Review written by Jocelyn Koehler. In A Hidden Magic, when ordinary Princess Jennifer and handsome Prince Alexander wander into the Enchanted Forest, things quickly get messy. Alexander, who doesn’t believe in magic, angers a magic mirror and falls into an enchanted slumber. Jennifer does believe in magic, so she finds out how to break the […]
The Cupid War
October 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Cupid War is intended for a YA audience, so only tweens on the more mature end of the scale will probably appreciate it. On the surface, it has a lot in common with Heck in that it’s an irreverent story that takes place in the afterlife and therefore has young death at its core, […]
Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go
July 26, 2013 by 3 Comments
Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go is the story of Milton and his older sister Marlo who die tragically in a huge marshmallow explosion. Although Milton is a good kid and seems poised to go up to Heaven, the influence of Marlo—who is most definitely not a good kid—drags him down to Heck with her. […]
Jacob Two-Two’s First Spy Case
May 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee. In Jacob Two-Two’s First Spy Case, the title character lives his life by twos. He has two eyes, two ears, two lips, two hands, two feet, and two brothers and two sisters. Two of them are older siblings, and two of them are very much older siblings and Jacob is […]
Enthusiasm
April 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I thoroughly enjoyed Enthusiasm, the story of Julie and her best friend Ashleigh and their sophomore year of high school. Ashleigh moves from obsessive craze to obsessive craze, and for most of the novel she’s obsessed with Pride and Prejudice. It’s obvious that the author also loves Jane Austen, Shakespeare, and other staples of English […]
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 […]
A Tale Dark & Grimm
March 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment
A Tale Dark & Grimm takes several familiar and a nice variety of less familiar Grimm fairy tales and links them together, casting Hansel and Gretel as the main characters in all of them. The premise is that these seemingly unconnected tales are actually all parts of one story. The author is also very straightforward […]
The Princess Bride
March 22, 2013 by 3 Comments
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee. I’m sure most people have seen the movie and not read the book, turning this book into every one’s favourite book that they’ve never read. The Princess Bride is a story about William Goldman editing out all the boring bits of a beloved childhood book that his father had read […]
Fat Vampire: A Never Coming of Age Story
March 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee. I picked up Fat Vampire: A Never Coming of Age Storyhoping for a good laugh that I could share with the tweens in the house. I loved Adam Rex’s other book, The True Meaning of Smekday, and when I read that this was a parody of vampire stories and coming […]
Villain School: Good Curses Evil
January 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Villain School: Good Curses Evil is an amusing book about three young villains who attend Master Dreadthorn’s School for Wayward Villains because they just aren’t quite evil enough. Countess Jezebel—Dracula’s daughter—prefers chocolate to blood. As a youngster, Big Bad Wolf Jr. saved a human child from drowning. Rune Drexler is our protagonist, and also the […]
