Books
I'd Rather Burn Than Bloom
Packed with voice, Shannon C.F. Rogers' I'd Rather Burn than Bloom is a powerful YA novel about a Filipina-American teen who tries to figure out who she really is in the wake of her mother's death.
Some girls call their mother their best friend. Marisol Martin? She could never relate. She and her mom were forever locked in an argument with no beginning and no end. Clothes, church, boys, no matter the topic, Marisol always felt like there was an unbridgeable gap between them that they were perpetually shouting across, one that she longed to close.
But when her mother dies suddenly, Marisol is left with no one to fight against, haunted by all the things that she both said and didn’t say. Her dad seems completely lost, and worse, baffled by Marisol's attempts to connect with her mother's memory through her Filipino culture. Her brother Bernie is retreating further and further into himself. And when Marisol sleeps with her best friend's boyfriend - and then punches said best friend in the face - she's left alone, with nothing but a burning anger, and nowhere for it to go.
And Marisol is determined to stay angry, after all, there’s a lot to be angry about– her father, her mother, the world. But as a new friendship begins to develop with someone who just might understand, Marisol reluctantly starts to open up to her, and to the possibility there’s something else on the other side of that anger– something more to who she is, and who she could be.
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends, Macmillan
ISBN #: 9781250845665
BISAC Categories:
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Coming of Age
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Social Themes - Death, Grief, Bereavement
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People & Places - United States - Asian American
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Eighteen Roses
Lucia Cruz may be turning eighteen this year, but she is not the debutante type.
Everything about a traditional Filipino debut feels all wrong for her. Besides, custom dictates that eighteen friends attend her for a special ceremony on her birthday, and Lucia only has one friend– Esmé Mares. They've stuck to each other's side all throughout high school, content to be friends with only each other. At least, Lucia thought they were content.
As it turns out, Esmé wants something different out of her senior year. And, on top of that, Lucia's mom has planned a debutante ball for her birthday behind her back. She'll be forced to cobble together a court of eighteen “friends” before her beloved lola arrives from the Philippines for this blessed occasion.
How far will Lucia stray from her comfort zone in order to play the role of dutiful daughter and granddaughter? Will she do the unthinkable– participating in a school sponsored activity? Will she discover that her sense of humor can be a way to connect with people, not just push them away?
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends, Macmillan
ISBN #: 9781250845733
BISAC Categories:
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