Robin Stevenson

Overall, a pretty average YA suspense/murder mystery. The writing left something to be desired, but meh, if you need a quick time killer, you could go with worse. I think the characters had potential, but they weren't rounded out as much as they could have been. I think it would have been a lot better if all of the teens had perspective chapters (it was odd that the authors picked the two they did--what did they have that the others didn't to make them narrative characters?) although I understand this could take away some of the suspense and eliminate people from the list of suspects. The characters are introduced in a big infodump and honestly I had a hard time remembering who was who. I appreciated that the authors didn't shy away from teens being teens and talked frankly about what adolescents deal with and how much they know about the world.
Spoilers below
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I liked the overall resolution and who the murderer ended up being. There was enough foreshadowing to establish that this character had something ~more~ going on with them, but not enough to make us for sure suspect them. I think my favorite thing is that once the teens figured out who it was, that was that, there were no more red herrings, no twists about multiple killers or whatever, just a straightforward resolution--I wish more murder mysteries ended this simply without putting us through 20 mood swings in the last two chapters.… (more)

I have serious feels about this book. First this book contains cheating and inappropriate age gaps. You have been warned. Also the way it is written has a strong suggestion of approval. Which frankly bugs me the most because this a middle grade book.

This book made me want to abandon life as I know it and take off travelling. In a big way. Just not by boat #seasickness. This book also gave me major feelings of a lack of resolution. Which would be realistic and totally fine if it were targeted at adult like me. it isn't though it is being marketed to kids and teens who are going to read and possibly learn unhealthy relationship habits.… (more)

From polio to war to bigotry to spina bifida to poverty to wearing a hijab to dwarfism becoming a refugee to segregation to ADHD these athletes have overcome and broken records in their fields and become winners in the Olympics and Paralympics as well as the Special Olympics. Each one of the athletes in this book started as children and pursued the dream, so their stories cover only this portion of their lives (with minimal exceptions). There is a bibliography at the end. Aimed for ages 8-12 but a fine read for all.
The illustrations by Allison Steinfeld are clear, imaginative, colorful, and meaningful.
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to everyone, but especially to a school or your local public library.
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Quirk Books via NetGalley. Thank you!… (more)