The House of Salt and Sorrow will not Soar On

With this one our team was unanimous from the start, bare knuckle boxing not needed.  We went with Ghost Boys, a realistic fiction about racial police brutality in the states.  The book follows a boys ghost that was shot by a police officer.  It shows the aftermath of the shooting and how it effected the boys family, the police officer's family and the entire community. We did not all agree on whether or not this was something we enjoyed reading because for some of us  the style of writing was jarring and very simplistic.  However, the topic was relevant and engaging so we agreed that the book would be perfect for young adults that want to read about real world situations but may not necessarily have the reading skills for most books with a mature theme.  Overall, we want this book in our junior classrooms.  Kid are going to eat it up.

The House of Salt and Sorrow on the other hand was A LOT.  Overall written quite well, it was a retelling of the fairy tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses.  It worked to expand on this story by adding many elements and embracing a darker horror style to the narrative.  In some elements this worked as it created a great tone for the genre they were going for.  However, it seemed to bite off more than it could chew as many story elements seemed disjointed.  It could have used some serious editing to shift the focus and increase in engagement.  One of our reader's read it during hour 13 of a 24 hour readathon and could not remain engaged in it at all.  We had a few students read it who adored it but it was much more niche of an audience compared to Ghost Boys.

SO in the end, Ghost Boys for the win!