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Set in Melbourne, Australia, I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang features Sadie Wen and Julius Gong, two teens who are on a trajectory to future success. Having researched the highest-paying job and the most in-demand degrees, Julius plans to be a lawyer and Sadie a data analyst. Both young people attend Woodvale Academy, a selective high school for gifted students and populated predominantly by other young Asians. At Woodvale, “dreams, [like astronaut, playwright, and artist] are shattered and hobbies are traded for more stable, lucrative, practical careers” (130). Sadie has perfect grades and is the MVP in every sports team she isRead More →

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Here’ the dirt on Dirt by Denise Gosliner Orenstein: Eleven-year-old Yonder attends Robert Frost Middle School in Vermont, where her classmates are “just dumb losers with mean mouths full of empty words” (5). After her mother dies, Yonder screams and yells for her mother to come back but realizes that words don’t work, so she stops speaking since “silence seems safer.” Yonder’s father masks his grief and fills the empty void with alcohol: “My father drank and drank and drank and didn’t really know how to be a regular father at all” (48). Despite his sobbing and his littering the floor with beer bottles, YonderRead More →

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Lexi is a sixteen year old girl with a…yes, you guessed it, great personality! Yet, it doesn’t stop there. Lexi is determined to prove to her family and friends that she is more than a great personality. She is an average teenager who is trying to conquer independence, high school, and family drama. Lexi is known as the “girl with the great personality” in her high school. She doesn’t go out on dates, wear makeup, or dress particularly fashionable. Why waste time participating in the beauty pageant known as high school? When her friend Benny dares her to wear makeup and dress up at school,Read More →