Welcome to Litsy!

YA is becoming a favorite amongst my scholars! Chlorine Sky has captured her attention and the raving reviews she gave had me at hello.

Great coming- Of- age story!

Gorgeous coming of age story told in verse. I listened on audio, which was fantastic, the author narrates. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I do love audio for novels in verse read by authors. This was a story about the ways you get left behind - by parents, by siblings, and by best friends. But it was also clear eyed and realistically hopeful.

Written in verse. A coming of age story that many girls who were once a teenager can relate to. Even though my childhood seems vastly different than the main character's I could relate so much to her feelings & insecurities. I remember being that age & trying to be invisible while I learned about my place in the world. Browne does such a great job making the reader really feel like your inside Sky's head even though the book is fairly short. ⁣

"You don't have to wait for others to claim you / You don't have to wait for others to pick you / You pick yourself"

This was pbeautiful novel written in verse. About friendships, basketball, stepping out of someone else‘s shadow and standing up for yourself and the people you care about.

#bookspinbingo

Loved this story in verse. Wish I had a physical copy to mark up some favorite passages. Browne has written beautifully on girlhood, basketball, friendship, identity and protecting oneself and others.

Chlorine Sky, award-winning poet Mahogany L. Browne‘s young adult debut, is a heart-bruisingly real and relatable novel in verse about stepping out of someone else‘s shadow and standing up for yourself. Mahogany L. Browne reads the audiobook version and it is fantastic! Thank you to Libro.fm for the free listening copy!

This novel-in-verse is a snappy character sketch that manages, despite its brevity, to address nuances of friendship, shadeism & gender disparities faced by black girls and young women in America today. The #audiobook is a treat, performed by the author.

“When I was younger, I thought I had a superpower
Thought if I sat real still and stared at a book
No one would be able to see me”

I‘ve listened to two audiobooks this week in which girls step into the bravery they need, to take action and stop being invisible, passive bystanders. (The tagged one plus Tae Keller‘s When You Trap a Tiger.)

#audiocrafting. I added some yellow embroidery to this quilt square that I dyed in August and I‘m happier with it now. It‘s for a quilt I‘ve been working on for a long time, but I‘m more invested in the process than the end result.

I wish there were books like this when I was a teen. I hope to see more from this author. #ownvoices #blitsy #novelinverse #comingofage

“If you show up & show the world your real self

You don‘t have to wait for others to claim you

You don‘t have to wait for others to pick you

You pick yourself, I mean”

While a lot of the themes running through “Chlorine Sky” appeal to me, I struggled to connect with the characters. I love novels in verse, but I had a hard time following the past vs present and felt like I was supposed to be reading between the lines, but was unsure of what was supposed to be there. I probably chose the wrong time to listen to this one; I‘m trying to stick to happy, positive stories and this doesn‘t exactly fit in that category.

Coming of age story = Check. Black Girl Magic = Check. So many poignant quotes = Check.

The first time I heard Mahogany L. Browne speak in person (at the inaugural Well Read Black Festival), I became an instant fan. When I found out she was publishing her first novel, I danced a jig. She does NOT disappoint.

Please please read and listen to this amazing story in verse.

So, we stopped by Barnes & Noble after work and...

I stayed in the car and...

@WanderingBookaneer didn‘t. So... this happened 🤷🏻‍♀️🥰🤓

I‘m excited to add these books to my #ClassroomLibrary #TeachersOfLitsy #IReadYA

I know Mahogany L. Brown from her work on the Black Girl Magic volume of The BreakBeat Poets, and here she writes a novel in verse about a teenager navigating tensions with a friend who she may be outgrowing. I listened to the audio as read by the author, obviously the best way.
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This will count for the middle grade or YA category of the #tfbwlreadingchallenge