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Tell Us We’re Home, a fresh new book from Marina Budhos, has an interesting plot line, making a book full of mystery, friendship, and hardship. This new novel kept me reading for hours. Jaya, Maria, and Lola are just ordinary girls living in the town of Meadowbrook, New Jersey. Ordinary, that is, until you see that the girls have two things in common; they are all the daughters of maids and nannies, and they have all emigrated from a foreign country. Besides the obvious problem that they go to school with the people their mothers work for, all three also have many issues they mustRead More →

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 Sophie Masson’s Elizabethan romantic mystery, The Madman of Venice (Aug 2010), is the perfect companion for a summer trip, poolside escape, or as an enjoyable journey from the summer doldrums. The canals of Venice in 1603 are exciting, mysterious, and dangerous.  Celia, the spunky, smart daughter of a prosperous London merchant, and Ned, her father’s like-able but somewhat stubborn clerk, find themselves quickly caught up in two mysteries: the deadly pirate attacks that have been plaguing English ships; and the search for Sarah Tedeschi, a Jewish girl who has vanished from the Venetian Ghetto after being accused of witchcraft by the powerful Countess of Montemoro. As Celia and Ned, alongRead More →

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I’ve wanted to read Rick Yancey’s new book, The Monstrumologist, since it first came in last Fall, but never got around to it. Then it was named a Michael L. Printz Award Honoree, and I finally decided to make time to sit down with this intriguing looking book. And although it’s not quite what I expected, I am glad I did.  The Monstrumologistis the account of the spring of 1888 when Will Henry was a apprentice/assistant to the brilliant, but perhaps mad, Dr. Warthrop, who studies and hunts real-life monsters.  The story is framed by Rick Yancey’s present day acquisition of the notebooks from a doctor who caredRead More →

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Every 100 years humanity is tested and it’s up to 4 teenagers to pass the test and save the world: that’s the premise behind Italian author P. D. Baccalario’s adventure series out this spring from Random House.  It’s December 29th, in Rome, and 12 year olds Harvey from New York, Mistral from Paris, and Sheng from Shanghai are to share a room with their hotel owner’s daughter, Elettra. The four kids discover an amazing coincidence—they all have birthdays on February 29 and that is just the beginning of the strange events that soon engulf them. Mysteriously, they seem to have caused a blackout in Rome,Read More →

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13 year old Sherry Holmes Baldwin is back (reluctantly) for another detective adventure with her ghostly mother and best friend Junie.  Turns out someone is stalking her stepmother, Paula (The Ruler) and the Academy of Spirits has assigned Sherry and her mom the case.  It’s a bad time for Sherry, though, because she’s totally in love with her boyfriend, Josh, and is worried about an 8th grade girl who’s trying to steal Josh away and Junie is starting to show an interest in fashion, make-up and guys. To top it off, her mom is competing the Ghostlympics, where the first prize is five minutes of “Real Time”,Read More →

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Anna Jarzab’s debut murder mystery, All Unquiet Things, immerses the reader in the elite world of Brighton Day’ School’s student body.  It’s the start of senior year, and no one has been able to put the horrific murder of the beautiful, smart, self-destructive Carly behind them. Carly’s first love, Neily, is still torn apart by grief, anger and pain after losing his beloved Carly twice – first when she cruelly dumped him in front of the whole school the year before her death; and second when he discovered her gunned-down body. She’d called him multiple times the day of her death and he’s tearing himselfRead More →

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Powerless, Matthew Cody’s debut novel,  is a fun, action-packed novel that middle grade readers will really enjoy.  When 12-year old Daniel and his family move to the small town of Noble’s Green he’s nervous about making new friends and fitting in at school.  But soon enough he makes friends with some kind of odd, but cool, kids, as well as making some instant, and scary enemies. Daniel begins to realize that what he thought were simply oddities and quirks are actually powers – super powers, that is:  Mollie is the fastest flier ever; Rohan has super senses; Rose can disappear; and Eric is super strong and can fly.  ButRead More →

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F.E. Higgins’ newest book for middle readers, The Eyeball Collector, takes us to another macabre setting in her stories from Urbs Umida.  It’s full of mystery, danger, blackmail, the grotesque, and of course, revenge.   Hector Fitzbauldy lives a rich and privileged life on the north side of the River Foedus in a Victorian-esqe Urbs Umida, but he is curious about the seedy, dangerous life on the South side of the river, far from the safety and wealth of his father’s comfortable home.  But after his father is blackmailed into losing his wealth, influence and even his life, the gritty life of a street urchin is Hector’s reality.  AsRead More →

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Dweeb: Burgers Beasts and Brainwashed Bullies by Aaron Starmer follows the tale of five boys- Denton, Wendell, Eddie, Elijah and Bijay-who are thrown together after Vice Principal Snodgrass frames them for stealing the Bake Sale money. Snodgrass’ punishment is extreme-he locks the boys in a secret room beneath the school and forces them to study for the upcoming Idaho tests- if the boys ace them, their crime will be forgiven. But there is something more going on at the school and the 5 misfits, now collectively called DWEEB, must use all of their skills to unravel the mysterious happenings at Ho-Ho-Kus Junior High. This isRead More →