Unabridged Podcast

Welcome to Unabridged, the podcast where teachers take on books! Every week, Sara, Jen and Ashley (shown left to right in the photo) talk books, share recommendations, and celebrate all things bookish. On our blog (see our posts below!) we share bookish faves, pub day shout-outs, show notes, and book reviews each week.

Want to get more involved? Check out our 2021 reading challenge, join our buddy reads on Instagram, or become an Unabridged Ambassador!

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Mar 5, 2021
3 min

Angeline Boulley's FIREKEEPER'S DAUGHTER - Finding Strength in Culture

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to Partner NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for the digital ARC of Angeline Boulley’s Firekeeper’s Daughter in exchange for an honest review. The book will be published on Tuesday, March 16. Daunis Fontaine is an athlete and former hockey player, Levi’s half-sister, bi-racial, an unenrolled member of the Ojibwe tribe, a daughter and granddaughter, a best friend. She’s also loyal and stubborn and tough, dedicated to learning her tribe’s

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Mar 2, 2021
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for March 2, 2021, featuring Choi, Hashimi, and Ishiguro

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) I had a tough time today choosing only three books to highlight—it's an AMAZING release day. So, here are just three of the many, many books coming out today that I'm excited to read (plus a couple of mentions at the bottom of the page). Mary H. K. Choi's Yolk Description from Publisher: "From New York Times bestselling author Mary H.K. Choi comes a funny and emotional story about two estranged sisters switching places and committing insurance

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Feb 27, 2021
3 min

Featured Books for March 2021

March Books On March 3, we're so excited to share our Book Club episode focusing on Mira Jacob's Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations. We'll also have an IG Book Club chat on March 15 at 8:00 PM EST. Then, on March 8 and March 22, we'll have IG chats about Akwaeke Emezi's Pet. DM us @unabridgedpod to join! Here are the synopses from the publishers: Good Talk "Mira Jacob's touching, often humorous, and utterly unique graphic memoir takes readers on her journey as a first-gener

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Feb 12, 2021
2 min

Tracy Deonn's LEGENDBORN - A Brilliant Balance of Fantasy and Reality

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) "Everything has two histories. Especially in the South" (230). It has been a while since I read a book like this one that so perfectly bridges a brilliant fantasy world with immediate, super-resonant social issues. Tracy Deonn's Legendborn is a masterpiece. Bree Matthews is 16 and trying to move on from her mother's death. She's built a wall to contain her grief and has escaped with her best friend Alice to an early college program at UNC. On

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Feb 9, 2021
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs for February 9, 2021, featuring Leitich Smith, Johnson, and Shusterman

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Two are from Unabridged favorites, and one book is by a new-to-me author. Editor Cynthia Leitich Smith's Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids Description from Publisher: "Edited by award-winning and bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of intersecting stories by both new and veteran Native writers bursts with hope, joy, resilience, the strength of c

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Feb 8, 2021
3 min

Love Is in the Air 2021: Even More Romance Recommendations

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) In February, we're all about romance! We recently released our Book Club episode focusing on Sonali Dev's Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors, and this Wednesday, we're releasing our newest episode of romance recommendations, "Love Is in the Air 2021." I can never resist, however, offering even more book ideas. (You know I always want to read all the things.) So, here are some other romance novels I've enjoyed . . . each of these would also wo

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Jan 30, 2021
4 min

Featured Books for February 2021

February Books On February 3, we're so excited to share our Book Club episode focusing on Sonali Dev's Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors, a retelling of the Austen classic. (This book was chosen by our Unabridged Ambassadors!) We'll also have an IG Book Club chat on February 15. Then, on February 8 and February 22, we'll have IG chats about Emily Henry's A Million Junes (voted on by our followers). DM us @unabridgedpod to join! Here are the synopses from the publisher: Prid

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Jan 19, 2021
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for January 19, 2021, featuring Cashore, Hall, Lo, and Okorafor

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Here are four books coming out today that I'm excited to read (I couldn't resist one more than our usual three!). Kristin Cashore's Winterkeep Description from Publisher: "For the past five years, Bitterblue has reigned as Queen of Monsea, heroically rebuilding her nation after her father's horrific rule. After learning about the land of Torla in the east, she sends envoys to the closest nation there: Winterkeep—a place where telepathic foxes

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Dec 26, 2020
2 min

Featured Books for January 2021

January Double Feature In January, Adib Khorram's Darius the Great Is Not Okay will be both our Book Club pick AND our Buddy Read choice. You can join us for the episode that releases on Wednesday, January 6, or participate in our two Instagram chats . . . or both! Want to look ahead? Scroll down to see our February picks! Here's the synopsis from the publisher: "Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He'

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Dec 8, 2020
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for December 8, 2020, featuring Clayton, Faber, and Mans McKenny

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Editor Dhonielle Clayton's A Universe of Wishes: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology Description from Publisher: "From We Need Diverse Books, the organization behind Flying Lessons & Other Stories, comes a young adult fantasy short story collection featuring some of the best own-voices children's authors, including New York Times bestselling authors Libba Bray (The Diviners), V. E.

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Nov 27, 2020
3 min

Katherena Vermette's THE BREAK - A Multi-Generational Family Saga

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Katherena Vermette's The Break, which was the focus of the most recent @readwithtoni buddy read, is a brilliant novel set in Winnipeg and centered on a tragedy at the heart of a Métis family. The novel begins with a family tree, and that was definitely a sign of things to come. The narration alternates between ten characters—mostly women—whose connections aren't immediately clear. As the book unfolds, Vermette reveals gradually the subtle thre

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Nov 16, 2020
3 min

Books to Encourage Activism

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) As teachers, we often look to our students for inspiration: sometimes, their energy and enthusiasm for the world pushes us to be activists. But sometimes, we know, they need some inspiration, too. And that's where books can come in. Here are 9+ books we think are inspiring for young people. Mark Oshiro's Anger Is a Gift - In my post about this book, I said, "Mark Oshiro's Anger Is a Gift confronts activism and anger through the lens of Moss. M

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Nov 1, 2020
3 min

Featured Books for November 2020

November Double Feature In November, Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam's Punching the Air will be both our Book Club pick AND our Buddy Read choice. You can join us for our leisurely Facebook discussion at the end of the month or for two, more fast-paced Instagram chats . . . or both! Want to look ahead? Scroll down to see our December picks! Here's the synopsis from the publisher: "The story that I thought was my life didn’t start on the day I was born "Amal Shahid has always been

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Oct 30, 2020
3 min

Claudia Rankine's JUST US: AN AMERICAN CONVERSATION - A Book I'll Re-Read

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to Partner NetGalley for the digital ARC of Claudia Rankine’s Just Us: An American Conversation in exchange for an honest review. The book is available for purchase. I will need to read Claudia Rankine’s Just Us again. I think it is brilliant and important and thoughtful, but I know that there’s more to absorb, more to contemplate. I read it too quickly this time, wrestled with the format of the e-book (I’m definitely going to buy it i

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Oct 27, 2020
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for October 27, 2020, featuring Staebler, Paoloni, Maniscalco, and Washington

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Here are three books coming out today that I can't wait to read! Christian Staebler, Sonia Paoloni, and illustrator Thibault Balahy's Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band Description from Publisher: "Experience the riveting, powerful story of the Native American civil rights movement and the resulting struggle for identity told through the high-flying career of West Coast rock 'n' roll pioneers Redbone. "You've heard the hit

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Oct 9, 2020
2 min

Nic Stone's DEAR JUSTYCE - A Worthy Companion to the Brilliant DEAR MARTIN

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) I've shared my love for Nic Stone's Dear Martin all over the internet—I think it is such a powerful foundation for conversations with teenagers about police violence, racism, and justice. I'm sure it will be no surprise, then, that I was INCREDIBLY excited to see Nic Stone's announcement of a sequel, Dear Justyce. (No worries! This will be a spoiler-free review of book two.) Dear Martin's protagonist is Justyce McCallister, a Black teenager w

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Oct 6, 2020
4 min

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for October 6, 2020, featuring Mbalia, Faruqi, and Gansworth

by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) All right, book lovers, this is one of those pub days that overwhelms me, so I'm feeling obligated to share some extras today. I have FIVE books pre-ordered today, FOUR that I've already read thanks to NetGalley, and THREE more than I can't resist mentioning. Here we go: Pre-Ordered Books Jerry Craft's Class Act - My boys and I are SO excited about this follow up to the award-winning graphic novel New Kid. Tana French's The Searcher - French i

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Oct 3, 2020
4 min

Featured Books for October 2020

October Books In October we're excited to share an amazing novel, Tommy Orange's There There, our Book Club pick, and Brandy Colbert's YA novel The Voting Booth, our Buddy Read choice. Check out our Book Club discussion on episode 146—it releases on Wednesday, October 7—and let us know if you'd like to join our new Book Club Group on Facebook or our Buddy Read chat on Instagram discussing The Voting Booth! You can DM us @unabridgedpod. Here are synopses from the publishers fo

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Sep 23, 2020
6 min

144: Celebrating Global Read Aloud

In honor of the final year of the Global Read Aloud, Unabridged Podcast revisits our episode from last year, in which we discussed Cherie Dimaline's The Marrow Thieves, Padma Venkatraman's The Bridge Home, and Kelly Yang's Front Desk. Join us in celebrating this fantastic program, which highlights books for young people and promotes global collaboration. What have been some of your favorite Global Read Aloud books? Bookish Check-in Ashley - Mark Oshiro’s Each of Us a Desert (

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Sep 16, 2020
7 min

143: Reading Romance - Interview with Farrah Rochon, author of THE BOYFRIEND PROJECT

We are thrilled to share our interview with Farrah Rochon, the USA Today Bestselling author of more than 35 novels, including her latest release, The Boyfriend Project. The two-time RITA Award finalist is a native of South Louisiana. When she is not writing in her favorite coffee shop, Farrah spends most of her time reading, cooking, traveling the world, visiting Walt Disney World, and catching her favorite Broadway shows. Bookish Check-in Ashley - Marie Lu's Wildcard Farrah

Unabridged Podcast

Angeline Boulley's FIREKEEPER'S DAUGHTER - Finding Strength in Culture

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for March 2, 2021, featuring Choi, Hashimi, and Ishiguro

Featured Books for March 2021

Tracy Deonn's LEGENDBORN - A Brilliant Balance of Fantasy and Reality

Pub Day Shout-Outs for February 9, 2021, featuring Leitich Smith, Johnson, and Shusterman

Love Is in the Air 2021: Even More Romance Recommendations

Featured Books for February 2021

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for January 19, 2021, featuring Cashore, Hall, Lo, and Okorafor

Featured Books for January 2021

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for December 8, 2020, featuring Clayton, Faber, and Mans McKenny

Katherena Vermette's THE BREAK - A Multi-Generational Family Saga

Books to Encourage Activism

Featured Books for November 2020

Claudia Rankine's JUST US: AN AMERICAN CONVERSATION - A Book I'll Re-Read

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for October 27, 2020, featuring Staebler, Paoloni, Maniscalco, and Washington

Nic Stone's DEAR JUSTYCE - A Worthy Companion to the Brilliant DEAR MARTIN

Pub Day Shout-Outs! for October 6, 2020, featuring Mbalia, Faruqi, and Gansworth

Featured Books for October 2020

144: Celebrating Global Read Aloud

143: Reading Romance - Interview with Farrah Rochon, author of THE BOYFRIEND PROJECT

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