This is an unusual book to classify. I love that indie publishing allows for these unique books that don’t really fit into a comfortable niche, ones that publishers often reject for that very reason, no matter how well written the story might be. This one warrants a place on the virtual shelves. Jael, named for […]
El Deafo, by Cece Bell
This year’s Newbery was announced not long ago, so I rushed to grab a copy of the new winner. I was rather disappointed. In fact, I haven’t really liked a Newbery winner since 2011, Clare VanderPool’s Moon Over Manifest. Perhaps all the edgier, more experimental types of literature like graphic novels and verse I’ve been seeing lately […]
Pictures of Hollis Woods, Patricia Reilly Giff
I’d seen this book on the list of Newberry honors (2003), so when I stumbled on it as a library Kindle download, I grabbed it to read over Christmas break. It’s a good one, in a relaxed, lazy day kind of way. I couldn’t help but feel for Hollis, a twelve-year-old orphan girl whose dream […]
The Collar and the Cavvarach, by Annie Douglass Lima
I read Annie Douglass Lima’s Anals of Alasia series on the recommendation of a friend and loved all three books. I’ve since “met” Annie online. When I heard she needed beta readers for a new teen action/adventure book, I jumped at the chance! And I was not disappointed. I also agreed to participate in her […]