Tag Archives: Scholarship

YA – Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute

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Hibbert, Talia. Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute. Joy Revolution. 2023. 978-0-593-48233-9. $19.99. 315 p. Grades 9-12.

Senior year at a British upper school finds ex-best friends, spunky, outspoken Tik-Toker Celine Bangura and the popular, accomplished bisexual Bradley Graeme circling each other as they compete for a $30,000 scholarship senior year from the Breakspeare Enrichment Program (BEP). A human rights lawyer noted for her attention to other minority groups, Katharine Breakspeare has set up a series of weeklong outward-bound type of challenges in surrounding forests for a selected group of which academically-driven Celine and Bradley are a part. Told in monthly installments in the stream of consciousness of the two protagonists, the reader is privy to their initial barbed repartee and secret attractions, then their insecurities about each others’ ability to fall in love. Bradley comes from a tight-knit family and suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder (though it seems to be a mild condition) who is struggling with his college major decision. Abandoned by her lawyer father, Celine has daddy issues making trust difficult for her. Her feelings become more complicated as a contender in the BEP because her father’s firm is one of the sponsors. Diverse and authentic minor characters enrich the story as Brad and Celine rekindle their friendship and teeter on making it more. Though the plot may be predictable, the witty exchanges of Celine and Brad are not. Author Talia Hibbert usually writes for adults but this young adult novel maintains a breezy, humorous tone throughout with minimum foul language and sexual situations. Hibbert’s adept talent to create a teen world with interesting feelings and conversations sets this book above the usual meet-cute books. Includes a glossary of Britishisms for teens who do not frequent BritBox, Acorn, or PBS.

THOUGHTS: Suitable for grade 8 readers searching for a funny romance. Nothing heavy about this story. Though Hibbert could have delved into Brad’s OCD or Celine’s feelings of abandonment, or the failure of each of them to admit their feelings, she doesn’t. That decision is more than okay; it’s refreshing. Give this book to a reader who might go for Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’ Diary.

Realistic Fiction 

Elem./MG – Rooting for Plants: the Unstoppable Charles Stewart Parker, Black Botanist and Collector

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Harrington, Janice N. Rooting for Plants: The Unstoppable Charles Stewart Parker, Black Botanist and Collector. Illustrated by Theodore Taylor III. Astra Books for Young Readers, 2023. 978-1-662-68019-9. $18.99. Unpaged. Grades 2-6.

From “brainy boy” in Spokane, Washington, to world-renown mycologist* at Howard University, Charles Stewart Parker led a full and successful life as a botanist, professor, and researcher. Born in 1882, Parker founded an African-American newspaper, then enlisted to serve as a lieutenant in the 366 Infantry of Black soldiers during World War I. As a leader, he protested the discrimination his men faced in the military. After his return from service, he could not afford to buy a farm so he became a consulting horticulturist, teaching others how to farm, plant, and garden, while achieving a botany degree from the State College of Washington. His interest in exploring and cataloging plants brought him from the Pacific Northwest to the East Coast. From his base at Howard University, he traveled to the American South collecting samples. His time at Penn State with mushroom authority, Lee Oras Overholts, though, revealed his expertise: fungi. He was the first botanist to write a clear, organized description of hypholoma. Through Parker’s eyes, young readers not only learn the parts of a mushroom, but also have the fungi elevated to something special. Theodore Taylor III’s clear, colorful illustrations engage the viewer of this picture book in varied frames: close-ups of plants, full-page spreads, or idyllic nature scenes. Esteemed in his field, Parker may be little known to the general public. In only 32 pages complemented by pictures, author Janice N. Harrington creates a well-rounded, informative biography of a scholar who can inspire many budding scientists. Includes glossary, timeline, spotlight of other African-American botanists and mycologists, and extensive bibliography.

*someone who works with fungi, like mushrooms 

THOUGHTS: A quick search on the internet still yields little on Charles Stewart Parker (Charles S. Parker), so this biography and the loads of information crammed into it (without being overwhelming) is welcome. Students interested in STEM, girls and African American students interested in science, anyone looking for scientists with different areas of expertise will use this book. The back matter is valuable as well and allows for the wider grade range. Parker’s life teaches more than mushrooms. He showed scholarship, determination, persistence, and passion, and he never gave up being a student. The importance of his studies at Penn State is a high point.

Biography

YA – The New Girl

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Sutanto, Jesse. The New Girl. Sourcebooks, 2022. 350 p. $10.99 (paper) 978-1-728-21519-8. Grades 9-12. 

Thanks to her running speed on the track, Lia Setiawan has been given a full scholarship to prestigious Draycott Academy, and she is determined to prove she deserves it. But the school is full of extremely wealthy young people–think private jets, designer drugs, and racist, elitist attitudes. Because she begins mid-year after the dismissal of the outspoken drug-addicted Sophie, she finds few people to welcome her.  Draycott’s dirt app closely follows every student, and students anonymously post about everyone and everything (which isn’t about to end well). It turns out that Sophie had complaints about unfair grading practices of English instructor Mr. Werner, and Mr. Werner very pointedly informs Lia she does not belong in his class. Lia insists on staying in the class only to find herself failing dismally despite extreme diligence to the classwork.  She begins to suspect that some students have paid Mr. Werner for their grades, and she knows she’ll never be able to do that, and her track scholarship depends on her grades. Lia instantly connects with the drool-worthy Danny, who is another reason to fight for her place. But the dirt, the revenge, and the drugs begin to take their toll, and when Lia is the one to find Sophie dead in Mr. Werner’s office, she realizes that she needs to play the game even harder if she’s going to win–or live.

THOUGHTS: Like Sutanto’s The Obsession (2021), this novel features characters who can and will go to extremes to hide, succeed, and get revenge. By the novel’s end, nearly every character has a twisted secret revealed. And after the death Lia causes, tension rises to see if she will be revealed, too.  A good choice for suspense addicts.  

Mystery          Melissa Scott, Shenango Area SD
Realistic Fiction