By:
On:
In: Middle Grade Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

Messy is the second novel in the series, Spoiled! written by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. Maxine McCormack is the young, female protagonist who lives in Los Angeles but has dreams of attending NYU to study in their creative writing apprenticeship program. There is only one itty, bitty problem. Maxine ( also known as Max) does not have enough money to pay for tuition. Her family cannot help her financially and Max’s current job at FU’D is anything but glamorous. Surrounded by teens who are wannabe actors and actresses, Max relies on her only friend Molly to help her find a better paying job. WhileRead More →

By:
On:
In: Action & Adventure, Action & Adventure (YA), Middle Grade Reviews, Mystery & Suspense, Mystery & Suspense (YA), Romance (YA), Sci Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

Just when you thought there was nothing else to imagine when it comes to dragons, out of nowhere comes Rachel Hartman‘s Seraphina.  This is a richly imagined, multifaceted, well-written tale bursting with unique ideas, intriguing characters (dragons and humans both), and a complex, riveting plot. At its heart, Seraphina is a book about belonging: “he did not know the truth of me, yet he perceived something true about me that no one else had ever noticed.  And in spite of that – or perhaps because of it – he believed me good, believed me worth taking seriously, and his belief, for one vertigious moment, madeRead More →

By:
On:
In: Romance (YA), Supernatural & Horror (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

Calling to mind the sometimes surreal, often dreamlike, and always visceral way that Francesca Lia Block infuses the City of Los Angeles with a pulsating life of its own in her many young adult novels, M. Beth Bloom‘s debut, Drain You, creates a city simmering under the summertime sun,  blown dry by the desert winds, and fully alive while we spend the endless nights wandering the streets of a city built on dreams, shadows, illusions and secrets.  The scene is so perfectly set, the place so vividly imagined and described, it’s very easy to lose yourself to the siren call of a city that isRead More →

By:
On:
In: Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

The quintessential American rite of passage, the road trip, reveals itself in Jennifer Brown‘s Perfect Escape as a metaphor for the deep, complex, and fundamental relationship between siblings. One long mile after another behind the wheel of her blue-and-rust Oldsmobile Hunka takes 17 year old Kendra on both a physical journey (Missouri to California) but more importantly across the metaphysical terrain of her concept of herself as defined by and in contrast to her brother, her former best friend, her “persona” at school, her place in the family dynamic, and in her own vision of who she thought she was. While Kendra is fleeing fromRead More →

By:
On:
In: Middle Grade Reviews, Sports, Sports (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

Readers of Carl Deuker’s sports stories will likely enjoy T. Glen Coughlin’s latest book.  One Shot Away: A Wrestling Story follows the narratives of three wrestlers in Molly Pitcher, New Jersey, during their senior year: Jimmy O’Shea, Diggy Masters, and Trevor Crow. Although not the typical wrestler’s build at 6’2”, Jimmy is ranked best 160 pounder in the county and slated for the Wall of Champions if he can avoid the distraction of his dad’s dastardly deeds.  Mr. O’Shea’s PhD in post hole digging, predilection for thievery, and passion for alcohol threaten to jeopardize Jimmy’s goals. At 152 pounds, Diggy is living in the shadowRead More →

By:
On:
In: Mystery & Suspense (YA), Sci-Fi & Fantasy (YA), Supernatural & Horror (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

Anna Waggener’s debut, Grim,  is an oddly befuddling, somewhat incomprehensible story that didn’t “come together” until about 150 pages into the book.  Switching between multiple points of view, jumping through time and space, and not giving any real explanation for much of anything, it took a lot of patience on my part to wait for that crucial “oh, now I understand” moment.  Erika, a mid-thirties divorced mother of 3 who’s unhappy with her life, is killed driving home from work on a dark stretch of highway; Rebecca, her reckless 18 year old daughter and Shawn, her straightlaced 16 year old son,  are wracked with griefRead More →

By:
On:
In: Romance (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

The Right and the Real by Joëlle Anthony contains the typical adolescent girl themes: romance, friendship, and finding one’s own voice or identity, but it transcends those themes to explore the impact of poverty, addictive personalities, and religious organizations that border on cultish behavior.  Seventeen-year-old, Jamie Lexington-Cross fears being sent back to her drug addicted mom when her alcoholic dad stops attending therapy and trades one addiction for another, the Right and the Real church. Brainwashed by the petite Mira whom he takes as his bride and by the loud and certain preacher who considers himself Jesus, Robert Lexington-Cross evicts his pragmatic daughter from theirRead More →

By:
On:
In: Middle Grade Reviews, Mystery & Suspense, Mystery & Suspense (YA), Romance (YA), Supernatural & Horror, Supernatural & Horror (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

In Sangu Mandanna‘s The Lost Girl, Eva is a fifteen year old girl living in London who has a life completely different than anyone she knows. She is an echo; a creation made by a group of individuals called the Weavers. She was created to prepare if her ‘other’, Amarra, were to die. Eva would take her place and continue to live Amarra’s life in India with only Amarra’s parents knowing she is an echo and not their true daughter. Eva looks identical to her ‘other’ and has been trained since birth to walk, talk, dress, and act like Amarra. Eva is convinced nothing willRead More →

By:
On:
In: Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction (YA), Middle Grade Reviews, Romance (YA), Supernatural & Horror, Supernatural & Horror (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard holds true to the title. Eleanor Fitt is the young protagonist living in 1800’s Philadelphia dealing with the usual problems of a young woman including fitting into a corset, being married off by her mother, and escaping zombies?! That’s right! When Elijah (Eleanor’s brother) does not get off his train in Philadelphia, Eleanor and her mother begin to worry. To make it worse, a zombie has hand delivered a note to Eleanor written by Elijah telling her not to worry and he will be home when he can. Philadelphia is being over run by zombies and Eleanor hasRead More →