(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, […]
Keeping Safe the Stars, by Sheila O’Connor
This is a sweet, unhurried story that takes place in 1972. Pride Star, newly thirteen and the oldest of three siblings, lives with their grandfather, Old Finn. Except Old Finn left for the hospital and doesn’t come back. With just ten dollars in the cupboard, Pride tries her hardest to take care of her family. […]
Ragesong: Uprising (Ragesong, 2), by J. R. Simmons
I read book one of this series last fall and loved it. (Read my review here.) Because I was also furiously pounding out Ella Wood, it took me some time to return to the series. With my project completed and the third Ragesong book just about ready to hit the virtual shelves, I picked up book two. […]
A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park
This is the remarkable story of Salva Dut, a survivor of the Sudanese Civil War that raged from 1983-2002. Salva spent years walking, avoiding the war, living in refuge camps—surviving. He was one of the lucky ones who eventually migrated to America. He then chose to return to drought-ridden Sudan and drill wells in poor […]
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 […]
The Gypsy Pearl: Tye (Gypsy Pearl, 3), by Lia London
This has been one of my favorite recent series. And it just so happens to be written by a friend of mine, Lia London. (But she became a friend after I’d been introduced to her fabulous writing.) Today, I’m featuring the newly released  third and final book in her Gypsy Pearl series, which I had […]
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 Cay, by Theodore Taylor, 1969
“Dis be de mos’ outrageous good story, Phill-eep!” I can almost hear the words as they would sound spoken in Timothy’s Caribbean cadence. Timothy’s an old friend of mine. So are Phillip and Stew Cat, the trio of castaways in The Cay. This is a book I’ve treasured since my childhood. I shared it recently with my […]
The Stone of Valhalla, by Mikey Brooks
Wow! I’m afraid I might have to do a little gushing on this one. This is middle grade fiction at its best. An epic adventure I’d put side-by-side with names like Spiderwick and Fablehaven. I actually listened to this one as an audiobook from Audible.com to give myself a break during our read aloud time. […]