Belle Prater’s Boy is just the kind of book I love–beautifully written, moving, and full of thoughtful conclusions. It’s 1953 and Gypsy’s Aunt Belle has disappeared without a trace. Her cousin, Woodrow, comes to live in Granny and Grandpa Ball’s house right next door. He looks rough, with his hand-me-down mining clothes and his crossed […]
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by JK Rowling, 2000, Book Review
This is one seriously long book! As much as I love the story–this is my third time through and I’m delighted all over again because my brain just doesn’t retain details–one of my few complaints is that it is so long. I know more than one kid who has balked at its length. Personally, because […]
Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney, 2007, Book Review
Somehow this book flew under my radar. Since it came out, it has prompted a whole Wimpy Kid series and even a movie, but it just made its way into my hands today. It’s an easy read, I finished the whole thing in an hour, but I now understand the rage. It’s hilarious in a […]
Turtle in Paradise, by Jennifer L. Holm, 2010, Book Review
Turtle in Paradise is just the kind of book I love to read best. Sweet and clean, well-crafted, beautiful, with a host of characters I wish I knew, and an open-armed family at the end. It claimed Newbery honors last year. Turtle grew up in New Jersey with her single mother. She’s the steady one in […]
Mockingbird, by Kathryn Erskine, 2010, Book Review
Caitlin doesn’t see the world as others see it. She prefers black and white to color. She’s matter-of-fact and unemotional. She takes meanings very literally. She dislikes loud noises. And she hates when anyone invades her Personal Space. Caitlin has Asperger’s Syndrome. Kathryn Erskine has created a beautiful character and surrounded her with difficulty. Not […]
The Death Cure (The Maze Runner Trilogy, book 3), by James Dashner, 2011
Start with my reviews of The Maze Runner (book one) and The Scorch Trials (book two). The Death Cure delivers the exciting conclusion to the Maze Runner Trilogy. (It’s better than book two.) Thomas and his friends have escaped the Maze and survived the Scorch, but are the trials really over? WICKED has told them they are, but […]
The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians), Rick Riordan, 2008, Book Review
This fourth book in Riordan’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians series is vastly entertaining, as always. Within, Percy and his friends must enter the huge labyrinth that is under the surface of the earth, just beneath the mortal world. Grover goes in search of Pan, whom he is convinced is hiding out, to substantiate his claim […]
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by JK Rowling, 2000, Book Review
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is perhaps the lightest book in the Harry Potter series, with no Voldemort appearances or the intense darkness that surrounds him. This one’s mostly illusion, and it happens to be my favorite one, the one that REALLY makes me wish I could attend Hogwarts. Hogsmeade, the town just outside […]
Cassidy Jones and Vulcan's Gift, by Elise Stokes, 2011, Book Review
I’m excited to be in on the release of Elise Stokes’ second novel, Cassidy Jones and Vulcan’s Gift. This fast-paced series is reminiscent of the adventures of comic book superheroes, except Cassidy Jones happens to be a totally hip, totally stubborn, totally modern fifteen-year-old girl. A freak accident left her with enhanced senses and superhuman […]
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, 2005, Book Review
The Book Thief is quite an accomplishment. Five hundred and fifty pages of thought-provoking text in a very unique, slightly jarring style, all narrated by Death. The originality of this book made waves a few years ago, and that’s pretty hard to do. It’s a story of words. Words that prompted a Fascist regime, and […]