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

August, 1896: 17 year old Willie is a liar and a thief.  She’s fleeing to Indian Territory, using a stolen name and teacher’s certificate, to take a position as English teacher at the Cherokee Female Seminary.  Willie assumes she’ll be teaching backwards Indian children and hopes that the chances of being discovered and sent back to her family farm are slim.  But she’s not prepared for what awaits her in Oklahoma: the Seminary boarding school educates both the daughters of the Cherokee Elite, and the poor tribal girls there on scholarship, many of whom are more educated that Willie is; the Headmistress is stern and extremelyRead More →

By:
On:
In: Middle Grade Reviews, Mystery & Suspense, Mystery & Suspense (YA), Romance (YA), Sci Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 1 Comment

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 →

By:
On:
In: Action & Adventure, Action & Adventure (YA), Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction (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

Making its US debut in May 2011, German YA best-seller Ruby Red  is a perfect mix of mystery, supernatural fanasy and romantic adventure.  Gwen is a typical 16 year old girl living with her mom, siblings and her extended family in a posh London neighborhood.  She’s a spunky, skeptical teen who’s managed to live a fairly normal life despite the time-travelling gene that runs in the women of her family (although Gwen isn’t without some supernatural abilities of her own – she can see and converse with ghosts).  This generation’s carrier is her haughty cousin Charlotte, whose been through years of secret training to prepare herRead More →

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

Master Storyteller Joseph Bruchac’s latest novel, Dragon Castle, draws on the rich and magical legends of his Slovakian heritage as it explores themes of the hero’s journey, the journey to find oneself, and the courage to face one’s destiny.  15 year old Prince Rashko has lived his whole life in a peace secured by a distant ancestor, Pavol the Brave.  It’s a good thing that peaces abounds, too, because his parents and older brother Paulek seem to be more interested in daydreaming, sword fighting and living a life of ease than in doing much of anything to secure the safety and long-term security of the realm.  But RashkoRead More →

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

Alexis Warren is back.  Now, she and her parents have moved from their haunted Victorian-era house to a non-descript suburb and are trying to rebuild their lives after Kasey, Alexis’ younger sister, was possessed by a murderous ghost and tried to kill them all in Katie Alender’s debut novel Bad Girls Don’t Die.  Alexis has a boyfriend now, is settled into a comfortable group at school, and is ready for life to get back to a controlled, predictable normal.  But then Kasey is released from the psychiatric hospital and comes home, and of course, soon all Hell breaks loose. This time, Kasey and her friendsRead 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

Sometimes when I am picking out the next book I want to read, I go solely on the cover art. I don’t read the jacket flap or the blurb on the back or even the little summary on the back of the title page. I let the cover draw me in and then allow myself to be totally surprised (or not) by the story that unfolds with the book. Debut author Dawn Metcalf’s Luminous  was one of these books for me – I was completely seduced by the cover (I was feeling really girly that day, OK?) and it lead me to expect either aRead More →

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

On a dark and stormy night in mysterious Calcutta, a British officer is barely able to save the lives of twins before a maniacal demon torments him to death.  But on that deep, dark night, the twins lives are not truly saved, because the creature made of pure madness and revenge will simply bid its time until they turn 16. Now, in 1932, as the summer monsoons rage over the sprawling, exotic capitol of the British Raj, those twins are about to turn 16:  Ben, raised in an orphanage in the hopes of hiding from a fate he doesn’t know is coming for him, and Sheere,Read More →

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

I read a lot of books; fortunately, my profession and one of my hobbies jive like that.  And since I read so many books, I find myself jaded by the repetition on theme, the slight variations on popular books that are churned out in the hopes of finding “the next whatever“, and the lackluster writing and poor editing that occurs in the rush to print more and more.  So it’s a rare day when I am so engrossed in a book I cannot stop reading it and then cannot stop telling people about it.  And on Saturday, I got to have one of those days whenRead More →

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

Self-described explorer, adventurer, librarian and author C. Alexander London‘s An Accidental Adventure: We Are Not Eaten By Yaks has everything lovers ofthe Lemony Snicket adventures want in a book: slightly strange, bored, disinterested tween protagonists; dead or missing parents; outlandish villains; impossible-to-survive adventures and impending doom at every turn; a sinister plot by a secret organization; and a slightly off-key narrator who will faithfully record the unlikely heroes’ adventures for any reader brave enough to turn the pages. Eleven year old twins Celia and Oliver Navel would prefer to watch television 24 hours a day. Their list of favorite programs and actors is long, butRead More →