Review written by Jonathan Lavallee. The Sensationalist is unhappy with his lot in life. Born Andrew Macon Bean, he was recruited into H.E.R.O., a superhero sidekick training program, because of his incredibly heightened senses. H.E.R.O aims to take young people with extraordinary talents and pair them with superheroes willing to take on apprentices who have […]
Lumberjanes
January 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Lumberjanes is a comic book series about a summer camp for “hardcore lady-types.” Volume 1: Beware the Kitten Holy is a collection of the first 4 issues, which introduces the characters and gets them started on their adventures—it certainly doesn’t bring a story arc to a close, so expect your young reader to start asking for […]
Don’t Look Back
January 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Review written by Jennifer Lewis. Don’t Look Back begins with Samantha not knowing where she is, how she got there, or why she is in such a disheveled state. This confusion is due to a traumatic event that resulted in the loss of all of Samantha’s personal memories. To make matters worse, her best friend […]
A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel
December 17, 2015 by 2 Comments
The graphic novel of A Wrinkle in Time hews so closely to the original novel that this review will in many ways serve for both. But first a quick story. I was one of those kids (mostly girls) who discovered A Wrinkle in Time on her own and fell madly in love with it. I […]
A Whole New World
December 8, 2015 by Leave a Comment
A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale reimagines the Disney movie Aladdinby working from the premise that Jafar maintained ownership of the lamp at the Cave of Wonders. This, as you can probably imagine, does NOT go well for the Sultan, Jasmine, the genie, or Agrabah. It doesn’t make things worse for Aladdin, really, but […]
Akata Witch
November 30, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Akata Witch is the story of Sunny, an albino Igbo girl who recently moved to Nigeria from the United States. As if she doesn’t already feel enough like she doesn’t fit in, she learns that she’s a Leopard person, which means she is capable of juju and other magical type things. She becomes friends with […]
Jinx
November 24, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee. Jinx can see it happening, the hunger in the clearing, the fact that his step-parents just had a new child. He’s going to be the one abandoned in the woods. So, when Jinx is taken into the Urwald he isn’t shocked. Just resigned to his fate. That’s when he meets […]
Winter
November 18, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Winter brings The Lunar Chronicles to a satisfying close, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that it’s a bit sprawling as all of the threads get tied up. However, unlike some final books to a series, it feels complete, well thought out, and not rushed. It’s just going to take over 800 pages to get […]
Manners & Mutiny
November 11, 2015 by 1 Comment
It’s always nice when the highly anticipated ending to a series is satisfying. (I still haven’t forgiven you, Mockingjay!) Manners & Mutiny, the final book in the Finishing School series, delivers on that front. The book assumes you’ve read the other three novels, and likewise I will assume you’ve read my other three reviews (Etiquette […]
Poison
October 29, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Poison starts out in the middle of things, with our protagonist, sixteen year old Kyra, on the run because she tried to assassinate the princess. Kyra needs to finish the job of killing the princess because this will somehow save the kingdom, but of course she’s now public enemy #1. Luckily she’s a master potioner […]
