This was a slow month for reading books apparently! One book was non-fiction and while it was really good, it was a hard read so I kept having to get through a chapter and then take a break. The other book was just such a let down, I had a hard time getting through it. Usually, if I don’t like I book, I stop reading it, but this was one of my favorite authors so I kept waiting for the twist that would pull me back in. It never happened.

Dry by Neal Shusterman

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

So disappointed in this book. I feel like a lot of the problems could have been fixed by changing the storytelling mode. Shusterman has always been a fan of switching between character POVs, but the choice to make everything first person caused a lot of this story to drag on as we flip flopped between characters and had to see each situation from their side and how they were reacting. It took far too long for everything to really get moving.

SLAM!: The Next Jam by Pamela Ribon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Still have the same problem I had with the previous book – sometimes I have a hard time telling the characters apart. But after the first “issue” of the trade, I had a handle on who was who and I really enjoyed this sequel! Roller Derby lends itself so much to the graphic novel format and it really captures the chaos of the practices and bouts. I really hope this isn’t the last we see of the Pushy Riots!

Unpunished Murder: Massacre at Colfax and the Quest for Justice by Lawrence Goldstone

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow, heavy read and right around election season…I can’t decide if this book made me more or less depressed about the state of our nation. Sometimes I would read and think “and we rose above this to become who we are today!” and other times I would read and think “dammit, NOTHING has changed!”

Important part of American history that I had never heard about, a horrible incident that became the foundation for how the South got away with “Jim Crow” laws. They didn’t just pop up without any help, the federal government – the Supreme Court decisions – created a world where they were allowed.

Even though it is written for a YA audience, I’m sure most of us adults are not familiar with this incident anymore and the way Reconstruction was taught to us probably distorted the facts that you will find in this story. I’m glad this book exists. I just hope people, teens and adults, will read it and understand why these issues of race and racism are so ingrained in our country.