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The Dead Gentleman, by Matthew Cody, is a fun new adventure that suggests other possibilities of what we might not see happening right in front of us in our world, especially in our closets. Tommy Learner is an eleven-year-old orphan who makes his living as a street thief in New York. When he goes for what should be a big money opportunity, he ends up with a seemingly useless metal bird and is thrust into a secret multi-world exploring society of portals, submarines, evil-doers, danger and eventually betrayal. Over one hundred years later, his ghost appears in front of twelve-year-old Jezebel Lemmon warning her ofRead More →

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New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater has created something wonderful, enchanting, thrilling, and unique in her latest, The Scorpio Races.  It’s hard to say what I like most about this book – its breathtaking scenery and visceral sense of place; the pulse-pounding thrill of the wild horses racing on the beach; the lovingly crafted, superbly detailed characters (human and horse); the fact that it’s a unique blend of romance, action, coming of age, and fantasy that feels so different from most everything else out on the YA market right now; or maybe, simply, the powerful honesty of a book well written, carefully edited, and lovinglyRead More →

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“I wondered if this was what it was like when the end of the world came. A sudden overturning that made every day like stepping alone into an empty room, everything you longed for, every handhold you used to pull yourself along, vanished.” (Stephen, from The Eleventh Plague)  Much has been made in recent months about the darker bent of YA lit and the growing fascination with end-of-the-world scenarios and dystopias taking over the once sunny, wholesome world of tween/YA lit (was it ever really so?).  So I thought it particularly interesting that the 2 books next in my stack to read were both post-apocalyptic stories: AaronRead More →

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Sci-Fi Action author Brian Falkner creates another fast-paced, twisting and turning thrill ride in his latest novel, The Project.  Best friends Tommy and Luke like to pull mostly harmless pranks and enjoy horsing around.  Even though their latest prank lands them in some serious trouble at school, they still volunteer with to help the local university library try to save its rare book collection from the impending threat of a fast moving flood.  While helping out, Luke discovers the only copy in existence of a rare book based on Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings and theories. Because he’s been researching “the most boring book in theRead More →

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Debut children’s author Kelly Barnhill’s The Mostly True Story of Jack  is a delightful, imaginative tale.   It’s a story of friendship, family, and sacrifice, all wrapped up in a mostly true (depending on how you look at it) magical mystery about a boy, a town, and the choice to do the right thing. Jack’s parents are getting a divorce, so he has to go stay in a small farm town in Iowa with his only relatives, an old aunt and uncle who live in the strangest house he’s ever seen.  It’s not like Jack will miss much from his home in San Francisco since he hasRead More →

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Bestselling author Sophie Jordan’s novel Vanish is about Jacinda’s life when she gets back to the pride. After being taken away from the pride by her mother and almost exposing her race’s one kept secret.  In this detailed sequel to Firelight, there are many issues Jacinda  must face: she has to choose between her love for her pride and her true love, Will;  her relationship with Cassian has an unexpected twist because Cassian want something more from Jacinda  than she is willing to give; Jacinda realizes she wants nothing at all but to be herself; Jacinda’s twin sister Tamara has some surprises; and you find out if theRead More →

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Reminiscent of numerous future dystopias, particularly Lois Lowry’s The Giver and TV phenomenon The Twilight Zone, Ruth White’s newest middle grade fiction offering, You’ll Like it Here (Everybody Does), is an unsettling, suspenseful adventure.  At first glance, the Blues are a typical American family: Mom’s an astronomy professor, Gramps is retired and loves puttering around his workshop and painting, 14 year old David and 12 year old Meggie are smart kids, who enjoy school and spending the summers traveling around the US.  But they’ve got a secret and when the townspeople become suspicious of them and barge into their farmhouse one summer night, the secretRead More →

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16 year old London Lane has a secret: every night since she was 6 years old, when she goes to sleep, her memory of her past disappears. Instead, she awakens with “memories” of her future life, remembering people, places, and events that have not yet occurred.  London can’t remember the day before today, or any day of 16 years of life.  Her mom and her best friend Jaime are the only people who know her secret and they use a system of nightly note reminders, cell phone alarms, and old-fashioned partnering to help London navigate her daily high-school life.  It’s a somewhat maddening, precarious existence,Read More →

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Never having been a 9-year-old boy, I can’t say for sure, but… if I had been, then I would have loved screenwriter EJ Altbacker’s new series, Shark Wars.  Easily identifiable character-types, sharks, fierce action, sharks, high stakes conflict, sharks, quick pacing, sharks, and highly cinematic detail, (and did I mention sharks?), combine into an easily readable series for 8-12 year old boys (and some girls too). These books are perfectly positioned for an animated life and already have a free game for smartphones.  Altbacker hooks his readers quickly and the attempts at conveying life lessons – choosing true friends over popularity, bullying, holding true to oneself, and doing the rightRead More →