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- Feb 19
- 3 min
Safia Elhillo's HOME IS NOT A COUNTRY - Finding a Way to Inner Peace
by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Thank you to #partner NetGalley for the advance copy of this book, Safia Elhillo's Home Is Not a Country. This one comes out on March 2nd! In this YA lit novel in verse, teenager Nima explores what her life would be like if she were a different daughter and friend. Living alone with her mom and separated from the homeland where her mother grew up, Nima feels that she doesn't really belong anywhere. She clings to the music and
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- Feb 17
- 8 min
165: MISMATCHED Screen Adaptation of Sandhya Menon's WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI
In this Unabridged Podcast episode, we discuss the pilot episode of Mismatched, a screen adaptation of Sandhya Menon's young adult romance novel, When Dimple Met Rishi. We all loved this book and enjoyed doing it as a buddy read on Instagram. This adaptation is a perfect fit for our Unabridged Reading Challenge bonus category, watching an adaptation of a YA lit book! This series has six parts and can be found on Netflix. Bookish Check-in Ashley - Sarah Morganthaler’s The Tour
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- Feb 16
- 4 min
Pub Day Shout-Outs! February 16, 2021, featuring Schumacher, Rai, and Lalli
by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read (plus a bonus picture book!)! Ashley Schumacher's Amelia Unabridged Description from Publisher: "Sparks fly between two teens as they grapple with grief, love, and the future in this unforgettable debut novel sure to entice fans of Jandy Nelson and Jennifer E. Smith. "Eighteen-year-old Amelia Griffin is obsessed with the famous Orman Chronicles, written by the you
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- Feb 12
- 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
- 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 2
- 4 min
Pub Day Shout-Outs! for February 2, 2021, featuring Harper, McGarrahan, and Watson
by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Renee Watson's Love Is a Revolution "When Nala Robertson reluctantly agrees to attend an open mic night for her cousin-sister-friend Imani’s birthday, she finds herself falling in instant love with Tye Brown, the MC. He’s perfect, except . . . Tye is an activist and is spending the summer putting on events for the community when Nala would rather watch movies and try out the new
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- Feb 1
- 7 min
Five of Sara's Favorite Reads of 2020 (Part 2)
by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) This is so exciting! i can't wait to share my 2nd half picks with you! My 2020 reading had some ups and downs, but as I was reflecting on some of my favorites, I found that I had some definitive favorites for the latter part of 2020. (Be sure to check our mid-year posts: here's Jen's, Ashley's, and mine.) Sandhya Menon's When Dimple Met Rishi From the publisher: "Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than
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- Jan 30
- 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 26
- 4 min
Pub Day Shout-Outs! for January 26, 2021 featuring Giles, Quotah, and Patel
by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Chrystal D. Giles's Take Back the Block Description from Publisher: "Brand-new kicks, ripped denim shorts, Supreme tee— "Wes Henderson has the best style in sixth grade. That—and hanging out with his crew (his best friends since little-kid days) and playing video games—is what he wants to be thinking about at the start of the school year, not the protests his par
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- Jan 22
- 3 min
Ashley Schumacher's AMELIA UNABRIDGED - A Book about the Magic of Books
by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to Partner NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the digital ARC of Ashley Schumacher’s Amelia Unabridged in exchange for an honest review. The book will be published on Tuesday, February 16. A certain category of books is magic for book lovers: books about the magic of books. (As my students would say: how meta.) Ashley Schumacher’s Amelia Unabridged offers that precise type of magic. Had I not started this YA debut novel at 11:00 on a sch
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- Jan 19
- 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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- Jan 18
- 8 min
Five of Jen's Favorite Reads of 2020 (Part 2)
by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Oh, friends, making book choices never gets easier for me. I had shared so many excellent books in my 2020 mid-year post AND on our 2020 Unabridged Awards Episode that I thought I would have narrowed the list from which to choose. Wow, was I wrong! (Be sure to check our mid-year posts: here's mine, Ashley's, and Sara's.) I read 345 books in 2020, and of those, 28 earned five stars from me, and 92 earned four-and-a-half stars. So, even with the
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- Jan 13
- 12 min
160: Unabridged Podcast Book Awards for 2020
In this episode of the Unabridged Podcast, Ashley, Jen, and Sara offer up their book awards for 2020. After sharing their Bookish Check-ins, they each present their award categories and their book picks, which include adult and young adult titles. They end the episode with Non-Bookish Awards. What 2020 books have stood out for you? Bookish Check-in Ashley - Talia Hibbert’s Take a Hint, Dani Brown Jen - Lisa Ko’s The Leavers Sara - Liz Moore’s Long Bright River Our Book Picks
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- Jan 12
- 4 min
Pub Day Shout-Outs! for January 12, 2021 featuring Pink, Richardson, and Thomas
by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Randi Pink's Angel of Greenwood Description from Publisher: "Randi Pink’s The Angel of Greenwood is a historical YA novel that takes place during the Greenwood Massacre of 1921, in an area of Tulsa, OK, known as the 'Black Wall Street.' "Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Wilson is, on the surface, a town troublemaker, but is hiding that he is an avid reader and secret poet, never leavin
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- Jan 8
- 4 min
Randi Pink's ANGEL OF GREENWOOD - The Greenwood Massacre of 1921 from the Perspective of Teens
by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Randi Pink's Angel of Greenwood was my first full book of 2021, and what a great way to start the year! I was thrilled to see this book, and as soon as I saw that it was historical fiction and covered the Greenwood Massacre that took place in Tulsa, OK, in 1921, I knew I wanted to read it. That event is something I personally knew very little about until well into my adult life, and I was excited to see this important and tr
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- Jan 6
- 9 min
159: Adib Khorram's DARIUS THE GREAT IS NOT OKAY - January Book Club
In the first book club discussion of 2021, we are thrilled to discuss Adib Khorram's Darius the Great Is Not Okay. This brilliant young adult lit book addresses so many important topics including family heritage, bullying, friendship, family dynamics, managing depression, and so many other issues with nuance and humor. If you're interested in discussing this one, it's also our Unabridged Podcast Buddy Read this month! We'll be talking about it on January 11th and 25th on Inst
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- Jan 5
- 4 min
Pub Day Shout-Outs! for January 5, 2021, featuring Bruchac, Harris, and Bryant
by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read! Joseph Bruchac's Peacemaker Description from Publisher: "A twelve-year-old Iroquois boy rethinks his calling after witnessing the arrival of a mystical figure with a message of peace in this historical novel based on the creation of the Iroquois Confederacy. "Twelve-year-old Okwaho's life has suddenly changed. While out hunting with his best friend, his friend is
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- Jan 4
- 4 min
6 Great YA and Middle Grade Lit Book Picks Addressing Mental Health and Bullying
by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) In this month's book club pick Darius the Great Is Not Okay (which is also our buddy read—DM us on Instagram if you'd like to join those chats! There's still time!), Adib Khorram discusses living with depression as a teenager in a meaningful and focused way. I wanted to share some other amazing young adult lit books (as well a middle grade lit pick) that address mental health and bullying (another important topic in Darius th
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- Jan 1
- 2 min
Emma Lord's YOU HAVE A MATCH - A Compelling, Parent Trap-Adjacent, YA Romance
by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books) Thanks to Partner NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC of Emma Lord’s You Have a Match in exchange for an honest review. I’m also thrilled to have read this with @lovearctually! The book will be published on Tuesday, January 12. I missed out on Emma Lord’s first book, Tweet Cute, but I’m definitely going to read it now. I could not have loved this second book, You Have a Match, more. It is such a brilliant YA read, dealing with
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