zinelib's reviews
349 reviews
Mathematics for Ladies: Poems on Women in Science, by Pippa Goldschmidt, Jessy Randall, Kristin Divona
And on the next page, Rachel Bodley (1831-1888) beseeches
Manhattan Project eschewer Lise Meitner (1878-1968) recalls how the same men who thought the lab was unsafe for her because she might set her hair on fire now
Lots of brutality from librarian Randall, and I'm here for it!
Disclaimer: The author, Jessy Randall, is a friendquaintance, though we've never met in person
dark
funny
informative
medium-paced
5.0
About 80 women scientists, in chronological order from birth year, are documented through mostly first person poems by Randall, a special collections librarian, who, it is revealed, had a childhood obsession with Elizabeth Blackwell, MD (1821-1910). Kristin Divona provides illustrations of the women of color. Note that a few of the "women" lived in the world as men.
The poems are funny, serious, contemplative, revealing, and challenging. In the one about Rebecca Lee Crumpler, (1831-1895), the first Black woman to earn a medical degree, and the first Black woman to publish a medical text, Randall
The poems are funny, serious, contemplative, revealing, and challenging. In the one about Rebecca Lee Crumpler, (1831-1895), the first Black woman to earn a medical degree, and the first Black woman to publish a medical text, Randall
grapples with the notion of firstness, the celebration of it alongside frustration and disgust at the barriers and obstacles for everyone before and after those who are "first."
And on the next page, Rachel Bodley (1831-1888) beseeches
Stop requiring women
to be charming and delightful!
Just let us do our work.
Manhattan Project eschewer Lise Meitner (1878-1968) recalls how the same men who thought the lab was unsafe for her because she might set her hair on fire now
...created enough fire
to burn 200,000 bodies down to nothing.
Lots of brutality from librarian Randall, and I'm here for it!
Disclaimer: The author, Jessy Randall, is a friendquaintance, though we've never met in person
House of Sticks, by Ly Tran
She writes this as her vision continues to deteriorate, impacting her ability to complete her schoolwork. Whenever she brings up her eyesight, her father responds with violence, and her mother tells her to keep it to herself--to avoid the violence.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
In her coming-of-age memoir, Vietnamese-American (of Chinese descent) Ly Tran shares her story of childhood poverty, and mental and physical challenges that were viewed as weaknesses to overcome. Tran's telling, despite the lonely and grueling experiences it reveals, is full of empathy. Too bad she doesn't have much for herself
I must have been an awful person in my past life to be born into this one, I thought.
She writes this as her vision continues to deteriorate, impacting her ability to complete her schoolwork. Whenever she brings up her eyesight, her father responds with violence, and her mother tells her to keep it to herself--to avoid the violence.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse
The Disturbed Girl's Dictionary, by NoNieqa Ramos
Protagonist Macy Cashmere MYOFB (how she writes her last name in her dictionary entries) is legitimately disturbed. Her mom is a selfish pothead with a series of "guests," her dad is in prison, and her brother has been claimed by child protective services. She's got two friends, George who also performs disturbedness, and the other, Alma, who is an achiever, taking care of half a dozen siblings and slamming the AP track in high school.
I haven't read as raw and street poetic a book as this in a long while. It might be my favorite YA of the year, even edging out The Hate U Give.
Macy grabs me right away, with this dedication:
She is living a life where parents don't care for her, and the system has let her down, but she is still say "I'm worthwhile. I'm looking out for me."
She may not be thriving in school, but she's clearly a critical thinker.
When confronted about her edits, she responds
Soon after, she throws her desk. I moved mine into the closet when I was in school. I like Macy's method better.
Chapters are entries in Macy's dictionary. The entry for Apple begins with a definition
Writing during lunch she goes on
I just think that's so funny and real, but it's worrisome that Macy is always hungry and eats crumbs from the couch, and when her mom does bring home food it's junk like McDonald's and Doritos.
Macy is often painfully profound, like how she ends the chapter call Am with "Alma knows who I be. It's more than who I am." Or this head scratcher, "I can't even imagine tomorrow. Tomorrow is for people like Alma. I'm still somewhere between today and yesterday."
The entry for Disturbed is introduced like this
And ends
That's real to me. It's how I felt for much of my depressed childhood as I hid myself in reading and inventing my own worlds.
I bookmarked another dozen passages, but I'll leave them for you to discover. You will love NoNieqa Ramos's writing. Her bio says she "spent her childhood on the Bronx, where she started her own publishing company and sold books for twenty-five cents until the nuns shut her down." I'm glad the nuns lost their grip on her!
Protagonist Macy Cashmere MYOFB (how she writes her last name in her dictionary entries) is legitimately disturbed. Her mom is a selfish pothead with a series of "guests," her dad is in prison, and her brother has been claimed by child protective services. She's got two friends, George who also performs disturbedness, and the other, Alma, who is an achiever, taking care of half a dozen siblings and slamming the AP track in high school.
I haven't read as raw and street poetic a book as this in a long while. It might be my favorite YA of the year, even edging out The Hate U Give.
Macy grabs me right away, with this dedication:
She is living a life where parents don't care for her, and the system has let her down, but she is still say "I'm worthwhile. I'm looking out for me."
She may not be thriving in school, but she's clearly a critical thinker.
I reach into my desk. Take out History of the American People Volume 1 and clean house. Cross out all the pages about shit that's got nothing to do with me. What's left? Not much.
When confronted about her edits, she responds
"Vandalism? I'm not vandalizing any more than you. I'm just deciding which words count and which ones don't. Which words mean something and which don't. That's exactly what you do."
Soon after, she throws her desk. I moved mine into the closet when I was in school. I like Macy's method better.
Chapters are entries in Macy's dictionary. The entry for Apple begins with a definition
Noun. A apple a day keeps the doctor away. So does not having no insurance to pay him with.
Writing during lunch she goes on
If Adam offered Eve the apples from my cafeteria, she'd a been like yeah, no, thems nasty.
I just think that's so funny and real, but it's worrisome that Macy is always hungry and eats crumbs from the couch, and when her mom does bring home food it's junk like McDonald's and Doritos.
Macy is often painfully profound, like how she ends the chapter call Am with "Alma knows who I be. It's more than who I am." Or this head scratcher, "I can't even imagine tomorrow. Tomorrow is for people like Alma. I'm still somewhere between today and yesterday."
The entry for Disturbed is introduced like this
Adjective. Someone. Me.
And ends
Fuck you for sitting there. Fuck anyone for sitting anywhere. Fuck you for reading this. Don't you have better things to do?
That's real to me. It's how I felt for much of my depressed childhood as I hid myself in reading and inventing my own worlds.
I bookmarked another dozen passages, but I'll leave them for you to discover. You will love NoNieqa Ramos's writing. Her bio says she "spent her childhood on the Bronx, where she started her own publishing company and sold books for twenty-five cents until the nuns shut her down." I'm glad the nuns lost their grip on her!
Rebel Girls, by Elizabeth Keenan
3.0
This is riot grrrl YA, which sets the bar high for certain demographics, mine among them. The plot centers on two Catholic school-attending sisters, one is a tall, gorgeous pro-life freshman who has been accused of having an abortion, and the other is a pro-choice sophomore feminist. Before this situation arose, the two hadn't been very close, despite having a friendship with the boy next door in common.
It's predictable, but that's not so terrible. The Catholic schoolness is pretty horrible, and unbelievable to this East Coaster, but from what I hear, the way the girls are treated in the 1990s is possible. There are boys and if I remember right a gay best friend, and definitely people of color. The ingredients are there, the story just didn't slam the right chords for me.
It's predictable, but that's not so terrible. The Catholic schoolness is pretty horrible, and unbelievable to this East Coaster, but from what I hear, the way the girls are treated in the 1990s is possible. There are boys and if I remember right a gay best friend, and definitely people of color. The ingredients are there, the story just didn't slam the right chords for me.
This Is My America, by Kim Johnson
4.0
This is a probable/improbable tale of how the deck is stacked against Black Americans. Probable in that the America Tracy Beaumont lives in locked up her dad and is coming for her brother. Improbable in her relentless tenacity in fighting for their lives.
Despite the content being completely in line with my interests, I didn't love This Is My America as much as I expected to. Maybe Tracy was too perfect, as were her fellow saviors. Maybe I wasn't all that into the love triangle or the white person who finally saw the light. Idk. You read it and let me know what you think!
Despite the content being completely in line with my interests, I didn't love This Is My America as much as I expected to. Maybe Tracy was too perfect, as were her fellow saviors. Maybe I wasn't all that into the love triangle or the white person who finally saw the light. Idk. You read it and let me know what you think!
Burn Bright, by Patricia Briggs
3.0
I read this right after Mercy Thompson #11, thinking I needed more of that world, but it turned out I found it repetitive. Normally I really like the Alpha & Omega series, but this one felt tedious. Same trope, different book. I guess that's the point with series novels, but I wanted a little more. Still, I think my reaction may have been more about consecutive Patricia Briggs novels than whether or not Anna and Charles were dull. Or maybe they were.