83. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

Listened to Audio on Libby, borrowed from Bosler
narrated by Yareli Arizmendi
Unabridged audio (16:43)
2020 Flatiron Books
400 pgs.
Adult CRF
Finished 5/23/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.32 - 76,513 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: Contemporary Acapulco, Mexico, Nogales and north through the desert to Tucson

First line/s:  "One of the very first bullets comes in through the open window above the toilet where Luca is standing."

My comments:  This is an amazing, powerful book.  It tells the story of a mother and her eight-year old son fleeing from certain death after her husband and 14 other family members - including her mother =  were murdered by the cartel in Acapulco.  Their harrowing adventure is unimaginable ... brave, incredibly scary, and sad.  It's hard to believe and hard to imagine how the atrocities described in this book can possibly be happening in our world RIGHT NOW.  Incredible thoughtful, lovely writing.  And the narrator was just perfect, spot on, with a lovely Spanish accent, pronouncing everything not only with the perfect accent but with the right emphasis on letters that are different than English.  Wow, just wow.  Highly recommended must-read for anyone and everyone. 

Goodreads synopsis:  

80. Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

listened to Audio - borrowed from the library
read by Vaneh Assadourian
Unabridged audio (3:50)
2019 Balzer & Bray
352 pgs.
Middle Grade CRF
Finished August 19, 2019
Goodreads rating:   4.48 - 1884 ratings
My rating: 3
Setting: Contemporary Syria, then US

First line/s:  "It is almost summer and everybody smells like fish,
except for right down by the sea
where if you hold your nose just right
you can smell the sprawling salt water and the jasmine
instead."

My comments:  I wish I'd read this instead of listened to it - the words in verse are so much more beautiful than listening to what sounds like prose.  The book seemed to end abruptly.  I wasn't expecting it because I was listening to it and it had not been very long - so much shorter because it's written in verse.  I found the first half of the book, the part that took place in Syria, to be a little bit slow going.  And I wish that it had given me a little more feel for the country of Syria.  It didn't.  Once they got to America the story became a little more interesting.  It was intriguing to think about how a newcomer to America would not realize the prejudice against Muslims.  I don't think I'd ever considered that point of view, particularly from an innocent young girl who only know of the strife in her country and being a Muslim was just part of every day for her.  Very character driven.  I wanted more setting!

Goodreads synopsis:  
I am learning how to be
sad
and happy
at the same time.
          Jude never thought she’d be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives.
          At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven’t quite prepared her for starting school in the US—and her new label of “Middle Eastern,” an identity she’s never known before. But this life also brings unexpected surprises—there are new friends, a whole new family, and a school musical that Jude might just try out for. Maybe America, too, is a place where Jude can be seen as she really is.

100. Roomies by Christina Lauren

listened on Audible
2017, Gallery Books
368 pgs.
Adult Romance
Finished 12/15/18
Goodreads rating: 3.91 - 17,321 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting: contemporary New York City

First line/s:  "According to family legend, I was born on the floor of a taxi."

My comments:  It was fun to listen to this sweet, entertaining love story. I particularly enjoyed the Irishness of the male protagonist, Calvin. No surprises but fun to anticipate when and how everything was going to work out.

Goodreads synopsis:  From subway to Broadway to happily ever after. Modern love in all its thrill, hilarity, and uncertainty has never been so compulsively readable as in New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren’s romantic novel.
          Marriages of convenience are so...inconvenient. 
          For months Holland Bakker has invented excuses to descend into the subway station near her apartment, drawn to the captivating music performed by her street musician crush. Lacking the nerve to actually talk to the gorgeous stranger, fate steps in one night in the form of a drunken attacker. Calvin Mcloughlin rescues her, but quickly disappears when the police start asking questions.
          Using the only resource she has to pay the brilliant musician back, Holland gets Calvin an audition with her uncle, Broadway’s hottest musical director. When the tryout goes better than even Holland could have imagined, Calvin is set for a great entry into Broadway—until his reason for disappearing earlier becomes clear: he’s in the country illegally, his student visa having expired years ago.
          Seeing that her uncle needs Calvin as much as Calvin needs him, a wild idea takes hold of her. Impulsively, she marries the Irishman, her infatuation a secret only to him. As their relationship evolves and Calvin becomes the darling of Broadway—in the middle of the theatrics and the acting-not-acting—will Holland and Calvin to realize that they both stopped pretending a long time ago?

11. The Leaving of Things by Jay Antani

read on my Kindle
2013 Bandwagon PRESS
368 pgs.
I would consider it YA, but think it is actually considered Adult - CRF
Finished 2.23.17
Goodreads rating:  3.78 (1871 ratings)
My rating: 4
Contemporary India

First line/s:

My comments:  I actually decided to read this because I love the cover!  For the last dozen years or so, I've had quite a fascination with India, so this novel at this time suited me quite well.  Set in the late 1980s, it reads like a memoir.  Vikram is a young man just graduated from high school who, after living for the last twelve years in Wisconsin, is forced to move back to India with his family.  He doesn't want to.  He has friends, a girlfriend, and college to look forward to.  Back in his native land it is hard to reconcile the American teenager he has become with the oh-so-strange country of his birth.  The story tells of his first year back in India, the homesickness he feels for America, as well as the enlightenment and thrill of new and incredibly different sights, sounds, smells, foods, language, customs, and lifestyle.  This glimpse into modern day (well, almost modern day) India is both fascinating and interesting.

Goodreads synopsis:  Vikram is not your model Indian-American teenager. Rebellious and adrift in late 1980s Wisconsin, he is resentful of his Indian roots and has no clue what he wants from his future—other than to escape his family’s life of endless moving and financial woes. But after a drunken weekend turns disastrous, Vikram’s outraged parents decide to pack up the family and return to India—permanently.
          So begins a profound journey of self-discovery as Vikram, struggling with loneliness, culture shock, and the chaos of daily Indian life, finds his creativity awakened by a new romance and an old camera. His artistic gifts bring him closer to a place and family he barely knew. But a devastating family crisis challenges Vikram’s sense of his destiny, hurtling him toward a crossroads where he must make the fateful choice between India, the land of his soul, and America, the land of his heart

MOVIE - McFarland USA

PG (2:09)

Wide Release 2/20/15

Roadhouse Cinema 3/9/15

RT Critic: 79    Audience: 92

Cag: 5/Loved it

Directed by Niki Caro

Disney Studio

Based on a true story

Kevin Costner, Maria Bello

My comments:  What's not to love about a Kevin Costner movie?  The story, following a group of young men who discover that having a goal and being part of a team is incredibly meaningful, is moving, as is the insight we see into the coach's family and situation he's created - unwittingly - for himself.  And, since it's based on a true story, the way that the director added the "epilogue" - showing AND telling what happened to the seven young men, as they run beside the actors, was totally, wonderfully awesome!  What a great way to end a great movie.

Disney Summary:  Inspired by the 1987 true story, “McFarland, USA” follows novice runners from McFarland, an economically challenged town in California’s farm-rich Central Valley, as they give their all to build a cross-country team under the direction of Coach Jim White (Kevin Costner), a newcomer to their predominantly Latino high school. Coach White and the McFarland students have a lot to learn about each other but when White starts to realize the boys’ exceptional running ability, things begin to change. Soon something beyond their physical gifts becomes apparent—the power of family relationships, their unwavering commitment to one another and their incredible work ethic. With grit and determination, the unlikely band of runners eventually overcomes the odds to forge not only a championship cross-country team but an enduring legacy as well. Along the way, Coach White realizes that his family finally found a place to call home and both he and his team achieve their own kind of American dream.

28. The Weight of Water - Sarah Crossan

Bloomsbury, 2012

213 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 3.90

My rating: 5/Outstanding

For: Middle-school grades

Genre: CRF in verse

Setting: contemporary Coventry, England

1st line/s:    "The wheels on the suitcase break

Before we've even left Gdansk Glowny."

My comments:  Told in verse form (so it didn't take very long to read), this seemingly simple story is thought-provoking and incredibly relevant. It's definitely not simple. What's it like to be an immigrant? Bullies.... Divorce... A mother's incredible sadness that turns into a form of abuse....First love. Wonderful story, beautifully written, and very relevant for kids today.

Goodreads summary:  Armed with a suitcase and an old laundry bag filled with clothes, Kasienka and her mother head for England. Life is lonely for Kasienka. At home her mother's heart is breaking and at school friends are scarce. But when someone special swims into her life, Kasienka learns that there might be more than one way for her to stay afloat." """"The Weight of Water" is a startlingly original piece of fiction; most simply a brilliant coming of age story, it also tackles the alienation experienced by many young immigrants. Moving, unsentimental and utterly page-turning, we meet and share the experiences of a remarkable girl who shows us how quiet courage prevails.