Hi everyone! I’ve been having an amazing four day weekend between going to an author event Saturday, which I’ll have a post up for(!), relaxing and doing some bullet journaling. Don’t let the title fool you, these ‘Mini Indulgences’ are nothing short of fantastic.
Mini Indulgences are my spin on mini reviews.
I wanted to spotlight these absolutely amazing books by five black Young Adult authors.
Full Disclosure
Author: Camryn Garrett
Published: October 29th, 2019 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
Pages: 290
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Format: Audiobooks
Source: eARC/Overdrive via Library
Rating: Five Amazing Stars
Goodreads Summary:
In a community that isn’t always understanding, an HIV-positive teen must navigate fear, disclosure, and radical self-acceptance when she falls in love–and lust–for the first time. Powerful and uplifting, Full Disclosure will speak to fans of Angie Thomas and Nicola Yoon.
Simone Garcia-Hampton is starting over at a new school, and this time things will be different. She’s making real friends, making a name for herself as student director of Rent, and making a play for Miles, the guy who makes her melt every time he walks into a room. The last thing she wants is for word to get out that she’s HIV-positive, because last time . . . well, last time things got ugly.
Keeping her viral load under control is easy, but keeping her diagnosis under wraps is not so simple. As Simone and Miles start going out for real–shy kisses escalating into much more–she feels an uneasiness that goes beyond butterflies. She knows she has to tell him that she’s positive, especially if sex is a possibility, but she’s terrified of how he’ll react! And then she finds an anonymous note in her locker: I know you have HIV. You have until Thanksgiving to stop hanging out with Miles. Or everyone else will know too.
Simone’s first instinct is to protect her secret at all costs, but as she gains a deeper understanding of the prejudice and fear in her community, she begins to wonder if the only way to rise above is to face the haters head-on…
Cover Thoughts: Holy crap, it’s the most gorgeous cover I’ve ever seen and it’s so simple! As far as the cover model goes, a black girl with an afro, I love seeing that. It’s giving me major Moonlight movie poster vibes which isn’t bad at all! The colors are gorgeous and I love the font and the model. It’s amazing.
First Line: As much as I’ve tried to convince him otherwise, my father still thinks he needs to accompany me to my first gynecologist appointment.
I don’t even know where to begin. Full Disclsoure has been on my TBR forever it feels like. When I finally picked it up, it didn’t disappoint me at ALL. I loved the entire thing even if that sounds unbelievable. It was just so good. Right from the start, we’re diving into just part of the (much needed) sexual discourse that this book takes on (fantastically, I might add). Simone is HIV-Positive and she’s accompanied by one of her dads to her gyno appointment. It’s there that we discover Simone’s been thinking a lot about sex and how it works for someone who has HIV.
Simone has had HIV for years and she’s okay. She takes medication, she visits the doctor, everything generally goes well. Now Simone is older though and there’s desires there. First of all, with HIV there is a time where if the viral load is undetectable, there’s only a small chance of transmitting it. She knows this. She’s done research. This doesn’t make it any easier for Simone to ‘come out’ with saying she has HIV to someone she likes.
HIV is still such a taboo topic in 2020 and it’s just so sad. There are so many stereotypes about people who have it, super outdated beliefs, etc. It was seriously astonishing to see what some people thought of HIV in Full Disclosure. It was awful to read but it’s so real. People are ignorant and I’m so glad Full Disclosure is here to play a part in dismantling that.
Rent is one of my favorite musicals, so I was absolutely thrilled at how Simone takes charge in directing it! She’s still kind of new to the school so she has to prove herself and some people don’t make it easy on her. The Rent aspect was amazing and I love when characters mirror fiction they’re going over in the book. Thankfully in 2020, things are better as far as life with HIV expectancy and medicine, it doesn’t generally progress to Aids too often anymore. It’s really amazing how a town that’s putting on a student musical version of Rent can be so clueless when it comes to how far we’ve come with HIV and AIDS. Of course, some of the same people against HIV were also against the musical but still.
There was a bit of a blackmail subplot here which I didn’t care for very much but it didn’t take anything away from the book. Only made me think how people are so clueless and ridiculous and so many other things. I can understand completely why Simone didn’t feel comfortable coming out to anyone with the news after the blackmail happens. Even with her two new friends she made since she transferred to the school. I loved them but even they had their issues and uninformed thoughts on HIV. It just shows how important Sex Ed is and even more importantly, how necessary well-informed Sex Ed classes are because there’s a huge difference. We need classes to teach different kinds of sex, different ways to protect yourself and yes, education on HIV and other STDs so people aren’t awful because they don’t know.
There are so many different sexual orientations in Full Disclosure. First of all, Simone is bisexual and she does have feelings about that in the book. Simone’s best friends are a lesbian and a bisexual. Her dads are gay and I absolutely loved them to bits. I loved how much they were fully part of the book. Full Disclosure has some of the best parents ever in YA and I adored Simone’s relationship with them. There’s friendship conflict because of course but there’s also happy endings there too.
Full Disclosure has racial discussion there too because as a black teen, that’s unavoidable and part of their daily life.
This what I loved most about Full Disclosure: There is so much sex talk here that I haven’t seen a lot in YA. That doesn’t mean it’s not there, it just means I haven’t seen it a ton. I recently read Cherry by Lindsay Rosin and there was also quite in there as well, though mostly white perspectives. There’s Simone and her friends getting birth control, buying vibrators, talking about sex, etc. It was refreshing to see it done so well here. It’s just talked about and it’s every day stuff and I loved it.
Overall, Camryn Garrett is an author to keep your eye on because she is now a forever pre-order author for me. For now and for forever. I loved Full Disclosure a ridiculous amount. It wasn’t my favorite book for no reason. Full Disclosure should be on your radar if it’s not already. It doesn’t get rave reviews for nothing. It is a super important and well-written book. I loved Simone as a whole, she is a musical enthusiast through and through, I loved her friendship group so much and the struggles they go through and her dads. It was all so perfect.
Jackpot
Author: Nic Stone
Published: October 15th, 2019 by Crown Books For Young Readers
Pages: 352
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Format: Audiobook
Source: Overdrive via Library
Rating: Five Stars
Goodreads Summary:
From the author of the New York Times bestseller Dear Martin–comes a pitch-perfect romance that examines class, privilege, and how a stroke of good luck can change an entire life.
Meet Rico: high school senior and afternoon-shift cashier at the Gas ‘n’ Go, who after school and work races home to take care of her younger brother. Every. Single. Day. When Rico sells a jackpot-winning lotto ticket, she thinks maybe her luck will finally change, but only if she–with some assistance from her popular and wildly rich classmate Zan–can find the ticket holder who hasn’t claimed the prize. But what happens when have and have-nots collide? Will this investigative duo unite…or divide?
Nic Stone, the New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin and Odd One Out, creates two unforgettable characters in one hard-hitting story about class, money–both too little and too much–and how you make your own luck in the world.
Cover Thoughts: This cover is kind of giving me Grease feelings and I have no idea why other than the leather jacket and the red? Whatever. I love it. That tag line?
First Line: Mo NO Money, Mo Problems
Oh, the irony of counting out change for a fifty dollar bill while “Mo Money, Mo Problems” plays in the background.
It’s a crime to say I love Stone and yet haven’t read Odd One Out, it’s on the list though, I promised. I loved Dear Martin when I read it, so I knew when Stone was coming out with a book regarding the lottery, I needed it. There have been a few books regarding teens winning the lottery, most, if not all being white teens. I knew I needed to read Jackpot because of the perspective that is generally missing from “lottery books”.
I adored Jackpot so freaking much, I cannot even explain how much. Jackpot touched on so many important things. Financial struggles, difference in economic classes, and racial privilege.
I loved a lot about it, first of all, I liked the chapter titles were a lot. A couple of them were called “Swing for the Fences” and “Brazen Bitch(es). A unique aspect in Jackpot was how we would get “A word from” various objects like Christmas lists and taxi. It’s not easy to pull something like that off, but Stone did it!
I related to Rico a ton, it’s so rough when you’re dealing with financial issues to the extreme she did. I’ve gone through it as well and it can be so disheartening. Couple that with Rico’s babysitting and her job and she’s dealing with a lot of issues. Rico also doesn’t really have friends, she doesn’t have time for them and she doesn’t fit in with her well-off mostly white classmates. Tensions are rough at home between Rico and her mom. Rico has a lot of responsibility on her shoulders for someone that is seventeen. She doesn’t have college plans, she can’t afford it and she needs to help pay bills at home. It’s just what is.
It feels almost ironic for someone dealing with being in the lower-socioeconomic bracket to sell a jackpot lottery winning ticket. Of course, Rico isn’t sure who she sold the ticket to and the clock for the claim window is closing. This leads to Rico and Zan trying to track down the winner and it lead to a lot of interesting conversations. Zan’s parents are pretty wealthy and therefore, Zan can’t understand Rico’s struggles. While Zan is wealthy, he’s white and latinx but has privilege as well. Zan doesn’t face financial pressure but he does have his own issues like his parents expectations of him. I wasn’t always sold on the Rico and Zan romance. There was one instance with something happened and I didn’t like that at all, so. The ending seemed a little too good but I think it’s good to show that as well.
Overall, Jackpot is a book to read. Rico is a main character that I absolutely loved reading about. I loved the close relationship Rico had with her brother. It was sweet how much she looked out for him. The talks on social classes was done so naturally. I could feel Rico’s struggle and the difficult relationship she had with her mother. The romance was pretty okay but I loved the quest to find the lottery winner.
Let Me Hear A Rhyme
Author: Tiffany D. Jackson
Published: May 21st, 2019 by Katherine Tegen
Pages: 384
Genre: Young Adult, Historical
Format: Audiobook
Source: Overdrive via library
Rating: Five Stars
Goodreads Summary:
In this standalone novel, Tiffany D. Jackson tells the story of three Brooklyn teens who plot to turn their murdered friend into a major rap star by pretending he is still alive.
Biggie Smalls was right. Things done changed. But that doesn’t mean that Quadir and Jarrell are okay letting their best friend Steph’s tracks lie forgotten in his bedroom after he’s killed—not when his beats could turn any Bed-Stuy corner into a celebration, not after years of having each other’s backs.
Enlisting the help of Steph’s younger sister, Jasmine, Quadir and Jarrell come up with a plan to promote Steph’s music under a new rap name: The Architect. Soon, everyone in Brooklyn is dancing to Steph’s voice. But then his mixtape catches the attention of a hotheaded music rep and—with just hours on the clock—the trio must race to prove Steph’s talent from beyond the grave.
Now, as the pressure—and danger—of keeping their secret grows, Quadir, Jarrell, and Jasmine are forced to confront the truth about what happened to Steph. Only each has something to hide. And with everything riding on Steph’s fame, together they need to decide what they stand for before they lose everything they’ve worked so hard to hold on to—including each other.
Cover Thoughts: I really love the colors used in the background of this. It is so bright and so eye-catching. The title stands out very well. I love the three main characters on the cover.
First Line: You’ve probably seen this scene before: Ladies in black church dresses, old men in gray suits, and hood kids in white tees with some blurry picture printed on the front and the spray-painted letters RIP.
Jackson has never disappointed me since I first read Allegedly and Monday’s Not Coming as eARCs. She takes a step back in a couple ways, first the setting and also the type of plot. The aforementioned titles were Contemporary Thriller-ish based on real events. Now let me say that while Let Me Hear A Rhyme has a different setting and different type plot, there are still relevant social issues that are facing teens and primarily black teens regarding finding their voices and losing people to violence. It’s still very real.
Let Me Hear A Rhyme is a historical Young Adult novel inspired by Hip-Hop. It’s also set in the 1997 and 1998. It seems so unbelievable because come on, 1997 could not have been that long ago to be considered ‘historical’, right?
Okay, I was six then. Whatever.
It’s still a ridiculous thought though!
I think it would be so easy for authors to write Young Adult books that kind of center on their high school experience while isolating actual teens of today. Let Me Hear A Rhyme doesn’t have that issue at all. I think it’s really unique because of where it’s set actually. 1997 centering black teens during a big time in Hip Hop and just after Biggie and TuPac’s deaths? Yeah, it’s amazing! The plot can definitely resonate with teens too as teens are creating their own music and putting it online or seeing their friends die through violence. It’s awful.
Let Me Hear A Rhyme tells the point of view between three teens, Quadir, Jarrell and Jasmine. I felt like we really got into their heads well and I understood their emotions well even if I couldn’t imagine this scenario. I imagine that there’s something to be said about dealing with a friend’s death through trying to make them immortal with their music. Let Me Hear A Rhyme is a heartbreaking book because you can just feel the hurt each of the characters feel because of Steph’s death. Jackson continuously has this way of making readers feel hurt in the best way possible. I wanted to hug each of them.
Of course, when you try to make your dead best friend a rapper, you’re bound to run into problems. Nothing is as easy as it seems and there are quite a few Incidents that happen. It’s not all darkness though, there’s a little romance budding between Quadir and Jasmine that I liked.
Overall, Let Me Hear a Rhyme is a somewhat departure from Stone’s previous works but no less amazing and provoking. It’s a story that makes you hurt but it also gives a perspective that isn’t often seen when it comes to poverty.
The Revolution of Birdie Randolph
Author: Brandy Colbert
Published: Little, Brown Books For Young Readers
Pages: 336
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Format: Audiobook
Source: Overdrive via library
Rating: Four Stars
Goodreads Summary:
Perfect for fans of Nina LaCour and Nicola Yoon comes a novel about first love and family secrets from Stonewall Book Award winner Brandy Colbert.
Dove “Birdie” Randolph works hard to be the perfect daughter and follow the path her parents have laid out for her: She quit playing her beloved soccer, she keeps her nose buried in textbooks, and she’s on track to finish high school at the top of her class. But then Birdie falls hard for Booker, a sweet boy with a troubled past…whom she knows her parents will never approve of.
When her estranged aunt Carlene returns to Chicago and moves into the family’s apartment above their hair salon, Birdie notices the tension building at home. Carlene is sweet, friendly, and open-minded–she’s also spent decades in and out of treatment facilities for addiction. As Birdie becomes closer to both Booker and Carlene, she yearns to spread her wings. But when long-buried secrets rise to the surface, everything she’s known to be true is turned upside down.
Cover Thoughts: The first thing that draws my eye is the jean jacket, I really like how it seeks the “Revolution” of Birdie Randolph. I love the font that is used here.
First Line: A strange woman is smoking on my front stoop.
The Revolution of Birdie Randolph had me by a title, who doesn’t like a revolution? I loved seeing family tension and oh my gosh, did this book ever have it. It’s kind of amazing to discover something about a family member that you never thought was possible. Birdie has this revelation when Carlene returns to town. Not only does she return, but she also needs a place to stay.
Birdie’s dad isn’t Carlene’s biggest fan given serious things that have happened in the past. While it frustrated me a bit, I understood why as the book went on. Carlene is a recovering addict and there’s a bit of uneasiness about that. I loved this part of the Revolution of Birdie Randolph because it’s not seen enough.
I could feel the tension in this household building. With an apartment, spaces can so be tight, throw the messiness of Carlene’s past and you’ve got one difficult home to live with. Especially when Carlene gives Birdie advice and pushes her to go beyond her parents’ expectations. Birdie wants to as well but things are complicated. Carlene and Booker break out a little bit with that.
Besides dealing with her aunt being back in her life, Birdie has a sort of relationship going on with Booker. At least, she wants a relationship. Dating is a no-go. Unless her parents know the guy, this makes Birdie hesitant to introduce Booker to her parents given his troubling past. Things are getting deeper with these two though and it causes complications with secrets.
I could really understand Birdie’s parents feelings throughout the book. She’s on the right track, set to finish high school. She’s taking the SATs as a Sophomore. Then her aunt comes back and it messes with the family dynamic. Carlene is Birdie’s opposite in all regards and when Birdie starts changing slowly, it messes with her parents.
The family dynamics seriously make this book. I loved Birdie’s sister, Mimi that we saw a bit. It was so interesting to see these two sisters be pretty close compared to Birdie’s mom and Carlene. Mimi, like, Birdie has somewhat settled into fulfilling her mom’s wishes. Let me say that’s it’s so hard to do what your parents want you to when you don’t necessarily want those things for yourself.
Like Full Disclosure, there’s a claiming sexuality subplot here and it was nice to see that in this book. It was good to see adults encouraging protection while having it and wanting teens to be sure they’re making the right decision. I loved the various sexual orientations here too, Mimi was a lesbian and Laz dates a guy named Greg.
There’s also a lot of racial discourse here too of course. One encounter is when Booker and Laz get handcuffed and it made my heart race with it happening.
Overall, The Revolution of Birdie Randolph happens in small ways, Birdie isn’t a character to go out and being drinking, smoking and getting tattoos but a revolution happens nonetheless. This is a quiet book that will have you thinking. I loved Aunt Carlene and her relationship with Birdie. This book will have your mind reeling at the end.
On The Come Up
Author: Angie Thomas
Published: February 5th, 2019
Pages: 447
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased via Audible
Rating: Five Stars
Goodreads Summary:
Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.
On the Come Up is Angie Thomas’s homage to hip-hop, the art that sparked her passion for storytelling and continues to inspire her to this day. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; of the struggle to become who you are and not who everyone expects you to be; and of the desperate realities of poor and working-class black families.
Cover Thoughts: The font on the cover really stands out. I love how simple this cover is.
First Line: I might have to kill somebody tonight.
I don’t know how anyone couldn’t pick up this book after reading the first line. It is magnificent and enticing. On The Come Up was (one of?) the first books I listened to last year after I purchased it.
One thing you learn about Angie Thomas after reading On The Come Up is that she’s the author to read. The Hate U Give shook the YA world I feel and was really hard to top. I think she did it here quite well! Like Let Me Hear A Rhyme, On The Come Up deals with rappers and let me just say, I want more hip-hop based books to come out! It was seriously such a good year with these two titles.
On The Come Up is a companion novel to The Hate U Give where we return to Garden Heights but the main characters of both books do not interact. We don’t see Starr in this book but there are references from Bri about her. Something I love about Bri is that she’s not a person to speak out so boldly. It shows us that we’re not all going to be the type of person to speak up loudly about certain things. We’re not all going to be Starr. Does that make us wrong or bad? No, not at all. At least, I don’t think so. Does it mean we should still try to stand up for those dealing with things we don’t deal with or listen to them when they talk about things we don’t deal with? Definitely.
One of the things that really spoke to me is Bri’s mom being a recovering addict. Addiction is such a struggle and I love seeing more YA books deal with recovering addicts, like On The Come Up and The Revolution of Birdie Randolph. They add a lot to the narrative that while family members are sober, it does cause caution.
I loved seeing Bri know what she want and going from it. She wants to be the best, get out of her father’s shadow and get herself a better life. From the very first sentence we know she’s full of passion for what she does: Rapping. She’s dedicated and she’s so good. She’s underestimated as well because she’s a sixteen year old black girl, but she blows it all away. My favorite part of Bri’s rapping besides her totally beating everyone is how she constantly had lyrics in her head. This was me in high school with poetry and I love seeing it in books. Of course, I’d never actually read anything of mine out loud, let alone in front of people as a rap battle. That’s just a recipe for destruction in regards to me.
There’s a big message with how you use your words and anger here too. After an incident with a racist school security guard, one of her raps goes viral, it causes a sort of bigger reaction than planned. Let it be known that Bri was within her rights to make that rap and within her full right to be angry at that jerk but it’s so hard to know what to do with that anger. It reminded me of an incident in The Hate U Give actually.
In The Hate U Give, we were introduced to the Garden Disciples but didn’t really have a direct picture of them. This changes in On The Come Up as Bri’s Aunt Pooh is a Garden Disciple. This causes complicated feelings for Bri as she is very close to Aunt Pooh but in her mind, she doesn’t understand how her aunt can sell drugs that her mom was basically on. It made me think a lot about what puts people into that position and it’s not always so clear cut, as we also see in Let Me Hear A Rhyme.
Also, there is the cutest subplot ever with Sonny, one of Bri’s best friends. I loved it so much. It was great.
Overall, On The Come Up was an amazing follow up to The Hate U Give. I had no doubts about that at all. I loved seeing Bri go after what she wanted. I can’t end this review without also mentioning Bri’s aunt Pu who I loved.
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