Category: review

Mom’s Upcoming Wedding to her Girlfriend Stirs Up a Small Community in This Chapter Book [Review]

17 July 2019 / review / 4 Comments
Mom’s Upcoming Wedding to her Girlfriend Stirs Up a Small Community in This Chapter Book [Review]

My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer by Jennifer Gennari Format/source: Hardcover/LibraryPublished: May 2012Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Length: 119 pages Genre: Historical fiction Target Age: 8+ #OwnVoices: Unknown (lesbian rep) ★★★★  Twelve-year-old June Farrell is sure of one thing—she’s great at making pies—and she plans to prove it by winning a blue ribbon in the Champlain Valley Fair pie competition. But a backlash against Vermont’s civil union law threatens her family’s security and their business. Even when faced with bullying, […]

The Wise and the Wicked Wasn’t for Me [Review]

21 May 2019 / review / 4 Comments
The Wise and the Wicked Wasn’t for Me [Review]

The Wise and the Wicked by Rebecca Podos Format/source: ARC/ALA MidwinterPublished: 28 May 2019 Publisher: Balzer + BrayLength: 357 pages Genre: Contemporary fabulismTarget Age: Young adult#OwnVoices: Unknown (Russian, Jewish, lesbian, bi, and trans rep)★★½ Ruby Chernyavsky has been told the stories since she was a child: The women in her family, once possessed of great magical abilities to remake lives and stave off death itself, were forced to flee their Russian home for America in order to escape the […]

Cinnamon and Gunpowder: A Buddy Read with Dani

15 May 2019 / review / 5 Comments
Cinnamon and Gunpowder: A Buddy Read with Dani

Format/source: Hardcover/LibraryPublished: June 2013 Publisher: Farrar, Straus and GirouxLength: 318 pages Genre: Historical fictionTarget Age: Adult#OwnVoices: Not applicable★★★ The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail. To appease the red-haired captain, Wedgwood gets cracking with the meager supplies on board. His first triumph at sea […]

Nuanced Characters, Complex Relationships, and a Hidden Horror Make for an Excellent Debut [Review]

13 May 2019 / review / 2 Comments
Nuanced Characters, Complex Relationships, and a Hidden Horror Make for an Excellent Debut [Review]

The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman Format/source: ARC/ALA MidwinterPublished: 2 April 2019 Publisher: Disney-HyperionLength: 368 pages Genre: Contemporary speculative fiction (horror/fantasy)Target Age: Young adult#OwnVoices: Bisexuality, depressionContent warnings★★★★½ After the death of her sister, seventeen-year-old Violet Saunders finds herself dragged to Four Paths, New York. Violet may be a newcomer, but she soon learns her mother isn’t: They belong to one of the revered founding families of the town, where stone bells hang above every doorway and danger […]

Historical Haints Make for a Great Summer Read [Review]

6 May 2019 / review / 2 Comments
Historical Haints Make for a Great Summer Read [Review]

Just South of Home by Karen Strong Format/source: ARC/ALA MidwinterPublished: 7 May 2019 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young ReadersLength: 320 pages Genre: Middle grade speculative fiction#OwnVoices: Black girl living in southern USA ★★★★ Twelve-year-old Sarah is finally in charge. At last, she can spend her summer months reading her favorite science books and bossing around her younger brother, Ellis, instead of being worked to the bone by their […]