Jenna Idenward > Recent Status Updates

Nothing quite like a book by a smart funny person who shares my distaste for Ayn Rand. The audiobook is a darn delight.

It's Cold War-era alternate reality spy/cult thriller, but with dragons. Yep.

Finally reading this collection of essays gifted to me years ago

Part 2 gets...different.

Lyra is cursing and I don’t quite know what to do with myself.

"If you are a literary-minded type yourself and feed tempted to weigh in on the 'quality' of your teenager's reading material, just don't––save your disapproval for vaping, not books."

"It is a truth universally acknowledge that a child in possession of the ability to read must be in want of a series. Why fight it?"

Really enjoying this so far! Sentimental and progressive and dorky, in the best way

I can't add it on Goodreads yet, so I'm adding it here. Read the preview for Jason Reynolds's new book! https://ew.com/books/2019/05/03/look-...

Oh man, I like the reader chapters.

Squeeeee! Representation!

Scholastic Book Clubs apparently don't care about official release dates. Cheers to getting the long-awaited Amulet 8 a full month early!

I know this isn't the crux of the book, but it takes place in South Florida with a kick butt Bubbie. Be still, my Publix-loving heart.

Okay, I was super into this book for the first third, but I fear Gratz may have jumped the shark here.

Yeaaaaaaah, representation! (Avoiding spoilers here, but referring to a specific conversation between Jane and Katherine)

An overwhelming story, but told in such a clear and accessible way for middle schoolers. I already know I'm adding this to my library, and am horrified to learn that the biggest tragedy in the book occurred when I was in middle school myself.

"Yet the majority of hate-crime offenders...are young males, either in their teens or early twenties, acting in a group, often immediately after school. In a study of Boston hate-crime prosecution in the early 1990s, two-thirds of the offenders were categorized as "thrill-seeking"––that is, they were groups of young people "looking for some fun" at the expense of someone they regarded as lower status."

On securing funding for military projects that address sea level rise without alerting climate deniers in Congress who control appropriations for such projects: "Many people in the military end up talking about climate in much the way eighth graders talk about sex––with code words and winks and suggestive language" (200).

Perhaps the most Florida quote to ever be Florida-ed: "...returning the land to the alligators and mosquitoes that lived here before the Russian midgets arrived" (115).