I decided to give this week’s topic a bit of a SPIN – instead of focusing on the STORIES I gravitated towards as a child | teen, I wanted to participate in a *special!* tour stop on the *Tour the World in 30x Books Blog Tour!* which is directly supporting & helping a library stateside to increase their selections of diverse reads! The stories I am recommending might be choices for teens who read eclectically as much as adults – truly, there are no boundaries or barriers in literature! And, coincidentally some of the these *are!* releases in YA! ?
#TopTenTuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
Topic of the Week: Top Ten Books to my Younger Self
Jorie’s #TopTenTuesday DiverseLit
stories Jorie felt deeply connected to whilst reading! ?✨
[ UPDATE: 15th September:
LOOK for the genie! Those stories were selected to be placed on the Library’s Wishlist! I am humbled 5x of these were selected to be shelved! Now, I await the good news someone granted these #bookwishes! ]
[ NOTE: Find the ? to see which books were purchased! ]
The Language of Hoofbeats ?
by Catherine Ryan Hyde
*LGBTQIA, at-risk youth, foster care & social services, unconventional families & found families as well as a beautiful f/f marriage at the centre of the story
An introduction to the characters | one family of blended hearts:
Quinn is the adopted son of Paula and Jackie, whose happy-go-lucky attitude gives his family an anchor of normalcy as much as a bit of insight in how to work through the flow of life as it arrives. Except his anxiety for having Jackie and Paula absent on any given day gives his anxiety a workout; after hearing of his past, the anxiety is natural yet heart-wrenching as it is not easily overcome.
Star is a typical teenager whose vent of angst and anguish inflicts on anyone within her personal sphere of being can become touched by it’s flames. Her emotional leverage of insight into Comet barters on the foreknowledge of knowing how well children (and adults) can benefit from being around an animal who is high strung and/or hyperactive. Sometimes emotionally hyper persons and animals who are equally hyper (even if in a different way) can cancel each other out; thereby giving each of them a more peaceful mood.
Armando is deeply attached to his birth family but wants to attempt to have a measure of independence in his life. He doesn’t quite feel as though he fits inside the family itself but at the same time he doesn’t want to leave. He’s caught in-between and is simply doing the best he can to handle the everyday. When he befriended the barn owl, I had to smile inwardly because he, too, had found an animal he could listen too and draw a breath of empathy for just like Star!
Jackie has an incredible gift for putting people at ease, especially her children of whom are still developing the trust she hopes they will have to know they are safe and loved. Her main flaw is regretting what she doesn’t do and not trusting her own instincts to handle situations which arise out of the blue. She has a lot to give but a part of her questions if how she is being a mother is enough to cause an effect of change for the children.
Paula has the personality of a Mom who listens more than she talks; she processes a lot of things internally, trying to root out a way to not only find the peace in the rougher moments but to sort out the best way through what happens. Her spirit is not easily agitated but being a Vet it goes without saying she has learnt the ability to be calm under pressure and how to fuse her thoughts into her feelings.
Comet, the horse has a temperament you would not necessarily feel drawn too, but I have observed animals for most of my life, and I have the insight to realise the animal never fails to recognise who is need of a friend. Even if the horse such as Comet has a personality quirk not as agreeable to being safe around him, sometimes I think it is this intuition on behalf of the horse which can cause the most healing to occur.
Lost on the Water
