“Each year, as the sweet smell of peaches filled the June air and ripened into summer, I found myself looking for Ginny Rose Gilley.” *Spoiler to come. I’m warning you!* Wendelin Van Draanen’s The Peach Rebellion (Random House Children’s Books 2022) is a delightful middle grade novel set in California in 1947. Ginny Rose GilleyContinue reading “THE PEACH REBELLION – Wendelin Van Draanen”
Author Archives: Tommi Powell
JAMES – Percival Everett
“Folks be funny lak dat. Dey takes the lies dey want and throws away the truths dat scares ‘em.” “With my pencil, I wrote myself into being. I wrote myself to here.” Confession: I’ve never read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn OR Adventures Tom Sawyer. (I was very dedicated in charting my path towards a MastersContinue reading “JAMES – Percival Everett”
JUST FOR THE SUMMER – Abby Jimenez
“The love stories sold us the wrong thing. The best kind of love doesn’t happen on moonlit walks and romantic vacations. It happens in between the folds of everyday life.” I know I sound like a broken record, but Abby Jimenez is a bit special. Surface level, one would be tempted to say it’s formulaicContinue reading “JUST FOR THE SUMMER – Abby Jimenez”
NEVER LEAVE THE DOGS BEHIND – Brianna Madia
A little over two years ago, I wrote the following about Brianna Madia’s first novel, Nowhere for Very Long: “It tastes like sunbaked earth that leads to a hidden spring that no one knows about but you. It smells like flowers growing wild and untamed. It sounds like howling at the moon.” I was hopingContinue reading “NEVER LEAVE THE DOGS BEHIND – Brianna Madia”
JOSEPHINE AGAINST THE SEA – Shakirah Bourne
Current installment of Tommi Reads the World – we’re in the Bs. Country: BarbadosTitle: Josephine Against the SeaAuthor: Shakirah BourneLanguage: EnglishTranslator: NonePublisher: Scholastic Press 2021 You never outgrow books (or you shouldn’t), so it’s no surprise that a middle grade book shows up in Tommi Reads the World. And thank goodness, because Josephine Against the SeaContinue reading “JOSEPHINE AGAINST THE SEA – Shakirah Bourne”
A LETTER TO THE LUMINOUS DEEP – Sylvie Cathrall
I’m going to start this review with a word of caution and a bit of grace. When I was halfway through the novel, I suffered a stroke. I read some parts in the hospital and finally finished. Perhaps that contributes to my overall feelings about Sylvie Cathrall’s A Letter to the Luminous Deep (4/23/24 Orbit);Continue reading “A LETTER TO THE LUMINOUS DEEP – Sylvie Cathrall”
AN EVENING IN GUANIMA: A TREASURY OF FOLKTALES FROM THE BAHAMAS – Patricia Glinton-Meicholas
“Once upon a time, a very good time, Monkey chew terbakker and spit white lime, Bullfrog jump from bank to bank while Mosquiter keep up the time.” Current installment of Tommi Reads the World – we’re in the Bs. Country: The BahamasTitle: An Evening in Guanima: A Treasury of Folktales from The BahamasAuthor: Patricia Glinton-MeicholasLanguage: EnglishTranslator:Continue reading “AN EVENING IN GUANIMA: A TREASURY OF FOLKTALES FROM THE BAHAMAS – Patricia Glinton-Meicholas”
THERE THERE – Tommy Orange
“We are the memories we don’t remember, which live in us, which we feel, which make us sing and dance and pray the way we do, feeling from memories that flare and bloom unexpectedly in our lives like blood through a blanket from a wound made by a bullet fired by a man shooting usContinue reading “THERE THERE – Tommy Orange”
JADED – Ela Lee
Ela Lee’s debut novel, Jaded, (Simon & Schuster 3/19/2024) is a sharp and raw depiction of the complete mind fuckery a sexual assault does on a person. Before getting into the review/reaction, I must stress that this novel is not for everyone, and it’s okay if you are not in the headspace to read itContinue reading “JADED – Ela Lee”
The Sorrow of Belgium – Hugo Claus
“Times are bad, the radio says so, and the newspapers. No, things aren’t getting any better, far from it.” Current installment of Tommi Reads the World – we’re in the Bs. Country: BelgiumTitle: The Sorrow of BelgiumAuthor: Hugo ClausLanguage: DutchTranslator: Arnold J. PomeransPublisher: First published in Dutch as Het Verdriet van Belgie by De Bezige BijContinue reading “The Sorrow of Belgium – Hugo Claus”
A Girl Named Tommi 