If I Ever Get Out of Here Review

Book talk: There's a lot that Lewis loves about his life on the Tuscarora Indian reservation: the games of fire ball, his friends and family, and the ease and familiarity that comes from being with your own people. Life outside of the reservation isn't always easy. He's the only kid from the reservation in his advanced class at school, and the other kids never let him forget it. He's never had a friend in his class until George moves to the nearby military base with his family. They hit it off right away and connect over their love of music. But the base and the reservation are very different worlds. Lewis doesn't think George will understand and George can tell Lewis is keeping secrets. Maybe will a little help from his friends, Lewis will learn to let it be.

Rave: This book, set in 1975, has a lot of great musical references that fans of The Beatles and Wings will definitely appreciate. Most of the book feels like it could easily happen today though. Native Americans still face discrimination, vets still have difficulty getting the help they need, military families still move a lot, poverty is still widespread. All this means that even though the novel is set in the past, it has a lot to say about current events and issues.

The characters in this novel are well fleshed out. They are a mix of good traits and bad, they make mistakes while trying to do the right thing, and they help each other out when they're down. I grew to care for all of them and became completely absorbed in their lives even though there's not a fast-paced plot.

Every book its reader: Highly recommended for 8th grade and up looking for a realistic fiction story with strong characterization.

Topics & Trends: the Tuscarora Indians, the 70's, music, The Beatles, poverty, military families, bullying, friendship, #ownvoices, #weneeddiversebooks

Extras: 
This is the song that inspired the title:




Source: school library

If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth: buy it or check it out today!

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Review

Book talk: "The problem with my life was that it was someone else's idea" Ari never asked to be born into a family where everyone is bursting with words left unsaid. His father never left Vietnam behind and his brother is in jail, meaning that all the family pressure is on him to be the good kid. He never asked to be saddled with a name like Aristotle. But his life finally starts to make sense when he meets a boy named Dante. Dante is unabashedly himself--emotional, vulnerable, intelligent, beautiful. Aristotle never felt like he fit in before but he feels a sense of belonging when he's with Dante. Their friendship blooms until Aristotle's own secrets threaten the only happiness he has ever known.

Rave: This book was written by a poet, and that is immediately obvious because the prose is just gorgeous. The plot is fairly quiet, mostly dealing with the inner life of the narrator as he comes to terms with his various emotions, but I read it in a greedy gulp anyway. Not only are Dante and Aristotle painted in heart-breaking detail but the other characters such as their parents are portrayed with complexity and in a way that actually renders them helpful and meaningful players in their children's lives. Highly recommended!

Every book its reader: I'd give this to teens 7th grade and up looking for an emotional novel or a moving romance.

Topics and Trends: LGBTQ, romance, characters of color, poetry,

Bonus Quotes:

"The problem with my life was that it was someone else's idea"

"Yeah, I had all kinds of tragic reasons for feeling sorry for myself. Being 15 didn't help. Sometimes I thought that being 15 was the worst tragedy of all"

"We sat, drinking our tea and watching the rain fall on his front porch. The sky was almost black and then it started hailing. It was so beautiful and scary, I wondered about the science of storms and how sometimes it seemed that a storm wanted to break the world and how the world refused to break."

“Words were different when they lived inside of you.”

“To be careful with people and with words was a rare and beautiful thing.”

“But love was always something heavy for me. Something I had to carry.”

“Summer was here again. Summer, summer, summer. I loved and hated summers. Summers had a logic all their own and they always brought something out in me. Summer was supposed to be about freedom and youth and no school and possibilities and adventure and exploration. Summer was a book of hope. That's why I loved and hated summers. Because they made me want to believe.”


Source: school library

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz: buy it or check it out today!