22 February, 2022

[Review] Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone

Cover image from the TheStoryGraph Site.


Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Release Date: 7 July, 2020
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons - an imprint of Random House
Genre: Juvenile Fiction/Children's/Contemporary
ISBN: 9781984816436
Edition: Hardback (also available in Paperback, Audiobook, and eBook)
Rating:★★★★
Review Written: 9 February, 2022
Content Warnings: B
ody shaming, Bullying, Drug abuse (Vaping), Addiction, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Body shaming, Bullying, Racism, Sexism, Ableism, Transphobia
Summary:  
In this debut middle-grade girl-power friendship story, an eighth grader starts a podcast to protest the unfair dress code enforcement at her middle school and sparks a rebellion.

Molly Frost is FED UP...

Because Olivia was yelled at for wearing a tank top.

Because Liza got dress coded and Molly didn't, even though they were wearing the exact same outfit.
Because when Jessica was pulled over by the principal and missed a math quiz, her teacher gave her an F.

Because it's impossible to find shorts that are longer than her fingertips.

Because girls' bodies are not a distraction.

Because middle school is hard enough.

And so Molly starts a podcast where girls can tell their stories, and before long, her small rebellion swells into a revolution. Because now the girls are standing up for what's right, and they're not backing down.

See more by Carrie Firestone on her twitter.

08 February, 2022

[Review] Cleo Porter and the Body Electric by Jake Burt

Cover image from the TheStoryGraph Site.


Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Release Date: 6 October, 2020
Publisher: Squarefish, an imprint of Macmillan Kids
Genre: Juvenile Fiction/Children's/Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781250802729
Edition: Paperback (also available in Hardback, Audiobook, and eBook)
Rating:★★★★
Review Written: 7 February, 2022
Warnings:
Mentions of Death, Fire/Fire Injury, Animal Death, Minor Violence, Panic/Anxiety Attacks
Summary:  
A woman is dying. Cleo Porter has her medicine... and no way to get it to her.

Like everyone else, twelve-year-old Cleo and her parents are sealed in an apartment without windows or doors. They never leave. They never get visitors. Their food is dropped off by drones. So they're safe. Safe from the disease that nearly wiped humans from the earth. Safe from everything. The trade-off?

They're alone. Thus, when they receive a package clearly meant for someone else - a package containing a substance critical for a stranger's survival - Cleo is stuck. As a surgeon-in-training, she knows the clock is ticking. But people don't leave their units.

Not ever.

Until Now.

See more by Jake Burt on his website.