Hi. My name is Anastasia Rose Steele. This is totally an actual person name and not made up in any way. I go by Ana, as in pro-Ana, because we share a sense of destructive self-loathing. Anyhoodle, can I just tell you about this totally charming guy I met? I hated him the first time I saw him. It was love at first sight. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. First of all, with my trim frame and my luscious brown hair […]
Au Revoir les Enfants
On a wintry night in the Peak District, a thirteen year old girl, on holiday with her parents, goes missing. Her name is Rebecca, or Becky, or Bex. She’d been wearing a white hoodie, a navy blue body warmer, and canvas shoes. The town comes out in force, searching barns, quarries, forests, but nothing comes of it. Slowly, the people of the town resume daily life, and as the seasons pass, the girl slips from the public consciousness. The girl’s parents are occasionally seen wandering […]
My Oxford Year by Julia Wheelan
My third book for 2019 followed a year in the life of 24 year old Ella as she starts her journey as a Rhodes Scholar in Oxford. Ella is a young prodigy in American politics. She is young, driven, and has a plan for her entire life. She has wanted to spend a year in Oxford since she was a teenager, and her Rhodes year is her last hurrah before she has to get a job and tackle the real world. Of course, once she […]
“Racism is taught in our society, it is not automatic” — Alex Haley
(this book was also released in some places as When Michael Met Mina) “I’m starting to realize that being born into this social world is a little like being born into clean air. You take it in as soon as you breathe, and pretty soon you don’t even realize that while you can walk around with clear lungs, other people are wearing oxygen masks just to survive.” This is a boy meets girl, YA novel. In this instance, the boy is an Australian white kid who […]