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

 Sophie Masson’s Elizabethan romantic mystery, The Madman of Venice (Aug 2010), is the perfect companion for a summer trip, poolside escape, or as an enjoyable journey from the summer doldrums. The canals of Venice in 1603 are exciting, mysterious, and dangerous.  Celia, the spunky, smart daughter of a prosperous London merchant, and Ned, her father’s like-able but somewhat stubborn clerk, find themselves quickly caught up in two mysteries: the deadly pirate attacks that have been plaguing English ships; and the search for Sarah Tedeschi, a Jewish girl who has vanished from the Venetian Ghetto after being accused of witchcraft by the powerful Countess of Montemoro. As Celia and Ned, alongRead More →

By:
On:
In: Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction (YA), Middle Grade Reviews, Multicultural, Multicultural (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 1 Comment

2 new YA titles that will release in June explore the challenges of building a new life in America after fleeing the turmoil in the country of one’s childhood.   Inspired by true refugee experiences, these two novels are interesting and thought-provoking explorations of challenge, change, and resilience. The Red Umbrella by debut novelist Christina Diaz Gonzalez is set in 1961, when Lucia’s carefree life in a small Cuban coast town is about to change. She’s 14 and dreams of her school-crush, her 15th birthday celebration, and of one day travelling to Paris.  But when Castro’s revolutionary soldiers come to her town, everything changes: people are arrested and executed; neighbors spy on neighbors; freedomsRead More →

By:
On:
In: Action & Adventure, Action & Adventure (YA), Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction (YA), Middle Grade Reviews, Mystery & Suspense, Mystery & Suspense (YA), Supernatural & Horror, Supernatural & Horror (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 1 Comment

I’ve wanted to read Rick Yancey’s new book, The Monstrumologist, since it first came in last Fall, but never got around to it. Then it was named a Michael L. Printz Award Honoree, and I finally decided to make time to sit down with this intriguing looking book. And although it’s not quite what I expected, I am glad I did.  The Monstrumologistis the account of the spring of 1888 when Will Henry was a apprentice/assistant to the brilliant, but perhaps mad, Dr. Warthrop, who studies and hunts real-life monsters.  The story is framed by Rick Yancey’s present day acquisition of the notebooks from a doctor who caredRead More →

By:
On:
In: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade Reviews
With: 0 Comments

12 year old Samuel Collier is a street urchin and orphan on the mean streets of London in 1607.  He’s learned to trust no one, fend for himself, and fight off any one who gets in his way. After attempting to steal back a locket pawned by his dead mother, he ends up in a orphanage. But soon Samuel finds himself, another boy, and the kindly Reverend who ran the orphanage, aboard a ship bound for the New World. Samuel becomes page to Captain John Smith and spends months at sea on the way to the new Virginia colony, James Town.  Everyone imagines that theRead More →

By:
On:
In: Action & Adventure, Action & Adventure (YA), Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction (YA), Middle Grade Reviews, Sci Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 2 Comments

Rooted firmed in the steampunk genre,  Scott Westerfeld’s new series opens with gusto in Leviathan, released last week from Simon Pulse. In this alternate reality where the Central Powers (Clankers) have invented amazing mechanikal war machines, 15 year old Prince Aleksander Ferdinand’s parents, the heir to the throne of the Austria-Hungarian Empire Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sophie Chotek, have been assassinated and he is whisked away in the dead of night by just a few loyal men in a giant walking war machine, a Stormwalker.  Naive to the intricacies of politics and international intrigue, Alek slowly realizes this assassination has been the spark to set off the greatest warRead More →

By:
On:
In: Action & Adventure, Elementary Book Reviews, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade Reviews
With: 0 Comments

Who: Liza Ketchum, Author.  12-year-old Amelia Forrester, spunky, smart and adventurous protagonist – a true newshound.  Amelia’s mother, Sophie, and her best friend, Estelle – enterprising women seeking new opportunities and freedoms.  A variety of authentic, interesting charaters all working to find their fortunes. Where & When: A richly detailed San Francisco (also known as Phoenix City), Spring & Summer 1851 What:  Newsgirl, a vivid, entertaining and enjoyable novel for middle grade readers that captures both the essence and the excitement of the California gold rush.  When they arrive in San Francisco after the months-long sea crossing through Panama from Boston, Amelia, her mother and Estelle areRead More →

By:
On:
In: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade Reviews, Mystery & Suspense
With: 0 Comments

Returning to Renaissance Italy, Avi‘s newest book for young readers, Murder at Midnight, is full of political intrigue, deception, and suspense.  Set before the events of  Midnight Magic(1999), there’s a sinister plot from someone within the royal court to overthrow the king, and Magnus the Magician has been targeted as the scapegoat for the crime.  After treasonous flyers, apparently magically produced, flood the streets of Pergamontio, Magnus is arrested and accused of conspiracy.  His well-meaning but naive new servant, 10-year old Fabrizio, sets out to save his master from death and assemble the clues to root out the real traitor before it’s too late. The fast-pacedRead More →

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

In the 17th century being different from your fellow villagers, and being a woman, was a dangerous combination.  14 year old Mary Newbury lives a quiet life on the outskirts of a village in England with her healer grandmother. Until the day when the townsfolk turn against them, the witchhunters “try” her grandmother, convict her of being a witch, and hang the old woman. Mary is rescued by a cloaked woman who takes her to join a group of Puritans set to sail for the new world and the religious freedom the colonies offer. Thus opens the long lost journal of Mary Newbury and Celia Rees’ captivating and thrillingRead More →

By:
On:
In: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade Reviews
With: 0 Comments

There are some books and movies that capture summertime like nothing else: the long, languid days; the limitless stretches of time; the danger and excitement that comes from the combination of good friends and boredom; and the freedom from school, adult supervision and rules.  Ron Carlson’s The Speed of Light, is just such a book. So much, and really nothing at all, happens to Larry the summer between elementary school and junior high.  Set sometime in the 1960’s, Larry and his best friends, Witt and Rafferty, spend their days playing all kinds of variations of baseball, conducting “scientific” experiments, horsing around with the other neighborhood kids,Read More →