May and Libby were childhood best friends and together they created a character called Princess X. May wrote the stories about the purple katana wielding Princess X and her adventures and Libby drew the pictures. All this comes to an end when Libby and her mom pass away in a car accident. Fast forward a […]
This is the 5th & final book in the terrific Lockwood & Co series written by Jonathan Stroud. Lockwood & Co. is about an alternate Britain in which ghosts have been entering the world of the living. Whomever they touch dies; only kids & teens can see them. So all the ghost removal agencies are […]
Franny, 12, and her parents, Sina and Old Tom, live a peaceful life on a farm on Vancouver Island during WW2. Their troubles revolve around the creative process (Sina is a sculptor and Franny writes.) and the seasonal work of the farm — until Crying Alice, their neighbor, arrives with an unusual request. She wants […]
Guilt is a heavy thing. Sebastian doesn’t know if he can live with it anymore. At age four Sebastian picked up his father’s gun and accidentally shot and killed his baby sister. Sebastian and his family never fully recovered. Now as a teen Sebastian is planning out his last days. But, his plans are put […]
It may seem strange to say about a book in a series called “The Murderbot Diaries,” but this was just a whole lot of fun! It’s full of classic sci-fi elements like a stranded team on a hostile planet under attack from unknown sources, but tells the tale from the viewpoint of the team’s assigned […]
This is the expanded version of a short story called “Iphigenia in Aulis” that Mike Carey wrote for a collection of horror stories set in schools (An Apple For The Creature). To describe the premise beyond that would spoil the story for you, so I will just say that it is beautifully written and has […]
This book is a Rebecca Caudill nominee for 2018. The two teens in this true story make really compelling reading. Caitlin in Hatfield and Martin in Mutare begin a pen pal correspondence in 1997. The two of them connect in fits and starts but grow slowly into best friends and finally into brother & sister. Liz […]
Since her mother died, May has lived with her actress cousin, serving as her seamstress and all-around servant. When the steamboat they are on explodes, May’s life changes and she has to find a job to support herself. May is quite literal which makes everything more difficult. When she finds a job on a theater […]
Drama, romance, back stabbing and ballet fill the intriguing pages of Tiny Pretty Things. Told from three points of view, you see the rise of Gigi, the fall of Bette, the insight of June and all of their dirty secrets. Everyone’s hiding something. Gigi is sweet and authentic, scoring the lead role in the Nutcracker […]
There is a secret organization that cultivates teenage spies. The agents are called Love Interests because getting close to people destined for great power means getting valuable secrets. Both Caden and Dylan are living in the outside world for the first time. They are well-trained and at the top of their games. They have to […]
