“It’s Monday! What are you reading?” is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date. The folks at Teacher Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers have given #IMWAYR a new lens by focusing on books for kids & teens. Check out their blogs to see what they’re reading!

WHAT I READ LAST WEEK

 

 

• The Birds, the Bees, and You and Me by Olivia Hinebaugh
• Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America edited by Ibi Zoboi
• Saga, Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughn & Fiona Staples

 

I spent the weekend doing a much-needed house cleaning, playing with cats, and watching the first three Harry Potter movies (since I haven’t seen them all before!), so I didn’t get much reading done, but I really enjoyed the three books I’ve read in the last week! I can’t wait to get into some of the other 2019 releases on my TBR.

 

WHAT I’M EXCITED TO READ THIS WEEK:

 

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

On the Come Up is without a doubt my most anticipated read of 2019 and I still can’t believe I was lucky enough to get my hands on an ARC. Angie Thomas’s sophomore novel is a YA contemporary about a teenaged girl named Bri who dreams of being a rapper, but finds her life shaken up when her mom loses her job, and the threat of homelessness becomes very real.

The Hate U Give was definitely one of my favorite books of 2017, and seeing the movie (twice) was one of the highlights of 2018 for me. I know that On the Come Up will definitely be a 2019 favorite for me, and I won’t be able to put it down once I start it. I also know that even after reading it, I’ll want to listen to the audiobook, too, since it’s narrated by Bahni Turpin, who did a fabulous job with the audio version of The Hate U Give.

 

All Is Fair by Dee Garretson

I just started this historical YA novel and am curious to see where it goes! In 1918, Mina is away at boarding school when she receives an odd telegram from her father. Quickly realizing that it is written in code, Mina travels home to try to decipher it, where she meets a charming American named Lucas. Together, they must work together on a secret wartime project.

I’m putting this on aside for a couple days so that I can binge-read On the Come Up, but will be picking it up again once I’m done. I don’t read much historical fiction, but so far I’ve found that this one is really accessible and easy to get into. I’m also really interested in reading a historical novel set during WWI, since that isn’t discussed in YA nearly as much as WWII.

 

Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams

This debut middle grade novel is about a thirteen year-old girl named Genesis who finds herself hating her dark skin and dealing with verbal abuse from her family. I’m really glad to see a novel for kids discussing abuse and internalized racism, because these are such important topics that aren’t talked about nearly enough in kid lit.

So far, I’ve only read one middle grade novel in 2019 and I really want to read more! Starting with one that I’m super excited about seems like the perfect way to get back to reading MG regularly. Genesis Begins Again has such a gorgeous cover, and it’s sure to be a powerful read.

 

I have so many good books on my list this week! What are you reading this week?