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The Bookish Fairy

Young adult, magical realism, and every book in between infused with fairy dust...

Back to School Diverse Reads

October 1, 2019

Back to school season is ultimately upon us whether we are ready for it or not! Even though this teacher could have used another month off I still can’t help but get excited for the fresh beginnings of a brand new school year! There is also nothing better than delving into some good back to school diverse reads to really get me into the school mode. 

Here are five essential back to school reads with diverse characters and own voices authors to add to your back to school supply list!

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Emoni Santiago plays by the rules but the one place where she breaks them is when she is in the kitchen. She creates the kind of food that has magical and healing properties that revives everyone around her. Emoni has been dealing with some tough choices throughout her life when she got pregnant as a freshman and has to take care of her Abuela. When her high school offers an elective to study abroad in Spain for a culinary arts program she knows it’s an opportunity she can’t pass up. Despite the lack of money and time, Emoni knows that her passion for food is one that she simply cannot ignore.

This is an inspiring back to school read for those that have a dream that seems impossible. Not to mention, reading about the food will definitely give you a hankering for some good back to school snacks.

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

Tanner Scott’s family moved from California to Utah which is known to be a devout Mormon community. Unfortunately, this has pushed him back into the closet. The bisexual teen expects to coast his way into his last semester of high school when he ultimately falls for the Mormon prodigy Sebastian who mentors the class he is enrolled in. Now Tanner must figure out whether he wants to coast through his senior year or risk outing himself to have a chance with his new crush.

Autoboyography seems to be an adorable rom-com back to school read that I definitely want to delve into. This is the first young adult romance by Christina Lauren and I know they will deliver the kind of fluffy romance that will leave us smiling from ear to ear. I have a feeling this is the kind of book that will make us nostalgic for first love and those obligatory butterflies. 

Analee, in Real Life by Janelle Milanes

Analee Echeverria is the kind of girl who is trying to figure out who she is after losing her mother to cancer three years ago. She plays two different identities. In school, she is a shy and awkward teenager. At home, she is the online avatar elf hunter of her favorite online game named Kiri who takes no prisoners. She would much prefer to get lost in her online world and avoid the world of high school until she gets an offer from the most popular jock in school. This offer makes Analee realize that she has an inner fierceness that is slowly waiting to come out.

Analee in Real Life was the first YA book I read with the main character who is Cuban and it made my heart so happy as a Cuban American woman. This fake dating trope has the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before feels only with a clever twist.  The thing I loved about Analee, in Real Life is that it illustrates the reality of what high school is really like without sugarcoating it. Milanes perfectly depicts the journey that Analee goes through in high school and slowly finds the Kiri that is inside her all along. 

The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed

The Nowhere Girls brings together three different girls from vastly different backgrounds to vindicate the rape of a classmate. Grace Salter is the new girl whose family had to escape their community due to their mother turning from a Baptist preacher to a radical liberal. Rosina Suarez is a queer girl from a Mexican family with a pension for punk music. Erin Delillo lives for marine biology and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Together these girls create the secret group The Nowhere Girls and they combat the sexist attitudes running throughout their school and bring justice to the rape of their classmate. 

Amy Reed’s book is giving me the Foxfire girl power vibes from the nineties and this is the exact kind of book we need in our #MeToo culture. The Nowhere Girls is the perfect book that tackles serious issues that high school students face in their day to day realities. 

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Vivian Carter is tired of the sexist culture that pervades through the school and she begins to take action when she hears four little words. “Make me a sandwich.” Vivian is officially fed up and she decides to create a feminist zine and names it Moxie. Vivian’s mom used to be in the riot girl crowd and this influenced her to create the Riot Girl movement in her school. Vivian brings together all kinds of girls from all different backgrounds to come together to take a stand against the prevalent sexism in their school. She meets girls like Lucy Hernandez who is the quintessential Moxie girl and she encourages Vivian to push the boundaries of Moxie. Vivian gets all the girls together to spark the Moxie movement and they learn to find their own inner Moxie girl! 

This book will teach women and girls everywhere to do what makes them happy and let go of the stereotypes and unrealistic expectations that are put upon them. Moxie is the kind of book that should be required reading in schools because it truly explores the different facets of feminism and how we view it in our society today. Not to mention, it will also inspire us to let our badass riot grrrl self out and live our best Moxie lives! 

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Filed Under: YA Book Lists Tagged: Amy Reed, analee, Autoboyography, Back to School Diverse Reads, Christina Lauren, Diverse Back to School Reads, elizabeth acevedo, in real life, Janelle Milanes, Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie, The Nowhere Girls, With the Fire on High

Interview with Latinx Contemporary Author: Janelle Milanes

September 7, 2019

Analee, in Real Life by Janelle Milanes
Featured in Frolic Media
1) What was your inspiration behind Analee, in Real Life and Victoria in my Head?

The Victoria in my Head was something that I had been thinking about for a long time. I would take the subway to work (usually about an hour and a half each way) and zone out during the commute by listening to music. Somehow, this idea began to take form. I imagined a girl coming alive on stage in a way that no one who knew her would expect. I think high school me was living vicariously through this idea because I would have loved to sing in a band. Like Victoria, I was incredibly shy (ultimately, I sang in the chorus which is decidedly less cool but was still a fantastic outlet.) I started thinking about what it would look like for an introverted girl with stage fright to completely let everything go and live out her rock star fantasies.

Analee began as a writing exercise for a class I was taking. We had to write from the perspective of a high school stereotype, and I wrote as a wallflower. Years prior, I had also gone through an intense but short-lived World of Warcraft phase. The thought of trying on a whole other persona online was so intriguing to me. I thought it would be an interesting outlet for someone like Analee who felt so stifled in reality and could only live her truth in a virtual world.

2) Which character do you relate the most to Analee or Victoria?

Both characters have pieces of me in them. Victoria is a lot like my teenage self–sheltered, imaginative, yearning for something more than the mundane day-to-day routine. Her parents are very similar to my own as well. Analee possesses a heightened version of my insecurities. She is my anxiety times one thousand and has gone through much more in life than I have.

3) I really loved and related to the part of Victoria’s love of making very specific playlists. Do you find yourself making your own playlists in your writing process and what kind of music do you gravitate to when your writing?

Music is something that really inspires my writing. I do find myself coming up with story ideas after listening to certain songs. When I’m actually hunkering down to write, though, I have to be careful that what I listen to won’t distract me from the writing process! I will make playlists of songs that I can imagine fitting certain scenes in my story. The music tends to be all over the place but there is a fair amount of indie pop/rock in there. While I’m writing, I like the music to be very mellow.

4) Victoria was caught in a love triangle of sorts in The Victoria in my Head. If you had to pick Strand the carefree bad boy or Levi the nerdy hipster who would you pick?

Strand! Strand, Strand, Strand. I’m a sucker for a “bad boy” with a heart of gold when it comes to fiction.

5) How have your experiences of growing up as a Cuban-American influenced your characters Analee and Victoria?

It’s so hard to view objectively how my Cuban-American heritage has influenced my writing, because it’s all I’ve ever known. I’m not even sure I’m conscious of how it seeps into my characters. It’s in the way they speak, think, in their relationships with family and friends. It’s something that’s very difficult to define because it’s so much a part of me!

6) What diverse Latinx authors do you recommend us to read for the year of 2019?

Don’t Date Rosa Santos is an adorable read by Nina Moreno, about a Cuban-American girl who dreams of visiting Cuba but is cursed by the sea. Lilliam Rivera has a new book out as well that I’m excited to check out. It’s called Dealing in Dreams, and it’s a futuristic, dystopian Latinx novel.

7) One of my favorite things about Analee, in Real Life and Victoria in my Head, is that you describe characters that are not your caricature Cuban characters. They identify with their culture but they don’t fit in with their Cuban-American heritage and the stereotypical behaviors they are expected to have. Have you ever identified with these feelings of not fitting in growing up in a Cuban-American family?

I think there is a wealth of diversity within the Cuban-American culture. There is no universal experience, and I try to reflect that in my characters. For me, when growing up and even now, I struggle with feeling as though I’m not “Latina” enough. I have to remind myself that there is no right or wrong way to be a Cuban-American. I am a proud Latina who speaks terrible Spanish, who has never been to the island from which my family originates, and who married an Irish-Italian guy from New York. I am who I am. My family still gives me flack about certain things, especially my Spanish, but they accept me regardless. It’s still a process of learning to accept myself and letting go of the feeling that I have something to prove.

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Filed Under: YA News Tagged: analee, Cuban Rep, in real life, Janelle Milanes, Latinx Character, Latinx Rep, The Victoria in my Head

***Magical Three Monday Reads Tag***

December 17, 2018

Monday’s are usually less than magical for me but I decided to start this post to add a bit of magic to my Monday and your Monday’s as well! There are so many books out there that have added so much comfort in my life and I think comfort is what we all need on difficult Mondays!

Here are my top three magical reads to lift those dreaded Monday blues!

1…Analee, in Real Life

Enjoying a Cuban pastelito while reading Analee, in Real Life!

I have already added this book to a previous Three Magical Reads post but I added it before I finished reading it and now that I finished I can officially put this book into my magical reads category! As a Cuban-American woman, I have never been represented in a YA contemporary before and this book has a main character named Analee who is Cuban-American! This book really filled me with so much nostalgia of how it was like to grow up as a very awkward teenager in a Cuban-American family. This book gave me the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before feels when it came to the romance. Although one of the things that I really loved most about the book is seeing the growth of Analee and how she learns to love herself and feel more comfortable in her own skin.

 

2…Girl, Wash Your Face

Honestly, I probably have this book in almost every book list! When I need a pick me up this book is my go-to when I feel discouraged and insecure. Rachel Hollis is like the girlfriend you always wanted that reminds you that you are not alone in the struggle and pushes you to keep going no matter what! If you’re looking for a new Oprah in your life Rachel Hollis will be the answer to your prayers!

 

3…The Thorn Necklace

If you have read my posts for a while now you will know that Francesca Lia Block is my favorite author of all time. She wrote a book that is a writing guide and memoir all packed into one! This is the year that I have been working on my novel and I have been using the outline guides for this book on a daily basis! This author has always been an inspiration for me and her writing memoir has been everything to my life! Read my gushing and fangirly review of this book here.

Feel free if you would like to participate in this book tag! 

I would love to read your comments and chat about your three magical reads on a Monday! We need to work together to get rid of those Monday blues and books are the perfect antidote against Mondays!

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Filed Under: Catfairy Tags Tagged: analee, beat the monday blues with books, in real life, magical-three-monday-reads, self help, the thorn necklace, ya reads

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