Red, White, and WHOLE

I am pretty sure* the last two Newberys I read that were written in verse were first person accounts of immigrants trying to navigate a new life in the United States (Other Words for Home and Inside Out & Back Again), so it felt comfortable and familiar to discover that this semi-autobiographical story of a second-generation American Indian girl was also written in verse! Reha's parents are from India, but she is born and grows up in the Midwest. Her story is poignant, well-written and TRAGIC. But, unfortunately, I've already started mixing it up with the other two free-verse immigrant Newberys.

*I just looked through the last decade of Newberys after making that claim and I stand corrected: Brown Girl Dreaming and The Crossover were also written in free verse and I've read those since Inside Out & Back Again.

Too Bright to See

When I first began this novel, I remarked to my husband, "I think it's weird that a tweener coming-of-age novel about a girl was written by a man. What would he know about what it's like to be a young girl?" Ha! Joke's on me. 

*SPOILER* Bug decides she's a boy by the end of the novel and the author is actually a trans-man who is  sharing his own experience as a child (in fictional format). 

This book left me feeling unsettled, uncomfortable, confused and a little sad.