Markita “Kita” Jones is a young woman with the world at her fingertips. A high-school student with beauty and brains to match, she’s well on her way to Howard University. However, on her 18th birthday, she watches her dreams die during a drive-by shooting that claims the life of her brother. Overnight, Kita transforms from a naïve schoolgirl into a savvy street hustler on a mission to find her brother’s killer.
With the help of her best friends, Kenya and Alexis, Kita quickly begins making more money and more enemies than she ever could’ve imagined. As these young hustlers learn to navigate the dope game, the police start to close in on them and the stakes are raised higher than ever. Loyalty is questioned, love is tested, and someone’s actions prove to be dishonorable. They came into the game together, but will they leave the same way?
Review/thoughts
First I want to thank the publisher and author for allowing me to read this and share my honest review.
Without taking or saying too much about the story, reading this novel kept me guessing the whole way through. I felt so connected to all the characters (including the enemies) I enjoyed the way the story flowed and how each chapter I wanted to know what was going to happen next. This is a dark, gritty story set in Detroit following a young woman and her friends (Kita, Kenya, and Alexis) and how they navigate the underworld of crime and fast money.
I enjoyed India’s writing and I want to read all her books now. I’m a fan now and anyone who likes urban fiction / street lit I think they would enjoy this story.
He thought he knew everything about his wife… He was wrong!
Tom and Amy Pearce have built a seemingly perfect life – a loving marriage, a beautiful daughter, fulfilling careers, and a comfortable home. They couldn’t ask for more.
So why is Amy hiding something?
When Tom stumbles upon an object he believed was lost in a tragic accident, memories flood back, catapulting him into an emotional whirlwind.
A few days later, Tom observes an encounter between Amy and a mysterious stranger. The subtle shift in her demeanour piques his concern, stirring a deep unease within him. Desperate for answers, he confronts Amy, only to be met with evasiveness and distance.
As Tom delves deeper into the connection between the stranger and the object from the past, he realises he may not truly know his wife at all…
WHAT SHE KNEW – the new suspenseful thriller from the author of I’ll Find You, The Neighbour’s Secret and The Boy in the Well.
Review/ My thoughts
What She Knew is a fast paced thriller about a man, husband and father named Tom. His sister Emma just recently passed away from a house fire. Tom’s wife Amy has been acting strange lately having a strange man visit and hunt her down, taking phone calls at weird times. Being very secretive.
In the end Tom is on a mission to find out why Amy is behaving the way she is and it has a lot to do with his sister’s death.
Overall this was a good story there were moments where I felt I knew where the story was going but it didn’t take away from the story. I enjoyed how fast paced it was. This being the first story I read by this author I think I may check out other books by him.
Rating 3.75 (4) ⭐
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This is a coming of age graphic novel about a 7th grader named Olivia going by the name Viv because there are so many other Olivia’s at her school and she is on a mission to be bold and different and live in her truth. On picture day at school her mom makes Viv were an old cardigan that Viv doesn’t like at all. Viv wants to stand out so badly so while at school she ends up cutting her braid off to send a message that she is ready to not be the same person any morere.
Viv follows a popular influencer named Quinn Sparks, Quinn seems to be someone Viv looks up to and gets a lot of advice from. Quinn tends to talk about being your true self and doing what makes you happy regardless of how others think.
Viv wants the recognition from some kids at school regarding her new change. Meanwhile her friends Milo and Al just want her to stay on task regarding the costumes in skate sequence that they’re doing for school.
I believe young kids and middle schoolers who read this will learn that trying to be too different comes at price and also following internet fame shouldn’t be as important as really loving who you are.
I enjoyed the illustrations and how colorful they were. This graphic novel has a good message for kids which is something I really appreciate.
Rating 4⭐
Synopsis
Book Info: Picture Day by Sarah Sax Genre: Middle Grade Graphic Novel Publishing Date: June 27, 2023 Synopsis: Everyone knows the most stressful day of middle school is picture day ! And that’s exactly where this yearbook-worthy graphic novel series opener with reinventing yourself, drama, popularity, and the friends who see you through. Seventh-grader Viv never looks forward to picture day. It’s just another day where she wears a boring braid and no one notices her. (Her two best friends, Milo and Al, don’t count, of course.) But enough is enough. This year, she’s taking matters into her own hands. Literally. Viv grabs a pair of scissors, her phone for live-streaming, and, well, bye-bye braid. Suddenly Viv is an over-night influencer at Brinkley Middle School. Everyone wants her help planning their next big moment—from haircuts, to dance proposals, activist rallies and mathlete championships. She hardly even has time for her friends anymore. It’s exactly how she dreamed of reinventing herself…right? In the tradition of modern classics like Vera Brosgol’s Be Prepared , Svetlana Chmakova’s Awkward , and Kayla Miller’s Click , Picture Day brings answers to perennial questions of what it means to be true to yourself—and a true friend.
Sarah cares deeply about encouraging young readers to discover and expand their sense of creative confidence. She studied Storytelling and Sequential Imagery at Hampshire College and she’s since worked as an educator at the Children’s Creativity Museum in San Francisco, a volunteer with 826 Valencia, and as Creative Director at Lumosity, where she led a team of artists working with scientists and game designers to transform problem-solving and memory skills into brain-training games. She is the illustrator of the first three books (Escape This Book: Titanic; Escape this Book: Tombs of Egypt; and Escape This Book: Race to the Moon) in the inventive, interactive Escape This Book! series, which has been translated into eight languages. PICTURE DAY, her first of four graphic novels in the Brinkley Yearbooks series, will be published in the summer of 2023. She lives in Portland, Maine.
I wanted to post a video I did specifically for my YouTube channel sharing why I haven’t been updating there in a long while. The video update is very short but I thought I’ll let those who follow me the reasons why I haven’t uploaded in a while. Video below 👇
This is a fun and fast paced middle grade story about a young boy who is the son of an umbrellalla maker. Oscar lives in a place where it rains constantly and there are many different types of rain, that’s how much rain they get. So the umbrella business is always booming here.
The people of the city tend to buy cheap not well supported umbrellas just to get them through the day. The issue is they are breaking and just not good for the amount of rain they get. The people of the city would rather pay less then pay more for something that will last and actually work.
Oscar dad needs more help at his shop so his dad asks him to leave school to become his apprentice. Oscar doesn’t like this his passion is art not making and selling umbrellas.
In the story Oscar and his best friend Saige try to understand the weird weather in the city and other darkness that may occurcuring.
This was a fun lightheaded fast paced read I really enjoyed it.
Rating 4 ⭐
Synopsis
The Umbrella Maker’s Son by Katrina Leno Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy Publishing Date: June 27, 2023 Synopsis: From a critically acclaimed author comes a fantastical middle grade novel about a boy determined to prove there’s more than just the weather behind his rainy town. Oscar Buckle lives in a city where it’s always raining. And when it isn’t raining, it’s about to rain, so the townspeople have learned to embrace it. Oscar’s father is an umbrella maker—appropriate for a place where you can’t leave home without one!—but while Buckle Umbrellas are strong, reliable, and high quality, they’re expensive . Because of this, people are buying from the competitor instead, which is threatening Oscar’s family’s business. To make ends meet, Oscar is forced to quit school and work in his father’s shop as an apprentice. But when extraordinary events start to occur in their rainy town, Oscar becomes suspicious of their competitor. Desperate to save his town, Oscar must enlist the help of his best friend, Saige, to discover if there’s more than nature involved in their city’s weather. Content Warning: Grief, loss of a parent
About the author
Katrina Leno was born on the East Coast and currently lives in Los Angeles. She is the author of
seven critically acclaimed novels for young adults: Sometime in Summer, Horrid, You Must Not Miss,
Summer of Salt, Everything All at Once, The Lost & Found, and The Half Life of Molly Pierce. Her
eighth novel (and first middle grade) The Umbrella Maker’s Son, arrives June 27, 2023. She thinks
you are just lovely.
My Beauty My Books 📚💄 