Z. Rex: The Hunting, Book One
2009-10-01
Z. Rex: The Hunting, Book One — Available Now! Click Here to Read Our ReviewRead More →
Patron Saint of Butterflies
2009-09-29
Cecilia Galante’s Patron Saint of Butterflies follows the story of two young girls, Agnes and Honey, as they realize that the religious commune that they’ve spent their entire lives on is not like the rest of the world–and when all is not as it seems on the commune with its charismatic leader, the changes are for the better. Told in alternating narratives between the two girls, Galante weaves the two (very different) perspectives into an inspirational tale about friendship, faith, healing, and family. The book, while it contains some heavier themes, handles delicate situations and broaches some serious topics with grace. The two-perspective approach allowsRead More →
Ghost in the Machine
2009-09-27
The wait was long; the wait was painful; but today the mystery was solved! In Ghost in the Machine, Patrick Carman concludes his highly suspenseful, fast-paced, and tech-savvy thriller duo that started in last year’s Skeleton Creek. When we left high school best friends Ryan and Sarah at the nail-biting end of Skeleton Creek, they were trapped in the defunct, surface-mining gold dredge outside their tiny, isolated home town. Forbidden to have contact with each other, yet bent on solving the sinister mysteries surrounding the dredge’s death-laden past, Ryan and Sarah snuck into the dredge late at night to find a secret room when they wereRead More →
Newsgirl
2009-09-25
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 →
Gone From These Woods
2009-09-15
Dealing with the aftermath of an accidental shooting, Donny Bailey Seagraves’ Gone From These Woods is a meditation on grief, anger and loss. 11-year-old Daniel has a troubled relationship with his alcoholic father so he finds companionship and a father-figure in his fun-loving uncle Clay. When Clay gives Daniel his grandfather’s .410 rifle and proposes rabbit hunting, Daniel has mixed feelings: he wants to spend time with Clay but he has a secret aversion to hunting and killing. With a rabbit in his sights, Daniel is unable to take his shot; but in the moment after the rabbit runs, Daniel’s life is shattered when Uncle Clay goes down.Read More →
School of Fear
2009-09-11
The four 12-year-olds who are enrolled in the summer program at the highly secretive, highly selective School of Fear have got some real issues:Madeline lives in abject terror of spiders and bugs; Theo is petrified by the thought of either himself or anyone in his family dying; Lulu’s claustrophobia overwhelms her and everyone around her; and sports star Garrison breaks out into an uncontrollable sweat at the thought of coming in contact with water. Their parents, at wits end, all seek help from the School of Fear, reputed to be able to cure the most overwhelming, life debilitating fears in its students. Maddie, Theo, LuluRead More →
The Cupcake Queen
2009-08-23
Heather Hepler’s newest book, The Cupcake Queen, will be out in September 2009 from Penguin. Penny’s parents need a break from each other. So the summer before her freshman year, she and her mom move from NYC to her mom’s home town, Hog’s Hollow, population 5,584. With her old life slipping away, Penny holes up in the back room of the cupcake bakery her mom has opened, designing and decorating endless cupcakes, wishing things would get back to normal. School starts and Penny finds herself the target of a decades old rivalry and in the sights of a mean girl and her clique. Things go from bad to worse on aRead More →
Murder at Midnight
2009-08-22
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 →
Feed
2009-08-18
What could happen to us in a world where we no longer need to think? Where people live their daily lives uber-connected to the internet and everything it has to offer- encyclopedias of knowledge a split-second away, instant communication capabilities, worlds of information and shopping- complete with pop-up ads tailored to your desires? And what could happen if the thing connecting you to this infinite world malfunctioned? M.T. Anderson’s Feed tackles these issues. In a future world, people live with the Feed, a chip implanted into their brains that connects them to the internet on steroids. Everything they do, shop, hang out with friends, goRead More →