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Lana Wood Johnson has written her new novel, Technically, You Started It, entirely in text message exchanges between two high school juniors: Haley Hancock and Martin Munroe II. Because the two teens share many things in common, they bond during these communications, realizing that they’d rather have their texting relationship “than nothing at all” (298). Martin, who is handsome, rich, famous, charming, and clever, is named after his financial genius grandfather who has funded most of the advances in science and technology.  His father is not only a big risk-taker but someone who can’t “wait more than a second before getting remarried” (74), so heRead More →

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July 20, 2019 marks the 50th Anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon on July 20, 1969 as part of NASA’s Apollo 11 lunar mission.  And Jeffrey Kluger’s book, Disaster Strikes! The Most Dangerous Space Missions of All Time, which released in May, is just in time to be part of the celebration. History would not know the names of Buzz Aldrin, Alan Sheppard, and Neil Armstrong had it not been for space pioneers like Gus Grissom, Charlie Bassett, Elliot See, and countless other astronauts who performed their missions so that the space programs in both the United States and the Soviet Union could learn the valuableRead More →

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What does happily ever after really mean?  Perhaps fairy tales promise happy endings to distract people from how awful life can be.  Or perhaps they gift us with hope.  These are topics that Julie Buxbaum explores in her newest novel, “Hope and Other Punch Lines.”  She also considers the roles that humor and love play in our lives as we struggle with those moments that cleave our lives, and perhaps us, into befores and afters. Abbi Hope Goldstein calls herself a fern, nothing exotic or flashy, just a standard issue brunette with basic tastes and a natural inclination to blend in.  Her more audacious andRead More →

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Love and Other Curses by Michael Thomas Ford is a book filled with surprises, ironies, and truths—some dark, others lighter and more colorful.  Set in Midgeville, New York, Ford’s novel tells the story of sixteen-year-old Sam Weyward who is pretty sure he’s the only guy in his school “who can replace a faulty kick-down switch and also create the perfect smoky eye” (9).  Although readers might envy Sam’s 1965 Ford F100 cherry red stepside pickup that belonged to his great-grandfather, they will likely cringe at the family curse, loss, and death that Sam endures. According to the curse, if a Weyward falls in love beforeRead More →

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After years of ecological abuse, Earth is being held together with solar paneling and wishful thinking.  As Earth undergoes a restoration project that includes filtering carbon out of the air, reforesting the Amazon, returning planetary temperatures to normal ranges, launching a filtration system for the oceans, and initiating breeding programs to reverse species extinctions, many humans will need a new home.  Because survival of the human species actually depends on a population reduction on Earth, an International Space Agency (ISA) ship leaves Earth to inhabit Tau Ceti e, a world similar to Earth. While those statements outline the basic plot arc of Bridget Tyler’s newRead More →

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Book Two of Jennifer A. Nielsen’s The Traitor’s Game series is packed with treachery, and everyone is a suspect or shares some blame.  The Deceiver’s Heart opens with sixteen-year-old Kestra Dallisar in possession of the Olden Blade, a dagger capable of destroying the evil magician and tyrant Lord Endrick if it is wielded by the Infidante.  When the girl who would save Antora fails in her attempt and Endrick steals her memories and turns her into an IronHeart to spy for him, Kestra changes dramatically.  As a weapon of the Dominion, Kestra thinks an arranged marriage to Basil will be far worse than anything elseRead More →

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Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has joined with veteran and award-winning author Tonya Bolden to bring an important topic to young readers: The Reconstruction and the dawn of the Jim Crow era in American history. In their nonfiction book Dark Sky Rising, readers will learn about one of the most pivotal yet least understood chapters in American history.  Beginning with the Civil War and during its aftermath, the United States struggled to heal the sectional divide that slavery and state secession had caused.  Despite their playing a decisive role in saving theRead More →

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Jessica Khoury’s science fiction novel Last of Her Name features sixteen-year-old Stacia Androva and Clio Markova, two girls who are like sisters.  Possessing an instinctual urge to keep Clio safe, Stacia trusts Clio even when she can’t trust herself.  Their existence is mostly idyllic until the threat of rebellion comes knocking. A vintner’s daughter on the planet Amethyne, Stacia lives in Afka, a valley town huddled between the hills.  Stacia is a tenacious young woman with a muscular build and mechanics certification.  Appollo Androthenes, aka Pol, is Afkan’s wrestling champion and Stacia’s protector.  The three friends share multiple memories, a trio against the universe.  ButRead More →

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Observable Qualities Each chapter opens with field notes; Ben Phillippe’s protagonist reduces many of his observations to labels in order to make his world and the people in it easier to categorize and digest; readers can find themselves or their past social dilemmas in the pages of The Field Guide to the North American Teenager; Key Subjects Norris Kaplan: the son of French Canadian Haitian parents, Judith and Felix; transplant from Montreal to Austin, Texas; prone to snarky, spiteful, and other satirical remarks; to some people, he’s the “dickish Canadian guy with a chip on his shoulder” (136) because he focuses on other people’s insecurities.Read More →