Book Details
Title: Alice Austen Lived Here
Author: Alex Gino
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: June 7, 2022
Genre(s): Middle Grade, LGBT, Contemporary
Pages: 162
Bookshop Purchase Link: https://bookshop.org/a/67041/9781338733891
Title: Alice Austen Lived Here
Author: Alex Gino
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: June 7, 2022
Genre(s): Middle Grade, LGBT, Contemporary
Pages: 162
Bookshop Purchase Link: https://bookshop.org/a/67041/9781338733891
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Reading Details
Finish Date: February 23, 2022
Format: Physical
Representation: Nonbinary, Transgender, Lesbian
Trigger/Content Warnings: Minor homophobia/lesbophobia
Finish Date: February 23, 2022
Format: Physical
Representation: Nonbinary, Transgender, Lesbian
Trigger/Content Warnings: Minor homophobia/lesbophobia
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Rating: 5/5
Favorite Quote/Scene:
"And not just any history. Queer history."
Review:
I read Melissa by Alex Gino and absolutely loved it. It was a heart-wrenching story and I was ready to read whatever Gino put out next. When I heard about this book and saw that it featured two nonbinary characters, I knew I needed it.
I thoroughly enjoyed just about every moment of reading this book. There will be a quick mention of when I didn't love the book, but even then I still really liked it. One thing I want to mention about this book is that it includes the term gentlequeer. I love that term and I might be making it part of my identity now.
One of my first things is that I absolutely adore the plot. I love the idea of two nonbinary kids getting fed up with all the focus on Dead Cis Straight White Men when discussing history and choosing to look for other representation. I get that! I never really learned about any non-cis/straight people growing up and now I want to. I'm discovering new people left and right. I just love it. I especially love that the reader gets to learn alongside Sam and TJ. It's just so important to learn more about queer history and I loved that this book shown such a bright spotlight on the focus we put on Cis Straight White Men.
I also really loved all the various characters in the book. Sam was a force to be reckoned with, but was very well meaning even when they were a bit forceful. TJ just seems amazing. I really love Jess and Val, they seem absolutely amazing. Ms. Hansen, or Leslie to the non-straights, is a bit of a force like Sam, but her force has calmed down with age or maybe it's just a more subtle kind of force.
The slight issue I had with this book was that at times I found myself annoyed with Sam. They did things that I found hard to deal with, such as thinking they were best friends with their downstairs neighbor who has a decade on them. The thing that I had to keep reminding myself though is that Sam is 12. I'm pretty sure when I was around that age I considered certain people a decade older than me to be my close friends to. It's not a fault of the character or anything bad. It's just a 12-year-old being a 12-year-old. That's it. So as much as I might have been bothered by it, I also get it.
Sometimes when writing a review I struggle to find the correct words to describe what I loved about a book, especially if I'm writing the review a while after reading the book. I loved this book! I loved the characters and the connections that they made. I loved Sam and TJ's journey to learn more about Alice Austen. Sam could be mildly annoying at times, but in all honesty I just figured it was kids being kids. I thought the book was also, sadly, quite realistic with the teacher's disapproval of their project topic. This was a good book that tackled such an important topic and I think it deserves a lot of love and praise. I really want to see this book on the shelves of teachers' classroom libraries.
Favorite Quote/Scene:
"And not just any history. Queer history."
Review:
I read Melissa by Alex Gino and absolutely loved it. It was a heart-wrenching story and I was ready to read whatever Gino put out next. When I heard about this book and saw that it featured two nonbinary characters, I knew I needed it.
I thoroughly enjoyed just about every moment of reading this book. There will be a quick mention of when I didn't love the book, but even then I still really liked it. One thing I want to mention about this book is that it includes the term gentlequeer. I love that term and I might be making it part of my identity now.
One of my first things is that I absolutely adore the plot. I love the idea of two nonbinary kids getting fed up with all the focus on Dead Cis Straight White Men when discussing history and choosing to look for other representation. I get that! I never really learned about any non-cis/straight people growing up and now I want to. I'm discovering new people left and right. I just love it. I especially love that the reader gets to learn alongside Sam and TJ. It's just so important to learn more about queer history and I loved that this book shown such a bright spotlight on the focus we put on Cis Straight White Men.
I also really loved all the various characters in the book. Sam was a force to be reckoned with, but was very well meaning even when they were a bit forceful. TJ just seems amazing. I really love Jess and Val, they seem absolutely amazing. Ms. Hansen, or Leslie to the non-straights, is a bit of a force like Sam, but her force has calmed down with age or maybe it's just a more subtle kind of force.
The slight issue I had with this book was that at times I found myself annoyed with Sam. They did things that I found hard to deal with, such as thinking they were best friends with their downstairs neighbor who has a decade on them. The thing that I had to keep reminding myself though is that Sam is 12. I'm pretty sure when I was around that age I considered certain people a decade older than me to be my close friends to. It's not a fault of the character or anything bad. It's just a 12-year-old being a 12-year-old. That's it. So as much as I might have been bothered by it, I also get it.
Sometimes when writing a review I struggle to find the correct words to describe what I loved about a book, especially if I'm writing the review a while after reading the book. I loved this book! I loved the characters and the connections that they made. I loved Sam and TJ's journey to learn more about Alice Austen. Sam could be mildly annoying at times, but in all honesty I just figured it was kids being kids. I thought the book was also, sadly, quite realistic with the teacher's disapproval of their project topic. This was a good book that tackled such an important topic and I think it deserves a lot of love and praise. I really want to see this book on the shelves of teachers' classroom libraries.
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