Book Review: Better with Books by Melissa Hart
Some of the books my Book Aunts gave me all those years ago. I snuck off with as many of our collective treasures as I could when I left for college. (Photo: Michael Howell)
NOTE: This post contains affiliate links to Bookshop.org, an online bookstore that provides financial support to local, independent bookstores. By the time I wrote this post, Bookshop.org had already raised $15.8m for local bookstores. If you use the links in this post to purchase a book or two on Bookshop.org, I’ll earn a commission on your book purchase, as will your preferred independent bookshop. You can also find a selection of these books in the Caterpickles Bookstore. Regardless of whether you use my links or visit the Caterpickles Bookstore, I’m glad you spent part of your day reading Caterpickles. Learn more about Affiliate Links, the Caterpickles Bookstore, and why I decided to become a Bookshop.org Affiliate.
Better with Books by Melissa Hart
Genre: Reference
Publisher: Sasquatch Books
Year Published: 2019
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchase
My Rating: ☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️
My Review: ☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️
Growing up, younger me was blessed with not one, but two Book Aunts, who had the most marvelous taste in books. Every Christmas, my Great-Aunt Marian and my Aunt Jeanne used to send beautiful editions of books like King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Charlotte’s Web, and The Illustrated Treasury of Poetry for Children.
Their taste in books aligned so neatly with my own, that I would try to sneak off with my siblings’ books as well while the wrapping paper that had disguised them still littered the floor. My older brother quickly learned the intricate art of crafting traps that were just dangerous enough to protect his books without doing too much damage to me, but my sister shared a room with me and was forced to accept the fact that I would treat her books as my own. Fortunately, she didn’t mind that nearly as much as she minded sharing her socks.
Now that I’m a responsible adult with nieces of my own, I am doing my best to carry on the family’s Book Aunt tradition by sending my nieces books for birthdays and major holidays. At first it was easy. Picture books are so short, it’s trivial to read several in the bookstore before picking my favorites to wrap up and mail out. But now that three of my nieces are in middle school and high school, screening appropriate books before gifting them is much more time consuming. Frankly, I’m starting to struggle a bit, even with two voracious readers in the house ready and willing to help me. But that doesn’t mean I should just stop.
I don’t need to tell you how emotionally tender middle schoolers can be or how fraught with potential and stress the high school years can feel. The ability to see themselves in the books they read can be an invaluable source of comfort for tweens and teens. Reading a wide range of books can also help teens develop empathy and compassion for those whose stories aren’t their own. In many respects, my role as Book Aunt has never felt more important.
That’s where Melissa Hart’s Better with Books: 500 Diverse Books to Ignite Empathy and Encourage Self-Acceptance in Tweens and Teens comes in.
“The right book read at the right time can change a life, and that’s why Better with Books belongs in every library. Timely, compassionate, and wise, this is a remarkable reference guide.”
Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal award-winning author of The One and Only Ivan.
Better with Books includes reading guides on a variety of topics:
- Adoption
- Body Image
- Immigration
- Learning Challenges
- LGBTQIA+
- Mental Health
- Environment
- Physical Disabilities
- Poverty
- Race / Ethnicity
- Religion and Spirituality
Hart’s reading lists are divided into sections for tweens and older teens. She provides a brief summary of each book that succinctly describes the setting, point-of-view character, main issues, and genre. Published in 2019, Better with Books obviously doesn’t include the absolute latest publications, but there are still plenty of relevant and engrossing titles in it that I see the kids at my middle school devouring daily, such as Al Capone Does My Homework by Gennifer Choldenko (Learning Challenges), Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan (Adoption/Foster Care), and Brave by Svetlana Chmakova (Body Image). Hart’s lists are detailed enough to make it easy for parents, teachers, librarians, and book aunts/uncles to find at least one book that would appeal to every reader on their list.
I find this book so useful, I’m planning to keep my copy of it at the circulation desk to refer to when the students ask me to help them find their next great read. Marked up, of course, because this is a book meant to be used, not just read.
What about you?
What have you been reading lately?
Related Links:
- Book Review: What the Night Sings by Vesper Stamper (Caterpickles)
CATERPICKLES 
One Response to “Book Review: Better with Books by Melissa Hart”
Thank you so much, Shala. I’m thrilled that you found my Better with Books so useful!
Much gratitude for the lovely review,
Melissa
LikeLike