Escamilla Reads

Young Adult Book #17: Sisters Telgemeier, R. (2014). Sisters . NY: Graphix. When Raina was younger, all she wanted was a little sister so she can have someone to play and just be with instead of feeling so lonely. She got her wish and her family was blessed with another little girl; however, it turns out that this new life with a sister isn't quite the fantasy Raina had hoped for. Amara is fascinated by animals, short-tempered, and always seems to get on Raina's nerves. It doesn't help that their mom takes them and their little brother on a super long road trip, for it's only a matter of time before they drive each other nuts. Although, this may actually be a time for the girls to finally bond and realize that despite all their differences, they are still sisters no matter what. I've read Smile , the companion book to Sisters,  before and I absolutely loved it. Just like how I super like this graphic novel as well. The comic book illustrations are vibrant ...

Young Adult Book #9: Gabi: A Girl in Pieces Quintero, I. (2014). Gabi: A girl in pieces. TX: Cinco Puntos. Gabi is a senior in high school, and so much is going on. Her best friend Cindy is pregnant, her other best friend Sebastian is gay and is coming out, her brother does graffiti, her dad is a drug addict, and her mother is always on her case about her weight and her expectations on how to be a proper young woman based off the Latino cultural beliefs. Gabi's goal is to get out of her house next fall and attend University of California, Berkeley. In order to do that, she must finally pass Algebra II and continue to succeed in her poetry class. Along the way, Gabi finds herself helping those around her with their situations while trying to juggle her own. She does things like getting in a relationship and participating in poetry readings, which helps her realize she is a beautiful young woman with a bright future. I like how this novel was written as journal-entries. Reader...

Young Adult Book #1: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. NY: Little Brown. Junior is from the Spokane Indian reservation. He constantly gets bullied by everyone there because of the many medical problems he was born with. He feels he doesn't fit in where he's from, and he also believes that he deserves a good education. In order to receive this, he would have to transfer to an all-white high school, which is pretty far from where he lives. His parents agree and allow Junior to switch schools, but there are challenges that came with that decision. People from the reservation are quite mad he had the nerve to do such a thing, including his best friend Rowdy, who was really the only one who never picked on him. In addition to this, the distance to the school was still a problem, so Junior had to work hard to constantly stay on top of things and find various ways to get him to school on tim...