Book Review: "The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told to his brother)" by David Levithan

David Levithan's new book, The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told to his brother), is a sweet, moving, mysterious story about telling the truth and a special relationship between brothers.

One night, 12-year-old Aidan disappeared. He and his younger brother Lucas both went to bed (they share a room), and when Lucas woke up the next morning, Aidan was gone. Everyone in their town searched everywhere, and no stone was left unturned. What could’ve happened to him?

Six days later, Lucas found Aidan in their attic. He was disoriented and talked of a place no one had ever heard of. Of course, everyone is relieved that he has returned unharmed. But where did he go, really?

The story Aidan reluctantly tells can’t possibly be true, and he doesn’t want everyone to know, so their town is transfixed by Aidan's return, then slowly grows angry because of the lack of a story. And when there's no story, the only thing to do is make things up, right?

“Yeah, but the truth isn’t very helpful if people don’t believe it. Or at least that’s what it looks like now.”

Lucas wants to support his older brother. Could the story he is telling be true, or is it a defense mechanism to compensate for a more traumatic thing that might have happened? If the story is true, what does it mean?

I really enjoyed this middle-grade story about the effects of Aidan’s disappearance and his return on his family. Aidan and Lucas are a little more sophisticated than you would expect 12- and 11-year-olds to be, but it isn't too jarring. There are also some LGBTQ characters and situations (again, nothing too jarring) which may throw off some middle-grade readers.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. is poignant and sweet and mysterious. Once again, David Levithan proves why he’s one of my favorite writers.

I was pleased to be part of the blog tour for this book. Storygram Tours and Random House Kids provided a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. publishes 2/2.

Book Review: "Black Buck" by Mateo Askaripour

Wow, what a book. Black Buck, Mateo Askaripour's debut novel, is powerful, satirical, poignant, and so relevant.

Darren Vender isn’t unhappy with his life. He lives with his mother in a Bed-Stuy brownstone, works at a Starbucks in the lobby of a NYC office building, and loves spending time with his longtime girlfriend, Soraya. Maybe it’s not what one would expect from the 22-year-old former valedictorian of Bronx Science High School, but he’s fine with it, even if his mother wants more for him.

One day, feeling bored at work, he challenges a customer to step outside their comfort zone and order something different. This selling job wows the man, who happens to be the CEO of a tech startup in the building above the Starbucks, and he convinces Darren to come to work for him at his up-and-coming company, Sumwun.

What Darren finds at Sumwun is an almost cult-like environment, driven by pressure to close deals and make money. He’s the only Black person in the company and he definitely feels as if he’s treated differently, especially by the company’s ruthless sales manager. They call him “Buck,” because he worked at Starbucks, and that may be the least objectionable thing that happens.

After enduring an awful “hell week” of training, he decides to throw himself into this job fully, even if he’s not sure of the person he’s becoming, and he’s still experiencing significant racism from his coworkers, although no one wants to acknowledge it. When crises occur both professionally and personally, he has to decide what road to take—and what kind of a man he wants to be.

This book really packs a punch. It’s sly and satirical at times, while at others it can be shocking and provocative. Not everything that happens is believable—which was the one thing I struggled with a tiny bit—but this is built on an all-too-realistic core of the racism and mistreatment and discrimination faced by minorities in the workplace. It also deals with the divide between the person you are becoming and the person those in your life want you to be.

I thought Black Buck was so well-written and I couldn’t put it down. There were even some twists I wasn’t predicting. This is definitely going to be a book I’ll be thinking about for a long while, and I can’t wait to see what comes next for Askaripour.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Goodreads provided me with a complimentary copy of the book. Thanks for making it available!!

Book Review: "Teddy Spenser Isn't Looking for Love" by Kim FIelding

Darned tear ducts!! Kim Fielding's Teddy Spenser Isn't Looking for Love is another sweet rom-com which made me tear up more than a little!

Teddy Spenser has sworn off looking for love or a relationship of any kind since his last one went sour. He enjoys his design and marketing job for a floral company, and while his life is far from perfect, it’s not bad.

If there’s anything—or anyone—that annoys him, it’s Romeo Blue (best name ever), his company’s IT engineer. It’s not just that Romeo’s technical demands crimp Teddy’s design vision, or that Romeo has an office and Teddy has a cubicle. It’s that Romeo barely talks to Teddy and seems irritated every time he must.

So of course, the two get sent on a business trip to make a presentation to a crucial investor (and a design legend). It’s not long before both realize there’s so much more to the other than they originally thought. And when they have to share a hotel room—and the only bed (ah, that classic rom-com trope)—the dynamic between them really starts to change.

But is this shift in their relationship one of proximity, or one with potential? What happens when they get back to Chicago and to work—will they slip back into their old roles? Can two people not looking for love find it anyway?

You know I’m a sucker for rom-coms, and Teddy Spenser Isn't Looking for Love was just so enjoyable. There was much more depth to each of these characters than I thought, and while sure, we’ve seen this story before, it just worked for me. It made me tear up more than once (whatever) and I was totally smiling, too.

I would love to see a TV or movie adaptation of this book because I’d love to see the casting of all of the characters. This may be my first Fielding book but it won’t be my last!

Book Review: "The Authenticity Project" by Clare Pooley

Looking for a feel-good read? The Clare Pooley's The Authenticity Project may be for you.

Julian Jessop was once an artist of some acclaim. But nearing his 80th birthday and still mourning the loss of his wife, he barely talks to or sees anyone for days at a time.

The more he thinks about it, the more he realizes how little people really know one another anymore. So one day he begins The Authenticity Project—he writes truths about himself in a green notebook and leaves it in his local cafe.

Monica, the cafe’s owner, is a little dubious about unburdening herself in a notebook that will be read by strangers, but she has feelings she can’t express to anyone else. In addition to telling her secrets and leaving the notebook for someone else to find, she sets out to try and make a difference in Julian’s life.

Little by little the notebook finds its way into the hands of those who need to say things they can’t tell others. At the same time, it forms a community of sorts, kindred spirits in need of some kind of support or comfort.

Ironically though, it’s not long before some realize that in order to be truly authentic you need to be honest—with yourself and others. And for some, that will take more than writing in a notebook. It will take confronting issues, people, problems that they’ve avoided for some time.

I thought The Authenticity Project was a really sweet and wonderful book, so perfect for being in the midst of this crazy world. I love the idea of paying it forward and really found many of the characters and their relationships with one another so enjoyable. (I totally see Bill Nighy playing Julian in the movie version of this book, even if Bill isn't quite so old.)

Is the book a little melodramatic? Perhaps? A little sappy? Doesn’t matter. This was a book that warmed my heart and might have even brought a tear to my eye.

Book Review: "Interior Chinatown" by Charles Yu

Charles Yu's National Book Award-winning Interior Chinatown is funny, sharply satirical, thought-provoking, and uniquely told.

Willis Wu doesn’t feel like his life makes much of an impact: he tends to think of himself as “Generic Asian Man.” As an actor, he has played roles as diverse as Disgraced Son, Delivery Guy, Silent Henchman, and Guy Who Runs In and Gets Kicked in the Face. But he dreams of reaching what he sees the pinnacle of success for Asian actors—becoming Kung Fu Guy.

He and his parents live a fairly unremarkable existence in small one-room apartments in Chinatown. Their building is above the Golden Palace restaurant, the hub of the community, where a police procedural called Black and White is in constant production. Willis and his parents and most of the community tend to drift in and out of the series, playing interchangeable parts and hoping their big break might someday come.

As Willis’ star appears to be rising, his consciousness about his role in the world grows. His family history is revealed and illustrates the challenges that Asians have faced since immigrating to America and other places in the world. Suddenly he begins to wonder if what he has dreamed of for so long—becoming Kung Fu Guy—is what he really wants. Is there more?

This is a fascinating, slightly trippy book at times. It’s really funny, as it skewers pop culture and the entertainment world’s treatment of Asians, but it’s also tremendously insightful and sensitive.

At times the book is written as a screenplay, at other times it's more narrative in structure. I’ll admit that there were parts I wasn’t sure were actually happening or if they were in Willis’ mind. But I couldn’t put Interior Chinatown down, and I can totally understand why it won the National Book Award.

Truly a book I’ll remember.

Book Review: "Be Dazzled" by Ryan La Sala

Ryan La Sala's newest book, Be Dazzled, is an utterly adorable rom-com that looks at doing what you love and being with whom you love, no matter what anyone says. Plus sequins. Lots of sequins.

Raffy is a tremendously talented artist. But unlike his artist-turned-gallery-owner mother, he doesn’t view art as valuable only if it’s elitist. His talent lies in design—costume design, more specifically—and he’s found his sweet spot in designing costumes for cosplay conventions. This isn't something his mother approves of, so he must hide everything from her and work only when she isn't home.

He literally runs into Luca, a handsome boy from his school, in the sequins aisle of a craft store. Luca has actually followed Raffy’s popular videos on a YouTube-like channel, so he’s mesmerized by Raffy’s talent. Clearly smitten with one another, they decide to create a costume for the two of them to compete at the next cosplay convention.

But the pressures of creating the perfect costumes and having to hide this side of him from his mother take their toll on Raffy and his relationship with Luca. It doesn’t help that Luca has his own anxieties about fully coming out to his own family and embracing the side of him that loves cosplay, and these anxieties ultimately doom their relationship.

Devastated and angry, Raffy is still determined to create the winning costumes for the biggest cosplay convention, in hopes he might get offers of sponsorship or even jobs. But when Luca shows up with a former friend of theirs to compete as well, it opens wounds that aren't even close to healing and ignites Raffy’s competitive spirit. Can he get everything he wants, or will he have to sacrifice something to be happy?

Although I have zero artistic ability I am fascinated by art supplies and the creative process, so I couldn’t get enough of this book. Raffy and Luca are an adorable if dysfunctional couple, and even though I wanted to shake them sometimes, I rooted for their love to win in the end.

Be Dazzled was a fun story with real emotional components as well, because it hurts when you can’t share the things or the people you love with those closest to you. La Sala shows he’s just as talented at rom-coms as he is creating fantastical situations, like he did in his last book, Reverie.

This book charmed me completely!

Book Review: "The Prophets" by Robert Jones, Jr.

The Prophets, a debut novel by Robert Jones, Jr., is haunting, affecting, gorgeously written. This will remain in my mind for a long time.

“I ain’t a animal, but I know. I know that when you trapped in a small space, you start getting used to being small. And people, they know, too, and they start treating you like a small thing. Even if you big like you are, Sam. They still treat you like something small.”

Samuel and Isaiah are slaves on Empty, the Deep South estate of the Halifaxes. They are in love with each other, and their relationship is often the only thing that can bring them salvation amidst the cruelty and violence and fear they experience on a daily basis.

But as with any environment in which people are treated with cruelty, even those in the same plight turn on one another, and when Samuel and Isaiah’s relationship is exposed, it sets off a brutal chain of events. And while their relationship is at the crux of The Prophets, the book also focuses on some of the other slaves, the Halifax family, and a chorus of seemingly otherworldly voices.

This is a difficult, emotional book to read at times, and at times the lyricism of Jones’ storytelling and the multiple narrations required slightly more concentration than I'm used to giving while reading. But the power, the beauty, the cruelty of these stories demand to be told, to be read, to be understood, if still not fully comprehended by all.

I’m grateful to have read this as a buddy read with my friend, Louis. As always, his perspectives helped round out the experience of reading this, and his friendship and his humor are exceptional.

When the “best-of” accolades at the end of 2021 start to get assembled, there’s little doubt that The Prophets won’t be on that list.