REVIEW ● #samirasworstbestsummer
👉 Culture Identity
👉 Home, Community, World
👉 Bullying, New Friendships, Self-confidence
5 🌟
Samira's Summer is not what she expected. Her best friend is bullying her and Samira wants to sulk and hide all Summer in her room but there is always something to be done.
Her parents and older sister leave for India to attend a wedding and Samira stays home with her grandmother and younger brother.
Samira gets distracted with the making of a video for a competition. She must record what My Home, My Community, and My World mean to her. It's not an easy task.
I love that the author solves Samira's troubles by subtly giving us the three stages of the videos. We are already embarking on a journey of her culture, home, community, and world with Samira's daily life.
We learn more about her family, (autism spectrum representation), her neighbors, and how her best friend turned into a terrible person.
But Samira makes new friends too.
The novel balances well humor, and the author's style relies on subtlety. Because we are experiencing this through Samira's eyes (a middle child) we get her voice and it's awesome.
The bullying scenes will infuriate us (especially the one in the supermarket) and also make us keep reading to see how and when Samira realizes that there are other things she should be focused on and respect, instead of letting someone else hurt her and make her ashamed of her culture.
Great and valuable lesson: staying in and hiding doesn't solve anything. We should try more things and make more mistakes to enjoy life. The prejudice is relatable to other cultures not only Samira's.
Amazing cover.
Thank you publisher for the copy.
Release Day: July 30th #thecreepeningofdogwoodhouse
My Review (no spoilers)
5 stars 🌟
Very cool. This is my favorite book from the author. It is such a well-balanced story of parent loss, courage, and suspense horror.
"Gotta keep pushing through the dark, baby. Keep going no matter what."
These are the last words his mom tells him before the accident. Then Roddie moves into his mom's childhood creepy mansion with his aunt and her new husband to restore the house that is beyond ruined and creepy. With hoodoo roots, this family will suffer at the hands of an evil entity, but the memories of the house will do what is possible to help Roddie through. Set in South Carolina. A good-mannered child who is very kind and conscious of other people's suffering, loss of parents, and grief. Lots of art, architecture, and house restoration facts as well. We always learn about many things from this author's books. Awesome ending.
Some of my favorite quotes:
"Be proud of your efforts, even if no one else is."
"It was considered the right thing to do at the time. But times change."
"Even if you have to give bad news, there's no reason to be mean about it."
👉 Three friends
👉 Uplifting & sweet
👉 Friendship & Community
5 ⭐️
Three middle schoolers get separated after a big fight but then Covid happens and the school goes online. Plus, their lives change so much that they move with their families facing issues like taking care of relatives, divorce of parents and parents taking up a new job in a small town.
The three friends seem to be reluctant to accept their new lives or move on having unfinished business. Then suddenly, with a pinch of magic realism, they start to find fortune tellers everywhere with messages that have exactly what they need to hear.
This book is not just about saving friendships but goes all the way up to community. They get together to save their school from closing for good. They are not the only ones who loved the school and the teachers, recognizing its magic in their lives and they hope more children will experience it. Their love for kindness, and caring for others and the community. I loved that they offered friendship instead of resentment. Also, they know when to apologize leaving pride aside for what it's relevant.
A very sweet, cozy, friendship story that will also please adult readers.
Thank you publisher for the copy.
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