The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet by Jake Maia Arlow Dial Books for Young Readers (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Kathryn Hall Buy at Bookshop.org There is a lot of poop in this book. Like, really a lot. But what is a middle grade novel without poop jokes? Al lives with her mom next door to her best friend Leo and his mom. She is anxious and embarrassed by everything, especially the abdominal pain and frequent urgent bloody stools which disrupt her life. The diagnosis of Crohn's disease coincides with her mother starting a romantic relationship and her best friend joining drama club and being much less available. Al comes to terms with having a chronic disease and learns to trust and communicate better with family and friends. The author has Crohn's disease, and the depiction of the the effect of the disease and the medical care is authentic and much needed representation. There are many LGBTQ+ characters, but being lesbian, gay, bis...

How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow HarperTeen (imprint of HarperCollins), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org After a bad breakup with her now ex-girlfriend, all Shani wants to do is escape to Washington DC during winter break for her dream internship: studying prehistoric fish at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. As Shani heads to DC with her mother behind the wheel, things go from bad to worse. She and her mother spend the drive arguing. That is, until their argument is silenced by a terrible snowstorm. When they leave the highway in the blizzard to head to the house where Shani will be staying during her internship, they start arguing again. Distracted, Shani’s mother doesn’t see a girl crossing the road, and hits her with the car. After making sure that the girl is not hurt, Shani can’t help noticing that she’s also very cute. Literally running into May becomes Shani and May’s, “meet cute” in this Jewish, queer, YA “Hallmark Holiday Roma...