Tag: coming of age

The Experiment by Rebecca Stead (Middle Grade Fiction)

Nathan has known from an early age that he and his parents are from another planet and that they are part of a secret experiment whose parameters are unclear. But things are starting to go wrong — some of the other alien families are disappearing, his family is being called back to the mothership, and his parents are looking pretty worried. What happens next is one twist after another in this absolutely satisfying middle grade science fiction story.

I love Rebecca Stead. She has that rare ability to write about topics with depth and make them equally accessible and appealing to both children and adults. Her books are all well-written (Newberry Award winner), weird in the best possible way, and never even close to trite or formulaic. The blurb likens it to A Wrinkle in Time and — as a long time and HUGE Wrinkle fan — I can lend my expert agreement! It’s a coming-of-age book about a young boy who is put into a very difficult situation and manages to be a hero because he can’t bear to not do the right thing regardless of the possible cost. There are no insipid moral messages (I’m sorry but “being kind” will not solve most real problems!), but there is plenty of (young boy) reflection, confusion, and eventual understanding to help grow a child into the adult they want to be. This is the kind of book that will both entertain and educate a young audience. And it was fun for this (much older) audience, too.

Thank you to Feiwel & Friends and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on September 16th, 2025.

The Judgement of Yoyo Gold by Isaac Blum (YA)

A surprisingly engaging coming-of-age story about Yoyo Gold — a young Orthodox Jewish girl who has always been a model for the community. She kind of has to be as she is the daughter of the rabbi and held to higher standards than most. As she explores and experiments with her place in the world — the one she has been raised to inhabit and other enticing options — she gets closer to understanding what is actually important to her.

I’ve always respected the questioning aspect of the Jewish religion, but I’ve never cared for the more conservative sects of any religion. Those are the groups where so much of daily life is proscribed that it feels too controlling — at least to me as a complete outsider. However, in this book I was able to see both sides of the religion — the questioning and the proscription — through the eyes of someone growing up in that culture. I was better able to see how the required conformity gave rise to a true sense of a close knit community that can be a strong attractor to a person contemplating the life they want to live. People seemed to have purpose and be apparently more free to experience the joys of life without the anxieties and neuroses that seem to plague so many people today.

I learned a lot about the orthodox culture — much of which was new to me, even though I’ve read about that world in the past. The characters were vibrant and had more depth of thought, responsibility, and inquisitiveness than most coming-of-age books I’ve read. I enjoyed seeing the interfaces between her community and people outside — reform Jews and non-Jews alike — through her eyes. Her thoughts, feelings, and experiences were quite real and her reactions easy to understand and to identify with. I also learned quite a bit about the practices of Orthodox Jews which were new and interesting to me — much more depth than the typical story covers.

Thank you to Philomel Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on October 15th, 2024.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Alcevedo (Young adult)

Spectacular book — possibly one of the best I’ve read this last year. Made me really “get” some concepts that I knew only peripherally.

This is a coming-of-age story about Xiomara — an Afro-Latina teenager with an intensely religious immigrant mother and a father who is absent even in his presence. She is “unhideable” with “too much body for such a young girl.” And she is a secret poet who puts her thoughts about family, religion, boys, and the place for girls into her poetry.

The story is a novel-in-verse — told in poetry with an overall narrative arc. I was hesitant because I don’t typically enjoy poetry but this was utterly engrossing. The author was able to consistently distill complex thoughts, feelings, and narrative into a concise set of stanzas of great profundity. Told from Xiomara’s point of view, we see depth in the characters — her mami, papi, twin brother, best friend, potential boyfriend, priest, and the teacher who convinced her to join Poetry Club — through their relationship with her. Incredibly engaging and incredibly well-executed. No stereotypes in this book — Xiomara is anything but — she is always “working to be the warrior she wanted to be.” I was surprised to find that I really liked the character of the priest who was culturally bilingual (able to deal simultaneously with Mami’s deeply religious life and Xiomara’s search for her own way) and thus was able to help Xiomara and her mother come to terms with their different priorities and goals.

I’ve put some of my favorite quotes below — additionally, I absolutely loved the whole of the “Church Mass” poem on page 58-59.

“The world is almost peaceful
when you stop trying
to understand it.”

“But everyone else just wants me to do:
Mami wants me to be her proper young lady.
Papi wants me to be ignorable and silent.
Twin and Caridad want me to be good so I don’t attract attention.
God just wants me to behave so I can earn being alive.”

“How your lips are staples that pierce me quick and hard.”

This I Know by Eldonna Edwards (Literary Fiction)

Writing: 5 Plot: 5 Characters: 5

I absolutely loved this book — just as I loved her latest book, Clover Blue. The author has such a luminous voice, and Grace — the 11-year old center of the story — completely captured my heart from the first page. There is something compelling about a young voice trying to make sense of the world. I think it must be the start from innocence — it feels fresher and unsullied.

Grace is born with a gift she calls “The Knowing.” She sometimes knows when something is going to happen, she can sense illness and sometimes heal, and she can always talk to her twin brother Isaac — who she remembers from the womb but who never made it into the world alive. Her father is a preacher who worries that Grace’s talents are the work of the devil, while Grace (and Isaac) believe it is a gift from God. And therein lies the context of this delicate and unique coming-of-age story set in rural Michigan in the 60s.

Gorgeous, exquisite, writing; perfect pacing; an array of characters that pull at your heartstrings; and a beautiful, beautiful, ending.

Some great quotes:
“My teachers call me a day-dreamer, but I’m not dreaming. The me who goes places in my head is a lot more awake than the bored me sitting at my desk.”

“I love the soft flesh of Mama’s warm palm against my own even though sometimes I feel a deep sorrow through her skin. Mama usually does a good job of hiding behind her preacher’s wife smile, but sometimes her crinkled forehead gives her away.”

“Daddy tends to leave a dent in soft things. Not just because he’s big, but because he means to. Everything about him is heavy, from his voice to the way his food lands on the floor. Sometimes just in the way he looks at you.”

“Not having Mama as part of our family is like having the thread slip from the needle. She pulled us all into this world and we need her to keep us sewn together.”

“It’s not what I was expecting. And no, I didn’t know that. Lately I feel like a chipped plate at a table set for company.”

“But I can feel him. I feel his loneliness and his sadness as if they were my own. Maybe they are mine. Maybe the reason we get along so well is because we know exactly how the other feels”

“Everyone is offered this gift, but most people turn away from it at a very young age. Truth frightens people. You’re one of the brave ones.”

Little Big Love by Katy Regan

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for an early review copy of Little Big Love by Katy Regan, which will publish June 12, 2018.  All thoughts are my own.

Writing: 4 Plot: 4 Characters: 4.5

A big story — simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming — about a family that fell apart after a tragedy that occurred ten years in the past and the young boy who now desperately wants to know his missing father. Part coming-of-age for 10-year old Zac and part coming-to-terms-with-the-past for Juliet (his mother) and Mick (his grandfather), the story alternates between their three voices.

Zac is a wonderful kid – sweet, funny, and with a great capacity for love. He is also overweight and subject to a lot of bullying. He traipses around the Harlequin Estates in Grimsby (Southeast of York) working on his Find Dad Mission with his best friend Teagan. I absolutely fell in love with Zac and with several of the other characters as well. Oddly enough, I had the least sympathy for Juliet, though this possibly says more about my “take charge” personality than it does about her :-))

Well-written (though it could be shortened by perhaps 50 pages in the middle which drags a bit), the novel deals with issues of alcoholism, body shaming, childhood obesity and single parenting. I like the fact that each character recognizes and seeks to address their issues not because of external pressure, but because they recognize that both they and the people they love will be much happier if they do.

I had not heard of Katy Regan before but she appears to be a well-known novelist and journalist in the UK. This is her American debut, and it is quite captivating. I’ll keep her on my “look for more” list.