\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s Not Like It\u2019s A Secret<\/i><\/b> is not the coming-out story that you would expect from its cover. (Yes, even I judge books on their covers.) Sana Kiyohara is a sixteen-year old Japanese-American living in the Midwest who is in love with her best friend. And yet it\u2019s when her family decides to move to California when everything gets complicated, namely because of a cute girl named Jamie and the possibility that her father is having an affair. Throughout the book, Sana struggles to balance the secrets she is keeping from herself and others, while uncovering the secrets others have kept from her. <\/span> Find this book in our catalog: It’s Not Like It’s a Secret\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Call Number:\u00a0YA FIC SUGIURA,M<\/p>\n 394 pages<\/p>\n More Recommendations<\/strong><\/p>\n review by\u00a0Sylvie Bower, age 16 It’s Not Like It’s A Secret\u00a0by\u00a0Misa Sugiura \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s Not Like It\u2019s A Secret is not the coming-out story that you would expect from its cover. (Yes, even I judge books on their covers.) Sana Kiyohara is a sixteen-year old Japanese-American living in the Midwest who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":4036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[120,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-teen-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2017\/09\/its-not-like-its-a-secret.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ZwbD-135","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6818,"url":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2022\/strange-creatures-teen-book-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":4035,"position":0},"title":"Strange Creatures — Teen Book Review","author":"Teen Blogger","date":"January 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Review by Giselle Carlos, 16 Strange Creatures By Phoebe North Annie and Jamie aren\u2019t just brother and sister; they\u2019re two halves of one soul, born a year apart yet twins in every way. 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\n<\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It seems like this book would focus on Sana\u2019s sexuality and her relationship with Jamie, but it\u2019s not necessarily the reason I would pick this book up. I loved the queer women of color representation, but I didn\u2019t love the fact their relationship moved really quickly, and there are later plotlines that didn\u2019t sit well with me. Sana\u2019s judgement was questionable, so I wasn\u2019t rooting for them to get together. However, I found it adorable how much of a role poetry played in their relationship, and it was cool to be able to look up the poems as they were mentioned. <\/span>
\n<\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s not often that media portrays minorities, and so it was a surprise to find that in this book. Sana\u2019s new high school, unlike her previous one in Wisconsin, has a diverse student body, but is separated into groups based on race. Though it\u2019s refreshing for Sana to finally find people who understand her in the \u201cAsian Girl\u201d group, it\u2019s clear that racism isn\u2019t only in the Midwest, except instead of white people it\u2019s her mom and her close friends, mainly against the Latino student group. This becomes a problem as Jamie is a part of this group, though as Sana learns, the Latino students equally discriminate against Asians. Although the everyday racism and stereotyping is uncomfortable, the author uses it to illustrate that minorities aren\u2019t exempt from discriminating. <\/span>
\n<\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Overall, this book was entertaining, even though I definitely cringed at more than a few moments. I recommend this for people looking for diverse books, as the portrayal of racism between people of color is an important topic, but not necessarily for the romance, as it was a bit lacking for me. 3.5\/5 stars.<\/span>
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