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I wanted to dnf this book but having been raised by 2 parents who cared, I felt I owed it to this MC to keep reading. Sequoya is in the foster care system because his mother is in prison. He‘s half Cherokee and is placed in a rural Oklahoman family with 2 other foster kids. The book is a bunch of creepy places and mysterious people. They‘re not really stitched together, though. The kids are alone, preoccupied with death. It‘s a lot and I 👇🏼

I didn‘t get much out of this book. Lots of symbolism and no ending. The first part was great but it lost me somewhere along the way.

This book has a lot of challenging subject matters. I wasn't thrilled with the fascination of the main character with harmful sex fantasies, though it did feel real to life.
The pacing was good and the characters well developed, this is a good book just not for me.

Lots of DNFs on this one. Is it because we aren‘t the target audience? Who do you feel might be, specifically, if any?

#yabuddyread

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I had to stop reading this because of all the times it made me cringe. The children in the foster system have a lot on their plates. That pain is very real, and how they deal with it can many times not be in healthy ways. I‘m not saying this is a good or bad book. I‘m just saying I personally can‘t read anymore because of the depressing material within it. This is for #YABuddyReads and #BookSpinBingo in November

It left me uncomfortable. The young people are obsessed with death and pain. Some scenes made me cringe (wanting to dispense pain). It made me think of the kids who are fascinated with gothic themes. I didn't like it, but I didn't dislike it either. Not a very coherent review, is it? It just left me depressed. #YABuddyRead @megnews

#yabuddyread

I am glad I was able to add some Native American fiction to my reading this month but ultimately this title was not my cup of tea. A bit creepy, this coming of age story about a teen aged boy living through the foster system left more questions than answers. Looking forward to discussion.

This was bleak and didn‘t really speak to me. The writing itself was clear, but I had a hard time figuring out who the intended audience is and who might really connect with these characters. #YAbuddyread

There are things I like and things I didn‘t about this book. I‘m looking forward to discussion in a couple weeks. #yabuddyread

#Yabuddyread #firstlinefridays

#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth

Another reminder to grab your November #YAbuddyRead and/or #MGBuddyRead books.

"I saw the look of tenderness on her face, and I knew she was happy that I was in a good, safe place. It struck me then how strong grief and hope were. Grief and hope were our anchor, holding us together."

Beautifully written, and very honest in its descriptions. There is a completely different way of thinking for children who have grown up in the system, a way of thinking that is only recognized by others who have experienced familial trauma. This book is a shared experience with its reader in the way it's written almost as a memoir. Although I am not normally a fan of memoirs, I was enthralled nonetheless.

And of course, I have my next read already lined up. I rarely have only one book going, and I never have no idea what I'm going to read next, I always have a well stocked library. Once I'm getting close to the end of a book, I start carrying around the next book I'm going to read, so I'm always carrying around no less than three books at a time. My Louis Vuitton is more of a book bag than an actual purse. 🤓📖

This was a book that I‘m not sure I can really review without giving any of the gems away. I think it is a 50/50 if people other than me will like it! But I enjoyed how haunting and beautiful it was.

Hobson worked in social services for a number of years & it shows in this well-written story about a fifteen-year-old Cherokee boy who bounces from foster home to foster home while his mother is in jail. Identity, freedom, hope, guilt, depression, belonging, responsibility, family &, perhaps most of all, survival are prominent themes in this book which offers an unflinching look at life in the foster care system. Not always easy, it‘s a good read.

My morning...

My next book is described as a “stunning and lyrical Native American coming-of-age story.” It‘s about a fifteen-year-old Cherokee boy who is sent to live with a foster family and what happens afterward as he and another teen work their way through the foster care system. A finalist for the National Book Award, I‘m expecting this to be a powerful and emotional story.

A teen searching for cultural identity while living in foster care. The hurt, anger and pain was difficult and unrelenting. Important but tough read and therefore only a so-so rating I recommend it but be prepared.

“You never listen,” she said, and these were her final words.

"I have been unhappy for many years now."

This was sad, heartbreaking, and also weird in some places. It reads like a stream of consciousness, which isn‘t my fave format. I didn‘t hate it but didn‘t love it either. #booked2019 #indigenousauthor

About to start this with my best friend. Looking forward to it very much. #catsoflitsy #indigenouslit #indigenousliterature #firstnations #brandonhobson

Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson is another read from the National Book Award finalist list. I felt like the life of Sequoyah, a teenaged foster boy, is well represented in how he views the world and interacts with others. The pacing of the book didn't work as well for me, as it tends to race through really important moments.

This coming-of-age novel about about a Native American teenager placed into foster care in rural Oklahoma is written in such a compelling and unique voice. I wasn‘t prepared for how weird this book is, and I‘m not sure I can adequately explain the type of weird that it is. Ottessa Moshfegh blurbed one of the author‘s previous books, if that tells you anything. I loved it.

Sequoyah is a teenager moving through the foster care system after his mother is sent to prison. Hobson writes so beautifully of the emotional toll their unstable upbringings have on Sequoyah, and the other two foster children in the home. It is never simply anger, or fear, or sadness, or loneliness, it is all of these feelings at once. Along with love, and relief, and guilt, and well…everything. These are characters I will not soon forget.

From the NBA longlist: a Native American boy makes his way to a foster family with two other troubled teens. Throughout, the voice is calm, but there is a rage and trauma underneath that the narrator tries to tamp down. It occasionally comes out when he thinks of hurting others. Unfortunately, I didn‘t feel enough of that suppressed rage and the occasions when he made off-handed comments about shooting someone just seemed sensational. 3⭐️ #Hoopla

I found this so atmospheric and compelling. It's about how teens deal with trauma in their lives, while they are in the foster care system. It's also about losing touch with your culture and the desire to feel connected to it. The characters are heartbreaking. I did think the ending was a little too fast, still I couldn't stop listening to this story. I would have never heard about this if it were not for the NBA longlist, I'm glad I read it.

Sadly, this was just the wrong book at the wrong time. I just wasn‘t feeling it.

Sad and moving thoughts of a young Cherokee youth abandoned by his parents.

I was excited about this book. I'm a member of the Cherokee tribe like the MC and the author and it involves kids in foster care which is where I work.... But, honestly, it was really weird... Just weird, there were thoughts and events that felt like they were just thrown in for shock or whatever. I was very close to bailing a few times, but I kept hoping it would tie together in the end, but no such luck. I'm honestly pretty disappointed 😢

This week I‘m featuring new coming-of-age stories. Descriptions on my blog or right here on Litsy. http://www.bethfishreads.com/2018/02/5-new-coming-of-age-novels.html?m=1

Set in Oklahoma in 1989, this coming of age story is engaging from the first pages and maintains a fast pace. Unfortunately, though the characters feel authentic, I just never connected with any of them... but I think it could be a great book for discussion groups! #HappyShelfieSunday! #FebInBooks18 @bookisglee