Review written by Jonathan Lavallee Recently in YA/MG fiction there’s been a lot of retelling of classic fairy stories. I think this is great and wonderful because those kinds of stories have a lot of life in them. Especially when you take them and transcend them beyond the original story. I had just finished reading […]
Summer’s Friendship Games
June 15, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Summer’s Friendship Games is the fourth book in the Jim Henson’s Enchanted Sisters series. I haven’t read the first three, and that wasn’t a problem as far as understanding the characters and plot—maybe some things would have had a little more meaning had I read the others, but it wasn’t really an issue. There are four […]
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
May 21, 2015 by Leave a Comment
“Beautiful” is a word frequently used to describe Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, and that’s the first word that came to my mind as well. It has its painful and brutal moments, but its exploration of coming of age, cultural and sexual identity, and relationships of all kinds is a beautiful […]
Tangled Magick
April 28, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Hapenny Magick is a favorite of mine and my daughter’s, so we were excited to get a review copy of the sequel Tangled Magick! Reading the sequel made me wish I’d taken the time to reread the first one, but most things came back to me pretty quickly. Two years have passed since the events […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
