Carrie Harris is writing a novel for the Young Centurions series for Evil Hat Productions. It’s in the same universe as Dinocalypse Now, Beyond Dinocalypse, and King Khan, but the target audience is explicitly younger readers. Now, I’m all excited about this for lots of reasons. This novel stars Sally Slick at age 14 with […]
Talking About…Little Red Riding Hood
April 1, 2013 by 1 Comment
About the Author Jocelyn Koehler is a writer and editor in Philadelphia. She is published by Hammer & Birch. You can sign up for her mailing list for new release updates and possible freebies. Her books are available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Apple’s iBookstore. Her new book End to End, which follows The Way […]
Why Are Fairytales “Girl Books”?
March 27, 2013 by 5 Comments
When did fairytales end up being for girls? Is this something the Disney Princess marketing juggernaut created or something it just cashed in on? A quick tangent: As a mom, a teacher, and a book reviewer, I twitch a little when I click the “Boy Appeal” or “Girl Appeal” button to categorize a book on […]
Talking About…Twelve Dancing Princesses
March 25, 2013 by 5 Comments
About the Author Jocelyn Koehler is a writer and editor in Philadelphia. She is published by Hammer & Birch. You can sign up for her mailing list for new release updates and possible freebies. Her books are available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Apple’s iBookstore. Her new book End to End, which follows The Way […]
Books Based on Fairy Tales
March 24, 2013 by 2 Comments
These books are retellings of traditional fairy tales or rely on a reader’s knowledge of traditional tales. Books like The Ordinary Princess, The Princess Bride, and The Birthday Ball share many tropes and details with traditional tales, but they’re original stories that don’t reference or retell traditional tales, so I decided not to include those […]
Flashback Books
March 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
All of these books were published before 2000—you may remember some from your own childhood! Some are classics and/or award winners. Some…not so much. At any rate, they’re older than the tweens you may be choosing them for. PLEASE NOTE – SPOILER ALERT: Reviews on this site are aimed at parents, educators, and other adults […]
Favorite Self-Pub and Small Press Books 2012
December 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment
I read a decent number of books that are self-published or published by small press. This is typically a very mixed bag—in fact, some reviews never see the light of day because the books feel too unfinished and unpolished. Many self-pub and small press books are wonderful. However, they can be easily overlooked or hard […]
Favorite Books I Read and Reviewed in 2012
December 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Note: To call special attention to favorite books published by authors and small press publishers, they get their own page. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie This gut punch of a book is made easier by the sense of humor. Very thought provoking—a good read for older kids and […]
From Sketch to Chapter Art, an Illustrator at Work
September 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Richard Due, author of The Moon Coin, interviews the wonderful illustrator who helps bring his book to life. For me, getting to work with Carolyn Arcabascio was a dream come true. We worked from a master list of scene options, with Carolyn picking out scenes she liked and making sketches. For the prologue, Carolyn drafted three options. […]
Death in the House of Dreams
May 11, 2012 by 1 Comment
A guest post by Jessica Banks. I came to the Anne of Green Gables series relatively late, the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school. I’d read the first book two or three times before that, but I got my hands on the full series just before leaving for our family’s three-week […]
