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Robert Lang (aka Bobby) lives in a green house in the junkyard at the dark end of a godless trail amidst trees so thick “the sun gets stuck in the branches” (9). Because the junk molders around him and because young people are often cruel, his peers nickname him Junk; his dad, Jimmy, calls him Slug. Bobby feels inadequate to meet the demands of the world in which he finds himself, one where his father is a drunk and lives with a limp, his mother abandons him a year after his birth, and he appears lost, empty, and friendless. At fifteen, Bobby is short, somewhatRead More →

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There are many, many, many adaptations of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice in this world and only a few are capable of standing on their own. The Season by spouses Jonah Lisa Dyer and Stephen Dyer is the newest adaptation of Austen’s classic story, one that, while a bit cliché, is a memorable version of a beloved tale. Megan McKnight fills the role of Elizabeth Bennet as a soccer player in her early twenties, someone who is definitely not a girly-girl. It’s her sister, Julia, who likes dresses and makeup and dances. When their mom enrolls them in the super exclusive Bluebonnet Club’s 2016 Dallas DebutanteRead More →

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Set in Ireland, Moira Fowley-Doyle’s debut young adult novel bumps up against the difficult topic of abuse: sexual, self-imposed, child, and partner.  But The Accident Season stops short of really tackling the topic—perhaps to reflect the reality of trying to protect a terrible secret or to tread with sensitivity, given the YA audience.  Regardless of its somewhat nebulous approach, The Accident Season provides a rich opportunity for wrestling with a difficult topic and for examining life from some of its shadowy angles.  It invites conversations about abusive behaviors—its perpetrators, victims, by-standers, enablers, and allies. Known since childhood for having a big imagination, Cara Morris isRead More →