I re-read this book for a YA/kidlit class I’m teaching later this month. Gary Paulsen was one of my favorite authors as a kid. I devoured each of his books, loving the way his characters expanded their horizons to develop skills needed to survive life-or-death situations while under the age …
I looked everywhere for this book. It is out of print, and I had to find a used copy online. When I was a kid, my mom and I always used to check this book out of the library. It was my absolute favorite book because the concept of going …
I loved this book as a child, and I re-read it for educational purposes—I’ll be presenting some workshops on using literature to encourage closer reading later this year. The book was even more poignant than I remembered it, and I love the freedom theme running through it. The novel follows …
This was one of my favorite books when I was younger, so I thought I’d re-read it. The book was not as good as I remember it, mostly because of the outdated writing style, but I enjoyed the plot and remember why I loved it so much as a kid. …
In my kids’ mystery series, the protagonist’s mother is crazy about correcting grammar—to the extent that she gets distracted and lost, runs late, or loses track of all else in her life. The character, Mrs. Hollinger, is based loosely on a combination of me, my mother, and every grammar guru …
Legendarium takes place in an imaginary place “between world,” a place where all the stories ever created intersect. If anything happens to the stores as-written, there are dire consequences to the world as we know it. The two main characters are Bombo Dawson, an up-and-coming author and Alistair Foley, a …
I’m reviewing this book as part of a blog tour run by Juniper Grove Book Solutions, receiving a copy of the novel in exchange for my honest review. What follows is an excerpt and synopsis provided by the blog tour, and a review—written by me. This book is rated “17+” …
We is a Russian novel first published in the 1920s in New York (Banned in its home country, it wasn’t published in Russia until 1988!). I wanted to read this book because it’s the prototype around which 1984 (admittedly) and Brave New World (allegedly) were modeled. In both cases, the …
This young adult book was recommended to me by a writer friend (who obviously knows my preference in books). I read it (mostly during one snuggly sitting) during a snow day. Bloody Jack is the story of a girl named Mary (later, Jack, Jacky, Bloody Jack, and a handful of …
I found this middle-grade book in the independent reader section of a used book store and picked it up because I love dogs and I love reading authors’ takes on animal “voices.” As the title suggests, this book is told from the point of view of Squirrel, a stray dog …