Tag Archives: California

YA – The Butterfly’s Sting

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Harlow, Abbie. The Butterfly’s Sting.  Groundwood Books, 2025. 9781779460011. $17.99,  239p. Grades 9-12.

Bonnie “Bo” Clark is a seventeen-year-old senior who lives with her abusive uncle, Jack, and two younger siblings, Kate and Zach. After living in three different foster homes after their father died and barely making it back together, Bo has promised her siblings it will never happen again – and will do anything to keep that promise.  When her uncle discovers she has a secret talent for boxing, he signs her up for an underground fight club tournament with a grand prize of $25,000, promising her half of the money. Bo and her sister develop a plan that will allow the three siblings to move out when Bo turns eighteen and is able to take legal guardianship of Kate and Zach. The fight club is a dark and dangerous place, and when Bo’s cutman is arrested Jack brings on Liam, a classmate of Bo’s, and her secret crush. As the tournament goes on Jack’s temper seems even shorter than usual, and Bo bears the brunt of it. As she and Liam grow closer, she worries that he will find out about Jack’s abuse and report it to the authorities, interfering with her secret plan for escape.  

THOUGHTS: This book was one of the best YA books I’ve read in a while. Although it focuses on a difficult topic (abuse) and is definitely a dark story, it is fast-paced, gritty, and real thanks to Bo’s first person narration. Regardless of gender, readers will find this story engaging and will want to read to the end to find out if Bo and her siblings gain their freedom.  

Realistic Fiction
Sports

YA – Audre and Bash Are Just Friends

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Williams, Tia. Audre and Bash Are Just Friends. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2025. 978-0-316-51108-7. $19.99. 384 p. Grades 9-12.

Audre is a Black, type-A overachiever – class president, debate team captain, budding therapist. When her plans to go spend the summer with her dad in California are suddenly cancelled, she has to face spending the summer with her mom, stepdad, and one-year-old baby sister in Brooklyn. She decides to start writing a self-help book for teens in order to spruce up her application to Stanford. When she realizes she doesn’t have any fun experiences of her own to pull from, her best friend Reshma creates an “Experience Challenge” for her to complete. Audre turns to Bash – a recent prep school grad who moved to Brooklyn from California during his senior year – to be her “funsultant” and help her complete the challenge. Biracial Bash (mom is white, dad is Black) is a mystery himself – tall, lanky, former track superstar, budding tattoo artist. He and Audre have an immediate connection as they work together to complete the items on the challenge while facing their inner struggles as they deal with family issues and other personal challenges. Will they find a way to be truthful to themselves and each other in order to finally be together?     

THOUGHTS: Tia Williams actually wrote an adult romance (Seven Days in June) that features several of the characters in this book (Eva and Shane, Audre’s mom and stepdad). This book is a slight spin-off from the first book as it features Audre who was a tween in the first title. As an adult, I really enjoyed Seven Days in June. This YA book was good but not my favorite. I do think it would be a great romance addition to any high school library and a great title to pull for any student that has mental health needs as well. The internal struggles of both Audre and Bash are covered in a meaningful and relevant way, and I think this is a very relatable title for many teens.

Romance

YA – The Education of Kia Greer

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Bennett, Alanna. The Education of Kia Greer. Alfred A. Knopf, 2025. 978-0-593-80610-4. $19.99. 420 p. Grades 9-12.

Kia Greer is the daughter of a successful Black actor and his white wife – together they have four daughters and a long running reality TV show, “Growin’ Up Greer.”  Kia is the quiet one of the group – the introvert who could go without all of the attention and press their family receives. When she falls for Cassius Campbell, an up-and-coming pop star, her “momager” is thrilled as the relationship takes the pressure off Kia’s older sister and her cheating husband. She encourages Kia to continue the relationship for the positive PR it receives, and Kia and Cassius fall for each other – for real. As the pressure mounts the more Kia is in the spotlight due to her love interest, the more anxious and depressed she becomes as she desperately tries to figure out who she really is and who she wants to be in the future.

THOUGHTS: This story has definitely taken a page from the Kardashian story – their reality show and sibling relationships have a very similar vibe, although the characters in this story are warmer and more relatable despite their wealth and notoriety. Young adult readers will enjoy the pop culture aspects of this book, but it does have a serious level to it as the author explores Kia’s mental health and her desire to make decisions for herself and separate herself from the damaging Hollywood mentality.  

Romance

Elem. – My Lost Freedom:  A Japanese American World War II Story

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Takei, George. My Lost Freedom:  A Japanese American World War II Story. Illustrated by Michelle Lee. Crown Books for Young Readers, 2024. 978-0-593-56635-0. 48 p.  $19.99. Grades 2-4.

George Takei of Star Trek fame tells the story of his childhood experience in internment camps in this engaging picture book.   The author explains that is a grandson and son of immigrants who came from Japan to seek a new life in the United States. His family lived in Los Angeles, where his father owned a dry cleaning business. Their peaceful life changed after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which occurred when George was four years old. In February 1942,  the US government ordered all Japanese Americans, whether foreign or native born, to report to internment camps. Taking only the bare necessities, the family were first housed in a smelly racetrack barn, but were then taken by train to Camp Rowher in Arkansas. Takei discusses the family’s daily life there and how his parents worked hard to make the barracks more welcoming. George’s father was active in camp life and helped promote baseball and musical performances. After a year, the Takei family was displaced to Tule Lake, a maximum security camp for “disloyals” who refused to go into the army. Once again, the family made the best of their situation, even as the authorities were arresting “radicals” who protested internment. After the war ended, the family returned to Los Angeles, but had to begin again since the government had taken everything from them. Lee’s illustrations are done in watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, and digital media. The colorful illustrations mostly are of the children and fill the entire page, and the illustrator includes drawings of real artifacts, such as the front page of a newspaper, the internment order, and the military recruitment questionnaire. Takei includes a number of photographs of his siblings as children and of his parents. There is a forward and an author’s note, which both point out the injustice of treating American citizens as the enemy, based only on their ethnicity.  

THOUGHTS: Told from a child’s point of view, this memoir discusses these unjust events in language that is appropriate for elementary students. While Takei talks about the unsatisfactory conditions in the camps, he also shows the strong sense of community among the Japanese-Americans. This book deserves a place in every elementary library and also is a Junior Library Guild selection.

Picture Book
92, 921, Memoir
940.5317 World War II- Concentration and related camps

YA – Everything We Never Had

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Ribay, Randy. Everything We Never Had. Kokila, 2024. 978-0-593-46141-9. $18.99. 288 p. Grades 8–12.

Randy Ribay’s most recent novel, weaves together an emotional story that spans four generations of Filipino American boys. Told through alternating times and perspectives spanning Philadelphia in 2020, Denver in 1983, Stockton in 1965, and Watsonville in 1930, readers see the violence and inequities that the Maghabol men have faced as well as seeing the familial relationships between the generations. 

THOUGHTS: This novel gives readers a look at some of the hardships and racial charged events that Filipino Americans have faced (and continue to face) throughout the years. It shows the intricacies of familial relationships and how they can be strained through the years, how different generations have different values. There is some mature language throughout the book.

Historical Fiction 

Grades 9-12.

Francisco, Emil, Chris, Enzo. Award-winning author Randy Ribay places his novel first at a migrant farm in California circa 1929 then 1960’s, then Colorado in the eighties, and finally in Philadelphia during the COVID pandemic. Flipping back and forth in the narrative, he traces a family history steeped in activism, alienation, and assimilation. Fifteen-year old Filipino immigrant, Francisco Maghabol, is starting to regret his decision to come to America to work as a migrant worker so he could help his family. This regret turns to determination to stay when the migrant workers face violent racism from white men in Watsonville. The reader learns that Francisco becomes a leader in the United Farm Workers movement. Emil, his son, resents his father’s dedication to other people over his own family. Emil’s curtailed childhood molds him into a person who rejects his Filipino heritage, and his father and impels him to choose a conservative, safe way of life. In Colorado, years later, Emil’s son, Chris is a star high-school football player, but Emil demands he quit the team because of some missed assignments. While researching his paper, Chris learns about the oppression of Filipino dictator, Ferdinand Marcos. This project sparks a desire to study his heritage; but when he tries to share this with his father, Emil will hear none of it. The schism grows between father and son. Conversely, Chris wants his son, Enzo, to feel comfortable speaking to him, to make his own choices, and to care about other people. When COVID strikes, Chris moves Lolo Emil from his assisted-living facility into his West Philadelphia home to keep him safe. Enzo, Chris’s son, suffers from anxiety, which COVID quarantine exacerbates. When Lolo Emil moves in, though, Enzo and Emil form a surprising yet fragile bond, despite Emil’s stoicism. Underlying this generational family story is the lesser-known story of the Filipino instigation of the United Farm Workers’ Union. While most readers are familiar with Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huertos and their work in organizing farm workers, many may not be aware that the Filipino farm workers started the movement. Everything We Never Had provides a raw look at the good and bad of sacrificing for a cause and the inconsistent legacy produced through different times, perspectives, and experiences.

THOUGHTS: This story provokes a lot of thought. On one level, this is a story of relationships. Each narrative can be examined, compared, and contrasted with the other to determine the psychological reasons for the characters’ discord. On another level, it is a story conveying Filipino history: immigration, farm workers’ organizing, Marcos’s dictatorship, United States government’s role in perpetuating racism and unfairness to the Filipino people. Discussions around activism, the necessity of it, and its toll on the activist as well as families can be interesting. The book does not resolve perfectly and readers may wish to speculate on the continuation of the protagonists’ relationships. There are a couple of instances of foul language. One of Chris’s best friends is in an undeveloped lesbian relationship that the author notes with Chris finding the two girls kissing. I could find no mention of Francisco Maghabol in Filipino Farm Worker history; he is a fictional character.

Historical Fiction
Realistic Fiction

MG – Isabel in Bloom

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Respicio, Mae. Isabel in Bloom. Wendy Lamb Books, 2024. 978-0-593-30271-2. 363 p. $17.99. Grades 4-8.

Isabel’s mother has been living in New York for the past five years working as a nanny for a wealthy family with the intention of bringing Isabel to America to start a new life. Isabel loves living in The Philippines with her Lola and Lolo, tending to their garden, and going to school with her best friends. The time has come for Isabel to travel solo to California to meet her mother to start a new life. This is a novel-in-verse which is beautifully written and details what it is like to be an immigrant in the 1990s in America.

THOUGHTS: Beautifully written in the voice of a teenage girl. Students who gravitate towards novel-in-verse stories certainly will love this one. The issues faced by Isabel are universal and will translate for all readers.

Historical Fiction

YA – Forget Me Not

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Derrick, Alyson. Forget Me Not. Simon and Schuster, 2023. 978-1-665-90237-3. 308 p. $19.99. Grades 9-12.

Set in western Pennsylvania, this LGBTQ+ romance takes an unusual turn. A senior at the local Catholic high school, Stevie is biracial with a Korean-American mother; Nora attends public school and helps out on her family’s cattle farm, although she herself strives to be vegan. Madly in love, the pair plan to escape their conservative town and parents once they graduate. Stevie has been accepted at a California college, and Nora has secured an apartment where they can begin their new lives, free of the judgment of their homophobic families and neighbors. Unlike Nora, Stevie seems to come from a close-knit, albeit conservative, family. She lies to be able to see Nora; and during one of those outings, Stevie falls off an embankment, hits her head, and suffers amnesia. Though her parents are understandably grateful to this girl who saved their daughter’s life, they have no clue of their relationship. And when she eventually awakens, neither does Stevie. This non-recognition pains Nora, so she takes to writing–but not delivering–letters to Stevie describing their romance. Derrick meets well the challenge of Stevie’s reckoning with her life as it is laid out before her when she comes to and her gradual realization that Nora is her true love. The two lovers fulfill their dream and Stevie has the added comfort of her parents’ unconditional love.

THOUGHTS: Long listed for the National Book Award, Forget Me Not reads like a fluent movie script where the reader is privy to thoughts, conversations, and feelings. Stevie’s insistence on hiding her sexuality and her relationship from her parents is understood when the reader discovers she did come out to her mother who was dismissive. Her parents’ rejection of Stevie’s revelation is blamed on their Catholic religious views; though, Pope Francis isn’t homophobic. Stevie and Nora engage in heavy kissing and one scene where they (almost) have sex until Nora’s mother catches them and beats Nora. Stevie and her (boy)friend, Ryan, are Asian, but most other characters seem white. Alyson Derrick lives in Pennsylvania; and, yes, Greenville, Pennsylvania, exists in Mercer County.

Realistic Fiction

MG – Parachute Kids

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Tang, Betty C. Parachute Kids. Graphix. 2023. 978-1-338-83269-3. 288 p. $24.99. Grades 3-7.

It’s February, 1981. Feng-Li Lin is ecstatic to accompany her older brother, sister, Mama, and Baba on the family’s first trip to America! The best vacation ever takes an unexpected turn when Baba announces that he must return to Taiwan for work while the kids remain in California with their mother. The children enroll in school, and Feng-Li (Ann) begins fifth grade – and the process of learning English – at Mountain View Elementary. Weeks later, Mama reveals that her travel visa has expired, and she must also return to Taiwan. With the help of family friends, sister Jia-Xi (Jessie), brother Ke-Gāng (Jason), and Feng-Li will continue with school and do their best to run the household while managing a modest budget. When even the family friends relocate to another state, the three “parachute kids” must rely on each other not only to survive but succeed in school, learn a new language, and make new friends. However, complicated sibling dynamics, their undocumented status, and a series of big missteps threaten to tear them apart before the Lin family can be reunited. Author and illustrator Betty Tang depicts her characters with warmth and empathy, even when they make mistakes. She represents dialogue in Chinese with red text and English with black text. It’s an effective technique that allows readers to experience the challenges of communicating in a new language. 

THOUGHTS: Parachute Kids is a stellar graphic novel with similar themes to Robin Ha’s Almost American Girl and Kelly Yang’s New from Here. Tang writes in her Author’s Note that this is “not a memoir, but a mixture of fiction, my family’s first experiences in America, and anecdotes of immigrant friends I met along the way.” It deserves to be widely read and will become a favorite of many readers!

Graphic Novel

MG/YA – You Bet Your Heart

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Parker, Danielle. You Bet Your Heart. Joy Revolution, 2023. 9780593565278. 307 pp. $18.99. Grades 7-10.

Sasha Johnson-Sun (SJ) and Ezra Davis-Goldberg were best friends back in grade school, then he moved from Monterey, California, to live with his physician father for two years. Now, he is back and has become SJ’s competition for valedictorian. African-American-Jewish Ezra proposes three wagers to decide who will take the coveted position. As the bets mount, SJ feels the chemistry between them grow stronger. Though Ezra admits his feelings for her, the financially-strapped SJ cannot subdue her ambition and desire to receive the $30,000 scholarship attached to the valedictorian position. Not only does her family need the money since the death of her beloved African-American dad a few years’ prior, but also the Korean side of her family expects to be proud of her. SJ has spent so much of her life working toward her academic goals; she has a difficult time opening up to love and happiness. Even her best friends, Chance and Priscilla, think her reasoning to thwart Ezra is wrong-headed. This light romance may be predictable, but the connection between SJ and Ezra is interesting to watch and the inner thoughts of SJ are interesting to follow. Since both main characters are driven academically, readers will learn about different societal issues and philosophies as the pair compete. 

THOUGHTS: Author Danielle Parker has a good ear for teen-speech and habits, which will appeal to readers. Ezra and Sasha come from different financial backgrounds, but the novel doesn’t take a deep dive into that side of their relationship. SJ works hard in school to make both her deceased father and Korean relatives proud. Ezra’s motivation seems to be only to get close again to SJ. Readers will know SJ will eventually come around and wind up with Ezra, but the well-drawn characters will keep them interested. A good pick for older middle school readers who want books with romance.

Realistic Fiction     

MG -Finally Seen

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Yang, Kelly. Finally Seen. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2023. 978-1-534-48833-5. unpaged. $17.99. Grades 3-7.

When her parents emigrated to the United States with her young sister Millie, Lena Gao stayed behind in the “waiting city” of Beijing with her beloved lao lao (grandmother). In the opening pages of Finally Seen, Lena is on a flight to Los Angeles to be reunited with her family! But five years is a long time, and Lena has a lot to learn about her own family, not to mention the English language and American culture. Lena quickly realizes that nothing has been perfect for her parents in California either. Her dad works very long hours on an organic farm, back rent will be due in a few short months when COVID-19 rent relief expires, and their green cards are hung up in red tape. To make ends meet, Mom and Millie make bath bombs to sell on Etsy, and Lena happily joins in the family business. At school, Lena begins to learn English with the help of an empathetic ELL teacher and Flea Shop, a graphic novel that offers Lena a mirror of her own life. But Lena’s joy at being “finally seen” in a book also finds her caught in the midst of a culture war over what books are appropriate for students to read. 

THOUGHTS: Kelly Yang delivers another charming and relatable middle grade novel rooted in the real experiences of so many young people in the United States and beyond. Her Author’s Note describes the impact of attempts to ban her novel Front Desk, and her steadfast belief in the freedom to read books that offer windows, mirrors, and sliding doors.

Realistic Fiction