a blog all about thrifting
Stacey Nguyen 
Hello, hello, hello, my fronds! It’s me, Count Olaf — just kidding. I’ve been slow to post this week because work has me l-e-v-e-l-e-d. I’m back with a kid lit blog, though. This week, I read not one, not two, but three books, not to toot my own horn. Specifically, those great American classics were … Read more
Introduction Don’t ever talk to its son or its son’s son or its son’s son’s son or its son’s son’s son’s son ever again! There’s no other word to describe the spider plant other than prolific. When given adequate water and sunlight, they grow incessantly. Spider plants are those giant tufted mounds of striking leaves that … Read more
Meg Medina’s Merci Suárez Changes Gears explores family and school drama with warmth and nuance. I recently picked up Meg Medina’s lovely Merci Suárez Changes Gears on sale for $7. This whim of a purchase turned out to be a great decision because I thoroughly enjoyed the book and devoured all 355 pages of it … Read more
Introduction The schefflera, or umbrella plant, is just one of those plants that looks both whimsical and elegant. As the colloquial name suggests, the leaves resemble little umbrellas, clustering in pinwheels from thin stems. The foliage is a striking green color, glossy when unfurling. The variegated kinds flaunt splashes of bright colors for an added … Read more
One Crazy Summer is a salient read that illuminates revolutionary ideas and emotional nuance through a child’s perspective. Rita Williams-Garcia’s One Crazy Summer initially drew me in because its setting is Oakland, a city that’s near and dear to my heart. For a whirlwind of a year in college, I covered art and worked at a … Read more
Introduction Sansevierias, aka snake plants, exude a timeless sense of cool. They flaunt a sculptural look and marbled patterning, so it feels like I’m bringing in a green piece of art to my space whenever I buy one! In addition to their effortless beauty, these succulent-like plants are relatively hardy — they don’t require much … Read more
Jacqueline Woodson’s Harbor Me explores systemic American violence with a gentle force. Of all of the kid lit I’ve been reading lately, Harbor Me has been one of the most intense reads. I considered myself a Woodson fan since picking up Red at the Bone, a story geared towards adults, but one that shares salient themes … Read more
An Introduction to Dracaenas I first got the impulse to buy a dracaena after watching Netflix’s Tuca and Bertie, which features these too-cool-for-school teenage plant heads, one specifically named Draca. Draca is, in my mind, a dracaena, which too is effortlessly cool and trendy. In fact, the last time I checked, I had five dracaenas! … Read more
Review: Hope remains an unbreakable force in Tae Keller’s The Science of Breakable Things. Tae Keller’s The Science of Breakable Things might be the longest kid lit pick I’ve read in a while, but the length was definitely worth it considering how the book moved me. And it didn’t sway me in a cloyingly sentimental way. I … Read more
Review: Zoe in Wonderland is a down-to-earth story that grounds itself in reality. Since this is a plant and book blog, I gave myself a tremendous pat on the back when I discovered Brenda Woods’ Zoe in Wonderland, a middle grade chapter book about a plant lover! While the title suggests a Lewis Carroll fantasy of … Read more
