Tag: Tony Johnston

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2022) Featured Review of The Everything I Have Lost by Sylvia Zéleny

Book cover for The Everything I Have Lost by Sylvia Zeleny

The Everything I Have Lost by Sylvia Zéleny; narrated by Lori Felipe-Barkin
OrangeSky Audio
Release date: 05-11-21
ISBN: 9781667003146

Told through journal entries, Julia shares her life coming of age in Juarez, Mexico. Although a US citizen herself, her father is not, and so they live in the “murder capital of the world.” People die, women disappear, and drug runners rule the streets. Just on the other side of the river is El Paso, Texas, where her aunt and cousins live.  When her father becomes one of the casualties of this domestic war, will they escape to the US?

Continue reading Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2022) Featured Review of The Everything I Have Lost by Sylvia Zéleny

Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2020) Nominees Round Up, November 25 Edition

Click here to see all of the current Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.

cover artBeast Rider by Tony Johnston and Maria Elena Fontandt De Rhoads
Abrams
Publication Date: March 19, 2019
ISBN: 9781419733635

Manuel has one goal; to get to Los Angeles and his older brother. In order to do this he will have to jump on a train, The Beast, and ride on the roof until it crosses into the US. But it isn’t that easy when you are 12. Manuel encounters many setbacks on his voyage including police, gangs, thieves, starvation and someone even steals his shoes.  Getting to his brother takes years.

While this story at first appears hopeless, Manuel never loses sight of his goal and shows his resilience to all of these obstacles and even meets some kind people who give him a meal and nurse him back to life after being left for dead.

This title is recommended for readers who have enjoyed Sedgwick’s Saint Death (2016), Anderson’s Border Crossing (2009) or Bowles poems They Call Me Guero (2018).

–Jessica Lorentz Smith

 

cover artCopycat by Hannah Jayne
Sourcebooks/ Sourcebooks
Publication Date: July 3, 2018
ISBN: 9781492647393 Continue reading Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2020) Nominees Round Up, November 25 Edition