When We Make It by Elisabet Velasquez--Starting August 14th, 2021

[Dr. Andy]

An unforgettable young adult debut novel-in-verse that redefines what it means to make it, touching on themes of mental illness, sexual assault, food insecurity and gentrification, in the Nuyorican literary tradition of Nicholasa Mohr and the work of contemporary writer Elizabeth Acevedo.

Sarai is a first-generation Puerto Rican eighth grader who can see with clarity the truth, pain, and beauty of the world both inside and outside her Bushwick apartment. Together with her older sister Estrella, she navigates the strain of family traumas and the systemic pressures of toxic masculinity and housing insecurity in a rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn. Sarai questions the society around her, her Boricua identity, and the life she lives with determination and an open heart, learning to celebrate herself in a way that she has been denied.

When We Make It is a love letter to girls who were taught to believe they would not make it at all. The verse is evocative and insightful, and readers are sure to be swept into Sarai's world and rooting for her long after they close the book.

[Dr. Andy]

29% five dollars shoe store (view spoiler)[this book makes me sad for Sarai and her family. Also sad bc I know there are families who still face this type of poverty in the US still. The thing about barbies made me chuckle (hide spoiler)]

50% summer lunches (view spoiler)[ugh those living conditions of that apartment were truly awful 😭 and sleeping on pews!? That sounds extra awful (hide spoiler)]

75% tone disappears (view spoiler)[ I hope he didn’t overdose 😅🥲 this book is definitely sad. Also was Sarai raped when she got in that strangers car 😩 (hide spoiler)]

[Dr. Andy]

finished (view spoiler)[ I hope Sarai will find a way to be happy with her baby and what she does next. This book was so sad and now I'm just sad :( the ending definitely feels hopeful, but I wish we got to see more of that. (hide spoiler)]

[Melanie]

Andy wrote: "29% five dollars shoe store [spoilers removed]
(view spoiler)[ Yeah it's honestly heartbreaking. (hide spoiler)]
50% summer lunches [spoilers removed]
(view spoiler)[ this makes me think of some of my students and I just want to cry. (hide spoiler)]
75% tone disappears [spoilers removed]"
(view spoiler)[ He wasn't really a stranger, he was the person that played piano at her church, but yeah she definitely was. And probably nothing will be done about it either. (hide spoiler)]

Finished(view spoiler)[ This is so sad but good. I thought the writing was great! (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]