By Jaime Hypes on April 29, 2012
It is 1913 in Salem, Massachusetts, and teenager Sarah is having dark visions that turn out to be warning her of future events. There are vampires being made, Egyptian gods that are very unhappy, a sorcerer who cannot be killed, and a warlock making deals. Of course, at first, Sarah does not know any of this. She thinks the visions are just her mind being overactive and playing tricks. That is, until she discovers a boy’s mangled corpse, attends the funeral of the boy, and then sees the boy seemingly as alive as can be after being buried- and a Greek boy, Alex, who can explain it all.
Posted in Fiction, Horror/Supernatural, Jaime Hypes, Reviews, Young Adult/Juvenile | Tagged Andy Gavin, gothic supernatural, horror, jaime hypes, The Darkening Dream, young adult |
By Bob Cherny on April 23, 2012
It has been a long time since I had children of the age of this book’s targeted reader. So, I am not sure I am completely qualified to review it, but if this book had been available to me when I was reading to my children, I would have read this to them.
Posted in Robert H. Cherny, Young Adult/Juvenile | Tagged animal story, children's book, children's fantasy, Jennifer Lynn Alvarez, The Pet Washer |
By LK Gardner-Griffie on March 11, 2012
Somewhere during the tumultuous years we call being a teenager, I read a book called Voices that impacted me strongly at the time and stuck with me for many years. The concept of the book was the background and letters of teens who committed suicide, and was based on non-fiction cases.
Posted in LK Gardner-Griffie, Young Adult/Juvenile | Tagged African refugee, Ashley Sanders, australia, books, Cancer, child prostitute, contemporary, demons, Facing Demons, Fiction, gang member, LK Gardner-Griffie, rehabilitation, troubled teens, young adult |
By Jaime Hypes on December 20, 2011
With so many fantastical stories about wizards, vampires, fairies, and other beings written for the pre-YA Children’s Fiction market today, we sometimes forget that it is the simple, everyday stories that can have the ability to inspire kids more than the mystical. Sometimes reading a story based in reality- about their dreams and aspirations- is a way for them to understand the challenge can be worked past, and that their dream may be attainable. The onslaught of fantasy stories may teach morals and decision-making, but it does not allow a child to connect the characters to their life in way that says “Maybe I can do that.”
Posted in Jaime Hypes, Young Adult/Juvenile | Tagged ballerina fiction, dance fiction, dancing on the inside, glen strathy, iuniverse book, teen fiction |
By Shannon Yarbrough on December 3, 2011
At 15, Cathy Quinn is an intelligent misfit living in 1980s Dublin. As the book opens she discovers that her charming older brother Stevie, who’s gay, is falling in love with the one boy in school whom she likes. Over her last two years of school, Cathy struggles with her dysfunctional family, coming to terms with her powerful attraction to her best friend Jeanette, and leaving Ireland. The Leaving is a realistic, yet lyrical, look at adolescence and first love.
Posted in Family Drama, Mainstream/Nostalgia, Shannon Yarbrough, Young Adult/Juvenile | Tagged coming of age fiction, dublin fiction, gabriella west, gay fiction, gay teen, good gay teen fiction, good lesbian fiction, lesbian teen, the leaving |
By Shannon Yarbrough on October 30, 2011
The House in Windward Leaves by Katherine L. Holmes is a perfect Halloween tale for kids who love to dress up or who have lively imaginations.
Posted in Childrens, Shannon Yarbrough, Young Adult/Juvenile | Tagged great halloween read, halloween book, halloween book for kids, katherine l holmes, kids halloween read, the house in windward leaves |
By Peter Hassebroek on October 8, 2011
When Cody Everett and his graffiti artist friends get caught by the Portland police, it’s the last straw for the boy’s father who puts two choices to his son: military school or live with his mother’s brother, Race Morgan, in a trailer park in Eugene. Cody’s uncle is a race car driver so the choice seems obvious. Running Wide Open by Lisa Nowak is Cody’s story about that episode in his life in 1989.
Posted in Fiction, Reviews, Young Adult/Juvenile | Tagged book review, juvenile fiction, lisa nowak, running wide open, young adult |
By LK Gardner-Griffie on September 1, 2011
Remember those humiliating moments during childhood and adolescence when making a public mistake? Or when someone outside the family has been subjected to the dorkiness that is your parents? If so, you’ll have an idea of what it’s like to be Darla McKendrick…
Posted in Family Drama, LK Gardner-Griffie, Young Adult/Juvenile | Tagged book review, contemporary, family saga, Fiction, Lisette Brodey, LK Gardner-Griffie, Squalor New Mexico, young adult |
By Dan Marvin on August 1, 2011
The Raven Girl Kathy Cecala ISBN 978 146 106 6378 CreateSpace Copyright © April 2011 236 Pages Paperback $12.00 Kindle $2.99 You might look at the words “Historical Fiction” and “Young Adult” and decide to pass on The Raven Girl by Kathy Cecala. I almost did, there are other reviewers who typically review the young [...]
Posted in Dan Marvin, Historical, Young Adult/Juvenile | Tagged Dan Marvin, historical fiction, kathy cecala, the raven girl, YA book review, young adult |
By LK Gardner-Griffie on July 19, 2011
It’s not often I have the pleasure of reviewing a book prior to release, so I’m especially honored to have the opportunity to review Born To Be A Dragon the day before it launches.
Posted in Action/Adventure, LK Gardner-Griffie, Young Adult/Juvenile | Tagged Action, adventure, Born To Be A Dragon, dragons, Dragons Forever, Eisley Jacobs, Fiction, foster child, friendship, juvenile fiction, LK Gardner-Griffie, middle grade |
