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Diane Stanley’s 2006 novel Bella at Midnight is a magical fairy tale.  Bella is a peasant girl, raised in a small Medieval village by a blacksmith, his wet-nurse wife, and their 2 other children.  She’s kind, imaginative, and happy. Her best friend is her mother’s former charge, Julian, a prince of the realm.  Alice is a thoughtful, somewhat overdramatic merchant’s daughter, who dreams of adventures at sea and visiting exotic lands with her father.  But soon both girls’ lives are irrevocably changed:  Bella learns that she’s really the daughter of a knight who sent her away when her mother died in childbirth and now she must return toRead More →

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Perfectly capturing the enterprising spirit of the turn of the 20th century, Gary Blackwood’s Around the World in 100 Days is an enjoyable update on the classic Around the World in 80 Days.  This time around it’s Phileas Fogg’s only son, Harry, whose vision, guts, and bravado will be tested. Caught with the same fire and courage of his father, Harry embarks rashly on his adventure, but this time it’s to prove to the skeptical world that the motor vehicle, his Flash, is the way of the future. Boldly, and sometimes heedlessly testing the limits of technology, Harry and his mechanical-genius Johnny, along with theRead More →

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12 year old Blaise Fortune, also known as Koumail, has been fleeing west across Eastern Europe with his guardian, Gloria, since he was 7.  When the Soviet Union fell and the Caucasus states began to fight for their independence, Blaise and Gloria become two of thousands of war refugees scrabbling across a battle-scarred land in search of safety and a better life. As they’ve traveled westward towards France, Gloria has told Blaise the story of his past many times: picking fruit in her father’s vast orchards in Georgia, Gloria heard the derailment of an express train; in her rush to help the vicitms, she discovered a French womanRead More →

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Debut author Erin Bow’s Plain Kateis a joy. Kate is a likeable, charming girl whose plight pulls at your heartstrings and whose courage inspires you.  Even though she’s faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, she remains resolute and steadfast in her determination to keep moving forward in hopes of finding a place to belong. Plain Kate is the only child of her town’s master carver; she’s held a blade since before she could walk and her skill with carving sometimes earns the suspicion of her town.  They say she’s got a “witch’s blade” and her charms and carvings are magic.  That’s a dangerous rumor in Kate’s world,Read More →

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When I started Ellen Potter’s latest,The Kneeboy Boy, I felt an immediate kinship to the much beloved Lemony Snicket Series of Unfortunate Events.   There’s a witty, dark absurdity to the narrator (one of the Hardscrabble children, but you have to guess which), a quirky, likeable trio of siblings, and a mystery full of kooky, slightly off-center characters that combine into an enjoyable and engaging read.  The three Hardscrabble siblings: shy, mute Otto, take-charge Lucia, and clever Max, are the misfits in the their small English town.  Their lives were turned upside down years ago when their mother disappeared under suspicious circumstances. Ever since, the whole town has shunned them, althoughRead More →

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Check out this review of Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld from briangriggs.com: “I realized today that there is no main antagonist in the Leviathan/Behemoth series. It’s straight character vs. self and character vs. society. I wonder if that’s why students don’t quite get into the action. The only complaint I’ve received is that there’s so much focus on the history and not on excitement. The “focus on history” comment is an interesting one, considering the book is about giant flying whales and steam-powered mechs. Behemoth is a great sequel to Leviathan. It continues documenting the travels of the airship crew as they delve into the Ottoman Empire.Read More →

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15 year old Pearl lives with her recently divorced mother on her uncle’s sprawling California avocado farm.  Uncle Hoyt routinely hires migrant labor to work in the groves and until the day when Pearl notices beautiful, mysterious, quiet Amiel, she’d never thought twice about the undocumented migrant workers’ plight.  But something about shy Amiel speaks to Pearl: he’s beautiful, of course, but there’s more; he’s mute due to a tragic accident in his past, he seems vulnerable and kind, and he’s very reluctant to open up to her overtures of friendship.  Pearl finds herself drawn repeatedly to the quiet bend in the river after she discovers Amiel’s small campsite where he’s beenRead More →

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Mike Lupica’s Hero, due from Philomel/Penguin Books in November 2010, is a variation on familiar territory for both Lupica and the teen-hero genre.  When 14 year old Billy Harriman’s dad, the globetrotting special advisor to the President, is mysteriously killed in a small aircraft crash, Billy’s world is turned upside down.  Billy had always looked up to his famous hero-of-a-dad, but also secretly wished he’d been around more, instead of always putting others, and America, before Billy and his mom.  But now that his dad is gone and never coming home, he is forced to confront the anger, resentment, and longings he’d suppressed for years. But that’sRead More →

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Mark Shulman’s Scrawl is the detention journal of the school’s bully, Tod.  After he and his droogs are busted for breaking into the school, he’s sentenced to spend his daily detention in a hot, empty room with Mrs. Woodrow, a no-nonsense guidance counselor.  Not really sure why he escaped grounds-keeping duty, Tod only knows he’s supposed to write about himself, his family, friends and school life in a beat-up notebook and turn it in for Mrs. W.’s review.  Through the journal Tod eventually opens up and we can see that he is a smart, thoughtful kid who lives a bad home life, isn’t socially acceptedRead More →