Review written by Jonathan Lavallee. There is a distinct lack of poetry in the world. Part of that could be that we hold poetry on this weird dusty pedestal, surrounded by academics all nodding sagely and talking in hushed tones about the power of words. That or we’ve put it down among the toys for […]
Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Search
April 20, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Review written by MR Valentine. Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Search Parts 1, 2, and 3 follow the set of comics The Promise. I recommend reading those first. The comics all follow the story of the Nickelodeon TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender and only make sense if you’ve seen the show. Zuko has been focused on rebuilding […]
Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Promise
April 14, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Review written by MR Valentine. Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise Parts 1, 2, and 3are comics/graphic novels that follow after the events that restore peace to the world in the Nickelodeon TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender and bring the series to a close. If you haven’t already, you should watch the series before you read […]
Grasshopper Jungle
February 26, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee. This highly acclaimed and award winning YA novel might grab the interest of your tween, but Jonathan offers some insight into why you’ll want to make an informed decision about letting your young reader put this on their “to read” pile, and why it should end up on your “to […]
The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence
February 20, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence is the first book in the new series by Stan Lee, Stuart Moore, and Andie Tong. The premise is that during the convergence, the power of the Chinese Zodiac was brought back into the world, but Maxwell—our villain who wants to control all the Zodiac power—lost control when some people tried […]
Fairest
February 5, 2015 by 1 Comment
Fairest, a prequel to Cinder, will have to tide us over until Winter, the last of the Lunar Chronicles, comes out in fall 2015. Fairest tells the story of Levana, the awful Lunar queen we first meet in Cinder, and her rise to power. Like all really good villains, hers is a complicated story and it’s impossible not to […]
Unbored Games
December 19, 2014 by 1 Comment
I rarely review nonfiction, but when I was offered a review copy of UNBORED Games: Serious Fun for Everyone, I couldn’t resist. It’s a hard book to quantify—it’s part history, part game review, part rule book, and part hacker’s guide. It’s aimed at a child reader; there are sections called “Training Your Grownup” that offer […]
Waistcoats & Weaponry
December 19, 2014 by 2 Comments
Waistcoats & Weaponry is the third in what will be the Finishing School quartet (the final book is scheduled to be published November 2015). The novels should be read in order, so start with Etiquette & Espionage and Curtsies & Conspiracies before reading this one. The finishing school itself plays a minor role in this […]
Dream Girl
December 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee. I will admit that I judged a book by its cover. Dream Girl has this kind of over flowery, white dress, far away look vibe happening on the cover. I thought I was going to hate it. When my tween daughter suggested that we pick it up because it was in […]
The Sea of Trolls
December 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Sea of Trolls is a great historical fantasy epic for the middle grade set. It follows the adventures of 12 year old Jack after he and his little sister Lucy are captured by Northmen. After gravely insulting Frith, a half-troll queen, Jack needs to go on a quest to see the queen of the […]
