Monday Mini-Reviews: It's The First Day Of School

I'm starting my 22nd year of teaching today, which somehow seems incredible.  My daughters started their school year on Friday, and also incredibly we have a senior this year.  

I still am not reading at a great pace, but I did get through a few books this week, and enjoyed them both.

Whisper Network by Chandler Baker is a Reese Witherspoon book club book.  It took a little bit of time for me to get entirely sucked in to this book, but once I did I found myself trying to read during my meetings at school (this reminded me of how I often tried to sneak read under my desk when I was a student).  

Sloane, Ardi and Grace are all lawyers at Truviv and have worked there for years as has Rosalita the cleaning woman at the law firm.  All of them have had to deal with Ames, their boss, who is likely to be promoted to head the company. However, there have been whispers about Ames' behavior for years, and now the women who have had to keep quiet are willing to speak up about how they've been treated.

Baker's story will keep you guessing who to believe and which character you can trust. I loved this story and the further I read, the harder I found it to put down. This also seems to be a very timely look at the way women are treated in the workplace.

With Fire On High is Elizabeth Acevedo's sophomore novel and it is just as fantastic as her first book, The Poet X.

Emoni is a senior in high school, busy taking care of her toddler daughter, Emma, working part-time and trying to figure out what her future holds.  She has plenty on her plate for her last year in high school and a talent in the kitchen where she can create food for family and friends that they can't get enough of.
Money is a big issue because there is never enough of it. Her abuela, who has raised her, helps out as much as she can, but Emoni's dad has been absent much of her life, only returning to Philadelphia to visit once each year. Although Emoni and Emma's dad are on fairly good terms, having him constantly critique who she is spending time with adds another layer of stress to her life.
When Malachi, a transfer student befriends Emoni she lets him know she has no time for anyone in her life.  And when Emoni's culinary arts class plans a trip to Spain, she is sure that such an adventure is not in her future.
But, plans change and Emoni has to figure out for herself what her future holds. 
I loved this book and tore through the entire thing on Friday night.  I'm excited to see what else Acevedo writes after the success of her first two novels.