Through my intricate web of literary connections (yeah, right), I managed to get my hands on an advance copy of Brian Selznick’s brand new book, Wonderstruck. It won’t be released until September 13, 2011, so I feel very privileged to provide a sneak peek at this captivating new middle grade novel. Some of you may […]
Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne, Book Review
This entertaining novel was first published in 1873 by French writer, Jules Verne. It is the story of a rich English gentleman who accepts a bet to travel around the entire world (no easy feat in 1873; one that had only recently become possible) in 80 days. The gentlemen of the Reform club, of which […]
Here Comes Mr. Trouble, 2011, by Brett Battles, Book Review – Bargain eBooks
An above-normal student and an all-around good kid, Eric can’t figure out his recent string of bad luck. The missing homework. The sudden problem with bullies. The strange noises only he can hear. Objects appearing out of thin air. This must involve something more than luck. But what? Here Comes Mr. Trouble starts off suspenseful […]
Seranfyll, by Christina Daley, Book Review – Bargain eBooks
Seranfyll, a brand new novel by Christina Delay, will take readers to a wonderful place where horses fly and houses sneeze, where mops and pails bark like dogs and clean of their own accord, where trees walk and butlers are created – willy-nilly – out of chickens. It’s a delightful place. A place of animation […]
The Magnificent 12: The Call, by Michael Grant, Book Review
I have just finished reading The Magnificent 12: The Call, the first in a brand new fantasy series by Michael Grant. With twenty-one phobias and counting–including a fear of phobias–twelve-year-old David MacAvoy (Mack) seems an unlikely hero. But through the pipes in the boys’ bathroom, Mack receives word from a 3,000-year-old man that the Pale […]
Crispin: The Cross of Lead, by Avi, Book Review
Crispin’s mother just died, taking with her any knowledge of his past. In fact, the boy didn’t even learn his name until the priest told him–after the burial. He’d always just been “Asta’s son.” But the priest said his mother could read and write, that she hadn’t always lived as a serf bound to Lord […]
Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins, Book Review
***Mockingjay is book three in the Hunger Games trilogy. If you have not read the first two, skip to my Hunger Games review (book one) or my Catching Fire review (book two). It’s over. I’ve finished the last book. Mockingjay ends as I knew it must end. And Katniss claims the man I knew she must choose. Yet the […]
It's Like This, Cat, by Emily Neville, Book Review by Emily, age 11
The title of this book is It’s Like This, Cat. The author is Emily Neville. This book won the Newbery Award. It is fiction. The story begins in New York with the main character, Dave Mitchell, arguing with his dad. He gets in all sorts of arguments with his dad. He goes to an apartment […]
Anna of Byzantium, by Tracy Barrett, Book Review
If you enjoy historical fiction, pick up a copy of Tracy Barrett’s Anna of Byzantium. Ms. Barrett is primarily a writer of non-fiction, but she delivers a solid, fictionalized account of Anna Comnena, daughter of the Byzantine Emperor. Her writing is smooth, logical, and easy to follow. Set in the time of the Crusades, young […]
The Bronze Bow, by Elizabeth George Speare, Book Review
How have I missed this book for so many years? I’m familiar with Elizabeth George Speare. Her Newberry-winning story, The Witch of Blackbird Pond was one of my very first lasting favorites as an adolescent, and I later fell in love with The Sign of the Beaver. How did I miss The Bronze Bow? I stumbled […]