Welcome to my April 2024 Favorite Books post! This monthly post is where I share the 5 star books I’ve read so far each month. I had a few 5 star reads this month that I am excited to share. There are a few more reading days left in the month so if I have any further 5 star reads, I will share them next week. You can see the first half of my April reading here and I will share the rest next week. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.
Title: And Then, Boom!
Author: Lisa Fipps
Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books, 5/7/24
Source: Storygram Book Tours
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
I loved Starfish by Lisa Fipps and I loved this story about Joe too. Lisa Fipps has a way of telling a full story in verse that is emotional and meaningful! Joe is only 11 but he has a lot going on with his mother never sticking around and he and his grandmother dealing with poverty. They find themselves without a home but Joe’s good friend helps them find a new one. Joe then has to learn what it’s like to be truly on his own. He deals with food insecurity and fear of being sent to foster care. He finds a mom dog and two puppies and discovers ways to care for them as well as for himself.
“Joe Oak is used to living on unsteady ground. His mom can’t be depended on as she never stays around long once she gets ‘the itch,’ and now he and his beloved grandmother find themselves without a home. Fortunately, Joe has an outlet in his journals and drawings and takes comfort from the lessons of comic books—superheroes have a lot of ‘and then, boom’ moments, where everything threatens to go bust but somehow they land on their feet. And that seems to happen a lot to Joe too, as in this crisis his friend Nick helps them find a home in his trailer park. But things fall apart again when Joe is suddenly left to fend for himself. He doesn’t tell anyone he’s on his own, as he fears foster care and has hope his mom will come back. But time is running out—bills are piling up, the electricity’s been shut off, and the school year’s about to end, meaning no more free meals. The struggle to feed himself gets intense, and Joe finds himself dumpster diving for meals. He’s never felt so alone—until an emaciated little dog and her two tiny pups cross his path. And fate has even more in store for Joe, because an actual tornado is about to hit home—and just when it seems all is lost, his life turns in a direction that he never could have predicted.”
I loved Joe’s friends and those that helped him along his journey. This book was very meaningful and moving!
Title: On All Other Nights
Author: Chris Baron, Joshua S. Levy, Naomi Milliner (eds)
Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary Short Stories
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, 3/26/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
This middle grade anthology includes 14 short stories, each inspired by the steps in the Passover Seder. Featured writers include Mari Lowe, Laurel Snyder, Adam Gidwitz, Sofiya Pasternack, Ruth Behar, Sarah Kapit, AJ Sass, Laura Shovan, Vera Hiranandani, and others and each story is introduced with a description of that part of the Seder and 4 questions to match. The writers represent a cross section of Judaism and the stories reflect our diversity without dismissing tradition or Torah.
“Welcome to Passover, a Jewish holiday that has been celebrated for thousands of years. The heart of Passover is the seder—a meal full of rituals, special foods, and songs—where we gather together to retell the story of the Exodus, when the Jewish people achieved freedom from Egypt. And yet this story is about more than the ancient past. The seder’s themes of freedom, joy, tradition, and more, are timeless and universal, for all. In this collection of short stories, 14 bestselling and award-winning authors each reimagine a different step of the seder for today’s young readers. Through historical and contemporary fiction, verse and prose, fiction and nonfiction, these gifted writers from different Jewish traditions and backgrounds gather around the seder table and invite everyone to join them.”
In these stories, a boy loses a hidden piece of bread, a mermaid saves a girl from drowning, a family deals with the loss of their grandmother, a boy learns about the importance of remembering the past, the story of Nachshon is retold, and a story is told in verse. There are historical fiction stories of escaping from Russia and of immigrants in NYC, and there is a non fiction story of Cuban Jewish identity. There is a story about a girl with autism, and one of a a non binary character sharing their true self. There are even Passover recipes included.
Title: Effie Olsen’s Summer Special
Author: Rochelle Bilow
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Berkley, 4/30/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
I have Rochelle Bilow’s last book sitting on my shelf and now I know I need to pick it up because Effie Olsen’s Summer Special was great! Effie returns to her small town on an island in Maine after losing her chef job. She only plan to stay for the summer. She gets a job at a fancy restaurant on the island and reunites with her childhood best friend, Ernie.
“Effie Olsen thought she’d never live on the tiny Maine island where she grew up, but she’s returning from sixteen years as a professional chef in far-flung countries for one summer and one summer only. Her hometown boasts one of the best restaurants in the US, and lucky for her, Brown Butter needs a sous chef. Effie’s eager for a chance at redemption after her last job went up in flames, but reluctant to set down roots in a place that reminds her of the ghosts of her past. Until, that is, she runs into Ernie Callahan, her onetime best friend who now works in the very same restaurant. Early morning swims and late-night games of truth or dare with Ernie remind her of what she’s been missing while traveling the world. He knows her better than anyone, and it doesn’t hurt that his smile lights her up brighter than the lighthouses dotting the craggy coastline. But their restaurant has a secret that’s bursting at the seams, and if Effie doesn’t keep it, her job will vanish into the foggy Maine air. As summer draws to a close, her dream job and the perfect guy are both within reach. Her salty seaside hometown might be the key to Effie’s sweet ending…if she can learn to let her heart lead the way in time.”
I loved that there was a story to this one – about the restaurant – aside from the friends to lovers love story – which I also loved! Ernie and Effie were such a sweet couple!
Title: What’s Eating Jackie Oh?
Author: Patricia Park
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Crown Books For Young Readers, 4/30/24
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
I loved Patricia Park’s previous book and was slightly nervous about whether this one would hold up – it did! What’s Eating Jackie Oh? is about an aspiring chef who doesn’t want to be anyone’s model minority. She wants to cook and doesn’t want to go to an ivy league school, as her parents want her to. She gets onto a teen chef show and begins to learn who she is via food.
“Jackie Oh is done being your model minority. She’s tired of perfect GPAs, PSATs, SATs, all of it. Jackie longs to become a professional chef. But her Korean American parents are Ivy League corporate workaholics who would never understand her dream. Just ask her brother, Justin, who hasn’t heard from them since he was sent to Rikers Island. Jackie works at her grandparents’ Midtown Manhattan deli after school and practices French cooking techniques at night—when she should be studying. But the kitchen’s the only place Jackie is free from all the stresses eating at her—school, family, and the increasing violence targeting the Asian community. Then the most unexpected thing happens: Jackie becomes a teen contestant on her favorite cooking show, Burn Off! Soon Jackie is thrown headfirst into a cutthroat TV world filled with showboating child actors, snarky judges, and gimmicky ‘gotcha!’ challenges. All Jackie wants to do is cook her way. But what is her way? In a novel that will make you laugh and cry, Jackie proves who she is both on and off the plate.”
Jackie is who she is because of her grandparents, who own a NYC diner. The combination of NYC cultures through foods is shared so well. Jackie’s brother is incarcerated and her relationship with him as well as with her grandparents are a big part of this book. There are instances of anti Asian hate crimes in this book.
Title: Just For The Summer
Author: Abby Jimenez
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Forever, 4/2/24
Source: Purchased
Why I Read It: Love her books
My Rating: 5 Stars
For the last few years, I’ve ended the year with an Abby Jimenez book. This year, I didn’t have the ability to do this, so I purchased it and read it now instead. I am a huge fan of Abby’s books and have given every one of them 5 stars! This one is about Emma and Justin, who both seemed to be cursed by the fact that after dating them, people go on to find their soul mates. They decide to date each other because if they do so, they will both find their soul mates afterwards.
“Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it’s now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find their soul mate the second they break up. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They’ll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other’s out, and they’ll both go on to find the love of their lives. It’s a bonkers idea… and it just might work. Emma hadn’t planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka. It’s supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma’s toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they’re suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected–including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?”
This book was so sweet and lovely to read. Both Justin and Emma have baggage and I loved how they were able to help one another. There are plenty of Easter eggs from Abby’s previous books – I missed a big one that gave me a surprise when it was revealed! This book has emotion but it is also a lot of fun!
Come back next week for the rest of my April reads!
Do you have a favorite book you’ve read this month?
