Loved this series!!! It was long but well worth it!

Fanon's book has been called the definitive work on decolonization. He had the unique experience of growing up in Martinique, serving in France during WW2, then joining Algeria in its struggle for independence. Fanon writes with great power on the psychology and the politics surrounding decolonization.

What a wonderful book! I really enjoyed the main character and listening to the audio version of this book. I also thought that the premise was new and creative for a book-as well as much needed- so many books seem to miss the hard topics that students really need to discuss-like Black Lives Matter and racism.

Book number two in the Aloha Reef Series. This one is about Annie Tagama who is a volcanologist. She recently had an injury and is trying to work her way back to where she was before the accident. She and Mano Oana, who we met in the previous book are trying to help her brother whom they thought was dead. The mystery of why he returned and who is threating the family.

This was great. Jo is a Chinese-American girl living in the South. Her and her adoptive father, Old Gin, face rampant discrimination, especially considering the fact that they are treated as "in-between" - they are not colored, but they are not white, either. They are treated poorly, while also facing the realization that many segregation rules do not seem to specifically apply to them. When Jo is fired from her job, she takes up her previously position as lady's maid for a girl she grew up being mistreated by. At the same time, the newspaper shop they live under is at risk of going out of business if they don't come up with some great new idea to get a whole lot of subscribers. Enter Jo, who under the anonymous name of Miss Sweetie decides to start writing an advice column that challenges many of the racist and sexist ideas her society is filled with. Of course, this brings with it a whole host of problems - Jo's writing is a crime in and of itself, and she will be chased out of town if anyone finds out that she is Miss Sweetie. She also has to balance staying hidden underneath the printshop, bite her tongue when it comes to the cruel things her mistress says, and ignore the fact that Old Gin seems to be doing something sneaky that she worries may have to do with marrying her off to a stranger. And, of course, she's still curious about where she came from - who were her parents, and why did they abandon her with Old Gin to begin with? Jo is a great role model for young girls to look up to - she is spunky and has her own thoughts and opinions that she is not afraid to share with others. She is a big risk taker, and an absolute delight to read about.

I LOVED this book. The sisters spent 8 1/2 months thru hiking the Appalachian from Maine to Georgia. It tells of the high and low points of the journey, the amazing friendships they made and the really kind, interesting people they met. It reminded me of all the COVID hiking I've been doing and inspired me to think about hiking at least a part of the AT.

I chose this book because it was free on Amazon Prime Reading. It was pretty good. Jane has lost pretty much everything, her friend Otis offers her a job tutoring his boss's daughter at a beautiful cottage with a fantastic view. Evan Rochester has been accused of murdering his wife. Will Jane be able to feel comfortable with him and his daughter? Jane hears things at night! Is it the Ghost of Evan's wife? It was an interesting read, not my typical type of read but good nonetheless.

This book had active action and suspense. It is a good idea, and a good book for certain people.

Behold the Dreamers gives a realistic picture of African immigrants struggling to make a life in New York City, and it feels timely even though it takes place in 2008. The best part of the book for me was getting to see things through the eyes of Jendi and Neni Jonga, with their dreams and expectations of life in America running up against a broken immigration system, cultural naivete and their own bad decision-making. I'm giving it 3.5 stars (rounded down here to 3) because some parts of the story fell flat for me, especially those involving the wealthy white family whose lives become intertwined with those of the Jongas after they hire Jendi as their chauffeur.

Slow to start and difficult to keep the characters straight. Ending left a lot to be desired. The overall story was enjoyable. The side story about the best friend was not needed and I felt like it was just something to fill pages and was not at all relevant to the murmur plot.