This book follows the life of Tom Black (aka Thomas Black Bull). He is the Ute son of two parents who had to live in the woods (in the “old way”) after his father got in trouble with the law for killing a man (one could argue the murder was well-deserved!). After his parents die, […]
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The Color of Evil begins with a boy named Tad, who is able to see people’s auras. At a young age, he is terrified by a birthday party clown. Following the party, he has terrible nightmares that turn out to be true—they are all the murders the clown has committed. Tad’s parents institutionalize him briefly, […]
This is one thick book that I just couldn’t put down! An upper-young-adult fantasy novel, this story follows Yelena, a young woman with a rough past. Without giving too much away, I’ll say that she killed a man who abused and raped her. Since he was the son of a ruler, she was sentenced to […]
Written by a local Baltimore author, this book follows the tribulations of Megan Gerard as—right after burying her mother—she deals with a stalker who is out to have his way with her—and worse. Right after the funeral, all Megan wants to do is get her life back to normal. She doesn’t know that her mother’s […]
This is a short story/children’s book illustrated by the author in line drawings. It is reminiscent of Native American creation myths: the myth begins with a woman bearing twins. The twins eventually grow to create the chaotic world we live in. Every so often, the twins are offered a wish, and each wish, they forgo […]
Hearts in Exile is the third book in the Tallenmere series, and I had not read the first two books when I was asked to review this one. Nonetheless, I was able to read and understand this book well enough without the background of the other two books (though I suspect they would have added […]
This fantasy novel follows a character named Hellsfire who (as you can guess by the name) was born with the power of fire. As a young adult, he discovers his power—and how dangerous it is. Still, he used it to save the princess, a girl he almost immediately develops feelings for. Confronting his mother, Hellsfire […]
This is a historical novel following Attilius, an engineer who is new to his position and must discover why the waters have stopped flowing to Roman cities near Mount Vesuvius. As he investigates and attempts to repair the problem, he realizes that while nature is conspiring against humanity (with the pending eruption), there are a […]
This book follows the tale of a boy whose drunken father wants him to “man up,” forcing him to spend a night in the creepy basement of the apartment complex as a rite of passage, killing all the giant rats rumored to live there. The book begins in a rather pleasant way, with the terror […]
This is a nostalgic book that follows the coming of age of Jason Lee, a white boy in the South during the 1980s. Lee befriends a black boy, Samson, much to the disgust of the racist town. At the same time, Jason Lee is also trying to uncover the truth about his father, JL, who […]
