Happy Monday!
This week I read three YA books.
Booked by Kwame Alexander
Booked is about a young soccer player named Nick Hall. At the beginning of the book, we find out that he is a very skilled soccer player and his best friend is as well. The only problem is that they play on different teams. Nick also develops feelings for one of his classmates named April. At home, Nick’s family starts to have some problems that lead them to get a divorce. Later on in the book, Nick is injured in a soccer game so he has to deal with his injury, his crush, and his family that is falling apart. This book was very fun to read because it is a verse novel that includes definitions of difficult words with a little comedy in them. I forgot to say that this is the second book to Crossover but it does not follow the same people. However, I would recommend this book to anyone. I am not really into sporty type books but the story of Nick and his struggles is what kept me going.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Persepolis is a graphic novel about a young girl growing up in Iran after the Islamic Revolution. The book was outside my comfort zone because it has a lot of issues that I never knew about. I really liked it because it opened my eyes to all of the struggles that these people had to deal with. I would recommend this to anyone because it is such a powerful graphic novel that really makes you think about the world and struggles of people in other countries.
Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi
Persepolis 2 is about the same girl in the first Persepolis only this time she is an adult. SPOILER: at the end of the first Persepolis, Marjane leaves Iran so now she is working towards finding her identity and going through adult things as a woman from Iran. These include prejudices, first loves, being away from family, finding friends, and much more. For me, this was not as emotional as the first one but I related to this one more because I have gone through some similar things. With that said, I could feel for her more when imagining myself dealing with the prejudices that she had. I would recommend this to anyone because it really finishes her story from the first one. It gave me some conclusion that the first one did not.
Rachel's Mind 
Love, love, love Persepolis! Which one did you enjoy more? Like you, Persepolis 2 resounded with me a lot more. The complete Persepolis set will be going on my next Thriftbooks order! I love sports books, but I know thing about soccer. That being said, Booked still sounds like a good read. I feel like many of Kwame Alexander’s stories would hook reluctant readers!
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I really liked the first one better just because it was more serious (if that is the right word). In my opinion, there is just something about the innocence of a little girl who doesn’t know anything that is more upsetting to me than an adult working through their problems. Both were great though.
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I really enjoyed Persepolis! I don’t really like history books but I loved the way this was done! One of the best books I read this semester!
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I am also not a huge fan of history books but I think the fact of it being a graphic novel appealed to me more!
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Are you a fan of soccer? I am not a big fan, I am wondering if I would still like this book. I love sports but I don’t really read books about them. I might have to check this out. I have yet to read a graphic novel. I will have to add this to my list!
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I’m not a soccer fan but what I liked about Booked is that it explains what is going on without using “soccery” terms. Even though it is a sporty book, there aren’t that many games in it.
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