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Buried in the Stacks by Allison Brook
A Cajun Christmas Killing by Ellen Byron Dark Waters by Katherine Arden
A Deadly Deletion by Lorna Barrett and Cassandra Campbell (Narrator) Death Gets a Time-Out by Ayelet Waldman
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh
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Funky Chickens by Benjamin Zephaniah
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1, 2, 3 Salish Sea: a Pacific Northwest Counting Book by Nikki McClure
Poison Ivy: Thorns by Kody Keplinger and Sara Kipin (Illustrations)
Purrder She Wrote by Cate Conte
Red Velvet Revenge by Jenn McKinlay
Samantha Spinner and the Spectacular Specs by Russell Ginns
A Spell for Trouble by Esme Addison and Emily Durante (Narrator)
The Tea Dragon Festival by Kay O'Neill
This Is Venice by Miroslav Sasek
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Turning Point by Paula Chase

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Every Body Looking: 09/30/21

Every Body Looking

Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh is a novel in verse about a college freshman trying to deal with trauma while learning how to live on her own. Ada is the daughter of a Nigerian father and a Black American mother. Her parents are divorced and she has mostly lived with her father but now she's off to college.

The poems are gathered together in chapters by points in Ada's life. There's her graduation, and flashbacks to first, second, and sixth grades. These are counterpointed against her present day time in college as she's trying to be the adult and the student everyone expects her to be.

In the flashbacks she reveals the trauma of her childhood — sexual abuse by a cousin, her parents' separation and her mother's addiction. In the present, she has classes she doesn't feel comfortable in, a boyfriend who is clearly abusing her, and an escape through dance.

Ada's story is poignant. It's emotional and raw. But the pacing puts eighty percent of the novel's focus on the trauma and only a smidgen of time on her exploration of dance. I wish there was more time spent with the dance lessons and with falling in love with the girl who introduces her to it.

Four stars

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