesse Q. Sutanto's You Will Never Be Me.

     "I roll my eyes with a laugh, but inside I'm glowing with pleasure. Because I've poured so much effort into making sure our house is, indeed, Pinterest worthy. Every choice I made in home decoration was through the eye of a phone camera."

     Co narrators Meredith and Aspen are momfluencers, social media influencers specializing in home and family content. How they decorate their homes and clothe their children, what they cook, how they raise their kids--every decision is made with creating (or faking) the perfect posts that will capture the most followers. In their high stakes world participants live and die by numbers.

     When Meredith who is on top of her game meets Aspen who is floundering she takes her under her wing. During this intense mentorship they become best friends and confidents. Aspen is a single parent. Meredith has a husband who doesn't understand her. They come to rely more and more on each other...

     ...until they don't. When Aspen's numbers surpass Meredith's the fights start--fights that will end with a total separation. Meredith has become a stalker, covertly following Aspen in real life. After all she made Aspen who therefore owes her. One day she manages to sneak into Aspen's home and steal one of her children's iPad. 

     "I have access to everything. Her drafts. Her scheduled posts. Her DMs. And I know then, clear as lightning, that the universe has decided to give me this one. Because I've taken the back seat long enough. I've been in her shadow long enough...

     Things are about to change."

     They certainly change for Aspen. All of a sudden she's missing appointments, losing followers and sponsors, being ghosted by key influencers--losing her grip on the life she's so carefully curated. 

     But Aspen is no fool. And her revenge will be epic.

     If you have a taste for chillers with a whole lot of twists and turns you can't do better than You Will Never Be Me. 

On a purrrsonal note, it's the last UMaine Red Cross blood drive of the school year. Of course I'm running canteen today and tomorrow. So far so good. So many people are telling me how awesome I was in the Drag Show. I'm still on cloud nine from performing. This year the audience was able to tip the performers. I got $94!!!

A great big shout out goes out to all our donors and volunteers and the nurses and my bestie, Lisa, who is running the show.

Jules Hathaway 

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