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Around the world, youth celebrate a rite of passage into adulthood, a time when they leave behind the behaviors and beliefs from childhood, unlock their potential, and enter the world as fledgling adults.  When and how this transition occurs depends on where adolescents live and in what cultures they grow up. Paige McKenzie, with Alyssa Sheinmel, writes the story of one such transition in The Haunting of Sunshine Girl.   This first book in a paranormal series based on the YouTube sensation asks the question: What if, when you turned sixteen, everything you thought you knew about the world shifted?  A week past her 16th birthday, SunshineRead More →

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Because she’s “a shadow, a footstep in the woods that disappears, a twig no one notices” (19) and because she spends so much time climbing apple trees, Teresa Jane Fowler is better known in Sidwell, Massachusetts, as Twig.  Twelve-year-old Twig, the protagonist in Alice Hoffman‘s newest book, Nightbird, is good at running and at keeping the Fowler family secrets—among them the recipes for specialty pink apple desserts, the effects of the Agnes Early curse, and the reasons for the family’s reclusive manners and unusual nature.  These secrets lead to hurt and loneliness for Twig, but she wears her loneliness like armor. Although life without aRead More →

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Some adolescents attempt to break out of the traps they perceive in their current life conditions by acting out; others use creative outlets like music to escape.  Breakout by Kevin Emerson follows the story of fourteen-year-old Anthony Castillo and his best friend Keenan on a twelve day journey to Fall Arts Night in Seattle, Washington. Prone to hyperbole, Anthony plays lead guitar in a band called the Rusty Soles, and Keenan plays bass.  Both boys attend Catharine Daly, a K-8 school in which the eighth graders are expected to lead by example.  Anthony takes exception to that nearly impossible expectation by suggesting that eighth gradersRead More →

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When ice caps collapsed and lowlands flooded, earth was in chaos, human survival was in jeopardy, and people grew desperate.   Out of this chaos grew two superpowers that seized the few resources remaining.  These actions led to civil wars and to international breakdown.   During an economy-crushing petroleum embargo, many Earthbound individuals fled to Lunar Base, “a beacon of humanity for the glory of science” (47). Through mind-numbing propaganda, not unlike that spewed in 1984 by George Orwell, lunar citizens recite a National Anthem and other political slogans that brainwash them into believing untruths about security, life essentials, employment, and community connections.  Organized much like theRead More →

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Boston, Massachusetts, teen turned Montana transplant, Tella Holloway has taken on the challenge of the Brimstone Bleed to save her brother Cody’s life.  Tella used to be “the girl who catalogued sandwich shops by which had the best oatmeal cookies.  Now [she’s] the girl who catalogs death and the girl who vows revenge” (187).  She’s not the lone Contender in this competition that covers four ecosystems: desert, jungle, ocean, and mountain; each with its own misery, dangers, and threats.  Because it is a sequel, Salt and Stone by Victoria Scott features the last two ecosystems and picks up the plot where Fire and Flood leftRead More →

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As a female rhesus monkey, Papina has brown fur and a pink face, while Mico, a male langur monkey, has grey fur and a black face.  Although appearance, biology, and gender separate the two, they are not that different.  Living in Kolkata, India, both envision a more nearly perfect world, one where determination, courage, and wit are celebrated; rather than one’s size or social rank.  Daring to question and unwilling to blindly obey, both want to understand the mysteries and deceptions that surround monkey life.  Sickened by violence, they wish to understand why killing is necessary to keep the peace. Through the stories of theseRead More →

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How do three twenty first century tweens from the prestigious east coast Fredericksville School in New Jersey end up in a smelly stable standing over the most important guy in United States’ history? After being left behind at Christmastime by parents who are too busy, too famous, or too self-absorbed to care for their children, Beverly, Brandon, and Mel go on a field trip with their chaperone Mr. Hart to view a reenactment of the famous Crossing of the Delaware.  When Brandon fiddles with a Macbook, the trio ends up participating in the historical event instead. Victims of time travel, Beverly, Brandon, and Mel areRead More →

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Focused, driven, athletic, and gifted with anything mathematical, Carina Monroe plans to major in mathematics with a focus in cryptography when she graduates from Martindale High.  But her plans get sidetracked when her mother commits suicide, leaving her with a deep chasm of grief, loss, and loneliness that nothing can fill—until she meets Tanner Sloan. Tanner, who loves computers and lives in a loud, boisterous family, makes her realize that life can be more than work and study. Carina’s therapist has tried to help her heal, but Carina’s lies create an obstacle in that arena.  Still, Carina finds some of the therapist’s advice helpful, likeRead More →

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Richly personal and nostalgic, Stories of My Life, is an autobiographical collection of what Katherine Paterson calls “kitchen sink stories.”  Readers of biography and memoir may choose to read this book, released in October, as will readers who crave knowing the origins of Paterson’s stories and characters.  Recalling feelings and remembered events, this award-winning author explains how her life experiences both informed and inspired the stories she has written.  Place and character names, settings and circumstances derive from the childhood of a mischievous girl, who was both shy and a show-off. Although this book is being marketed as young adult non-fiction, It will likely appealRead More →