Dee’s Comments (group member since Dec 22, 2011)

Dee’s comments from the Rated YA-MA group.

i read this one a few years ago so my memories might be a bit sketchy - but i enjoyed it even though it was a hard read - she did a good job of exploring how easy it can be to fall into that hole - the desire to want to get back to something quickly etc. this was also written at the peak of the oxy crisis which i think drove a lot of it home - esp when you read up on some of the sketchy shit that the sackler family (who owns purdue) did to keep their product on the market

I enjoyed her Be Not Far from Me which was also a tough listen - although relatively short - so i was able to get sucked in

Game On - release 2022, available in print, audio, ebook

i'd like to nominate The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine

sure i'm in - lol!

Options:
Not Here to Be Liked (author is asian-american)
My Good Man (author is native american)
We Deserve Monuments (author is african american)
Love From A to Z (author is muslim)

i love the parasol protectorate - there is also a prequel series that is much more YA than the PP as well as a YA sequel with her daughter (a series I need to get back to) - maybe steampunk could be a group read theme next year

@Gina - none of these books fits the subject for the group read (a YA book that has been translated)

i'd like to nominate Max - originally written in French and translated to English

the default description is in French on GR - but here is what amazon says:
Nazi Germany 1936. The Lebensborn program is going strong as German women are carefully selected by the Nazis and recruited to give birth to new representatives of the Aryan race. Inside one of these women is Max, a fetus waiting to be born and fulfill his destiny as the perfect Aryan.

Max is taken away from his birth mother as soon as he enters the world. He will be raised under the leadership and ideologies of the Nazi Party. As he grows up without a mom, without any affection or tenderness, according to Nazi educational precepts, he soon becomes the mascot of the program. But things don't go according to plan.

Originally published in French, Sarah Cohen-Scali's touching, illuminating, and heartbreaking book has been translated for an English-speaking audience.

I Must Betray You - its shelved as historical even though it breaks my heart the 1989 is considered to be "historical" now ;)

Crank - Ellen Hopkins

i finished up This Is My America for my february read

it had elements of Just Mercy, along with The Hate You Give - very stark about experiences but a solid listen

i just started listening to This Is My America - i'm only a couple chapters in - so i'll hold off and listen to the rest in february

prob won't join in - i've DNF's one of this authors stuff and only finished mexican gothic because I was stubborn (and didn't have another audiobook to roll to because I got extended underway) - but hopefully you guys have fun

you could also just do a 3 day run off vote with the top 3 - close this one today - and then do top 3 for a couple days

i always sign up but never complete - but again here I go...lol!

♦January: read and adult book written by a YA author
♦February: read a book by or about person of color
♦March: read a book by or about a neurodiverse individual or a person with a mental illness
♦April: read a book in verse
♦May: read a book by or about a member of the AAIP community
♦June: read a book by or about an LGBTQ individual
♦July: read a graphic novel or manga
♦August: read a book that educates about or promotes body positivity
♦September: read a book by or about a Spanish or LatinX person
♦October: read a book in translation
♦November: read a book by or about indigenous peoples
♦December: read a book written by an author tag team (more than 1 author collaborating on the same story)

how about Like a Love Song - Gabriela Martins

i highly recommend Firekeeper's Daughter for this month if you are looking for a book

also My Name is Not Easy fits the prompt

i like this series but this is def. the weakest because its introducing the world - the follow-on books are focused on a specific character

this one sounds fun: How to Lead a Life of Crime

i recommend The Running Dream - the main character is an amputee - its about her learning to deal

for disability i think i'm going to read Not If I See You First - the main character is blind and The Silence Between Us - main character is deaf