I Am The Rage - Dr. Martina McGowan

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I cannot even begin to explain how impactful, powerful and important this book is.

And I will state, because I feel as though it is important to acknowledge, my racial ignorance that comes with me being a white woman. There are experiences I will never understand. I do not want to take or rewrite experiences that are not my own. I do not want to steal what is not mine to express and rage about. However, I will stand with those who are outraged, because I am outraged too.

This book was powerful. I will repeat that over and over and over again. This is something that needs to be read over and over and over again. Something schools should have students of all ages read. America as a whole needs to read this book. Needs to engrave the message into our brains until there is no divide. We must always recognize the difference but we should embrace our differences as people and not divide up because of them. I do not believe in erasing color from the eye, as that is identity for people of all colors, but the injustice that happens due to the color of someones skin needs to be stopped. This book writes that message beautifully yet raw, necessary for such an important conversation.

I will recommend this to everyone. Whether they like poetry or not. Whether we have the same beliefs or not. Whether we have the same skin color or are the same gender. This is a book for everyone because it holds a message that everyone needs to read.

The Road to Ever After - Moira Young

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Do you ever read something and it kind of makes sense while you're reading it, but as soon as you're done, you say "What Did I Just Read?"

That is what this book was to me

I really enjoyed the beginning where Davy was just a boy in the town who made angels in the dirt and went to the library. I liked where I thought it wash headed at that point, but it lost me somewhere after that with Miss Flint.

They went somewhere, she was dead, but she wasn't dead, she was getting younger, people couldn't see her, she needed to reunite with her brother and then it was over.

It was interesting, but I'm unsure of what I read. It makes sense, but at the same time it doesn't make sense. Like, what was this about? I don't know. Friendship? Loss? Both? I don't know.

But I do know it's a book toward my reading goal, so I'm happy about that

In Real Life - Cory Doctorow & Jen Wang

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a beautifully crafted graphic novel that talks about video games, women in video games, how important a job can be and the livelihood of people, how you don't always know peoples stories or backgrounds, and about injustice.

It covers a lot of important things and it does it really well!

One thing I really enjoyed about this was the transition from real life into the video game. How realistic and fun the game seemed and how easy it was to learn and make friends (and it not be creepy men online!).

I liked the lack of knowledge in our main character at the beginning when it came to gold mining and how, while it can ruin the game for some, it is the livelihood of others; something they depend on to get by. I liked how she changed the stigma and gathered her fellow women and gamers to help spread the word about the mistreatment of those working at that company.

The part of the story about parents not understanding how fun, useful, and important gaming is, was especially accurate in my opinion. And I'm glad that in the end, the author chose to make the parents understand that what their daughter was doing was important and taught her valuable skills.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a fun graphic novel!