This book is a must for a classroom library! Social media isn‘t going anywhere and teaching that your digital footprint will follow you for the rest of your life is crucial. Plus it‘ll teach that racial jokes ARE that deep and it doesn‘t matter if you don‘t want to seem “cringe”. Individuals will likely change their behavior when there‘s just enough social pressure from people they care about. Let‘s stop reaffirming these kinds of jokes.

This quote is very real. As a black woman during my early years of school I was held to a higher level of scrutiny by my white teachers. I would be punished for things I did while my white peers would get away with it. It‘s crazy to me just how unworthy and undesirable we are made to feel yet we are held under a microscope. We feel pain too. We have feelings too. We need comfort too.

I found it fascinating how the author brought up the medical side effects of rascim. I‘ve always questioned why, if you were black, you were more likely to have certain chronic diseases. But since Slater explains that when you are casted out of a society and feel rejection and powerless based on something you cannot change about yourself (your skin color) that negatively impacts your health due to the stress of it all. Wow…this was sad to read.

I don‘t typically read historical fictions as often as I‘d like to but when I do I‘m always reminded how amazing they are! This is a beautifully written coming of age story that showcases sexual identity, racial identity, and Asian American history! I love the flashbacks of grace & Judy & the decisions they made based on their circumstances and political climate as well as the life lessons we are shown through Lily!This was an impactful read

I like how the author is portraying Shirley and lily‘s friendship because if you look at them on a surface level you may think that Shirley is a good friend but she really is not. And I think it‘s important to teach young readers that sometimes a bad friend isn‘t going to be obvious and it can be an uncomfortable/unfortunate situation to be in but a true friend like Kath will always be uplifting and supportive.

I love the scenes when they are actually in the telegraph club I felt like I was actually there and it was so tense yet thrilling due to the feel of doing something “forbidden”. But I‘m loving the slow burn romance that‘s going on too on top of Lily navigating her way through life with the political setting that‘s taking place.

This story may be relatable for many people. It talks about heavy topics and the author describes this story as being a combo of the bell jar and euphoria which definitely shows. She also does a great job showing how mental illness can manifest within a person and how they behave and how relationships may become strained. But the entire story as a whole was okay to me personally I think if I‘d read this in high school I would‘ve eaten this up 🤭

This book is really hitting the mark on these heavy topics! Although the plot as a whole is kinda lacking a bit for me I can‘t deny the writing is amazing and its quotes like this that‘s kinda saving the story for me

Starting off and already this book is so relatable! I would feel the exact same way when summer came round. I never did really like the summer the comfort of having a routine was taken away from me and I didn‘t know what to do with myself. This passage encapsulates “summertime sadness” beautifully🩵

I LOVED this book! It furthered my knowledge on misinformation and history and even taught me argument styles. I liked how the writing style was very accessible and easy to understand even with all of the different scientific topics being presented throughout the book. I appreciated the advice Dr. Yasmin gives us too. Overall this would be a great book to teach and actually equip your student with knowledge they‘d use in this growing age of media.

I love how Dr. Yasmin brought up this piece of advice. I feel like it‘s so common to laugh at someone one who may not know something that might be “obvious” to most people. Especially in classrooms where it‘s suppose to be a place to learn, many students are scared to ask questions to further their understanding because they‘re afraid of being shamed for not knowing the topic as well as everyone else.

I audibly gasped when @freeleethebananagirl was mentioned because I remembered falling victim to her raw diet that she was convincing people to do. I was in the 8th or 9th grade I think when she was blowing up on YouTube and I fell into very bad body image issues that I still deal with today. I loved how the author explained further about how young teen girls are the most susceptible to these kinds of influencers and lead to self esteem issues.

It‘s scary how easy it is to manipulate a narrative to spread disinformation and even if it gets disproven it‘s harder to try and take back or change peoples minds with the true. I took an entire course on misinformation and ai and this is the type of knowledge that needs to be a mandatory class to take because this type of knowledge is desperately needed in this new age of social media and accelerating ai software.

I appreciate the authors unique take on showcasing depression, grief, and trauma and the back sliding that people can face when trying to overcome that. Especially as people of color and the weight of having to deal with racial discrimination on top of that. I recognize the points the author is trying to convey but the way it was delivered through this grim fairytale style didn‘t hit for me the way I wanted it too.

This book would be a great tool for students to use in order to practice reading comprehension skills and practice the skill of understanding the author‘s deeper meaning with this story as well as recognizing the authors purpose. This would also be a good diverse read for people to understand the harsh realities of the way black families view/ deal with mental health.

So far I am interested in the story in regards to mental health among black teens. The whole whimsical aspect that the author is going for to symbolize what Whimsy is going through feels almost dream like. However sometimes I‘m finding myself being a little lost within the story due to the excessive symbolism and it being too abstract.

This has been my fave book so far in class! There were so many banger quotes that were impactful and were very thought provoking! Never underestimate a 5th grader because they just might teach you something about yourself that you didn‘t even realize… I loved how the author did a “storyception” where we got to read a story within a story it was really cool and I liked how it gave the reader an inside look into the story that was being challenged.

A reoccurring conflict I kept picking up on in this story was how Gideon‘s mom never asked him about the book or even let him know that she disproved of it. This caused Gideon so much anxiety from being left in the dark that when he figured out why she might‘ve been upset about the book it left him so confused because there wasn‘t anything blatantly wrong to him. I think the author was trying to show that communication is key.

This quote was so impactful because of how true it is. Not only could you say this about sexuality but you can also say the same about race, class, and other societal issues. I think it‘s important to learn and understand something or someone before you it write off as being bad. Because it‘s a lot easier to be afraid or dislike someone when you hardly know anything about them.

In chapter one I really liked how Cart highlights the parallels in early YAL book with its society. He mentions the hegemonic traits that get reinforced through fictional books and even in seventeen magazines which were targeted for young girls. I found this intriguing because these early forms of YAL were influential. Youth (whether they realized it or not) were learning how to operate in their society through the usage of YAL.

I think if it weren‘t for the graphics I wouldn‘t have really enjoyed it at all. As the story continued I started to get a little disconnected because of the dialogue being so young. I can definitely see elementary students eating this story up especially Hispanic kids who can relate to Pedro‘s family dynamic. So, It‘s important to be willing to read about different cultures and their life experiences to have more broad perspective of life.

I love how we are getting to see some of the unfortunate realities of the world through the eyes of a child. For, example when the family is crossing the border into Mexico and they get some of their stuff stolen by the guards and the dad is trying to talk their way through that tense situation. It got so real! To experience something like that as a kid had to of been very frustrating and confusing.

I had never heard of a graphic memoir before and I was so surprised that this isnt done more often! Actually being able to see the family and looking at how their personalities are shown through the images made it much more fun to read! This is a great way to get younger audiences more interested in reading and to stay engaged with the story.

For this collection of short stories as a whole, I loved the message of advocating for diverse representation in literature. Each story shows what someone‘s life may actually be like whether it‘s the good the bad or simply the mundane. This book would be great for young readers in the classroom to connect with!

This quote from the “Sol Painting Inc.” story was very impactful. This specific lesson that Merci had to learn can be applied to everyone no matter the age. It teaches the reader to know when to pick your battles which is such an invaluable skill.

The opening stories are very engaging and even drew me in as an adult reader. I liked how this collection of stories showcased many different backgrounds and portrayed the realities of different kid's upbrings and circumstances. This is helpful to teach younger students to be more compassionate to their peers.