Review written by Jeff Dougan. I’m going to assume you’ve already read my review of Heist Society. If you haven’t, take a few minutes to look it over, because most of the same issues you may want to be aware of before recommending it crop again here. Uncommon Criminals opens about two months after Kat […]
Heist Society
April 30, 2013 by 3 Comments
Review written by Jeff Dougan. About two years ago, a book cover jumped out at me at my local supermarket. The cover was an extreme close-up of a girl’s face peering knowingly over a pair of slightly oversized sunglasses, with the words Heist Society. I have a hard time resisting a good pun, and I’ve […]
Speak
April 22, 2013 by 2 Comments
There are a few reasons I decided it was time to reread and finally review Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention month, and Anderson is doing a fundraiser with RAINN. I also read an interesting interview with her. And I recently read about a fascinating study that looks at […]
Beyond Dinocalypse
April 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
My 10 year old son is so excited that Beyond Dinocalypse, the sequel to Dinocalypse Now, is finally available! Full disclosure up front: I edited this book, so I may be biased on quality—although that’s not really what Reads 4 Tweens is about, and therefore I think it’s fine to review books I’ve edited. Beyond […]
Princess of the Midnight Ball
April 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Princess of the Midnight Ball is probably my favorite retelling of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” (and yes, there are a lot to choose from!). It’s the first book in a trilogy following the twelve princesses, each book focusing on a different princess. The curse is explored in full and the princesses are sympathetic. They are […]
Scarlet
April 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I usually wait until an entire series (or at least most of it) is published before I start reading—that avoids the situation of anxiously waiting for the next book to come out, a situation I faced with Scarlet, the hotly anticipated sequel to Cinder. Of course, as soon as the book was in my house, […]
Rapunzel, the One With All the Hair
March 27, 2013 by 4 Comments
The Twice Upon a Time series by Wendy Mass tells a familiar fairy tale from the point of view of both the heroine and the hero. Rapunzel, The One With All the Hair certainly takes liberties with the tale (Rapunzel is taken by the witch on her twelfth birthday instead of at her birth, for […]
Entwined
March 25, 2013 by 1 Comment
Entwined is a novel length retelling of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses.” (Retellings of this tale seem to be popular—I talked to author and frequent Reads 4 Tweens reviewer Jocelyn Koehler about that.) This version deals with the logistical issue of giving birth to 12 daughters by having the youngest being born right before the mother […]
How to Survive Ancient Spells & Crazy Kings
March 20, 2013 by 1 Comment
In How To Survive Ancient Spells And Crazy Kings, Bianca and her cousin Melvin convince their parents to take them to the Maya ruins of Tikal to look for Zebulan, their archeologist grandfather who has gone missing. Bianca found a jade necklace that Zeb sent to her father for safekeeping. Of course, she decides that […]
Deadwood
March 14, 2013 by 1 Comment
Martin Cruz moves to Deadwood (known to most people as Lower Brynwood) to live with his “Aunt” Michelle—actually his mother’s cousin, as she’s quick to tell people—because his mother is deployed to Afghanistan and his grandmother has recently passed away. Still grieving and separated from everything he knows and loves, Martin bonds with a huge […]
