3 books at the cabin Summer 2019

While at a cabin on the Shenandoah river, I read 3 books.  One was a YA, one a thriller, and the other non-fiction.

The YA book was one I had been looking forward to for some time.


Blended, by Sharon Draper.  I love Draper's books, and have many in my classroom library. This centers on Isabella, an 11 year old whose mom is white and dad is black. She deals with their divorce in this book geared to younger students.  The initial part didn't engage me as much as I had hoped, but she soon gets the plot going as the book gets closer to the middle. The parents are getting remarried on the same day which causes conflict, Izzy's piano recital is approaching, a friend finds a noose in her locker, and then there is a police involved shooting.  My guess is Draper is presenting some of the racist incidents we hear about (or witness), and police shootings of young black people, in a book for a younger audience.  I think this aspect she handles well. If you have a student who might not be ready for All American Boys or The Hate U Give, they could start with this title. Though it doesn't get too in-depth, it is a nice light introduction to this type of narrative. It might get a young student curious enough to read more intense (perhaps also realistic) takes on racism.

The next book is by Joy Fielding.  I read See Jane Run when it first came out, and was blown away. Since then I have tried to read all of her novels. Her latest is All the Wrong Places. It kept me reading,

as I wanted to see how it resolves, if the killer is caught, who figures it out, etc., etc.  While the plot and premise were great, the execution of some aspects weren't as well written as her previous novels.  I felt the dialog, character development, and resolution were all more typical of a younger, debut novelist than one with Fielding's skills. Having said that, as I mentioned I did keep reading, so the thriller aspect ran true.

The final book I read at the cabin, is the nonfiction one.

I read this because my son mentioned it was part of his summer reading for law school in the fall. I was intrigued by the cover. It deals with the Haitian refugee crisis in the early 90's; they were held in Guantanamo. While it is fascinating, it is also depressing. Many of the statements made then about refugees, are being made now. And, you will come across many familiar names, like William Barr. 
Not a light summer read by any means, rather a truly worthy read.