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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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It was, I’m sure, pure coincidence that the two books I recently read had main characters named Jane whose death seemed all but inevitable.  Loosely connected by the thread of “Janes in constant danger”, Helen Keeble’s campy, funny debut  Fang Girl and Graham McNamee’s spooky Beyond took me from the dark nights in a British suburb to the even darker, rainy nights in a small village on Canada’s “rain coast.” Waking up disoriented, in a small dark space, to the sound of a mobile phone ringing, Xanthe “Jane” Greene, realizes very quickly that she is dead. No, actually, she’s not dead, she’s undead. As in vampire undead.Read 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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I’ll admit, it took me two readings to get into Gina Linko‘s Flutter.  The first time through I just couldn’t connect with the story, the characters, or the premise.  So I took a break from it and after coming back to it recently, find that the second pass yielded a somewhat more interesting story and perhaps a more patient, attentive reader.  Which is fitting, in a way, since 17 year old Emery has spent her entire life revisiting a past or discovering a yet-as-lived future, when she “flutters” away from reality into a seizure-induced alternate state.  While she finds a calmness and peace in herRead 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 →

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When Mike Jung was a kid, I have to believe he was like Vincent Wu, the kinda-geeky, big-hearted, superhero-crazed kid at the center of his debut novel, Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities. Except Vincent is lucky enough to live a world that’s actually populated by real-life superheroes, maniacal evil geniuses, and giant killer robots. Vincent and his best friends, Max and George, are the hands-down experts on Captain Stupendous, even if they don’t get any respect from the “official” Captain Stupendous fan clubs in Copperplate City.  They thought geeking out on Captain Stupendous trivia and regaling his exploits from afar would be the extent of their connectionRead More →

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Reminiscent in tone to his Magic Shop Books, Bruce Coville‘s latest, Always October, is an imaginative chase through a land of nightmares. Sixth grade friends, Jake Doolittle and “Weird Lily” Carker, take turns telling the story of their discovery of, journey through, and daring escape from, a parallel universe, Always October, that is filled with humanity’s fears, nightmares, horrors, and monsters (literally).  It all starts on the day when a baby is left on Jake’s doorstep with a note imploring him and his mom (his dad’s been missing for years) to take care of “Little Dumpling.”  Both Jake and his mom are quickly won overRead More →