So how did YOU spend last weekend? I spent it offline catching up on some reading, because the guy who aerated our lawn on Saturday morning unwittingly aerated our internet cable as well. Instant social media hiatus! . It was kind of a nice break, to be honest, but Iβm happy to be back with another installment of #mybookalphabet. Our next letter is I for Isaveth, the tween heroine of my MG magical mysteries A POCKET FULL OF MURDER and todayβs featured book A LITTLE TASTE OF POISON. . Isavethβs family has fallen on hard times, because her Papa is out of work and her country is going through an economic depression. So when sheβs offered a scholarship to attend the most prestigious magical school in the city free of charge, she can hardly believe her good fortune. But Isaveth fears her wealthy and privileged schoolmates finding out where she comes from, not just because sheβs poor but because her family are Moshites β a despised religious minority with a history of being persecuted for their faith. . At the time I decided to write these books, Iβd seen a few MG novels that touched on class and racial bigotry, but few if any that dealt with religious prejudice. As a child who was not only bullied at school for wearing cheap hand-me-down clothes and using βbig wordsβ but had suffered some painful backlash for talking about my faith as well, I wanted to show young readers a little of what it feels like to be despised for what you believe. Itβs not the main conflict of the story, but it certainly plays a part in Isavethβs experiences as a student at Tarreton College, and adds some complications to her efforts to solve the bookβs central mystery. . Have you read any good MG, YA or adult fantasy that deals with religious persecution? Iβd love to hear about them in comments! . . . . #middlegradebooks #middlegradereads #middlegradefiction #IreadMG #MGlit #kidlit #littletasteofpoison #alittletasteofpoison #uncommonmagic #readalouds #alwaysreading #bookish #bookworm #booknerd #booklover #bibliophile #booksofinstagram #fortheloveofbooks #readingismagic https://www.instagram.com/p/CAbVztnANaW/?igshid=1x5r1yxbd10es
