Fountains of Silence - Ruta Sepetys

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book - as did everyone in my book club. I still think Salt to the Sea is my favorite of hers, but this one is a close second.

Sepetys definitely deserves her title of "Seeker of Lost Stories." She explores history through narrative of topics we definitely should have all heard about in school lessons. This book covers the dictatorship of Franco after the Spanish Civil War (My history instruction was so bad that while I had heard of Franco I didn't know they had a civil war.). It shows the economic disparities, gender inequalities and baby selling (?!?) that all happened under Franco's regime. All cushioned in a fascinating story of American boy meets Spanish girl and learns from her. I especially enjoyed the true oral history transcripts and news articles sprinkled throughout.

5 stars. I'm fairly stingy with those. So...read it!

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The Crossover - Kwame Alexander

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book started at 2 stars for me...not knowing much about basketball and needing to acclimate to the “novel in verse” form. But it gained stars throughout. The basketball importance faded as the characters cane to life. I loved the formatting and presence of the words on the page as well.

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