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I’ve said before that I have a rule about reading books about dogs, and for the most part I stick to it – they just tear me up and it’s not worth the emotional upheaval to take a chance.  But every once in awhile I break my rule and, wouldn’t you know it, I am rewarded with a good story, characters I care about, and a dog (or two) that I wish I could bring home and call my own. When Randi Barrow‘s prequel to Saving Zasha, Finding Zasha, came across my desk, I knew it would be one that’d be a rule breaker.  Read More →

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“Well, that’s the thing about knots, isn’t it?. . . If you don’t know the trick, it’s a muddled predicament.  But in fact each loop of every knot is carefully placed, one end twisting right into the other in a way you might not have expected. I find them rather beautiful, really.” (5) So says the Man in the Gray Suit, who appears and reappears unexpectedly, but at just the right moments, throughout Lisa Graff’s charming tale, A Tangle of Knots.  And while the man is talking about knots on the literal level, as we see in this finely crafted, intricately interlaced story of belovedRead More →

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High above the dense Central American rain forests, Mad and her younger sister Roo fly in a tiny plane towards a massive volcano.  Roo is barely able to contain her excitement while Mad’s hanging on for dear life as the little plane shifts this way and that.  They’re on the way, with their mom and Ken/Neth (an annoying “friend of the family”) to meet Mad’s dad, “The Bird Guy” – a world renowned ornithologist – who’s been holed up at an exclusive resort at the base of the volcano for more than 7 months.   Mad’s dad would go anywhere to study rare birds, and when heRead More →

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Delightfully blending mystery, fantasy, and adventure, Mark Steensland’s Behind the Bookcase is chock full of everything there is to love about scary stories.  From a creepy “haunted” house, to hidden passages that lead to a sinister shadow world populated by creatures straight from nightmares, to a race against time to save our world from being overrun by evil, once you go behind the bookcase, you won’t want to venture out. Soon-to-be twelve year old Sarah does not want to spend her summer living in and fixing up her recently deceased grandmother’s run-down, spooky old house far away from her home and friends in Southern California.Read More →

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Sometimes when I like a book a lot, I have a hard time writing a succinct review of it. I just want to tell you everything about it, gush profusely about the use of language, the richness of both the characters and the setting, give a huge shout out for the deftly executed plot, and overwhelm you with so much detail that you don’t even need to read the book itself.  So the book sits on my desk, waiting for my feeble attempts to due it justice.  Blue Balliett‘s latest, Hold Fast, is one of those books.  From the the very first page, I wasRead More →

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Hokey Pokey is a place where kids live moment to moment wrapped up in all things “kid”: Cartoons, Bike Riding, Tantrums, Wild Play, Exploring Stuff, and just being Kids.  Here babies become “kids” and boys and girls while away their days in the pure joy and freedom of a life without cares, worries about tomorrow, or concerns beyond “what’s next?”.   There’s the timeless flavor of 1950’s America permeating every corner of Hokey Pokey, gilded by an innocence and wide-eyed wonder that in its purest form represents every adult’s fondest memories of care-free childhood days. For Jack, being the leader of the kids in HokeyRead More →

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Phoenix Book Company is pleased to share with you Peggy Sharp‘s What’s New in Children’s Literature 2013. Books are available now, click on this link to download an order form.   Read our reviews of two of the great books on the list: Liar & Spy – Rebecca Stead May B. – Caroline Starr Rose   Don’t forget to add shelf ready processing to your book quote!  Ask us how today.Read More →

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In Emily Fairlie‘s The Lost Treasure of Tuckernuck, an unlikely pair of friends, sixth graders Bud and Laurie, are on the hunt of a lifetime.  For eighty years, since the founding of the middle school, Tuckernuck Hall, a “treasure beyond bounds” has been hidden somewhere in the school’s rambling, eccentric building. Laurie wishes she could attend Hamilton Junior High with her friends, but she’s stuck being a Clucker at Tuckernuck.  Bud’s been a social outcast since his science project resulted in a ban on all candy, soda and junk food from the entire school district.  When the two are assigned Gerbil Monitor duty, they stumbleRead More →

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Steve Sheinkin‘s forthcoming book, Lincoln’s Grave Robbers, is a fascinating look at a little known episode in American history.   Sheinkin brilliantly crafts this event as a gripping crime thriller, rife with tension, compelling characters, and a plot thick with drama.  Short chapters, straightforward prose and interesting historical photographs placed every few pages ensure that Lincoln’s Grave Robbers will be a hit among all readers, from high to low, and for both history buffs and readers seeking a thrill. In the fall of 1875, the Secret Service raids the home of master counterfeiter Benjamin Boyd and arrests him.  This throws the multimillion dollar world ofRead More →