After being blown away by Angela Johnson's The First Part Last, I was thrilled to find out about its sequel/prequel, Heaven. Every time I close an enjoyable book, I feel like I'm leaving friends behind. It's always nice when I can step back into their lives and see how they've fared since last we met. Naturally, then, I wanted to see how Bobby and Feather have grown and changed. Turns out, they haven't. Well, they've aged a teensy bit, but that's about all. Both make appearances in Heaven, but the book isn't actually about them at all.

The book concerns 14-year-old Marley, a girl who's content with her life in Heaven, Ohio. It's not the most exciting existence in the world, but her parents are kind, her older brother's cool and her best friend, Shoogie, always makes her laugh. Letters from her globe-trotting Uncle Jack allow her a peek at the outside world. It's enough for Marley.

Then, she receives startling news, information that leads her to question everything she's ever known about her life, her family and herself. How can the people she loves and trusts have misled her? Who are her parents, really? If she doesn't know them, how in the world can she ever know herself?

While Heaven doesn't equal or even really resemble The First Part Last, it's still a touching little book. It raises questions of what it means to be a family, if there's any such thing as a perfect one, and how we all fit together in this great big human race. The book didn't stir me like The First Part Last did, but Heaven's definitely a nice, affirming read.

(Readalikes: Hm, can't think of any.)

Grade: B-

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for some mature themes

To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find

Even though I resolved not to join any challenges this year, The POC (People of Color) Reading Challenge fits into one of my personal and blogg-y goals, so I'm going for it. I don't care what anyone else thinks (especially the ridiculously hypersensitive blogger who's making such a big deal out of it), I think the challenge is a great idea. So, not only am I joining, but I'm going Level 5, baby! Here's my list:

1. Heaven by Angela Johnson (my review)

2. Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (my review)

3. Voodoo Season by Jewell Parker Rhodes

4. Leaving Gee's Bend by Irene Latham

5. Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo

6. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

7. City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende

8. Forest of the Pygmies by Isabel Allende

9. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

10. Kingdom of the Golden Dragon by Isabel Allende

11. Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

12. Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin

13. The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis

14. Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

15. Monster by Walter Dean Myers

16. Who Am I Without Him? by Sharon Flake

17. Bang! by Sharon Flake

18. Jimi & Me by Jaime Adoff

19. Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson

20. Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson

21. Liar by Justine Larbaleister

22. The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride

23. The Fold by An Na

24. A Step From Heaven by An Na

25. Blindness by Jose Saramago