embot77's reviews
114 reviews

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

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adventurous dark lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

As a young adult starting the book after watching the movie, I forgot the target audience was children. I was reading the text, wondering why all the descriptions were so simple, without thinking that maybe this was made for some elementary school kid. Aside from my expectations, the story did well depicting the other world and the creation of the beldam's helpers.
I didn't expect the rats to have blood in them though considering that everyone else seems to be made of some sort of wet clay. There also seems to be a theme in some of Gaiman's stories where something supernatural happens to the kids and parents, but one or both don't remember it ever happening.


I'm not sure if I would read it again, but I'm glad I had the chance to read it in the first place.
You Are Here: Connecting Flights by Ellen Oh

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adventurous hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

While written for middle-grade students, this is an important read for all ages when figuring out racism. Each story set up a unique character with a southeast or eastern Asian background in a situation where they figured out how they felt and how they confronted racist comments and actions. Given the large variety of approaches and responses, this book could offer readers insight on how they may want to approach racism on their own turf.

As an individual who is both white and commonly mistaken for Asian, I felt both sides of the spectrum, especially in Chapter 7 (Natalie and Beth's story). In fact, after reading this story, I apologized to a friend of mine for being inconsiderate and racist during a verbal attack from some white guys in a car last month. It's nice to be reminded that no matter how blurry a line is, the line still exists, and it's okay to talk about how you feel about what's going on around you.
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The varied jumps back and forth in the timeline and juxtaposition of two or more stories in each chapter offer a complex and challenging narrative for readers. For most of the book, I was under the impression that this was a memoir given the first-person vulnerability. While, as a reader, I would probably not reread the book for fun, I would go through the passages again as a poet, interested in reflecting on the introspective passages and rhetorical questions.
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Power Metal: The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future by Vince Beiser

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challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

With extensive, relevant, and accurate research incorporated within each paragraph, this book is a must read for anyone concerned about the push for more electric vehicles and what that demand means for our environment. Aside from mentioning some sources from interviews in the text, the "Notes" and "Bibliography" at the end of the book provide the reader with additional, high quality texts that they may explore as a supplement to their personal education.

I've become more knowledgeable about the dangers of mining, how recycling isn't the perfect solutions, and how our government needs to add more legislation that reduces the need for products that require large quantities of rare and critical metals. With the lack of opportunities and incentives to motivate the public, the idea of using older models of products until they die can be very unappealing. However, recycling the products takes enormous amounts of energy, and the parts that can't be recycled are turned into toxic fumes or sludge that pollute the land, water, and air, as well as harm the creatures who live nearby. For cars, the largest demanders of rare and critical metals currently, the transition into a more eco-friendly form of transportation starts with redesigning the road ways to protect and promote bicyclists and pedestrians' travel. The next step would not be to remove cars altogether, but create a transportation structure that focuses more on public transportation, biking, and walking.
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The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

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challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Although the syntax and grammatical structure is archaic, the wisdom is timeless. I hope to better understand it's teachings after a few more reads.
Rip Van Winkle by Sandra Saunders

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

While these renditions of Rip Van Winkle and Legend of Sleepy Hollow follow the general outline of the original versions of their respective stories, several aspects of Legend of Sleepy Hollow were missing such as Ichabod's more undesirable traits, the scene where Katrina's explicitly toys with Ichabod, how Ichabod isn't as desired as he thinks, and the orientation of the horseman in respect to Ichabod. This book may be appropriate for late elementary and middle grades, but I would recommend giving high schoolers and up the original version of these stories.
Experience: A Mortality Play of Today by George V. Hobart

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informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

As a play aimed for young adults, "Experience" personifies abstract ideas like emotions to caution young readers to choose what they value carefully. Following "Youth," the protagonist, the reader witnesses the dangers of ignoring experience and pursuing purely pleasure. As a woman in her 20s, I found the play a little corny but accurate nonetheless. If anything, it's a fun and short read (aside from a few offensive terms on page 57 and 74).

I was confused as to why Expierence lied to Youth and said Ambition was dead. I know it was a lie because Hope, at the end, said he was asleep. Additionally, I wasnt too sure why Ambition was suddenly okay with Love tagging along in the end when he was so adverse to her in the beginning.
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Stay True by Hua Hsu

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informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

Most of the emotional turmoil is found a little over half-way through the book. In the first half, I learned of how he became the person the protagonist was later and how he didn't know who he was then or later. I wasn't emotionally moved by this story, but I was empathetic towards the protagonist. Reading the innerworkings of their grief, reflecting on their interpretations of the world around them, trying to make sense of how to move forward with them—I could feel the challenge of it all. To think that someone finally understands, or at least accepts, you for who you are and that someone is taken away, it's disheartening. Your relation to who you are, how people see you, and how you see people becomes distorted by the emotional impact of what you now carry with you. As someone who's never experienced grief to this extent, I'm glad I got to read this book. It provides some insight into what I could expect if or when the time comes.
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Flying Lessons & Other Stories by Ellen Oh

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inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Acknowledging that this book is intended for middle grade, and that I am an adult, there were some stories that made me wonder if I was getting close to the end despite each of these stories acting as exposition or pitches for longer stories. The lack of resolution and development in some of the middle stories severed my suspension of disbelief as an adult.

However, I believe this book of diverse stories and characters would be a nice appetizer for reluctant or new readers given the ease of the diction (minus the slang). For instance, if a teacher asked their students to read this book and asked them to list which stories they liked, didn't like, and why in a paper, the teacher could recommend books each student may like (possibly a few of those suggestions could be in the school's library).
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

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challenging funny inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The wit and personality of each letter lures you to the next challenge, the next missing letter. This book was a fun puzzle to piece out as a writer and a reader. I hope to keep it on my shelf for inspiration and reference down the road.
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