Reanna's Book Realm

Monty is too progressive for his times (somewhere in the eighteenth century). He has no interest in being a perfect gentleman, making business deals behind closed doors and only drinking within the same class. Instead he likes his parties wild, all the pretty girls and all the pretty boys too. His father doesn’t. In hopes to put him into shape, his father places him, his best friend Percy, and his sister Felicity on a Tour around the continent. With all this formality, Monty of course turn squeamish and “accidentally” steals a item from a duke that may hold the secret to the world’s first cure-all medicine. Suddenly, the three are on a chase across the continent to retrieve the medicine and it only complicates things that Monty is in love with Percy. When The Gentleman’s Guide for Vice and Virtue came out I had no interest in reading it. Mostly, I was turned away from it because it’s historical fiction, something I almost never read. I actually end up liking most of my historical ...

There are two groups Ali is apart of: Ali, Noodles, and Needles and Ali, Jazz, and Mom. The two groups aren’t exclusive but there’s only so much Jazz and Mom know about what Ali does with Noodles and Needles. Sometimes, it’s better not to ask. No one asks about Needles anyway. Everybody knows he has Tourette’s Syndrome and the he has his ticks but it’s all good to everyone except Noodles, his own brother. Although he loves him, Noodles blames Needles and his disability for the reason why their dad left. So, when they’re all invited to the hottest party on the block with the condition that Needles comes with, Noodles can’t do anything but give in. But, like everything, it doesn’t go as everyone plans at the party and this time it might not be Needles fault. I got a chance to read When I Was The Greatest when it was my book club’s book of the month. Jason Reynolds has been an author on my radar for awhile now, especially with his new collaborative book All American Boys. I didn’t r...

Luc  Argent is dying. He doesn’t necessarily want to die but after years and years of medical care, he’s ready to go. So when his sort of best friend Evelyn shows up in town for the first time in three years, it complicates things. Evelyn doesn’t know anything about Luc’s health except that during their freshman year he was in the hospital for a bit. She’s in her own crisis with her family and Luc see’s it. He was already planning to go up to Oregon, a state where terminally ill people can receive a medical suicide, and since it seems like Evelyn is looking for a place to escape anyway, he invites her along. Except, she doesn’t know why he wants to go to Oregon. As they get further along in their trip, both Luc and Evelyn learn a thing or two about life, especially when death is at the door. It’s been about a day since I finished Other Breakable Things and I have a lot of mix feeling. It was written by a married couple, Kelley York and Rowan Altwood. Kelley is well known in the ...

Jess is runner. In fact, her coach says she’s on track to be a world class runner, and she has no plans of letting that goal go. That is, until she loses her right leg from below the knee, and suddenly trying to get up seems hard. Although everyone is determined to get her not only back in school, but out running, she can’t help but feel her reality is a stone wall. But after three weeks, she finally gives in, and goes back to school- in a whole new perspective. Right now she’s using a wheelchair to get around, one the she has limited control over. Plus, the desks aren’t that accessible, which is why she ends up sitting in the back of math class with Rosa, a student with cerebral palsy, who uses a power wheelchair. Over time, Jess starts to find solace in talking to Rosa, partly because she’s the only who knows of any idea of what Jess is going through, but mostly because she discovers that the girl she used to put in the background is actually extremely cool. And, with the help of ...

I knew that eventually I had to say something about Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern, because I am outraged. The story follows Amy, and seventeen year old who has Cerebral Palsy, and on a quest to make friends, hires students to be her caretaker for the day. I think the story wouldn’t have really bothered me if I was able-bodied, but I have Cerebral Palsy, and could not stand how warped Cammie McGovern made my life out to be. Not only is McGovern completely able-bodied, she thinks that because she’s worked  with “special needs”, she has an automatic pass to write from the perspective of and represent people with Cerebral Palsy. Let me tell you Cammie McGovern: YOU do not represent me, nor do I want you to. In the premise itself, I have a major problem. It’s horrendously non-realistic to paint a situation that a person with a CP doesn’t have friends, and furthermore needs to bribe people with community service hours to be friends. This storyline is continuing something I c...

In 1987, the AIDS epidemic is at an all time. With that, the stereotypes around AIDS are believed as facts, and a cure is nowhere in sight, and the toll of AIDS is taking it’s effect on the world, especially June’s. June has always had an important relationship with her uncle Finn, a famous painter, and as soon as he gets the debilitating disease, her whole world is thrown. Within a year, Finn is gone, leaving June a portrait of herself titled “Tell The Wolves I’m Home”. As June mourns the death of her uncle and best friend, her family begins unraveling, with her sister going missing for periods of time and her parents are moving farther and farther away from the real world. And, just as June is starting to come to terms with Finn’s death, Finn’s long- time partner introduces himself to June, someone she never knew existed. Suddenly, everything she thought she knew about her uncle diminishes, and a new life of his is revealed, filled with antiques, love, and the truth about the dise...