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For a thrilling, fast-paced, and action-packed paranormal adventure, Mark  Frost’s  Book One in The Paladin Prophecy series is a must read.  In a class with books like Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne novels, The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, and The Maze Runner by James Dashner, Frost’s book explores how disaster wakes up the system. The story features 15-year-old Will West who lives a quiet, contained, and invisible life to ensure he remains mediocre and under the radar of powerful forces who might exploit his true talent.  For him, school is a daily drone, “Novocain for the brain” (4), until Dr. Robbins shows up and offersRead More →

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The August issue of our newsletter is out now! We’re ringing in the new school year with a bang! Check out this month’s newsletter to see everything we are introducing this year- including Library Processing, Featured Fall 2012 Collections, and more!! And, we’ll still be bringing you book industry news, info on new releases and cool websites, book reviews, opportunities to win free books, tech news and much more straight to your inbox! Not signed up for our email mailing list? It’s easy- just find the Join Our Mailing List link on the right sidebar of this blog. (Or, click here) In the meantime, just in case you didn’t getRead More →

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Our Blog is 5 Years Old Today! Lots of reviews later, we’re still having fun sharing our thoughts and opinions about the books we’ve read, keeping you updated on happenings here at PBC, and hopefully providing some interesting and helpful info. Thanks to all our occasional and regular reviewers – I appreciate your time, opinions, and willingness to share your reviews with PBC. Now, for some cake… yum!Read More →

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 Anyone looking for lessons in courage, determination, ingenuity, and selfless giving should read Diane Stanley’s medieval fantasy, The Cup and the Crown, the second in her series featuring Lady Marguerite, aka Molly.  For her brave loyalty and other acts of fealty, a royal decree has transformed Molly from scullery maid to lady.  But this tough, hard, brash, resilient, and joyful girl who can not embroider, sew, or read poetry struggles to match the conventional definition of lady.  A descendant of the great silversmith and magically gifted William Harrows, Molly possesses her own magical gift of visions and other unharnessed powers. To locate one of herRead More →

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In: Middle Grade Reviews, Realistic Fiction, Realistic Fiction (YA), Sports, Sports (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
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If there was ever a character about whom you could say “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, it would have to be Harrison Johnson in Tim Green‘s latest, Unstoppable.  Harrison is only 13 years old, but in his short life he’s already faced abusive foster parents, beating and intimidation from his fellow foster kids, a system set up to break him down, and the realization that his own mother will never be able to care for him like  a mother should.  When he catches a break and gets away from his most abusive foster family yet and lands in the loving, peaceful home ofRead More →

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Any hopelessly romantic reader of Stephanie Meyers’ Twilight series or books like Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater or The Temptation by Alisa Valdes will predictably enjoy Amy Garvey’s Cold Kiss sequel, Glass Heart.  The book features the same impossibly perfect male protagonist—handsome, loyal, and doting—operating in a plot imbued with paranormal adventure and romance. Set in December, the story describes the relationship and conflicts faced by the sixteen-year-old stars, psychic Gabriel DeMarnes and magician Wren Darby who operate in a world where no one believes magic exists, so it is pretty easy to get away with it.  That is until Bay and Fiona start pranking andRead More →

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In: Middle Grade Reviews, Romance (YA), Sci Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
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David Levithan‘s latest, Every Day, is an interesting exploration of identity. The 16 year old main character, A, has awoken every day in a different body.  At first, it seemed normal, and only around age 5-6 did the strangeness of A’s life without continuity begin to be bothersome.  After accepting the reality of this existence, A developed coping mechanisms to be able to determine the basic details of the life and body of the day and be able to function without causing too much chaos or change in the host body’s life.   Since A has been a boy and a girl, every race andRead More →

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Readers who like plots that revolve around danger and destiny and who enjoyed the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan will likely find Tera Lynn Childs’ trilogy riveting.  The major difference in the two text sets is the genders of the protagonists and the prominent roles played by mythological monsters—like the manticore, harpies, or Gegenees giant, rather than just gods and goddesses. The second book in Childs’ series, Sweet Shadows, which features Greer, Gretchen, and Grace—the Key Generation—tells the story of the shadow life of the triplet sisters and their mythological legacy.  The diversity of the three girls represents a Pythagorean balance—appropriate for this trinityRead More →

We're Moving!

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Join us for our Moving & Back-to-School Blowout Sale! August 3-August 31, 2012 | Sale Hours: M-F: 10-6, Sat: 10-4 Hardbacks: $5 | Paperbacks: $3 (or less)  In Store Shopping Only | Purchase Orders Accepted | Some exceptions apply, see store for details. Books available on a first come, first served basis. No back-orders (available at promotional prices) if/when titles sell out.Read More →