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While Lady Julia Lindsay Mackenzie Wallace Beaufort-Stuart (aka Julie) is home from a Swiss boarding school and exploring her grandad’s Murray Estate in Strathfearn, Scotland, she wanders upon a pearl thief and receives a blow to the head.  As she tries to recall the events of that fateful day on the Fearn River and to untangle a mystery of thievery, assault, and murder, she learns that memory is a strange and unreliable thing.  To solve the mystery, Julie must string together the clues, like pearls torn from a necklace. Besides being a mystery, The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein fits my definition of Cultural IdentityRead More →

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Readers who enjoy science and mystery are in for double the pleasure in Jack and the Geniuses at the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye and Gregory Mone.  Although the book–the first in what promises to be quite a series– is clearly a work of fiction, it has qualities of nonfiction, like back matter, notes about real science, and answers to essential questions about Antarctica, which literally is the bottom of the world. The novel features twelve-year-old Ava who builds talking toasters, motorized skateboards, and robots from spare parts; her fifteen-year-old brother Matt, an observer who thinks things through, circumvents obstacles, and forms theories from his collectedRead More →

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Book One in The Wingsnatchers saga, Carmer and Grit by Sarah Jean Horwitz, will likely appeal to readers who enjoy fantasy adventure stories and steampunk settings.  Blending just the right proportions of science, action, and magic, Horwitz creates an engaging tale with lessons about self-discovery, the value of perseverance, the environmental impact of mankind’s industry and inventions, and the importance of achieving a balance for harmonious coexistence. The key characters in this tale are thirteen-year-old Felix Cassius Tiberius Carmer III, who is Antoine the Amazifier’s apprentice; and Grettifrida Lonewing, a fire faerie who cuts quite an intimidating figure for one only five inches tall andRead More →

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April 15 will mark the 105th anniversary of the historic event of the Titanic’s sinking, an event which is memorialized in Dan Gutman’s latest installment of The Flashback Four: The Titanic Mission.  Gutman preserves the Titanic’s history, as well as that of 1912, in a retelling that features four twelve-year-olds: Luke, a large white boy with a touch of Attention Deficit Disorder and a compassionate heart; Julia, a prep school blonde with a penchant for money, clothes, and risk-taking; David, a tall African American boy who never learned to swim but loves to laugh; and Isabel, a studious girl from the Dominican Republic who prefers toRead More →

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Set in 1724, The Unexpected Life of Oliver Cromwell Pitts by Avi tells the story of the Cromwell family living in Melcombe Regis, a small community on the southern coast of England.  Because his mother died during childbirth, Oliver forms a strong bond with his sister, Charity, who comforts and cares for him.  Their father, overwhelmed by grief at the loss of his wife and generally intractable, repeatedly lets his children down so that Oliver and Charity are often disappointed by their father’s poor parenting and wish for an instruction book on how to deal with inept parents.  Besides his drinking, gambling, and bad moods,Read More →

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Readers of both fantasy and adventure will likely label Garth Nix’s recent release, Frogkisser, an enjoyable read.  The book’s main character, thirteen-year-old Princess Anya, takes the spotlight with her plucky and occasionally petulant attitude.  Unaware of her privilege, Anya is content in the library with Gotfried, a librarian who has had some magical education and is a useful resource for Anya, who has a strong interest in magic.  However, when her evil stepstepfather, Duke Rikard starts transforming people, Anya’s conscience and her sister promise to Morven to find Prince Denholm, who is now a frog, alter the course of her life. Allied with other sorcerers,Read More →

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For readers who appreciate topics like Arthurian Legend, museum artifacts, bravery, or World War II history, The Metropolitans by Carol Goodman will not disappoint.  Goodman blends these subjects in a time-bending mystery that features four thirteen-year-olds who themselves have endured persecution for their cultural heritage: Madge McGrory, an Irish Catholic; Walt Rosenberg, a Jewish boy; Kiku Akiyama, a Japanese American; and Sose Tehsakónhes, a Mohawk Indian, also known as Joe.  The four form the Brotherhood of the Lost, since they have all experienced the trauma of loss but have found one another, bonding in friendship and courage.  But with those positive traits come their opponents:Read More →

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Maximum racing is dangerous; one out of ten cars doesn’t make it to the finish line.  But race car driver Cassica Hayle is fast, flighty, and full of fierce life.  Possessing an addictive, restle ss energy and delighted by chaos and speed, Cassica craves life in the fast lane and wants to escape Coppermouth,  a barely surviving, backwater town where the stars at night are actually “restless orbital weapons moving steadily, left over from the Omniwar”(30) when death machines  “destroyed whole cities with lances of fire from space” (31). Now, in Coppermouth ,  people die from dust lung, a respiratory affliction resulting from dust blowingRead More →

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Fans of Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid books and readers of Roald Dahl will find a similar “imaginormous” story line accompanied by pictures in David Walliams latest tween novel, Grandpa’s Great Escape.  Illustrations by Tony Ross add humor to the story of Jack and his Grandpa, a legendary World War II pilot in the Ro yal Air Force who has begun to exhibit symptoms of Alzheimer’s. Set in 1983 in London, the book begins like a theatrical production, with a list of opening credits followed by the cast of characters who are drawn with humor and a lively use of line.  Featured later in the text,Read More →