The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Set in the midst of the Vietnam war, The Wednesday Wars covers a range of heavy topics all through the lens of a 7th grade boy, humorous Holling Hoodhood. It's brilliant. No sex, no drugs. Just a great kid and a teacher he will never ever forget. Laugh out loud funny. Schmidt is very VERY clever and one of my favorite Young Adult authors. He incorporates several plots of Shakespeare's plays into the main character's everyday life. There were so many great scenes and thoughts in this book. I seriously would be rolling on the floor laughing one minute and then clutching a tissue blubbering the next. It was all so moving. So many scenes of forgiveness, understanding and kindness.

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The Girl Who Wrote in Silk by Kelli Estes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This story tells of Seattle's 1880's Chinese Exclusion Act, something of which I, along with most Americans, was unaware until now. The story begins with some action right off the bat as we meet Mei Lien, one of the two young, brave women separated by a century but woven together by a single, intricate piece of embroidery. The stories of these two women is interspersed throughout the book but is never overwhelming. I predicted the ending a bit too early in the book but found myself reading "just another chapter" to see how it got there....and I was treated with some interesting twists along the way.... however I felt the mystery and connected events were all tied all up too neatly in the end. I can say that this book has interesting, likable characters, accurate (and startling) historical facts, a bit of adventure, a bit of romance without being smutty (THANK YOU!!!) and a mystery. The story does go between the past and the present, but it is skillfully handled and very easy to follow.

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Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Daily Show has taken on some added credibility as I read Trevor Noah's absolutely remarkable story. He tells it with much humor. It is personal, absorbing, and intimate with discussions of the realities of race and apartheid, then and now. For the society Trevor was born into, he was privileged, and this book is a paean to that privilege: his mother. I like this man, and I like his mother even more.

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