I haven’t read a Tales of a Revolution book in several years and decided to check out Lars D. H. Hedbor’s latest. Turns out he’s completed THREE in that time. So I grabbed The Convention. In our fast-paced world with its fast-paced plots, I had to reacclimate to Hedbor’s style. His books are not blood-and-guts […]
Echo, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, 2015
Greg Pattridge hosts Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) on his Always in the Middle website each week. Check it out for more great kidlit! I like Pam Muñoz Ryan’s books, and there’s a reason Echo claimed Newbery honors in 2016. Ryan is often lauded for her multicultural stories, but that’s not why I like them. I like them because […]
The Golden Goblet, by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Book Review
Greg Pattridge hosts Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) on his Always in the Middle website each week. Check it out for more great kidlit! Published in 1961 and receiving Newbery honors the next year, The Golden Goblet still rates high on any reading list decades later. Within, young Ranofer wants nothing more than to become a goldsmith in […]
The Smoke, by Lars D. H. Hedbor
I’m thrilled to announce the January release of the latest edition in Lars Hedbor’s Tales of a Revolution series. I’ve come to be pretty good friends with Lars, but it’s a friendship that began through a shared love of American history and mutual respect for each other’s work. In 2013, dissatisfied with a small press, […]
Time Enough for Drums, by Ann Rinaldi, 1986, Book Review
Ann Rinaldi has become a household name in YA historical fiction, and this is one of her most acclaimed books. It’s been on my reading list for some time. The year is 1775, and fifteen-year-old Jemima Emerson is a headstrong young lady. She’s not a bad child; she simply doesn’t think before she acts, and […]
The Time Pirate: A Nick McIver Time Adventure (Book Two), by Ted Bell, 2010
Nick’s adventures continue. The Nazis have invaded France, Poland, Belgium, and Holland. England has declared war on Germany. Winston Churchill is the new Prime Minister of England. America has promised aid to England. And the first of four tiny Channel Islands has fallen to the Nazi invasion. Will Nick’s island be next? Not if he […]
The Mighty Miss Malone, by Christopher Paul Curtis, 2012, Book Review
I loved this one! The Mighty Miss Malone has everything in it that I appreciate about children’s literature: style, humor, beauty, depth—even history! I have absolutely no complaints about the story. It does have some incorrect grammar and spellings, but that’s because it’s written from the firsthand perspective of twelve-year-old Deza Malone. I don’t like such […]
Orphan of Destiny (The Youngest Templar), by Michael P. Spradlin, 2010, Book Review
Of the three books in The Youngest Templar series, Orphan of Destiny was my favorite. At long last, Tristin reaches England. Pursued by Sir Hugh, he hides out for a time—in Sherwood Forest! Robard takes on his full role as Robin Hood (Robard Hode), the Thane of Sherwood, complete with a cast of thinly-veiled characters that […]
Trail of Fate (the Youngest Templar, book two), by Michael P. Spradlin, 2009, Book Review
This is the second book in The Youngest Templar series. If you are unfamiliar with the first one, read my review. Wow! Michael P. Spradlin knows how to write a cliffhanger! I need to write this quickly and start the next book. It’s sitting here beside me. Tristin, Maryam and Robard survive book one’s shipwreck, […]
Keeper of the Grail (The Youngest Templar series), by Michael P. Spradlin, 2008, Book Review
In Keeper of the Grail, Michigan native (yay!) Michael P. Spradlin offers the first installment of what promises to be a fabulous trilogy. I love epic stories, and the Middle Ages is one of my favorite periods of history. Throw in a little mystery, a hint of Robin Hood, a knight and a Crusade and […]