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The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune “Hate is loud, but I think you'll learn it's because it's only a few people shouting, desperate to be heard. You might not ever be able to change their minds, but so long as your remember you're not alone, you will overcome.” Linus’s life is quite ordinary. He has the same routine day-in, day-out as a case worker at the Department of Charge of Magical Youth. He comes home to the same crotchety, nosy neighbor where he is greeted by his cantankerous cat. He spends his evenings listening to his old records, dancing alone in his living room. But, when Linus is called before Extremely Upper Management and given a highly classified assignment, his life takes a twist, a turn, a swoop into the House on the Cerulean Sea. Do you have a book that languishes on your TBR shelf forever? Of course, you do! We are readers and we suffer the plight of too-many-books-too-little-time. This is when I become grateful for the nudge from my reader-friends. When a favorite bookseller says, “You simply must read this NOW!” well, I take that to heart, and I add myself to the incredibly long queue at the library. (Hey, I love my bookseller. But I’m a librarian and my house is not big enough to house all the books I want to read – nor is my wallet deep enough!) Consider this my personal nudge to you: READ THIS BOOK NOW!
I fear that, seeing the word “magic” in its blurb, many will turn away and not grab this treasure. Yes, magical youth populate the pages. But this is not a book about magic or creatures. It is a book about bias, racism, love, hate, friendship, family, and finding oneself. The fact that a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, a green blob that defies categorization, a shape-shifter, and the Antichrist are the ones that bring these issues forward and help the reader navigate while Linus traverses a path to, dare we say, happiness? Well, those “creatures” have quite a lot to say and share. Listen carefully. Grow as a person. And carry those lessons into your life. Not only will you be, but those around you will also be, better for it.
There are not enough words to heap praise upon this book. My bookseller-friend was correct. The story was fantastic, deserved being bumped on my TBR, and was a story I desperately needed. This heart-warmer with these enchanting characters will continue to fill my heart, days and weeks after finishing their beautiful story. “Change often starts with the smallest of whispers. Like-minded people building it up to a roar.” Jennifer Mosel
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Rather than tell a linear story of the 26 Mexicans who walked across the Devil's Highway, Urrea offers a kaleidoscopic view of the whole machine: border patrol, Mexican gangsters, coyotes, Arizona, Texas, Vera Cruz, the Rio Grande, Sonora, and the eyeball-drying life-taking sweat-sucking scorching terrible, terrible, terrible, Devil's Highway itself: the most quiet, serene, and, yes, hostile place on the planet.
Urrea masterfully brings to life the lives of 26 men and boys who attempted to enter the United States by walking across the treacherous southern Arizona desert, called the Devil’s Highway, in May of 2001. He follows these men from their recruitment by Mexican gangsters, to the border area where three guides took over, and finally their horrific trek under the 115-degree sun in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. Fourteen of them died. At last, the remaining few were able to signal the Border Patrol (BP) as to their location. The BP were able to rescue the living and recover the dead with the help of five helicopters. All of them suffered from kidney damage.
Urrea’s extensive research casts light on the company practice of working with the gangsters to attract low-cost labor for their U.S. businesses, and the complicity of both the U.S. and Mexican governments in fostering illegal border crossings through confusing policies. It is a very effective presentation of how people are smuggled across the Arizona border from Mexico. It is also effective at showing how to die in the desert. You will feel empathy for the migrants. You will see the day-to-day life of the Border Patrol.
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Brilliantly narrated by the author. This novel in verse tells the story of Xiomara, a fifteen-year-old girl trying to navigate New York City, her poetry, religion, her parents, her twin brother, and her feelings toward men. As a curvaceous Afro-Latina, Xiomara is used to the catcalls and ugly things people say to her; but she channels that energy into her notebook. When a new teacher debuts a slam poetry club, she is compelled to it, but will anyone relate to her words, will she have the strength to speak them out loud when she can't even stand up to her mother? Heartbreaking, riveting, EMPOWERING; this audiobook was masterful. A brilliant coming of age story!! It’s about faith, family, love, forging yourself through obstacles, and pain and naysayers and finding your true voice.
It’s about coming out on top, because, ultimately, you matter. Your being matters.
This is a story about what it means to be a girl, a sister, a daughter, but most importantly, what it means to be your own individual person. Reuben Ramirez
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