As You Wish by Nashae Jones

Welcome Back Booklovers! I'm always on the hunt for fast-paced, accessible middle grade books specifically for that tween range who want to read characters that are more teenish. So I figured a middle grade rom-com would be a great option and the premise of As You Wish promising some magic made it a must pick up. I received a copy from Simon and Schuster in exchange for a review.

Birdie is starting eight grade and this year is going to be different. She plans on getting out from her overprotective mother's thumb and to get a boyfriend. Her best friend Deve isn't thrilled to hear about her plans and the two ended up having a big fight. A girl name Nancy shows up at Birdie's school claiming she owes her family a debt and offering her three wishes. Birdie must navigate the consequences of her wishes as she finds out wishes don't always work out as planned.

As You Wish feels like a genuine middle school experience navigating old friends, new friends, and enemies. Birdie has a strong and distinct voice. Young readers will be able to relate to her insecurities about fitting in. There's also a bit of a magical twist with the trickster god Anansi causing chaos in a form we haven't seen him in. At the beginning of some chapters we see a scenario where someone has made a wish with Anansi that ended up backfiring. Relationships with all of Birdie's family and friends are affected by her wishes. Jones does a great job showcasing the relationships Birdie has with her mother, grandmother, friend Summer, and rival Lola in addition to Deve. 

Those who have read her book Courtesy of Cupid will enjoy the appearance from Birdie's cousin Erin.

Love in Bloom by Lucy Eden

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I took a break from the Christmas Romances to read Love in Bloom which was my first read from Lucy Eden. I've been seeing her cute covers for years and small town farm set romance with a Black lead is something I'm interested in reading more of. 

Love in Bloom follows Emma, who seemingly has the perfect life with a job in public relations and a future senator boyfriend. And then the grandparents she barely remembers die and will their small town farm to her. When she ends up losing both her job and her man she sees the farm as her fresh start. But she soon finds out she may not be fully cut out for farm work and the small town is not what it seems. 

This starts off with a great meet-cute and some light-hearted moments during a heavy time for Emma. The romance quickly progresses between Emma and Danesh, a horticulturist working for her grandparent's farm. There's some humor with city girl Emma trying to tackle the hard work of farm life and get acquainted with life in the small town. 

The characters are fine but I would've liked a little bit more development of them. There was a lot more telling than showing when it came to their relationship and I didn't fully buy their connection. Emma has a lot of growing to do and a complicated relationship with her family. The book was already over the top but the 3rd act tried to do too much. Lucy Eden tries to tackle a multitude of topics and while more serious topics can be addressed in a book that is humor it just felt off here.  Throwing in the typical miscommunication felt out of place based on how Dan had been waxing poetic about Emma being his soulmate. It also just didn't feel like the biggest issue among all the other issues happening. I think had it been paced better and proper time been dedicate to tackling the various plot points while keeping out the minor ones that did not move things forward this would've been a stronger book.

Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Dark Academia is still widely popular and we're starting to see even more in the mainstream from authors of color. Society of Lies was a Reese's Bookclub pick and seeing people share it was how it ended up on my radar. 

Maya has returned to her alma mater, Princeton after 10 years for her younger sister Naomi's graduation. But then Maya receives the news that Naomi is dead and the police are quick to try and rule it as accidental but Maya believes otherwise. Maya discovers that her sister had joined the infamous Sterling Club, a secret society with a history of tragedy and lies surrounding it.

Society of Lies is told across three timelines: Maya's present day, Maya's time as a student in Princeton in the early 2010s, and Naomi's time at Princeton in the early 2020s. At first as an audiobook listener it was hard to differentiate between the povs of Maya and Naomi during their years at Princeton because they have very similar narrative voices. The story also takes too long finding it's footing during part one where certain incidents could've easily be recapped in a passing sentence rather than a full scene. My interest wasn't grabbed until part two when it felt like movement was actually happening with the storylines rather than the college parties and shallow friendships. Maya's perspective is the stronger of the sister's and the story would've faired better being completely told from hers both past and present. Naomi's experienced paralleled her sister's too closely and felt a little heavy handed in it's attempts to tackle current events.

While part two and three were engaging in part four the pacing again slows down to the book's detriment. It was hard to care when the side characters were rather lackluster. And the overused cliche phrases kept pulling me out of the story. It wasn't a terrible book but the writing lacked depth. It may be good one for those transitioning out of YA books because the plot moves pretty straightforward with a couple of twists thrown in so it's not too hard to follow. However if you've read a few of these types of books don't expect to be wowed by this story.

Church Girl by Naima Simone

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Harlequin debuted their new line Afterglow this year promising fresh new stories to appeal to a Booktok audience and I'll admit I was sad about the Desire line being shuttered and also unsure about the vibe of the new line. I appreciated the diverse array of authors and stories but was having a mixed experience with some of the previous selections. Church Girl caught my attention with it's premise that sounded different than my recent reads and it being from an author I was already familiar with gave me more incentive to try it. 

Aaliyah Montgomery was supposed to marry the ideal man and become First Lady of  the church but decides instead to flee on her wedding day and convince her cousin Tamara to take her back to Chicago with her. Her plan is to go to school for an art degree but she needs a job so she can start holding her own in the meantime. Von Howard is pretty rude to her on their first encounter deciding with one look at her that's she's unfit for the job. However he's desperate for a nanny for his daughter, Gia so the woman he's dubbed a "real life Disney princess" will have to do.

There's plenty of drama to keep the story going between Von's battle against his ex-wife for ownership of his tattoo shop and primary custody of his daughter. Aaliyah is experiencing her first real taste of freedom and navigating coming into her own outside of her parent's gaze. Von is a very talk straight type of man who says what he means and doesn't sugar coat anything. And it was refreshing specifically to have a Black male love interest who isn't prim and proper. He feels like a real tattoo artist from Chicago in how he talks and moves. We get good insight to his relationships with his employees at the shop as well as his passion for his craft. He supported Aaliyah and encouraged her to speak up and be confident in herself but his approach is a little different.

Aaliyah starts out as more of a meek character used to playing the role and putting the Lord above all. It was funny watching her hold her own in situations when it came to Gia's well being. And she's not only finding her voice but embracing her likes. She comes into her own sexually and the steamy scenes did not disappoint. Despite growing up in different households and going off on different paths, she's able to connect with her cousin who is a big support for her during this new transitionary period in her life. 

If you're familiar with Naima Simone from her other Harlequin books, this one has a different vibe at least from the ones I read but the things you love about her writing are still there. And I'm looking forward to the next book in the series following cousin Tamara. 

Dear Dad: Growing Up with a Parent in Prison -- and How We Stayed Connected by Jay Jay Patton, Antoine Patton , and Kiara Valdez

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I've been happy to see the surge in graphic novels the past few years because they're such a great way to tell stories that just wouldn't flow the same way in prose. They're also a great way to make stories more accessible. Nonfiction isn't always the easiest genre to take in so I'm all for anything that makes those stories more accessible. I wasn't really sure what to expect with Dear Dad but in the end it surprised me. 

Jay'aina "Jay Jay" Patton lives with her mom and brother in Buffalo, New York. Her father, Antoine has been incarcerated for a few years and they've gotten into a routine of phone calls and letters to keep in touch.  But phones calls can be expensive and not always possible and it's not always easy to receive letters. Antoine participates in a special program while in prison and learns how to code. Upon release he gets a software engineering job and the family has has to uproot their life in Buffalo to move to Florida. Antoine teaches his daughter how to code and they bond over that while developing an app called Photo Patch that makes it easier for families to share photos and letters to their incarcerated loved ones.

There aren't a lot of books out there that feature children with parents who are incarcerated and if there are it's focused on the negatives only. Books like this help destigmatize that which is especially important when we consider some of the crimes people are sitting in prison for and how they don't all hold the same weight. Kids should feel ashamed for being in that situation that's completely out of their control. And on the flip side this book can show children unfamiliar with that situation what another type of family looks like.

There's also not enough books out there that showcase good relationships between Black fathers and their daughters. Despite their situation Jay Jay and her father were able to have a relationship and though there was a lot of change to adjust to when he was released they took it in stride and found something to bond over. This book doesn't focus on the trauma surrounding the experience but instead how this family was able to flip a negative into a positive and will hopefully inspire. 

Nonfiction can often be harder to access for children once it moves in to prose for. So I appreciated this is in a format they can connect with easier and it's short and straight to the point. It can be read in one afternoon.