The Vinyl Underground by Rob Rufus

Published on 07/10/202312/31/2024 by Charli2 Comments

Today is my stop on TBR & Beyond Blog Tours’ blog tour for The Vinyl Underground by Rob Rufus. This is a YA Contemporary novel set in 1968, during the Vietnam War. There will be some anti-war sentiments, racism, racial violence, and other possibly upsetting things in this book, so please, check the content warnings before reading.

I received an advance copy of this book from Edelweiss+ to facilitate my review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This book may contain material that is disturbing to some readers. Please Google for a full list of trigger warnings. Thank you!

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

The Vinyl Underground by Rob Rufus
Published by North Star Editions on 03/20/2020
Genres: Juvenile Fiction / Historical / General, Young Adult Fiction / Coming of Age, Young Adult Fiction / Historical / United States / 20th Century, Young Adult Fiction / Social Themes / Prejudice & Racism
Pages: 328
Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss+
IndieBound
Goodreads

Dig it.

During the tumultuous year of 1968, four teens are drawn together: Ronnie Bingham, who is grieving his brother’s death in Vietnam; Milo, Ronnie’s bookish best friend; “Ramrod,” a star athlete who is secretly avoiding the draft; and Hana, the new girl, a half-Japanese badass rock-n-roller whose presence doesn’t sit well with their segregated high school.

The four outcasts find sanctuary in “The Vinyl Underground,” a record club where they spin music, joke, debate, and escape the stifling norms of their small southern town. But Ronnie’s eighteenth birthday is looming. Together, they hatch a plan to keep Ronnie from being drafted. But when a horrific act of racial-charged violence rocks the gang to their core, they decide it’s time for an epic act of rebellion.

Content Warning: Racial violence and harassment, grief, drug use, underage drinking

When I first saw The Vinyl Underground, I thought it was going to be a book about music. And it is… kind of. Music figures heavily into the book, but the main message of the book and the main plot have nothing to do with music.

I should preface this by saying that my uncles both fought in Vietnam. Both of them volunteered and one of them actually volunteered to go over there twice. My family was lucky – both of my uncles came home. But a lot of my grandparents’ friends lost their son(s) over there. So my feelings on the anti-war sentiments in this book might be a bit biased.

I enjoyed Hana, Milo, Lewis, and Ronnie. I enjoyed them a lot. They were great characters, perfect foils for each other. They made the story what it is. Literally. Without those four, you have no story. But that is especially true of Hana because she is the one who lights the fire under Milo, Lewis, and Ronnie’s butts.

I can’t say that I was overly thrilled with the main point of the plot – which seemed to mostly be finding ways to prevent Milo, Lewis, and Ronnie from being able to be drafted. Honestly, while I agreed with the anti-war sentiment, I was uncomfortable with the idea of draft dodging and dereliction of duty in order to not have to go. That being said, the execution of the plot was done very well and the book was very hard to put down. I read it in just a few hours.

The writing style made this book easy to read. It was paced well and it didn’t come off as overly flowery or overly dry. It was smooth and kept me engaged.

The ending to the book left me as conflicted as Ronnie was. While I could see Hana and Milo’s point, I could also see Ronnie’s point. While I’m obviously not going to tell you what happened or what Ronnie’s conflict was, I can honestly say that I held that conflict as well.

I gave this book 4/5 stars because while the book made me uncomfortable with its plot points, I did quite enjoy the book.

Shannon in the Spotlight by Kalena Miller

Published on 06/19/202312/31/2024 by Charli

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley to facilitate my review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This book may contain material that is disturbing to some readers. Please Google for a full list of trigger warnings. Thank you!

Shannon in the Spotlight by Kalena Miller
Published by Random House Children's Books on 04/25/2023
Genres: Juvenile Fiction / Social Themes / Emotions & Feelings, Juvenile Fiction / Social Themes / Friendship, Juvenile Fiction / Social Themes / Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
Pages: 272
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
IndieBound

After Shannon accidentally lands a lead role in the summer musical, she realizes she has bigger things to worry about than stage fright in this contemporary middle-school novel about strained friendships, the positive power of theater, and the realities of being a tween with OCD.

Shannon Carter never considered herself much of a theater person. Not like her two BFFs, Elise, an actress, and Fatima, a techie. Shannon’s always been content to stay backstage, helping wherever she can. But when the director of the summer musical hears Shannon singing, he encourages her to step out of the wings and into the spotlight.

At first, Shannon is hesitant. As a twelve-year-old with obsessive-compulsive disorder, she depends on routine. But when she braves the audition, she discovers that center stage is the one place where she doesn’t feel anxious. She lands a lead role, and everyone in her life is ecstatic . . . except Elise.

To make matters worse, Shannon’s eccentric and opinionated grandmother moves in with her and her mom after a fluke house fire. As opening night approaches, Shannon feels pressure to save her friendship with Elise, to make Mom and Grandma Ruby act like grown-ups, and to follow the old theater adage The show must go on.

CW: Mental Illness, OCD, Anxiety

I’m going to say it – I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. I’m not usually a fan of middle grade books, but I did enjoy this one.

I like the way it portrays mental illnesses as nothing to be ashamed of. That someone with mental illness, whether it be OCD, anxiety, depression, or other mental illnesses can do the things they want and the things that make them happy. So often I read about mental illness in books and the person is defined by it. While Shannon’s OCD and anxiety feature in the book, they’re not who she is.

I loved Shannon. I also loved Micah and Grandma Ruby. I admit, there weren’t any characters in this book I didn’t like, which is a rarity.

The writing was great, the book moves along at a good pace, and the plot is interesting. I love how even in a contemporary middle grade novel, you can have a twist – even if that twist is more of a solution to a problem.

I gave this book 4 stars because it was a cute, fun read that I recommend to anyone who likes middle grade novels or has kids in middle grade age.

About Kalena Miller

Kalena Miller is a writer, teacher, editor, and scone enthusiast. She currently lives in Minnesota with her husband and lovable, if slightly neurotic, dog. When she isn’t writing, Kalena enjoys tap dancing, scrapbooking, and watching an embarrassing amount of reality television. Her debut YA novel, The Night When No One Had Sex, winner of the Minnesota Book Award, is available now! Her debut middle grade novel, Shannon in the Spotlight is forthcoming from Delacorte Press on April 25, 2023.

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram

Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi

Published on 05/07/202012/31/2024 by Charli

Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi
Published by Simon and Schuster on April 9, 2019
Genres: Contemporary, Dating & Relationships, Dating & Sex, Friendship, General, Juvenile Nonfiction, Love & Romance, Romance, Social Themes, Social Topics, Young Adult, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 416
Format: Audiobook
Source: Scribd

“Smart and funny, with characters so real and vulnerable, you want to send them care packages. I loved this book.” —Rainbow Rowell
From debut author Mary H.K. Choi comes a compulsively readable novel that shows young love in all its awkward glory—perfect for fans of Eleanor & Park and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.
For Penny Lee, high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she’d somehow landed a boyfriend, they never managed to know much about each other. Now Penny is heading to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer. It’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.
Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him.
When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to, you know, see each other.

TW: Abuse, Racism, Mommy Issues, Daddy Issues (I’m sorry it’s been a month since I listened to it, so if there are triggers I missed, I’m sorry.)

Emergency Contact is the story of Penny and Sam. Neither of them is a particularly likable character. They are seriously messed up. But if I have to choose one over the other, I’ll take Sam, thanks.

For one, both have issues with their mothers, but for different reasons. To my idea, Sam has a legitimate reason to have issues with his mother, considering what she did to him. Penny, on the other hand, has issues with her mother for being herself. Penny seems to think that her mom is embarrassing and a pain in Penny’s butt on purpose. To my idea, that’s ludicrous and Penny is just being a brat.

When Penny moves to college and meets Sam via her dorm roommate, they become friends and text each other. Which is fine. Except they don’t tell anyone. They literally keep this a secret, when at first, there is literally no reason to. They’re just friends who talk to each other.

By the way, it takes way too long for them to figure out they have feelings for each other. Seriously. I thought they’d never figure it out. I had it figured out way before they did.

I don’t care for Mary H. K. Choi’s writing style – at least not in this book. I don’t mind books with multiple points of view, but this one was just irritating. At times it didn’t even seem like Sam and Penny were in the same story the way the chapters jumped around between Penny and Sam.

I gave it one star because I just did not like the book at all. I might give Permanent Record a try, but if it’s anything like Emergency Contact, I’m going to chalk it up to Mary H. K. Choi not being the author for me.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Published on 06/27/201812/31/2024 by Charli

Little Fires Everywhere (Movie Tie-In) by Celeste Ng
Published by Penguin on March 17, 2020
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 432
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
Goodreads

The #1 New York Times bestseller!
Now a Hulu original series starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. "I read Little Fires Everywhere in a single, breathless sitting." --Jodi Picoult
"To say I love this book is an understatement. It's a deep psychological mystery about the power of motherhood, the intensity of teenage love, and the danger of perfection. It moved me to tears." --Reese Witherspoon
"Extraordinary . . . books like Little Fires Everywhere don't come along often." --John Green
From the bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You, a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.
In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned--from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.
Enter Mia Warren--an enigmatic artist and single mother--who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.
When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town--and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.
Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood--and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster. Named a Best Book of the Year by: People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Audible, Goodreads, Library Reads, Book of the Month, Paste, Kirkus Reviews, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and many more...
Perfect for book clubs! Visit celesteng.com for discussion guides and more.

I’m still trying to figure out exactly how I feel about this book. I mean, I rated it 4 stars, so I obviously I liked it, but I’m still not quite sure how I feel about the book.

Little Fires Everywhere is a wonderful novel. I’m not going to say it isn’t. It’s thought provoking. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you angry. You’ll find yourself taking sides on issues raised in the book. You’ll find yourself heartbroken for characters who have lost something. You’ll find yourself hoping that characters get what they are looking for in the end.

I went out of my genre comfort zone for this book. I don’t normally read books that are in the “Fiction” or “Adult Fiction” category unless I’ve been seeing them everywhere – which I’ve been seeing a lot of people talking about this book. I’ve seen where people say it’s slow moving, which I suppose you could say that it is, but I read it in 2 days, so it can’t be that slow moving. Usually when I think of a slow moving book, it takes me over a week to read the book because it moves so slowly that I can’t get into it. I think it is more a matter of the book moves slowly if you simply aren’t interested in it.

I fell in love with the kids in this book – Pearl and Izzy especially. I keep wondering if Trip & Moody really are named that or if they are nicknames for which we simply are never given their proper given names. The kids are just so genuine and I know how Izzy feels because I’ve felt that way on more than one occasion with my family (although in my case it is extended family who make me feel that way, not my parents).

The May Ling Chow/Mirabelle McCullough story line tugged at my heart. I can totally see how both sides felt, but I must admit, I sided with Bebe Chow. You’ll have to tell me which side you chose in that debate.

All in all, the book is a really good read and I do recommend that you check it out if you’re into adult fiction.