Deb's Musings | Books and Beyond

Without any intention to do so, the last three books I've selected to read all have the word "boy" in the title. The Boy who Went Magic by A. P. Winter The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock The Boy, the Bird, & the Coffin Maker by Matilda Woods This morning I thought to myself, "Hmm. What are the odds? Is that a thing this year?" So I checked my reading "To Do/Done" lists to see if there were more books. I found  Ghost Boys by Jewel Parker Rhodes Blue Grass Boy : The Story of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass Music   by Barb  Rosenstock   I suppose 5 titles out of hundreds is probably not a "thing," it's just a curious coincidence. And perhaps a blog post. Happy Wednesday, everyone. 

A special book lingers long after you close the cover. I can't help thinking about Kate Messner's Breakout, and I finished it days ago . The main plot of the story involves two inmates who escape from a maximum-security prison. Everyone's life is impacted by the two week manhunt. The underlying theme, however, is racism and racial profiling. When Elidee's brother is incarcerated, she and her mother move to the small upper NY state community near the prison. They pride themselves on being a friendly town--yet we see many evidences that they are not as welcoming to a black family. Elidee's classmate, Nora, is a middle school journalist who uncovers more than a story in Messner's novel. In fact, at the conclusion, she may have more questions than answers. Told in letters, poems, text messages, news stories, and comic—a series of documents Nora collects for the Wolf Creek Community Time Capsule Project— Breakout is a thrilling story that will leave readers th...