What would Ula read?

 5 out of 5 👸🏾 Queen of Black Feminism  'Queens of the Resistance' is a series of books about modern-day politicians committed to making an impact on our everyday lives. They advocate for a change of the existing administrative model to be more inclusive and welcome for every gender and skin color. These Queens are concerned about racial justice, everyday problems of lower & middle-class Americans as well as undocumented ones, and climate change. This volume tells the story of Maxine Waters, who knows all about the struggles of lower-class Americans, Black Americans, women, and single parents. She faced Jim Crow laws and scrutiny of white congressmen, yet she hasn't stopped advocating for women and people of color. The biggest advantage of the series is language, pure gen Z / millennial slang and references made me smile. That whole attitude made the book more enjoyable and easier to digest. I enjoyed that piece and want to read more books of that series!! Thank you N...

5 out of 5 🧑🏼‍💼The smartest Republican among Democrats   'Queens of the Resistance' is a series of books about modern-day politicians committed to making an impact on our everyday lives. They advocate for a change of the existing administrative model to be more inclusive and welcome for every gender and skin color. These Queens are concerned about racial justice, everyday problems of lower & middle-class Americans as well as undocumented ones, and climate change. The title starts with Elizabeth Warren's parents and grandparents who lived through the Great Depression in Oklahoma as low-class citizens and their struggles in everyday life. Subsequently, the book shows Elizabeth's early life and her strifes as a single mother. As a consequence of these experiences, she'd started to dig deep into personal bankruptcy cases, she's been meeting with people and collect their stories. As a result of her studies, she changed her conservative mindset to more socially...

3 out of 5 👯‍♀️Female friendship tale 'Everything Here is Under Control' tells a story of two BFFs who's lost track of each other's lives somewhere along their way to adulthood. Carrie's got pregnant and gotten birth to a daughter while still in high school. Amanda has been helping her for the first years but right after graduation she left their small Ohio town and moved to NYC with her boyfriend. Several years later, overwhelmed with being a new mother herself, Amanda ran away from her baby father right to Carrie's house. I have mixed feelings about Madeline Lambert as narrator. While her narration with normal speed was monotonous and bland, with 1.5x speed it gave that nonchalant irony which matched perfectly with my character of Amanda. I wish I've heard more tone changing and modulating. Overall, I subtracted 0.5 points of my original score for the audio version. Reading about the struggles of a new mother reminded me of the first months (weeks? years!...

4 out of 5 💪"...She's still Alex from the block 🎶" 'Queens of the Resistance' is a series of books about modern-day politicians committed to making an impact on our everyday lives. Also, to change the existing administrative model to be more inclusive and welcome for every gender and skin color. These Queens are concerned about racial justice, everyday problems of undocumented Americans, and climate change. The volume about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tells the story of AOC since the very beginning, including her childhood through the first steps in politics to her plans for the future. The book is strongly biased but that something the one can guess just by the title. It made my roll my eyes ones or twice in the first chapters but the farthest in the book, the more concrete data, and stories. I enjoyed the background story of Alexandria and all the badass stuff she's done (so far!). The biggest advantage of the series is language, pure gen Z / millennial slang...

Antiracist learning in young adult fiction 'This is My America' is a title so important with current events exposing systemic racism in modern America. This young adult title covers the story of a black family whose father was wrongfully accused and imprisoned for murder to be executed. The book shows a race against time with his daughter as a protagonist, to save him from that wrongful conviction.  It reminds me of my recent read 'From the Desk of Zoe Washington' - which is a midgrade story with similar synopsis, showing how great is the issue of incarcerating innocent people of color in the United States. More to love: great take on biracial relationships, loyalty, friendship, and racial justice. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher Random House Books for Young Readers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and feelings are my own.

5 out of 5 💪Girl Power International Another tome of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls shows 100 portraits of female immigrants that made their impact on the world. I liked the variety of representation that doesn't focus on the United States and the UK. On the same note, the book shows women from both the past and the ones currently living, both young and old with all skin colors and background history. Each person is represented with a brief description, their immigration route, and a beautiful portrait - each painted by the different talented artists. I greatly admired that eclectic design idea. Overall, this is another great gift for brave young girls and women. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher Rebel Girls for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and feelings are my own.

4 out of 5 👊Cinderella and her #metoo story A little disclaimer here first: The original version of Cinderella is obviously problematic with strongly patriarchal worldviews, yet didn't mention any actual abuse and forced marriage. Cinderella seemed very happy with the story plot and her life choices. In 'Cinderella is Dead', we got to know new facts about her life and the kingdom that added a whole new female-abusive layer. Hence my title. Two hundred years after Cinderella fairytale and the glass shoe incident, the annual ball gathers young women 16 to 18 years old and 'eligible bachelors' with no age limit to pick their new treasure wife. Female participation is obligatory and failure to attend (or not being picked) equals atrocious consequences.  Since her early childhood, Sophia was reading Cinderella's story but would rather marry a princess than Prince Charming. Although her family accepted the relationship with her childhood friend Erin, they knew she mu...

5 out of 5 🌟 Life as we don't know it  'Call Me American' made me astounded since page one. It a memoir of Abdi Nor Iftin, a Somalian man who immigrated from his home country to the USA. The story starts with Abdi's parents who were nomads living in Somalian wilderness herding camels, hunting and, occasionally, fighting with lions and hyenas. His family has settled in the city of Mogadishu where their hard-enough life was brutally interrupted by the war in 1993 and - long story short - anarchy that comes after. Abdi has been always fascinated with American culture and taught himself English watching Hollywood movies. His lifelong dream was to move to the United States and this memoir tells the story of his long and dangerous journey through war and bureaucracy. This book left me speechless and while I'm gathering my words to write this review, I know I won't be able to do it right. 'Call Me American' tells about a life that's an exact opposite of an...

3 out of 5 🌟Interesting ideas with poor execution Mayhem and her mother Roxy have fled their abusive stepfather/husband from their house in Texas to a family home in California. Roxy hasn't been to Santa Maria, CA since the day she left to start a new life. Yes, there's a dark secret involved. The book comes with a trigger warning about rape description but it does not include all the other things that threw me off when reading. This supposed to be a young adult, hence I didn't anticipate the number of expletives I encountered while reading and yet, that wasn't the worst part. I was unpleasantly surprised with gruesome descriptions of homicides and * Spoiler Alert * the fact than they were committed by "good" characters in the book and also treated as something noble (what!?). People cheering, giving presents to the murderous vigilantes... Is that still a book for teenagers? Plus, descriptions of doing drugs endorsed by the family members and friends. * Spoil...

4 out of 5 🌟I can read this all day! If I say that 'Greek Myths' are beautifully illustrated, it'd be an understatement. This book is just gorgeous. I want to print out every page and put on my wall. I love everything from page design and how text is perfectly fitted inside the pictures to the font-face which is enough fancy to draw my attention but ordinary enough to read. The myths are sorted chronologically from the creation of the world and gods to the more recent events in Ancient Greece's beliefs. The stories are brief and summarized, there isn't too much narration just the chain of events, hence it reads more like a textbook, not a leisure publication. Despite the title covers a great number of details and it's perfect to learn Greek Mythology. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher DK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and feelings are my own.

5 our of 5 🌟Confronting my cis-gender privilege First things first: I don't feel I could ever rate someone's life story, hence I won't that. My review is based on the book's structure and how it made me feel while reading. All the testimonies in the book are real people's accounts and they are equally valid. The book editing is excellent. The introduction includes an abundant explanation of terms used in the book and cultural context to all of them. The testimonies itself are divided into sections by themes like 'The Life Course' or 'Communities' to better grab the context. The editors have done an awesome job in explaining what being non-binary really means with all its various shades. Each of the narrations is different, some of them are more lyric and some more down-to-earth or including two or more people. The title consists of thirty distinct narrations overall and, like many short stories, I liked to read them separately with some time to refl...

4.5 out of 5 🌟 OCD, indigenous people and a hint of magic I stopped reading middle-grade books when I was probably 12. I've promoted myself to the young adult shelf and avoided 'childish' books for long, long years. And here I am, in my early thirties, reading that genre again. And one thing I know for sure, there are children books about more 'serious' topics and containing more in-depth life knowledge than in many adult-ish books. And 'The Brave' is one of these books. 'The Brave' has probably one of the most interesting synopsizes I've ever heard of. It's a story about a boy with a very specific type of OCD - counting each letter in sentences directed to him. It's caused a great issue for his peers, who bullied him, and his father, who sent him away to live with his mother. Collin's mom is an indigenous woman living in an Ojibwe reservation in Minnesota and that's a tremendous life change for a boy from South California! Colli...

3.5 out of 5 🌟Magical realism meets historical fiction 'Library of Legends' tells a real but little known story of the Chinese-Japanse war. In 1937, a group of students traveled across China flying the Japanese army while also carrying ancient tomes of the Library of Legends. The volumes, describing Chinese mythology, was a national treasury and needed to be hidden away inland China. As a part of magical realism, during that danger quest, they have unbeknown encountered mythical beings who followed the students along their journey. 'Library of Legends' is full of history mixed up with magical experiences. And Janie Chang did a great job including testimonies of the survivors alongside enhanced Chinese mythology and bringing them together on historical background. That's the best side of this title but even if I love books with a historical setting depicting factual events, I had a hard time reading this one. I enjoy Lian, one of the main characters of the book, and...

3 out of 5 🌟 Craving for love Claire is a 17-year old teenager whose father died of cancer and whose mother has been depressed ever since. Her best friend got a boyfriend and consequently, they're spending less and less time together. Claire finds her escape from all these problems in music. She's a talented pianist and being the best piano player is her chance to get a scholarship. Claire's new piano teacher impress her in every possible way. He is an accomplished musician and teacher, and he is nice to her, which in these circumstances is enough for Clair to become fond of him. My main issue with the 'Private Lessons' was that for at least 80% of the book I wasn't sure what the story is really about. It gave me the creepy 'Lolita' vibes and I wasn't really sure if the book wants to be a romance or a cautionary tale. Towards the ending, things got clear, and Claire's behavior started to make so much sense from the retrospective. She was not a t...

4 out of 5 🌟Wonder not-yet-a-Woman, a social justice warrior Wonder Woman, as every comic character from both DC and Marvel worlds, has been recreated multiple times with a new origin story. Sometimes they are related to each other, and sometimes they built with totally different narration. 'Tempest Tossed' belongs to that second category, the plot is unlike any other iteration of Diana's beginnings. That creates a great opportunity to jump on the Wonder Woman's bandwagon even for readers who don't know DC Universe. Amazons live in Themyscira, a secret island far from civilization, unbeknown to people. Loosely based on Greek mythology, these warriors are the favorite making of the Ancient Greeks' Goddesses. Wonder Woman vel Princess Diana is a teenager, or rather a "changeling", as she's called on her island. Diana has never been outside of Themyscira and amidst the story's events, she gets to know our world and tries to make sense of it. ...

3.5 out of 5 🌟Girl Power Fantasy Full disclosure : I used to love fantasy books and I know if I'd read that book ten years ago, I would've given it 6 out of 5 stars. But after reading a lot of fantasy I couldn't stop cringe seeing yet another  chosen one  that proven herself/ saved the world/ fulfilled her destiny. That book is redundant to all classic YA fantasy topics but at the same time, it makes it sounds so much better. If I could forget all other titles about girls with extraordinary abilities and know only this one, I'd do that without hesitation. Let's imagine the world driven by patriarchy where young women need to prove themselves pure in a sacred ritual when entering adolescence. The ones that fail, are condemned to death and their families are disgraced. It wasn't hard to imagine, was it? The word created by Namina Forna resembles real people's experiences, therefore it feels personal to readers. Deka, the book's protagonist was notoriously...

5 out of 5 🌟 Savoring every page May is a businesswoman and she's working in her own company - Word Saver Inc. where she literally saves the day. Her main job is helping people with something she's really good at, the words. There's also Stu who badly wants to become her sidekick but does a businesswoman need one? The book is showing May saving the day by changing the letters in dangerous words. It is a similar concept to 'Words' World' where everything is built out of letters. Just after her first adventure, my son was trying along with May to solve the next literacy puzzle. That book was a lot of fun for both of us!  I love how inclusive this title is by showing black girls as entrepreneurs and a boy in the wheelchair playing along with everyone else without any acknowledgment of his disability. 'May Saves the Day' is a hilarious book about word games, independent females, and the power of teamwork. It shows that even the most successful people can us...

5 out of 5 🌟The Father of India Little People, Big Dreams  are short children books about exceptional people  who changed the way we’re looking at the world now.  They're enjoyable pieces of non-fiction  to savor along with your tiny humans.  I love biographies of people who dared to be different, and these short books are one of my favorites. Each book in the series is illustrated by different artists with their unique style that even non-art-savvy like me can appreciate.  'Mahatma Gandhi'  is painted by Albert Arrays with pencils and watercolors and his images fit perfectly into a very tea-like climate of British colonies from a century ago. The story itself depicts the life of Mohandas (who then became Mahatma Gandhi) as an activist who made his non-violent fight towards India freedom.  Even if this short book is destined for children, it contains a lot of information concentrated on an encyclopedic-style page at the end. Most importantly, eve...

4 out of 5 🌟Toddler's city guide  ‘Little Cities’ is a series of board books for the youngest readers about the major US cities. The books focus on the main tourist attractions and landmarks. Illustrations are informative but simple, and they remind me of infographics in educational pamphlets. The ‘San Francisco’ book is brief but full of knowledge that fitted into only ten pages. It tells about the most famous city sites and day trips one cannot miss when visiting the city. This volume doesn't include the page about food like the other books from the series. Overall, it’s a good work to engage children's curiosity about the city before and during the trip. Many thanks to the publisher DK and NetGalley for the digital ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Field Guide to the Undead 4 out of 5 🌟 Let's talk pseudoscience 'Zombies of the World' pretends to be a non-fiction encyclopedia of the undead around the world. The book consists of a few parts. My favorite was field guide, where (just like in other field guides!) each species is described with a schematic picture, characteristics, range of occurrence, and conservation status (yes, some of them are endangered species!). There are also zombie encounters in history, a survival guide, chapters about the science of undead, social studies, and many more. As a consequence, this title is an eclectic mixture of everything that is currently known about zombies in the universe created by Ross Payton and it's served with grave seriousness that makes me laugh more than once. I greatly enjoyed the illustrations of each zombie species with their cartoonish gruesomeness. Since the book is a mixture of sources, also graphical design differs from chapter to chapter, and the rest of t...