Welcome to Litsy!

“It‘s so complicated to be a human” // grief and love and found family and goddesses and a silly, brave, dog.

(2020) When her mother dies, Lydia moves to a rural Connecticut town to live with her aunt. About the same time, her new family adopts a messy, difficult dog. Lydia settles in, makes new friends, and learns to love the best bad dog she knows. It's a feel-good mg story and also a target for book bans: Texas rep Matt Krause wants it to be removed from school libraries, probably because Lydia's aunt has a wife.

#BannedBooks

"You'll be all right. You come from strong."

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

I finished before I could post as a #currentread Might already be out in the US but coming to 🇦🇺 in April. This is one of the ‘youngest‘ 14 yr old MCs I have read. The burden of her mother‘s long term heart condition has made her older than her years, but also younger. No interest in fashion, music or social media. Maybe the book just had an old fashion feel about it. Anyway it is completely lovely. Much sadness but also much healing.

A good premise (mom dies, daughter moves in with aunt and her wife and old homeowner, then joined by bad dog) but never finds its footing. Longer than a middle-school book, not meaty enough for a young adult novel. Connor tries to add conflict at the very end, but it‘s too little, too late, too easily solved. Best chapter was very last where the main character finally comes into believable full roundness. Pass.

Heartwarming.

Sweet.

I normally love Leslie Connor, but I think I'm just not in the mood for this one... I've read enough to be able to recommend it to the right students, and maybe I'll revisit it at a later date

I always have good intentions of reading some middle grade/YA books over the summer months so I have new books to share with students. This summer I haven‘t read as much as in the past, but I started this today and really am enjoying it so far. It‘s a little bit heartbreaking.