Caraval 🖋 Stephanie Garber

' " Welcome, welcome to Caraval! The grandest shows on land or sea. Inside, you'll experience more wonder than most people see in a lifetime. You can sip from a magic cup and buy dreams in a bottle. But before you fully enter into our world, you must remember it's all a game. What happens beyond this gate may frighten or excite you, but don't let any of it trick you. We will try to convince you it's real, but all of it is a performance. A world built of make-believe. So while we want you to get swept away, be careful of being swept too far away. Dreams that can come true can be beautiful, but they can also turn into nightmares when people don't wake up." '

🎪 Scarlett had been writing to Master Legend to bring his magical show, Caraval, to her island, Trisda, for seven years when she finally got her response. She and her sister, Donatella, were brought up listening to their grandmother's tales of the elaborate game and the Caraval master himself. Now, before them lay two tickets addressed to Scarlett and her fiancé (whom she had not yet met), which she wished to set aside now that her wedding loomed closer. Their father's violent nature prompts Donatella to escape with Scarlett to Caraval, against Scarlett's will, with the help of a young sailor named Julian. On reaching the island, however, Donatella gets separated from Julian and Scarlett, forcing her to take part in the game and get her back before it's too late.

📝 A few intriguing details:

• This book is the epitome of the phrase 'nothing is as it seems'. Every plot twist one finds seems to unravel further and further, and every minute detail in the book, from an expression to a phrase, has a profound impact on the complex storyline.

• It's also incredibly immersive and makes one feel like they're part of the game. The vivid colours that Scarlett sees are so elaborately described, and the world-building done is immaculate in every aspect.

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow 🖋 Zoulfa Katouh

 "This is the price of a future with freedom, Khawf. It's a price Hamza pays every day. But I'm Syrian. This is my land, and just like the lemon trees that have been growing here for centuries, spilt blood won't stop us. I have my faith in God. He'll protect me. I've been force-fed oppression, but i will no longer swallow its bitter taste. No matter what."

 

🍋A year ago Syria set out on a quest to attain freedom. In response to the revolution, the dictatorship swore to tear their lives apart. Salama, who had just completed her first year in pharmacy school is now, at eighteen years old, a practicing doctor, closing more eyes than she ever thought she would. All she has left in the world is Layla, her best friend (and sister in law) who is 7 months pregnant and a promise she made her brother to keep her safe. To make matters worse her guilt and trauma manifests in a hallucination of a man named Khawf who arrives every night urging her to leave her country. As Salama tries to find a way to leave however she meets Kenan, a boy who would risk his life for his country, who amidst the chaos gives her a hope of not just survival but also happiness. But as tension rises and the pain and suffering in her grows, Salama must make a choice between Syria and fulfilling her promise before its too late.

📝A few intriguing details:

• I have never cried while reading a book with such vigour as i did with this one. The book goes beyond the physical aspects of war and the painful numbers. It shows the internal trauma that is slowly built and how deeply it can affect a person. How children are stripped of their innocence at such a young age, starved and killed mercilessly. How mere teenagers have to balance the world on their shoulders and say goodbye to their tender dreams while the rest of the world sleeps unaware of what is happening to them. The story is painful but shows the grim reality of the lives of those living with war. 

• The love story that sprouts in the midst of this revolution is so beautiful to read. In it lies a hope that even in the darkest times one can still see the colours, that a might life in your dreams still has an option to become a reality. 

• As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow is a book one must read at least once in your life. The novel is a great read for ages 14 and above.

The Night Diary 🖋 Veera Hiranandani

'I have seen things I never thought I'd see. There were men fighting. There was blood. I don't know if the train will stop and more fighting will happen and more people will be killed, including us. If anyone finds this, please send it to Kazi Syed in Mirpur Khas. Please remember us. Please remember the way it used to be when India was whole.'

 🇮🇳 The year is 1947. Distrust and conflict is brewing in the air as the India-Pakistan split becomes imminent. Young Nisha lives in Pakistan with her Hindu father, twin brother and grandmother. As disputes and anger rises among the people of the newly formed nations, they are faced with no choice but to leave for India before the situation aggravates. Along the long dangerous journey away from her dear home town, Nisha writes letters to her late mother, a Muslim, narrating her struggles and relaying her desperation as she questions humanity and what  independence truly means.

📝 A few intriguing details:

• The Night Diary is written in the form of a compilation of letters to her mother in which Nisha pours out her deepest thoughts and experiences onto the pages as one would a diary. I think reading this book knowing that despite never having even met her mother before, (her mother had passed soon after Nisha and her brother Amil was born) Nisha carried her memory on and valued her spiritual presence by writing to her and sharing the troubles they'd have had to go through had she been there is in a way quite special.
•  This book provides a great deal of insight to the reader on the civil war that took place in the year of 1947 and is a brilliant read for age 11 and above.

Alebrijes 🖋 Donna Barba Higuera

 '"But when you see even the smallest bit of green, know that someone who has left the world before is sending us a bit of the Old-World back, reminding us we are still loved."' 

🐝 Leandro and his sister, Gabi are pickpockets trying their best to get by in the post apocalypse world they live in; the land is barren, water is scarce and big sprouting trees and flowing rivers are but things of stories and fairytales that grow harder and harder to believe every day. Their people, the Cascabels, are treated like slaves in the city of Pocatel that they live in which gives Leandro and Gabi no choice but to find a way to escape. But Leandro gets caught in the process and is  sent to the Centre of Banishment where he is presented with two choices : be trapped in a vault where his mind would be imprisoned or live within a drone of a hummingbird - an alebrije - in which he could travel outside Pocatel and be reunited with his body when he returns. He chooses the latter option which opens up an array of different challenges as he takes off into the air to find the other alebrijes before him who never returned, save the Cascabels from the thinning that is awaiting them and return home safely to his sister before its too late.

📝 A few intriguing details:

• This story takes place in the San Joaquin Valley in California around 400 years into the future. Interestingly enough, the Old-World tech they speak of like the drones (which are mechanical replicas of animals and creatures) are still quite 'new' to our current world.
• The Cascabels or los cascabels in the book are essentially snake people with the word cascabel meaning rattlesnake. The tale incorporates important aspects of Mexican culture and quite a bit of spanish, the language the cascabels speak. The songs they sing and their dance all give the story a rather unique feel.

The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne 🖋 Jonathan Stroud

 "The secret of being a successful outlaw was to move fast and stay light on your feet. No ties, no allegiance. Rob one town, head for the next; fling yourself into the wastes between. Never look back."

🗡️ Scarlett McCain was a young mercenary by all means; she travelled across anarchic Britain, robbing one bank after the next, killing off anyone and anything who gets in her way. And everything was going quite splendiferous for her; she'd just stolen a hefty sum and had evaded capture from the militiamen so dead set on taking her down...that is until she came across a boy named Albert Browne, a boy with a great power, someone who the militia want much more than they do her. Now Albert and Scarlett must travel across the country infested with post-apocalyptic beasts of all shapes and sizes to a safe haven while their merciless adversaries strive to hunt them down.

📝 A few intriguing details;

• One major reason why re-reading this book is such a joy are the dumb jokes and inherently funny characters like Albert and Joe (an old man who takes our protagonists to their final destination) which perfectly balances the violence and darker themes we explore throughout the tale.
• Being one of the few books on my shelf filled with gun fights, crazy evolved animals, truly fascinating deep characters and chilling descriptions of dystopian Europe,
  'The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne' is without a doubt a brilliant read.

Legends & Lattes 🖋 Travis Baldree

 "An orc's life was strength and violence and a sudden, sharp end - but she'd be damned if she let hers finish that way.                                              It was time for something new."

☕️Viv, an orc, had lived a long 22 years of slaying monsters for a living when she finally decided to follow her true dream - starting a coffee shop. She puts her barbaric past behind her and travels to the city of Thune where she decides to open up her fine establishment. Here Viv must fight through obstacles big and small (the biggest being the fact that no one in Thune even knows what coffee is) and make her aspirations comes true regardless of the fact that her rivals want to drag her down.

📝A few intriguing details:

• I truly love this book for multiple reasons,` the main being the cool characters from the hardworking hob Cal to the huge fluffy cat that pops into their coffee shop from time to time. Reading this automatically sets you in a cosy atmosphere; one can practically hear the music and chatter in the background, smell the coffee and the cinnamon rolls in the air, feel the warmth of the atmosphere. What is more, the cozy vibes are perfectly balanced with the challenges, battles and fights that occur throughout the book creating an absolutely divine low-
• stakes narrative.

Other Words for Home 🖋Jasmine Warga

"'You should care about your country too', he says.

'I do', I say, but what I mean is that I care about my brother and my baba and my mama and I just want to live in a country where we can all have dinner again without shouting about our president or rebels and revolution."

🏠 Jude loved the coastal town in Syria that she lived in; the smell of jasmine and saltwater in the air, the long stretches of the beach and her father’s store where he sold candy bars, soft drinks and magazines to tourists. But as a revolution arose and danger stood right around the corner, Jude was forced to leave her war torn country with her pregnant mother, leaving her brother and father behind, to her uncles house in the United States. The hustle and bustle of Cincinnati, the whole new title of 'middle eastern' that she and the things that were just called 'normal' back at home were now given and the prejudices she now faces being one of the few muslim girls in her school frighten her, but this new life also brings her new possibilities, friends and a chance to show the world who she really is.

📝A few intriguing details:

📝One of my most favourite parts about this book is the relationship between Jude and her brother; how even as they stand on two different sides of the Atlantic they are able to love each other and understand that their different dreams and ideals do not change the love they share.

📝Another interesting thing about this book is that this story is told in free verse. This means that its written in a format like a free verse poem.

No Fixed Address 🖋 Susin Nielsen

“ ‘Don’t you worry. I will figure something out. I always do.’ ”

 🏠Felix Knutson and his mother Astrid were on their third house when they moved into their van and although it started off as just a home for the summer and Astrid said it was only temporary, Felix had this daunting feeling that it wasn't. And Felix wasn't to tell anyone about this lest he ends up with the MCFD*. But when his favourite trivia game show ‘Who, What, Where, When’ gets a junior edition with an epic cash price, Felix finally gets a chance to turn his life around. Though the effectiveness of this plan…you’ll have to read to find out.

📝 A few intriguing details:

 📝 I absolutely loved the character Winnie (one of Felix’s best friends) in this book. A shrewd and smart witted french student with an impeccable taste in fashion. She remains as one of my most cherished deuteragonist (secondary main character) of all time. 

 📝The book talks about the 'hidden homeless', those without a permanent home who instead take to living with family/friends, cars, shelters or motels. Having no home, bed or bathroom can take a drastic effect on peoples mental and physical health which has been portrayed in this story.

 📝 MCFD or Ministry of Child and Family Development has the main aim of safeguarding children from abuse and neglect. In the book, though Astrids actions were always of love to protect Felix, she was unable to care for him in ways like providing him a roof over his head that wasn't that of a cramped up van. She herself had episodes with the MCFD during her childhood whose result was being parted with her brother which lead her to believe that the Ministry wouldn't do them any good.

Tornado Brain 🖋 Cat Patrick

 ' "If we don't die, let’s be friends," Colette said. 

"Okay," I said.

We didn’t die, so we were friends.'

🌪Frankie is a *neurodivergent teen; she can't handle loud noises, gets easily distracted, has no filter and often gets people on edge. Her one friend, Colette would have have been there for her through it all if it weren't for the big dispute that they had. It had been seven and a half years since they first met and two long months since they fell apart that Colette went missing. And Frankie was the last person to see her. Now Frankie and her sister Tess must follow Colette's clues through a trip down memory lane to find her before it's too late.

📝 A few intriguing details:

I loved this book so much because it not only shows Frankie solving the mystery behind her friends disappearance but also solving the issues with her sister. It was like a heavy hearted assurance while reading the book that now whether they find Colette or not, Frankie wasn't going to be alone.

* A neurodivergent is a non-medical term for someone whose brain works or develops differently for some reason. This book sheds some light on what it means to be neurodivergent showing their struggles and how they cope with them.

The Great Trouble : A Mystery of London, the Blue Death and a Boy Called Eel 🖋 Deborah Hopkinson

 

"'I ain't let on I knows anything about you. But Fisheye Bill Tyler is onto you - and a nastier man never walked the streets of London. He might've been an honest fish monger once. Those days are gone. He's turned bad. Very bad indeed.'"

📖This book was the first historical fiction I had read and I found it to be truly sublime! It was interesting to me because it taught me how people first learnt about cholera and while telling a gripping tale about a young boy all alone in London trying to keep himself alive.

🔵Eel a mudlark from the mid 19th century London, had enough adversaries of his own, having to make a living out of selling debris found in the filthy Thames river,  keep a lookout for Fisheye Bill Tyler who was one of the vilest men in London, and keep a secret that costs him four shillings a week. But on one thick, foul-smelling morning in August, his whole life takes a big turn as a cholera outbreak comes to his street. Though everyone believes that the outbreak spread through air Dr John Snow thinks otherwise. It’s s up to Eel and his friend Florrie to help the doctor prove his theory before it’s s too late.

The Van Gogh Deception 🖋 Deron Hicks

 ‘It was a masterpiece. The alchemist had indeed turned led into gold.’

📖 'The Van Gogh Deception' is a fast paced art mystery filled with QR codes so that we can learn more about the different sculptures, paintings and such, that our protagonists find on the way. 

🖼A boy appeared in the National Gallery of Art not able to remember a thing about himself. Not his name, address, parents, nothing. All he knows is art. But on his search to find who he really is, Art (the name he gets given) and his newfound friend *Camille, finds out he is sought after by a group of furtive people. As the plot thickens the boy must use the few clues he has to his past to forestall a great art fraud.

📝A few intriguing details;

Above each chapter and subchapter the time, day and place that the event takes place in (i.e the setting) is mentioned like a diary entry or a letter.

*Camille has a mug with a painting by Claude Monet. Up until this moment I didn't think much of the name Camille but upon further research i learnt that Camille is the name of Monet's wife. The amount of happiness this piece of trivia gave me is immeasurable!

Room to Dream 🖋 Kelly Yang

 '"And so I will carry on, doing the same thing I’ve been doing since the first day I arrived at the Calvista Motel: treating each customer like they’re family"' 

📝Mia and her family are heading back to China for a three month long well deserved vacation. But Mia's mind is tormented by the plethora of changes happing in her life; Lupe is taking high school classes meaning Mia will have to deal with seventh grade alone; her friendship with Jason is on the verge of collapsing ; in China and back home in Anaheim, smaller businesses are being pushed out of the field and its a real question whether or not the Calvista (their motel) will survive. Can Mia overcome these road blocks and save her future as well as the motel?

📖 I didn't realise that Front Desk was a tetralogy(series of four books) until Room to Dream and the fourth book in the series Key Player one day popped up in my book recommendations. I was truly ecstatic to hear this and bought the two new books tout de suite. I enjoyed the book mainly because it shows how Mia deals with her dilemmas. It proves beyond doubt that there is no issue that can’t be fixed.

📚 If you’d like to explore the previous books in the Front Desk series, here are my reviews!

Front Desk

Three Keys

Three Keys 🖋 Kelly Yang

" You're stronger than you think, Mia Tang."

📖Mia's life has certainly changed since we last saw her. She owns her own motel now which makes all the difference. Enjoyment at the pool, enjoyment writing reports for shareholders, and moreover enjoyment with family and friends were as good as it gets(of course as long as you forget the fact that your teacher thinks your writing isn't even good enough for a B+). But now Governor Wilson and the new immigration law that he brings along with him are bound to make a change in the life of not only Mia but the whole of the US.

📙Can we take a moment to admire the dust cover and design of the book itself? This is easily the most beautiful hardcover book I have ever got my hands on so far! Even so it's just a close second to the writing. Kelly Yang does not sugarcoat every little thing like most books do. Certain facts about the elections would have been erased and replaced if it were in another piece of writing. But that just proves that 'Life isn’t fair'. What matters is if you survive the unjust which is exactly what Mia did. This book like its older sibling is an enlightening piece of art.

 

 📚Click on the link below to read about the breath taking prequel to this book!

Front Desk By Kelly Yang

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire🖋J.K. Rowling

 

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE"

🏆Going to the the Wizarding Word Cup was supposed to be an enjoyable celebration of Quidditch for Harry and the rest of the Weasley's ... but for the followers of Voldemort it was a celebration of their leader's reign. At Hogwarts a Triwizard Tournament was set where it would compete against two other wizarding schools. The competition consisting of three tasks was sure to test the three contestants of more than seventeen years of age from each school on their bravery, magical abilities and their ability to cope with danger to find the most valiant of them all, yet on the day in which the contestants were to be announced, Harry found himself among the other champions when he hadn’t even given in his name! Nevertheless Harry has to participate in each perilous task battling dragons and ghoulish mermaids, as it becomes apparent why whoever it was put his name in.

📖This book has a lot to offer since we get to know quite a lot more about the Wizarding Word since we get to understand more about Quidditch World Cups, balls, dragons, mermaids, pensieves and characters like Cedric Diggory, Ludo Bagman, Mad-Eye Moody, etc. I thoroughly enjoyed this book just as much as I enjoyed the ones that came before it but after this book it’s almost as though the whole mood of the series changes which I simply adored.

The Sinclair’s Mysteries : The Clockwork Sparrow🖋Katherine Woodfine

 'Sinclair's department store was so new that, as yet, it had not even opened its door to customers. But already it was the most famous store in London - and therefore, some said, the whole world.'

👒Sinclair's department store was not like your every day shop in London - it really was the most luxurious store you could find, filled with the best clothes, hats, sporting goods, a world-class restaurant and more. So when Sophie Taylor, a fourteen year old, found herself a job there, she was, of course, more than enthralled. But soon after the priceless Clockwork Sparrow has been stolen from the store, she finds herself in a great dilemma. Sophie and her newfangled friends are on the path to solving this mystery but the question is whether they can crack the case and live to tell the tale.

📖This book is such a riveting find! It is a mystery novel series, similar to the 'Enola Holmes' series but in my opinion much more interesting. Both the series' are similar in certain ways as they both take place in the great cosmopolitan city, London. Both these series’ discuss about the East End and they also take place in a similar timeline. Yet still, I find that they certainly have their differences and I still find that the Sinclair’s Mysteries series is my go-to when it comes to old-timey mysteries. If you enjoy being immersed in classics then you may enjoy reading the Enola Holmes series as well.

The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl 🖋Stacy McAnulty

 "As it turn out, I'm more that just numbers."

⚡️Lucy Callahan who has been homeschooled for years is forced to go to the demented place called middle school for a year and she has got it worse there than anyone, owing to the fact that 4 years  ago, she got struck by lightning, which has made her a super genius in maths 🧮. But it also left her with the weird repetitive habit of sitting and standing on her chair several times and the fact that she can’t live without Clorox wipes and sanitiser. Notwithstanding she was able to hide her genius and made friends there and all seemed to go well...until Lucy meets a loving shelter dog named Pi while doing a group project. He loves her as much as she loves him, from his name to his innocent actions, but without a home ( Lucy cannot take him up because of her Nana and where she lives pets are not allowed) he will be executed. And now with a friend who has told her friends about Lucy's math intellect, the path to overcome middle school is harder than ever.

📖For a person who loves math, I loved this book in its stunning 🤩entirety. Though - as always - I found that the way middle school is described is just tragic. Since offline classes have started in my area, I can finally see the 3d versions of my friends and the classes ( even though they are only for a few short hours) are ended by me not being able to breath or having a sore throat from all the laughs of the day! Its either me having terrible aim with a ball🏀, someone straight up forgetting how old they are, or someone losing their head over math! But of course since more than half the books and movies I see show people dreading middle school, I am forced to believe that this beautiful rapport between children happens only with the schools I have gone to. This book has been a rollercoaster 🎢 travelling at 240 kilometers per hour and I hope that you enjoy this book as much as I do!

Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women🖋Elena Favilli & Francesca Cavallo

💼Do you want to become a formula one racer, weightlifter, trombonist, explorer, tattoo artist, mountaineer, motocross racer, drummer, ballerina, spy, pirate, scientist, rapper, activist, writer, swimmer, orchestra conductor, or whatever else... you will find yourself here. 

This magical book is filled with stories about inspiring women who changed the world and how they accomplished their goals. Each page contains the tale of a remarkable lady along with a portrait of them, each drawn in a different style. This book is a great read for children and adults alike.

📘I don't actually use this book as a bedtime story but it's so much fun to read! In this very book, I learned more about the lives of people that I had already known about like Michelle Obama, Lakshmi Bai, Frida Kahlo, Virginia Woolf, etc., and found out how much I adore spies!  

📚If you enjoy this book, check out -'Good Night Stories for rebel girls -Book 2', 'Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls 100 Immigrant Women Who Changed the World' and you can also find ' I Am a Rebel Girl: A Journal to Start Revolutions.

🛒If you would like to read this book, you can buy it on Amazon using the link given here Good Night Stories Rebel Girls 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban🖋J.K. Rowling

'"I don't go looking for trouble," said Harry, nettled." Trouble usually finds me."'

 📖Harry's summer once again can be classified as 'out of the ordinary'.

He had blown up his Aunt, left his so-called home, boarded a magical and violently purple triple-decker bus, met the Minister of Magic, and got to stay at the wonderful Diagon Alley. But now there is a mass murderer waiting to kill Harry and at the  Hogwarts castle, he is told by his Divination teacher that he has a death omen called the Grim and dementors are everywhere and Harry is reminded of melancholic memories from the past that he does not wish to recall.

💭📘I am trying very assiduously not to give you guys too many spoilers...but I can tell you firsthand that it is very hard not to! This book like the others has many questions from the very beginning - like how in the world Hermione can attend 3 classes all scheduled for the same time?! - which leaves you reading (and extremely excited!) until the very end, which makes me have to control myself super hard from telling you what exactly is going to happen! 

And if you are new to the Harry Potter series, check out the reviews of the past 2 books here!

📚Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 🖋J.K. Rowling

'-you would have done well in Slytherin.'

📖 Harry's summer couldn't have gone worse - a horrible birthday and now a house-elf with bat-like ears and eyes the size of tennis balls🎾 , had come with ill-tidings. Soon at Hogwarts 🏰 however Harry starts to hear voices from within the walls...people start getting attacked, turning to stone...and everyone thinks that Harry who is a Parseltongue 🐍, is the cause.

📚A multitude of people have loved this book/movie the most out of the complete series and I understand why. This book, which is the second one, gives you a considerable apprehension on what is yet to come in Harry's life. This book is 100% splendiferous!

At the end of the book there is an afterward about the life of Joanne Rowling (that is J.K. Rowling). I found it really engrossing to see into what she studied, what she did during her childhood and how Harry Potter came into being!

See the review of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone 🖋 J.K. Rowling

“Harry—yer a wizard.”

📖Harry, an eleven-year-old boy is struck by surprise when mysterious letters start to arrive for him. Not soon after he is bound to learn about his hidden past, about his parents, Voldemort, his scar, and all about his new home: Hogwarts. 

💭This book literally changed my life. For one, I am a diehard fan of the series and it got my class interacting about it till the very last day of 6th grade. Thanks to my grandfather for buying the series for my Bday! After reading the series I watched all the HP movies (and 'Magic Beyond Words' J.K. Rowling's biography). I suggest that if you feel like reading for at least 5 or 6 months is too much, watching the movies can give you more or less the same feel.( I have always thought that the movies of any book is horrid but the Harry Potter movies was way different than anything else I've watched.) 

 

If you want to read or want to buy this book for someone, 11 years old is perfect as our hero Harry is the same in the first book and it will get them writing to Hogwarts. Though it is a bit frightening with a lot of deaths and crazy situations the golden trio ( Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger) get into, you will get over it in a flash.

🧙🏻 A new magical world awaits with mirrors that show your deepest desires, Quidditch, three headed dogs and friends that can't be compared. Get Ready for the Adventure of a Lifetime.

FYI there are 7 books in the series:

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Their reviews will be coming soon.