Greg Pattridge hosts Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) on his Always in the Middle website each week. Check it out for more great kidlit! “The girl,” raised by a family of dragons, flees the forest with no name and no past. She knows only that she must find Pennyroyal Academy, where the bold and courageous train to […]
The Beast of Talesend: After Beauty and the Beast (Beaumont and Beasley, 1), by Kyle Robert Shultz, 2017
Greg Pattridge hosts Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) on his Always in the Middle website each week. Check it out for more great kidlit! This is the first time I’ve participated in MMGM in a few years, and I picked a great book for my return. The premise grabbed me right away. I’ll post a […]
King of Malorn, by Annie Douglass Lima
A couple weeks ago, I promised you three reviews over the next three weeks. Well, uh, I switched web hosts and can’t seem to figure out the new scheduler. Last week’s post is still sitting in my draft folder. Sigh. I’ll try again. In the meantime, I’ll publish this week’s manually. I’ve highlighted Annie Douglass […]
Joss the Seven (Guild of Seven, 1), by J. Philip Horne, 2016
Here is an example of self-publishing at its finest. J. Philip Horne has a natural ability to craft a story, his prose flows smooth as fresh cream, and he’s taken great care with the editing process. That’s a superb beginning. Kudos, Mr. Horne!! So…how about the story? Joss the Seven opens on Joss’s last day […]
The Captain's Dog, by Roland Smith
This is the story of Lewis and Clark as told by Seaman, Captain Lewis’s Newfoundland dog who accompanied the Corps of Discovery on their epic journey to the Pacific Ocean in 1804-6. I’d seen this book before and was very intrigued. I love history. I’ve taught this subject several times for homeschool as each of […]
The Thief (The Queen’s Thief, 1), by Megan Whalen Turner
This particular book won Newbery Honors back in 1996, I believe, but I almost didn’t stick with it long enough to find out why. The story is, in essence, a quest. One that starts out slowly, with not much going on except characterization. Which is excellent. I just wasn’t sure where it all was going […]
Lightning Road Series, by Donna Galanti (book trailer reveal and giveaway!)
Earlier this summer, I read the first book in Donna Galanti’s Lightning Road fantasy adventure series, JOSHUA AND THE LIGHTNING ROAD. It just so happens that today Ms. Galanti is unveiling the trailer for book two, JOSHUA AND THE ARROW REALM, which will be releasing on August 30th, so I waited to post my review […]
Peak, by Roland Smith
I thoroughly enjoyed this teen boy adventure. Peak Marcello is a 14-year-old boy, the son of two well-known mountaineers, so he hardly can help it that climbing is in his blood. But when he’s caught climbing a New York skyscraper, he only escapes jail when his father, Josh, shows up and offers to take him […]
Redwall, by Brian Jacques
(I just got home from 2 weeks without internet. I’ve been off the grid and out of touch, but I’m back and trying to catch up!) 🙂 I’m very late to this party. Before there was Harry Potter (90’s), there was Redwall (80’s). Where was I? I thought perhaps I had read this long ago, […]
The Mosque Hill Fortune, by Vivienne Mathews
This is the tale of two otters, both sea captains, both strong and self-assured, both masters of their own crew. Marshall, son of the famous (and missing) relic hunter, is the darling of the Secoran navy, master of weaponry, loyal, honest, and stalwart. McKinley the Marauder, infamous pirate, quick on his feet, adaptable, brash, and […]