Before George Takei became known as Mr. Sulu from Star Trek to most, he was a four-year-old boy who was interned along with his family under Executive Order 9066 during WWII. They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott is a timely graphic novel that follows George Takei’s experiences and gives a first-hand account into the struggles that Asian-Americans faced during WWII.
Nothing is more poignant than a first-hand account, especially during noted periods in history such as the Japanese internment. While not overly long, the book is succinct in its narration. The amazing writing allows the reader to feel the fear and uncertainty that Takei undergoes as a young child during WWII. The well-done art adds to the quality of the book. If anything, more books like these are needed to teach children about history in a way that is engaging but also serious. It is important, but also humorous when it needs to be and blunt when it needs to be. Highly recommended to anyone, especially if you like history (or George Takei).
Going in a full 180, People Like Us by Dana Mele falls more into the genre of something like Euphoria or Riverdale – something that only seems believable if you stretch your imagination. This isn’t to say that the book is too overexaggerated, only that it has a crazy amount of twists and high stakes for a novel centered around a girl’s boarding school.
Kay Donovan has completely reinvented herself at her new school. She is soccer captain, only talks to the school’s social elite, and never, ever divulges more than necessary about her past. When the body of a student is discovered in a nearby lake, Kay’s fragile web of lies will be brought to the surface.
What I love about this book is that the narrative is completely unexpected. One by one, each of Kay’s friends (and eventually her) are forced to reveal baffling secrets that they have been hiding, on top of realizing that most of the details of the student’s death don’t add up. The book essentially pulls the best aspects of different murder mystery genres (such as Agatha Christie, Nancy Drew, and some of Stephen King), and it does so well – a feat that could easily go wrong. A thoroughly satisfying and scary read, I highly recommend for fans of murder mystery bordering on thriller.
Book reviews by Grace L.
In Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is about four sisters and their mothers surviving poverty and navigating through it. Each sister has their own dynamic and personality and are very different from each other. They were the March girls, Mag, Jo, Beth and Amy. Through the book, we see all four sisters find love, survive the hard conditions and expectations from society and the occasional bickering between them.
I liked this book and it’s nice to read something more realistic. Although, there were parts that were boring since the book was very long. All in all, it was very interesting to see how all the different sisters came together and were there for each other at the end of the day. It reminded me of my sister and I think the author did a great group portraying each sister’s feelings.
The book Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon is about the relationship between a mother and daughter. Every mother wants to protect their children from all harm but Maddy’s mother takes it a step too far. Maddy, diagnosed with SeverCombined Immunodeficiency, prevents her from leaving the house since it can cause a fatal infection or allergic reaction. But when Olly, her new neighbor and Maddy fall in love they risk it and go to Hawaii without her mother’s knowledge. There she discovers that she never suffered from SCID and finds out that her mother lied to her because she wanted to protect her from everything. Her mom lost her husband and son in a car accident and so she lied about Maddy’s disorder to protect her.
I really liked this book because of the plot twist in the end. It was very different from the previous books I have read and I really enjoyed the romance between Olly and Maddy, I think the author did a good job in narrating Maddy and how she worked through her disorder and problems. I sympathize with the mother but I believe she would have handled that a lot better than she did. The plot in general was good and I would recommend other people to read it too.
Book Reviews by Alena R.
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