When Odilia and her four sisters find a dead body in the swimming hole, they embark on a hero’s journey to return the dead man to his family in Mexico. But returning home to Texas turns into an odyssey that would rival Homer’s original tale.With the supernatural aid of ghostly La Llorona via a magical earring, Odilia and her little sisters travel a road of tribulation to their long-lost grandmother’s house. Along the way, they must outsmart a witch and her Evil Trinity: a wily warlock, a coven of vicious half-human barn owls, and a bloodthirsty livestock-hunting chupacabras. Can these fantastic trials prepare Odilia and her sisters for what happens when they face their final test, returning home to the real world, where goddesses and ghosts can no longer help them? Summer of the Mariposas is not just a magical Mexican American retelling of The Odyssey, it is a celebration of sisterhood and maternal love.

Deaf teen Maya moves across the country and must attend a hearing school for the first time. As if that wasn’t hard enough, she also has to adjust to the hearing culture, which she finds frustrating—and also surprising when some classmates, including Beau Watson, take time to learn ASL. As Maya looks past graduation and focuses on her future dreams, nothing, not even an unexpected romance, will derail her pursuits. But when people in her life—deaf and hearing alike—ask her to question parts of her deaf identity, Maya stands proudly, never giving in to the idea that her deafness is a disadvantage.

I bought this book for my classroom but also because it fits my Around the World bookclub here on Goodreads. It's a memoir from a boy who grew up in the Maasai tribe in Kenya. Though short I loved the book because it gives readers - especially kids - an idea of what it's like to live a very different life. The Maasai tribe, specifically the Ariaal which Joseph is part of, is nomadic and their livelihood comes from cattle. They are the most integral part of their daily lives. Most of their diet consists of milk and blood from the animals. I found the details about his life as a child and his life with his tribe fascinating. Though he struggles when he is in school, he has grown to embrace two vastly different cultures and can seemlessly transition between the two.I would love to meet Joseph, because he seems like a remarkable man whom one can learn a lot from. He also finds joy in everything, and having a positive friend like that would benefit everyone. Students who have him as a teacher in America are lucky, especially those that make the trip to Kenya with him over the summer to learn about his tribe. I honestly wish I was offered the opportunity in life.

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