My first copy of Frankenstein was a graduation gift from my senior English teacher in high school. I read it on my own soon after (i.e., not as a class assignment), and I adored it. After reading The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, I decided it was time to read it again. I still […]
Inside Out & Back Again
I have vague memories of going with my mom to visit the Vietnamese family her church sponsored after they fled in boats from their war-torn home. I remember a small apartment that smelled of unfamiliar food. I was very shy because I couldn’t understand what they said. They gave me and my brother striped polyester […]
Goodbye Stranger
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee My daughter Rowan, who was 10 when I started doing guest reviews and is now 15, tends to like books filled with melancholia. Those usually aren’t my thing, but because she reads them I’m trying to expand my reading habits. Goodbye Stranger is one of those books, and it’s such […]
Drink, Slay, Love
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee In Drink, Slay, Love, Pearl is a sixteen year old vampire, doing traditionally vampire things. Learning how to navigate a strict and totalitarian vampire society. How to fight, and how to hunt. She was born to be important, because her family is important, but she was never meant to be […]
Hour of the Bees
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee How do you measure time? Hour of the Bees measures time in teardrops that fall as you read the book. Carol, nee Carolina, has discovered that she is going to spend her summer at her grandfather’s ranch. He has late stage dementia and they are getting things ready so they […]
The Princess in Black
The Princess in Black is a cute chapter book for new readers. It’s the first book in a series about Princess Magnolia whose secret identity is a monster fighting princess in black. But a princess doesn’t wear black, so this is the perfect disguise! It’s basically a superhero story with princesses and unicorns. This sweet […]