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Articles by Don Hooper
Sonderbooks Book Review of
by Don P. Hooper Review posted December 27, 2025. Nancy Paulsen Books (Penguin Random House), 2023. 368 pages. Review written October 20, 2023, from my own copy, sent by the publisher. Starred Review True True is the story of Gil, a Black teenager from Brooklyn with Jamaican roots, who transfers for his senior year to a prep school in Manhattan to be on the robotics team.
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New YA Book Releases This Week, January 15, 2025
This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. As we find our groove in the new year, one thing we can rely on is this: there are going to be a lot of books to pop onto your TBR these first couple of weeks of 2025. It’s interesting because the first two or three weeks of the year are packed, and the number of books hitting shelves tends to drop off in the latter half of January and into February before roaring back in March.
True True
by (text) & narrated by Christopher Ian Grant . Aug. 2023. 932p. $25. ISBN 9780593664308. COPY ISBN Gr 8 Up–Being the new kid is never easy, but Gil’s differences are magnified as a Black, Brooklyn public school senior-year transfer to a predominantly white, exclusive Manhattan prep academy. The potential rewards—the robotics club, the investment into his future—initially seem worth the risks.
True True a book by Don P. Hooper
Description In this powerful and fast-paced YA contemporary debut, a Black teen from Brooklyn struggles to fit in at his almost entirely-white Manhattan prep school, resulting in a fight and a plan for vengeance. This is not how seventeen-year-old Gil imagined beginning his senior year--on the subway dressed in a tie and khakis headed towards Manhattan instead of his old public school in Brooklyn.
Stars in Their Eyes
Jessica Walton, illus. by As´ka. Graphix, $24.99 (224p) ISBN 978-1-338-81880-2; $15.99 paper ISBN 978-1-338-81879-6 Walton and As´ka interrogate themes of body image, fan culture, and self-discovery via a queer, disabled teen in this thought-provoking graphic novel. Nothing is going to stop bisexual 14-year-old Australian Maisie from attending her first fan convention and meeting her hero, Kara Bufano, an actor from her favorite television show who, like Maisie, uses a prosthetic leg.
True True by Don P Hooper
Don P. Hooper. Penguin/Paulsen, $19.99 (384p) ISBN 978-059-346210-2 Seventeen-year-old Gil, who is of Jamaican descent, is anxious about starting at a new school in Manhattan, away from his predominantly Caribbean Brooklyn neighborhood. But with a partial scholarship and Augustin Prep’s top-notch robotics program on offer, Gil can’t pass up the opportunity.
Book review: Try to keep from laughing
I Could Hardly Keep from Laughing, an Illustrated Collection of Vermont Humor, by Don Hooper and Bill Mares. Paperback. 188 pages. Published by Rootstock Publishing. $24.95. Reviewed by Tena Starr I doubt many are mourning the passage of 2021, and though it’s too soon to know what 2022 will bring, so far it’s 2021 on steroids.
Wayne Dolcefino Involved in a Car Accident - Big Jolly Politics
Yesterday, my friend, Wayne Dolcefino, was involved in a traffic accident on his way to meet with journalists in San Angelo. The accident was a head on collision resulting in Wayne being flown to a trauma center in San Antonio overnight. Dolcefino Consulting has released information regarding the accident in two press releases that follow. Big Jolly Politics is praying for Wayne D’s swift recovery. We can confirm Wayne Dolcefino has been involved in a car accident near San Angelo.
When a Corridor is a Cap - Big Jolly Politics
State Representative Dan Flynn from Van, Texas ran the Houston pension bill hearing last Monday. Speaker Straus has appointed Flynn to serve as Chair of the House Pensions Committee for the past two legislative sessions. Although Flynn claims that he has “never voted for a bill to raise taxes� he does not seem to mind increasing the tax burden of Houstonians. All for his good buddy Sylvester “Sly� Turner. Last Monday, I attended the House Pensions Committee meeting.
Anti-Gun Nut Art Acevedo Appointed Houston Police Chief - Big Jolly Politics
Mayor Sylvester Turner must really NOT want his pension legislation to succeed in Austin. While conservatives in Austin will be so glad to see Acevedo gone, his arrival here is a nightmare for every second amendment supporter in Houston. Certainly the HPOU hall is abuzz with the news. There is no way that Ray Hunt and the HPOU leadership can be happy with this appointment. Acevedo was docked five days’ pay for insubordination by Austin City Manager Marc Ott.
Ahoy Sylvester Turner
Bill King is a sailor. While I have never sailed with him, I am pretty sure that he has always returned to the dock with all his crew and passengers. On the other hand, Sylvester Turner’s client “disappeared” in Galveston Bay and was later found in a Spanish prison…after the insurance paid on the life insurance claim.
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