Hilary McKay has written a historical novel of WWI, with the endearing Clarry Penrose as main character. Clarry’s mother died in childbirth so she’s never known a mother’s love. But she loves her brother fiercely and loves her cousin Rupert in Cornwall whom she sees every summer. She’s determined to fend for herself and get […]
This exhilarating story clearly exemplifies the difference for a reader/observer between reading a book and watching a movie. The cruelty and violence in this exciting tale for me would be impossible to watch on the screen (a movie is coming out) but I could “see” what I wanted and continue, horrified but not repulsed, to […]
Why are so many fantasy and science fiction novels set in Victorian England? Could it be that there were so many changes to the society brought about by new science and technical discoveries? Nathaniel Steepleton is a telegraphist for the British government. His home is a tiny room where, one day when he awakens, there […]
A graphic, both literally and figuratively, autobiography of artist/writer Krosoczka who grew up in the home of his profane and loving grandparents. His unreliable mother was an addict, constantly in and out of jail and rehab; his father an absence whose name Jarrett didn’t even know. From his mother, Jarrett inherited a talent and love […]
Denise and her parents have returned to their home town in Louisiana after being relocated to the Houston area after hurricane Katrina. Her parents decided it would be a great idea to purchase an old house and fix it up to be a bed and breakfast. The house is known as the Argonne House, but […]
This one is a delight — Becky Albertalli (Simon vs the Home Sapien Agenda) and Adam Silvera (They Both Die at the End) each write a character in a fun summer romance set in NYC. The meet cute first meeting, the hunt to find each other later, the bad first dates (x 3!) and of […]
A heartfelt new memoir from Jarrett Krosoczka, of Lunch Lady fame, this book is about growing up without parents because of their drug abuse and being raised instead by grandparents. Jarrett Krosoczka traces his life from his birth to his high school graduation, not sparing the reader the hard realities of living first with a […]
Thea, a Hevetz intern, and a small crew are hurtling through space responding to a distress call. After two months of space travel and they land at a research site, they thought was long abandoned until now. Once they arrive, the crew isn’t sure what they’ve stumbled upon, with blood smears and the dead bodies […]
This is a painfully moving picture books for adults and older teens, a poem written by Hosseini and illustrated by the very talented Dan Williams. The poem is a prayer spoken at night by the father of a young boy with whom he plans to cross the Mediterranean in an overcrowded raft to get to […]
Bunny and Nasir were always best buds on the court and off the court until Bunny accepted a scholarship to a rival school. Now Bunny and Nasir barely speak or see each other and are enemies on the court. Nasir feels betrayed and left behind and knows that on the court is one place he […]
