What I Read: March/April 2016

Well if I said I didn't read much in the first two months of the year, I REALLY didn't read much in the next two.  In fact I only read ONE book.  Embarrassing.  (Therefore, I included the only other book I read in this post.  Of course this book wasn't even published until May so obviously I didn't read it in April. #myprerogative)

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

Good young adult books that address racism in America are rarely set in present day.  Sure there are books where a character questions their identity or experiences challenges as a minority, but this is the first book I've seen that carefully and appropriately deals with the current racial issue in America.  The story starts with a young African-American boy getting wrongly accused and beaten by a white cop.  A white schoolmate of the boy witnesses the exchange and is horrified, even more so when he realizes that the police officer is his best friend's brother and has been a father figure in his life for years.  The story goes back and forth between these two boys over the course of the week after the incident.  I found the story compelling and a great read.  I then promptly sent it to school for some kids I felt needed it.  

The Crown by Kiera Cass

I don't think I've blogged about this series before on here so I'll start at the beginning.  Two years ago I went to the Scholastic book sale and picked up the first 2 books in this series- The Selection and The Elite.  Each book has a girl in a beautiful ball gown on the cover and the description on the back... well... it sounded terrible.  I pulled out each new book I had gotten in my homeroom and shared how excited I was about each one, until I got to this set.  "These books look awful," I remember saying.  I insisted I wouldn't be reading this weird cross between dystopian lit and The Bachelor TV show.  A girl in my class offered to read them and report back.  In full disclosure, this girl had read most of my favorite books that year and I respected her opinion.  That afternoon when she came in, I checked in on her progress. "Um... yeah, you have to read these.  This book is pretty much amazing."
I'm sorry, what?  I tried to show my students the same courtesy they show me with book recommendations however so when she came in the next day with this 300+ page book completed, I took it.  Yeah, I finished it that afternoon.  

I'm not going to lie- the premise is cheesy, the character names are ridiculous, the fandom for the author is seriously out of control, and the ending is predictable.  However, they are very satisfying and absorbing quick reads.  I have two distinct sets of students who were obsessed with this series.  So when the final book came out a few weeks ago, I downloaded it and finished it that day.  

For those of you who have read the rest of the series, I found Eadlyn's character to be unbearable in The Heir.  I wasn't sure I would be able to stomach her narrating this final book.  I also wasn't convinced I knew who she would be choosing so I still had to read it.  I found her to be MUCH more likeable in this book, a family crisis can do that to you.  There were at least two times in the story I yelled, "Hold up!" (or some variation thereof) in surprise.  And I was satisfied with the ending.  I in no way this Kiera Cass is the next great American novelist, but I look forward to reading anything else she puts out.  An excellent (cheesy) page-turner.