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Month in review

Book Reviews:
Alphabet City by Stephen T. Johnson
Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman
The Art of Alchemy by Ted Kosmatka
Big Jeremy by Steven Kroll
Bleach Volume 11 by Tite Kubo
Bleach Volume 12 by Tite Kubo
Bleach Volume 13 by Tite Kubo
The Butterfly Alphabet Book by Brian Cassie
Catty-Cornered by Cheryl Ware
A Church of Her Own by Sarah Sentilles
Circle by George Tucker
City of Light by Laurent Belfer
The Crew by Bali Rai
Dark Summit by Nick Heil
A Day in Space by Suzanne Lord and Jolie Epstein
A Day with Traffic Controllers by Joanne Winne
Demons Are Forever by Julie Kenner
Deserts by Seymour Simon
Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
Expecting Adam by Martha Beck
Firooz and His Brother by Alex Jeffers
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Ghost Cat by Beverly Butler
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Hungry, Hungry Sharks by Joanna Cole
In the Hall of the Dragon King by Stephen R. Lawhead
Junie B., First Grader: Boss of Lunch by Barbara Park
Junie B. Jones and Some Sneaky Peeky Spying by Barbara Park
Light in August by William Faulkner
The Little Baby Snoogle Fleejer by Jimmy Carter
The Lost and Found by Mark Teague
Magic School Bus: Going Batty by Joanna Cole
Magic School Bus: The Great Shark Escape by Joanna Cole
Mercury and Venus by Robin Kerrod
Miracle on 34th Street by Valentine Davies
Nettie's Trip South by Ann Turner
Peace: 50 Years of Protest by Barry Miles
Postcards: True Stories that Never Happened by Jason Rodriguez
Puss in Boots by Rochelle Larkin
The Road from La Cueva by Sheila Ortego
Seduction by Design by Sandra Brown
The Seven-per-Cent Solution by Nicholas Meyer
Space by Carole Stott
The Stone Gods by Jeannette Winterson
Thrilling Wonder Stories by Albert E. Cowdrey
Traitor by M. Rickert
Treasure by Clive Cussler
Under the Microscope: Insects by Grolier
WLT: A Radio Romance by Garrison Keillor

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5 stars: Completely enjoyable or compelling
4 stars: Good but flawed
3 stars: Average
2 stars: OK
1 star: Did not finish

Reading Challenges

Beat the Backlist 2023

Canadian Book Challenge: 2022-2023

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The Crew: 05/16/08

The Crew

The Crewis a mystery set in rough neighborhood in London among a gang of teenagers. The story is told from the point of view of Billy, the leader and Ellie, the youngest member.

Billy and his crew look after themselves because the local police don't seem willing to their part even when there is a missing bag of money, a pair of kidnappings and other related crimes. Billy isn't perfect; he's done his fair share of petty crimes but he's trying to do the right thing in this book.

Unlike (Un)Arranged Marriage, the parents and adults in this novel have good relationships with their children. This isn't a book about the power struggle between adults and teens and the way tradition can be used as a disguise for abuse. Instead, this is a social commentary on life in the inner city.

The city here is London so many of the cultural references are specific to that city but on a broader sense, the book is about the hardships and frustrations of living in any city center. Billy describes the poverty, the drugs, the apathetic (and sometimes corrupt) police force, prostitution and gangs. Billy running commentary often includes the why behind a character's actions which makes The Crew less of a collection of cliches and more of a living breathing microcosm.

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