Candy Bunny Reader

  Another memoir everyone needs to read! Homebody by Theo Parish is a graphic novel memoir of the author on their journey on how they discovered they are nonbinary. They use an extended metaphor of a house to explain their story, on how discovering they were nonbinary was liking coming home to themselves. They also highlight realities on being nonbinary that not everyone will understand you and that is okay--surround yourself with people who support you. And questioning yourself and coming out is a continuous process.  I loved how uplifting and heartfelt this memoir was! I also love the author's illustrations. I also liked their cats and the fact they were a nerd who likes cosplaying and roleplaying games. So this book got a pure 5 stars from me!

It's Deaf Awareness Month, so why not share the book perfect for this occasion that I just read and got as a present from a family friend?! A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard is about Steffi, a girl in her last year of high school who has selective mutism. She is hearing, but she also can communicate through sign language (specifically BSL, since the story is set in Britain). She gets assigned to help out a new student in her school named Rhys, who is deaf. Slowly, they become friends and they become a couple. Through Rhys, Steffi is able to meet more people who support her and her disability and alternate communication styles after struggling with them for so long.  Such a cute romance book! And great disability representation, too. I though this book would be perfect to share this month since it's Deaf Awareness Month.  But I did give it 4 stars . There is some mild ableism sprinkled throughout the book (although it is handled well at the end). One character is mention...

  I just finished reading Mandy by Julie Andrews. (Yes, that Julie Andrews. Did you know she was an author as well as an actress?) I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. This was such a sweet book! This gave off the same heartwarming, cottagecore vibes similar to Anne of Green Gables, which is one of my favorite books of all time.  Mandy is about an orphan girl named, well, Mandy, who is ten years old and has lived in an orphanage all of her life. Despite her relatively normal an non-chaotic life in the orphanage, she's had a lingering sadness in the back of her mind because she always felt that something was missing from her life.  One day while exploring the woods behind the orphanage, she comes across an old abandoned cottage. She decides to make it her own personal sanctuary. So she starts a project to tidy up the cottage and grow a garden there, but she has to keep it secret, as she has felt she finally found a place to call her own and doesn't want to share it with any...