When the Ground is Hard, by Malla Nunn

     Wow! The first book I've read in a while that I simply could not put down! This is an OBOB book for the coming season, which is surprising as it seems to be an "older" book than I would pick for middle grade OBOB, at least when I first started reading it. When the Ground is Hard is author Nunn's debut book, and currently she has a second release (titled Sugar Town Queens, which I'll be sure to find and read!). She is a South African who moved at a young age to Australia where she currently lives. One of the things I loved about Ground is that it is obvious Nunn is not from the U.S. - her writing just has a different cadence, or rhythm, to it. It was a refreshing change of pace, and her writing is riveting! Honestly, when I wasn't reading I was trying to figure out when I could be reading again! Yep, this one is wonderful!

    This book tells the story of Adele, a mixed-race girl whose White father provides modestly for her and her Black mother. But because of apartheid laws in Swaziland, in southern Africa, where this story takes place, father and mother cannot live together, so Adele is raised by her mother while her father provides financially, but from another town, where he lives with his other (White) family. 

    Adele attends a Christian boarding school and usually is absorbed into the popular girls group. But in this new school year, she has been replaced in her girl clique, and finds herself rooming with a poor girl, Lottie, who doesn't follow the rules and likes to fight. The book is about Adele navigating race and class differences where she lives, but with many relevant issues that apply to people today, most anywhere in the world, which makes the book so good! Lottie is not what Adele thought she was, nor are the girls she used to hang with, but discovering all of that is challenging, and often hard.

    Treat yourself to this story! The writing is different because the author uses different descriptions and words than authors I often read. But that makes this book even better - it's fresh and new, and the descriptions will stay with you long after you put the book down. I hope the rest of the OBOB season is this awesome! 5 paws!

The Many Meanings of Meilan, by Andrea Wang

    Meilan is a middle school Taiwanese-American living in Boston with her extended family when a bedtime story that she tells her niece one night turns the family into a quarreling clan. The infighting escalates and continues for months, resulting in a move across the country for Meilan, her parents and her grandfather. In their new town in Ohio, Meilan really struggles to find herself among mostly White classmates and far from her best friend, her old schoolmates and the rest of her family.

    This first middle grade novel by author Wang has a lot of really good themes in it, the strongest of which includes identity, especially where race is concerned. Meilan finds that in her new town most people don't know a lot about other people or cultures, certainly not hers, and as she tries to navigate all of the negativity that that ignorance brings, she has to find sources of strength within, rethinking events and memories - even past relationships - to discover herself.

    

    There is a lot to like about this book, but I just couldn't get super excited about it. There were a few things that I felt Wang did that weakened the overall effect of what is a good story. For instance, she inserts a lot of Mandarin Chinese into the story, which makes sense as Meilan is pushed to learn her ancestral language by her parents. But she inserts it so often that it took away from the flow of the story for me. She also uses words that I don't think Meilan would use, such as when she's describing a certain food her parents enjoy but not easy to find in Ohio. In Meilan's narration, she describes the food as "gelatinous"...which sounds like it came straight from the dictionary, not a 7th grader. 

    

    Perhaps these things are my own pug biases coming out. After all, The Many Meanings of Meilan is getting really good reviews in most places. And I love much about Meilan and this story. But I couldn't get past the few things, like those I mentioned, that seemed to be due to a new author. With a few books under her belt, I think Wang would have created a stronger story. This one is good, but not as good as it could have been. 3 paws and a wag!

Ghost, by Jason Reynolds

     The first book in author Jason Reynold's Track series, Ghost is the story of Castle Crenshaw, also known as Ghost. Living in a tough part of the city, not particularly successful in school, living with his single mom who is working full time and trying to get through night school classes to improve life for her and Ghost - all present challenges for our protagonist. He happens upon a local city track team in his neighborhood and ends up wanting to be part of that team. But does he have what it takes to work for it? And does he have the stamina to stick with it, and do it honestly? Can Ghost use a horrible event from his past to make his future better? Or will the past hold him back, heading towards a life much like his father is living now, a life of fighting...will Ghost run away from his past or towards his future?

    Reynolds is one of my all-time favorite authors, and if you've never experienced a Jason Reynolds book, do yourself a huge favor and read one today! This one is a great place to start, but you won't go wrong with any of his books. He writes excellent stories, realistic fiction, all with African-American characters and most with race as one of the themes of the story. Sort of a modern-day version of Walter Dean Myers. While I haven't read all four books in this series yet, I have read the first two, and they are really good, with Ghost being better than average, for sure! A pretty quick read, an excellent story...read this! 5 paws!

Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna, by Alda P. Dobbs

     It's 1913 in Mexico, and the revolution is in full swing. Petra Luna has lost both of her parents to the revolution, which was supposed to be a good thing for the people of Mexico, but for many it meant the destruction of their towns and the disappearances of many people. Petra is trying to lead her siblings and grandmother out of harm's way, and she learns that the only direction to go is north, to cross the border into the United States. But can she get there? Can she get her and her remaining family there safely? Or would it be better to stay and join the forces that are trying to win Mexico back for its people (and not the corrupt government and military, who once promised a better nation, but who clearly will not be making that happen for Petra or others like her). 

    Author Dobbs creates a tense historical fiction story which seems to parallel today's headlines in many ways. It reminded me a lot of The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz in the sense that young people are in charge of saving themselves, and perhaps others, in escaping bad situations in countries south of the U.S. but with no guarantee that getting to the border will mean being able to cross. Those questions are still relevant today, which makes books like Petra Luna more riveting. It also gives us a better idea of the story behind the lives of people trying ti make their lives better, here or other places in the world. And do we as a country have a responsibility to help other countries? Other people? Weren't we, or our ancestors, once in need of a better life as well?

    A good read, with a strong lead character in Petra, and some historical information as the background to her story. Mixed together this is a very good window into the lives of those trying to find a better world, but not without putting in the work to make it better. 5 paws!