What I've Been Reading

In Confessions by Kanae Minato, a middle school teacher confronts the students who killed her four-year-old daughter.  The book opens as she speaks to her class, first telling them what "A" and "B" did to cause her daughter's death and then revealing her chosen revenge. The story then switches to other characters.  The book is set in Japan, which makes the story unfold very differently than it would here in the United States. It was those differences that kept me reading.



The Furies by Natalie Haynes is another story of a teacher with a disturbed class of students. As the book opens, it's clear that something bad has happened, but not what it was. Since the death of her fiance, Alex has worked at The Unit, an alternative high school that's the last place for the system to send its most troubled students. I think I learned more about Greek tragedies from this book than from the literature courses I took in high school, all while I was turning pages to see the mystery unfold.

Disclosure -- the publishers provided me with ARCs.