Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog is the story of Madison who loves dogs and wants nothing more than a dog of her own. When she finally convinces her stepfather to get her a dog, he bring home Lilly, a small rescued dog. Lilly isn’t at all what Madison imagined, but as she learns about the […]
The Tiger Rising
May 23, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Tiger Rising is quite short, just over 100 pages with chapters of 3-4 pages each. However, there’s a lot contained in this slim volume. It has “Literature Circle Questions” at the end because it was pretty much designed for that kind of situation—short enough for everyone to read, with enough metaphor to fuel tons […]
Angelfish
May 6, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Angelfish is about Robin, a young aspiring ballerina living in San Francisco. (I don’t think it gives her age, but I would guess about 14 or 15.) When she accidentally breaks a shop window, she offers to work after school for free to pay for it, rather than telling her parents and risk getting grounded […]
The Road to Paris
May 2, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Road to Paris is a picture of a short period in the life of nine year old Paris, a girl in foster care. She’s been in some really horrible situations, but now she’s with the Lincolns in a more stable and loving home, learning who she is, how to cope, and what she wants […]
The Unwanteds
April 30, 2014 by 1 Comment
The Unwanteds is a dystopian novel quite suitable for the middle grade set. Quill, an island nation, is walled off, armed heavily against the threat of an undefined enemy beyond those walls. The world is bland, gray, and decaying. The leader, High Priest Justine, rules with an iron fist. Everyone has their place, and all […]
Sally Slick and the Steel Syndicate
April 25, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Full disclosure: I’m the editor of this book. Since the point of these reviews is to provide information rather than opinions of quality, I feel any conflict of interest is minimal. Sally Slick and the Steel Syndicate is part of the Spirit of the Century universe that includes Dinocalypse Now, Beyond Dinocalypse, Khan of Mars, […]
Scorpions
April 22, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Scorpions is a realistic novel published in 1988 and set in a similar time period. It’s the story of Jamal, a 12 year old who is pulled into a gang after his 17 year old brother, Randy—the leader of the gang—is jailed for a robbery in which a clerk is killed. Mack, who was Randy’s […]
The Queen of Attolia
March 28, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee. The Queen of Attolia has captured The Thief and now she will make him pay for all the slights that she has felt from his presence—the little things that he’s done like leaving ruby earrings on her dresser, or changing the place of something in her room. This is on top […]
Black Maria (AKA Aunt Maria)
March 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee. In the novel Black Maria (also published as Aunt Maria), Naomi and Chris’ father died while visiting his Aunt Maria. She lives in a place called Cranbury, and Naomi has tried her best to make sure that they never visit Aunt Maria. She has given Aunt Maria explanation after explanation as […]
One Crazy Summer
March 11, 2014 by 2 Comments
You can hardly see the cover of One Crazy Summer because of all of the award emblems on it—Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, Coretta Scott King Award, Newbery Honor, and National Book Award Finalist, with a list of more awards on the back. The story is set in 1968. Delphine, our narrator who is […]
