This is a book that I will happily recommend to my fellow educators. As a 20-year veteran, I have seen all sorts of students go through my classroom, but rarely have I been able to see the multiple perspectives illustrated so well. There is sadness in the inequalities described, but also hope in the strength that these individuals have in their abilities.

Show them You’re Good by Jeff Hobbs was the nonfiction narrative book that I didn’t know I needed or would have predicted that I would love as much as I did. The subtitle is A Portrait of Boys in the City of Angels, the Year Before College which appealed to me as a curious reader and a mom. I appreciated that the author did not inject himself into this story at all – the book is about the boys, their friends, and their families. The book felt substantial but wasn’t tedious or too long and it definitely made me think. I thought about how different it is for some families in our country than it is for me and my family. I thought about the fact that we teach kids to think critically, write logically, and work for the greater good but they see many examples of adults who do not do that. The boys were all likable but also imperfect and ambitious but sometimes procrastinators. What I missed in the very detailed description of this year in their lives is mention of faith. I hope that at least some of them had a praying mother or a youth pastor helping them as they make these decisions about their education and their future. This book comes out on Tuesday August 18, 2020 – thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for a copy to read and review, all opinions are my own.

Show Them You're Good highlights the journeys of several high school boys, from two different LA schools, as they navigate their senior year. Hobbs showcases the diversity of experiences and the hard work these young men put in, as well as their apathy and the inherent randomness of college admissions and choosing a life path.

It's an interesting read, but I don't feel that it contributes anything particularly groundbreaking or profound to the literature on first-gen and low-income youth. And I felt that Hobbs didn't use the boys' own voices as often as I'd like; sifting through an adult's interpretation of their story fell flat to me.

Following the lives of (more than) 4 high school boys for their senior year of high school yielded all of the emotions and hijinks that one would expect. The specialness is in the college quest by mostly first generation applicants, some undocumented, most monetarily poor. I almost never skip paragraphs or pages in books but I did in this case--too many descriptions of places or ideas that had little or no bearing on the boys or the decisions they had to make. I did appreciate the the author's follow-up letting readers know how/what the boys were doing.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC to read and review.

This one just didn’t come together for me. The author follows several (nine, I think I counted) HS boys from LA. There are just too many stories and the overarching narrative didn’t come together for me.

OK, I wanted to love this book. I really connected with the description and having all the time in the world now, I kept giving this book a try and it kept falling flat. The minutia of the every day word for word descriptions made my mind wonder. I found myself forcing to keep any interest. I have a pretty interesting life, but if you write down every sentence I speak, it just gets dull. I rarely am this disappointed in a book. I research and select books after reading reviews and even downloading samples. Others seem to love this book, and I completely respect that opinion. I just cannot share that opinion.