The Garden of Second Chances is a work of fiction in the social issues and interpersonal drama subgenres. It is intended for the older end of the young adult reading audience and contains no graphic material, but does make strong references to racial slurs, profanity, and issues of violence in prison settings. This unique and insightful tale, penned by Mona Alvarado Frazier, explores the results of immigration laws and wrongful imprisonment. Our protagonist, Juana Ivanov, finds herself incarcerated in California when she flees from her abusive husband and he dies, leaving Juana’s young baby in the care of her sister back in Mexico. Navigating prison life is hard enough, but then there’s the big wide world and what comes after she is released to deal with as well. Mona Alvarado Frazier offers a deeply emotive and realistic work of fiction that young adult and adult audiences alike will find much to enjoy and consider when reading. A heartfelt tale with a likable and relatable protagonist, Juana’s struggles are beautifully and soulfully narrated. There’s a raw emotive fashion that sometimes cuts through the narrative to remind us that there are real people in similar situations in our world right now, much in the way that modern great writers like Angie Thomas have done recently. The author is a similarly powerful and empowering voice, delivering a detailed plot and interesting drama that we can learn from as much as we’re hooked by it. The Garden of Second Chances is a highly recommended read for fans of accomplished YA dramas and socially conscious fiction.

Weekly Bookstack: A Roundup of the Book Mail I Received Last Week

Juana, a seventeen-year-old mother, is sentenced to prison for murdering her husband. She claims she’s innocent—but no one believes her, including the prison staff and a gang leader in her block who torments her. Undocumented and far from home and the people who love her, Juana has never felt more alone—or frightened. The threats she faces within prison are bad enough, but they pale in comparison to the threat coming from without: her husband’s family, bereaved and outraged at her alleged crime, is determined to take her baby from her forever. Hemmed in on all sides, Juana is desperate to stay out of trouble and somehow find her way back to her daughter. Searching for answers, she lands in an unlikely place: a patch of ground in the prison yard that she decides to turn into a garden. Digging in the soil and nurturing plants gives her respite from the harassment she suffers in her block—and surfaces memories of her long-deceased mother. Courageous and iron-willed, Juana's mamá would never, ever have given in or given up if she'd ended up in similar circumstances. Bolstered by this realization, Juana becomes determined to honor her mother's legacy by proving her innocence and getting her daughter back. She can do it—she knows it. She just has to figure out how. Pub Date: June 6, 2023 Author: Mona Alvarado Frazier

Published by One More Chapter on the 20th of June 202 With nothing but time on her hands, retired nurse Rose Lanyon finds herself drawn to the garden that had once been her husband’s pride and joy. It may have started as a means of honouring her husband’s memory, but her little Cornish garden soon becomes so much more – a place where the lost and lonely can find solace, the forgotten can be remembered, and second chances take bloom. Because, as long as new life is growing, there will always be hope and new memories to make… This was…

About the Book "A woman desperate to turn a new page heads to the Scottish coast and finds herself locked in a battle of wills with an infuriatingly aloof bookseller."-- Book Synopsis A woman desperate to turn a new page heads to the Scottish coast and finds herself locked in a battle of wills with an infuriatingly aloof bookseller in this utterly heartwarming debut, perfect for readers of Evvie Drake Starts Over. Thea Mottram is having a bad month. She's been let go from her office job with no notice--and to make matters even worse, her husband of nearly twenty years has decided to leave her for one of her friends. Bewildered and completely lost, Thea doesn't know what to do. But when she learns that a distant great uncle in Scotland has passed away, leaving her his home and a hefty antique book collection, she decides to leave Sussex for a few weeks. Escaping to a small coastal town where no one knows her seems to be exactly what she needs. Almost instantly, Thea becomes enamored with the quaint cottage, comforted by its cozy rooms and lovely but neglected garden. The locals in nearby Baldochrie are just as warm, quirky, and inviting. The only person she can't seem to win over is bookshop owner Edward Maltravers, to whom she hopes to sell her uncle's book collection. His gruff attitude--fueled by an infamous, long-standing feud with his brother, a local lord--tests Thea's patience. But bickering with Edward proves oddly refreshing and exciting, leading Thea to develop feelings she hasn't experienced in a long time. As she follows a thrilling yet terrifying impulse to stay in Scotland indefinitely, Thea realizes that her new life may quickly become just as complicated as the one she was running from. About the Author Jackie Fraser is a freelance editor and writer. She's worked for AA Publishing, Watkins, the Good Food Guide, and various self-published writers of fiction, travel and food guides, and self-help books. She reads a lot (no, really), in multiple genres, and is fascinated by the Bronze Age. She likes vintage clothes, antique fairs, and photography. She likes cats.