Anakdenesor

[BR] Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe by Lindsay S. Zrull #39

By anakdenesor - April 02, 2022

Bounced between foster homes since the age of seven, Jessica knows better than to set down roots. Most of the kids at her new Michigan high school think she’s a witch anyway (because, you know, goth). The only one who gives her the time of day is geeky Oscar, who wants to recruit her fashion skills for his amateur cosplay group. But Jess is fine showing off her looks to her Insta fans—until a woman claiming to be her biological mother barges into her DMs. Jess was claimed by the state when her bio mom’s mental illness made her unstable. While their relationship is far from traditional, blood ties are hard to break. There’s only one problem: Jess can’t reunite with her mom in New York City without a bunch of paperwork and she worries her social worker will never approve the trip. That’s when she remembers Oscar’s cosplay group, which is aiming for that big convention in New York . . . So, Jess joins Oscar’s team—with every intention of using them to get to her mom. But her plan gets complicated when she discovers that, actually, cosplay is pretty great, and so is having friends. And Oscar, who Jess thought was just a shy nerd, can be as gallant and charming as the heroes he pretends to be. As the big convention draws near, Jess will have to decide whether or not chasing a dream of “family” is worth risking the family she’s built for herself.

All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream, Edgar Allan Poe.

The opening of each chapter in this book is with a quote from Edgar Allan that turns out to be a role model to our beloved heroine in this story, Jess. Jess appears to like to dress up as a Gothic girl with smokey eyes make-up and a pair of black lace-up boots. She thinks she could protect herself from any feelings by not showing her feelings to others. Her look is her armor.

The truth is, Jess is a foster kid. She has been spent an entire of her life bouncing from one foster home to another until now. She even made a foster care pro-tip and always plays by her rules but what she didn't know is her life will be 360 degrees different when she meets a bunch of talented children in her school that apparently appears to be her most trustworthy clan and her great foster mom Babra.

When you think things will go accordingly your way, don't get your hopes too high, you might get disappointed. The conflict begins when Jess got a massage from her biomom. Starting from that, her focus is distracted, and her relationship with Babra (her foster mother) is affected which will cause her lifetime trusty. Babra felt betrayed and Jess's relationship with her teammate also change.

I should read more books like this. Mental health is the main theme in this book. It is devastating seeing people still lack awareness about mental health. This isn't funny. We should spread the awareness more. Mental health is as important as physical health. This book opened my eyes about mental issues and give me a different point of view regarding the custom event. They're not bunch of geek but they're actually a genius.

Thanks To netgalley and the publisher for this amazing copy.

1 Comments

wordless wednesday

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

By anakdenesor - Mac 30, 2022

23 Comments

An interview with Nic Stone- Author

By anakdenesor - Mac 29, 2022

Since our school library using a Folett Destiny as our library system, they share with us the interview with an author, Nic Stone. Below are the conversation between Nic Stone and the interviewer.

When New York Times best-selling author Nic Stone saw Black Panther in the cinema, she identified immediately with the character Shuri, the Black Panther’s younger sister. Shortly after, Stone was offered the opportunity to write a middlegrade series starring the breakout character. The result is Shuri: A Black Panther Novel, which tells the story of how Shuri disobeys the commands of her elders and leaves her homeland to try to solve an ecological crisis that could devastate her country, Wakanda.

How did it feel to be asked to develop a series around Shuri?
It was like the moment where I felt, “Mama I made it!” I was in the airport in Amarillo,Texas, when I opened the email (from the publisher) and I literally screamed. It was a really good moment.

How did you develop Shuri’s character?
She is one of the first characters I’ve seen on screen who I’m like, “That’s me!” I’m a huge math and science nerd. I was headed to grad school for neuropsychology when I got my agent. I cannot tell you the number of phone calls I had with cybersecurity professionals and experts who know electromagnetism because Shuri is so whip-smart. In these novels she’s younger than in the film. Because of that, I got this opportunity to create a whole backstory for her. This was my favorite part of the process. I got to give her the friend she was lacking in the film. Building out a friendship for her, I think, not only helped me get a better understanding of her character, but will humanize her in a way that the film didn’t. Because relationships are so important when you are a preteen girl, when you are trying to figure out your place and if you are important, having a person who is going through the same thing with you is so vital to development.

Tell us more about the significance of the world around Wakanda.
My favorite thing about this world is somebody at Marvel had the presence of mind to say “Hey let’s make a movie about this particular place we created, and let’s show this group who has largely been oppressed and shuttled to the margins, and let’s show them in this really powerful way.” And to see it on screen, I can’t tell you what that did to me and the black community as a whole. To see this idealized place where people look like us and all are widely intelligent, technologically advanced, and have more money than God. I’ve never been more honored to do a project.

What else would you like to share?
At their core, these books are about girl empowerment, but they’re not just for girls. They are books I’m writing, yes, for the sake of uplifting girls and showing how powerful they can be. I think they will also be books that boys can enjoy and show them what girls can do. Especially now that there’s so much toxic masculinity and there’s so much swirling regarding gender roles and social construct of gender. What does it look like for boys to support girls and girls to be encouraged to go after what they dream of? I wrote a book that I hope will advance that conversation.