I thoroughly enjoyed Enthusiasm, the story of Julie and her best friend Ashleigh and their sophomore year of high school. Ashleigh moves from obsessive craze to obsessive craze, and for most of the novel she’s obsessed with Pride and Prejudice. It’s obvious that the author also loves Jane Austen, Shakespeare, and other staples of English […]
Beyond Dinocalypse
April 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
My 10 year old son is so excited that Beyond Dinocalypse, the sequel to Dinocalypse Now, is finally available! Full disclosure up front: I edited this book, so I may be biased on quality—although that’s not really what Reads 4 Tweens is about, and therefore I think it’s fine to review books I’ve edited. Beyond […]
Princess of the Midnight Ball
April 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Princess of the Midnight Ball is probably my favorite retelling of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” (and yes, there are a lot to choose from!). It’s the first book in a trilogy following the twelve princesses, each book focusing on a different princess. The curse is explored in full and the princesses are sympathetic. They are […]
Scarlet
April 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I usually wait until an entire series (or at least most of it) is published before I start reading—that avoids the situation of anxiously waiting for the next book to come out, a situation I faced with Scarlet, the hotly anticipated sequel to Cinder. Of course, as soon as the book was in my house, […]
Before Midnight
March 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Yet another fairy tale retelling by Cameron Dokey! I hope she never stops writing these. Before Midnight is based loosely on “Cinderella” and it makes some really interesting changes to the familiar tale. Cendrillon (“child of cinders”—Cinderella’s name in Perrault’s French fairy tales) was born just before midnight, as one day ends and another begins. […]
Beauty and the Beast
March 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Ugh. I have a pretty high tolerance for mediocre fairy tale retellings and for generic historical(ish) romance, but Beauty and the Beast was a pretty painful combination of the two. At least I got it when it was offered for free—I suppose it’s a lesson in getting what you pay for! The beast is actually […]
Entwined
March 25, 2013 by 1 Comment
Entwined is a novel length retelling of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses.” (Retellings of this tale seem to be popular—I talked to author and frequent Reads 4 Tweens reviewer Jocelyn Koehler about that.) This version deals with the logistical issue of giving birth to 12 daughters by having the youngest being born right before the mother […]
The Princess Bride
March 22, 2013 by 3 Comments
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee. I’m sure most people have seen the movie and not read the book, turning this book into every one’s favourite book that they’ve never read. The Princess Bride is a story about William Goldman editing out all the boring bits of a beloved childhood book that his father had read […]
Deadwood
March 14, 2013 by 1 Comment
Martin Cruz moves to Deadwood (known to most people as Lower Brynwood) to live with his “Aunt” Michelle—actually his mother’s cousin, as she’s quick to tell people—because his mother is deployed to Afghanistan and his grandmother has recently passed away. Still grieving and separated from everything he knows and loves, Martin bonds with a huge […]
Fat Vampire: A Never Coming of Age Story
March 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee. I picked up Fat Vampire: A Never Coming of Age Storyhoping for a good laugh that I could share with the tweens in the house. I loved Adam Rex’s other book, The True Meaning of Smekday, and when I read that this was a parody of vampire stories and coming […]
