Category Archives: book reviews

Book Review: Magic Treehouse #1 (Dinosaurs Before Dark)

I was at a consignment sale the other week, and I picked up several of the books in the Magic Treehouse series (by Mary Pope Osborne) for a fairly good price. They are not consecutive, but volumes 1 and 2 … Continue reading

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Book Review: Unbreakable by Kami Garcia

I purchased this book when I heard Garcia speak at a writers conference. The book is meant for young adult readers. The story follows a 17-year old named Kennedy. After her father abandoned her, Kennedy is left with just her … Continue reading

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Book Review: Dead of Spring by Sherry Knowlton

I was glad to return to the world of Alexa Williams–along with all her usual legal and dangerous sleuthing and quest to combat human trafficking. Since Dead of Spring involved scandals related to fracking in Pennsylvania, I thought this would be … Continue reading

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Book Review: Leaf and the Sky of Fire (Twig Stories Book 2) by Jo Marshall

Last June, I reviewed the first book in the Twig Stories series. In honor of Earth Day, I read the second. The Twig Stories series follows stick creatures that I think of as elves or sprites (but more wood-like), with … Continue reading

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Book Review: The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Satrapi’s graphic novel is also a memoir. It’s presented as a comic strip detailing her childhood and adolescence in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution and her older adolescent years in Vienna. In the introduction to the novel, Satrapi summarizes the … Continue reading

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Book review: Someday This Pain Will be Useful to You by Peter Cameron

James Sveck, the protagonist of this novel, reminds me a bit of Holden Caulfield. He’s at the cusp of adulthood (18 years old), and he doesn’t really want to go to college: he finds people his own age to be … Continue reading

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Book Review: The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

A middle grade mystery/adventure, The City of Ember follows Lina and Doon, two children who live in an underground city called Ember. Throughout the story, things in Ember are bleak—and getting bleaker. There are huge storerooms full of supplies like … Continue reading

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Book Review: Waffles and Pancakes: A Lesson in the True Meaning of Christmas by Cindy Springsteen, Illustrated by Carol Ann Whittle

I received a new Kindle Fire for Christmas, and I “fired” it up, logging onto my Kindle account. Of course, there are shelves and shelves of “TBR” books. Now that the little one is sleeping a “bit” more predictably, I’ve … Continue reading

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Book Review: Grimm’s Grimmest

I’d always heard that Grimm’s Fairytales were much more gruesome than the popular Disney versions. I bought this book a while ago and finally picked it up to read. Its introduction is written my Maria Tatar, and it features the … Continue reading

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Book Review: Behind the Headlines: The Story of American Newspapers by Thomas Fleming

Book Review: Behind the Headlines: The Story of American Newspapers by Thomas Fleming   A part of the “Walker’s American History Series for Young People” series, this nonfiction book was published in 1989. I picked it up when I took … Continue reading

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