By:
On:
In: Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction (YA), Middle Grade Reviews, Multicultural, Multicultural (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

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 →

By:
On:
In: Action & Adventure, Action & Adventure (YA), General Book Reviews, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction (YA), Middle Grade Reviews, Sci Fi & Fantasy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

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 →

By:
On:
In: Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction (YA), Middle Grade Reviews, Mystery & Suspense, Mystery & Suspense (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 1 Comment

Jennifer Donnelly’s newest book for young adults, Revolution, is a revelation (October 2010 from Delacourte Press).  It’s an enticing, enchanting blend of transformation story, historical fiction, mystery, and good, solid storytelling. Two smart, artistic, reckless young women are linked  across the centuries by their love for the young boys in their care: Andi, in 21st century Brooklyn is on a self-destructive bent after the tragic death of her younger brother Truman 2 years ago; and Alex, in Paris in 1795 during the French Revolution, is determined to save her young charge, the Dauphin of France, young Louis-Charles.   When Revolution opens, Andi’s self-loathing, grief, and hatred forRead More →

By:
On:
In: Elementary Book Reviews, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade Reviews
With: 0 Comments

In 1943, 10 year old Dewey sets out to join her father in New Mexico, where he’s engaged in “war work.”  She’s a mechanically minded girl who is teased by girls her own age, but happily finds that she gets along fine with the scientists on “The Hill.”  On the Hill, she finds adults who encourage her curious, engineering-focused mind and she finally has the chance to have a close relationship with her father.  Artistic Suze also lives with her parents on the secret  base, and she’s bored and tired of living in the dusty desert.   She misses her old life in Berkeley, where she livedRead More →

By:
On:
In: Elementary Book Reviews, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade Reviews, Mystery & Suspense, Supernatural & Horror
With: 0 Comments

Debut author Pat Walsh’s The Crowfield Curse is a captivating, enchanting, and engrossing mystery that lures the reader into the dark Medieval forest around the Crowfield Abbey, where we know we’re being watched by some hidden, unseen force. In 1347, 14 year old orphan William Paynel lives in the English countryside with the monks at Crowfield Abbey.  On his regular day foray into the forest around the abbey, Will discovers a small, cat-like creature cruelly caught in a iron trap.   But it isn’t a cat Will has discovered: it’s a hob– a magical, talking creature, part man, part animal – one of the fay, or ancientRead More →

By:
On:
In: Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction (YA), Middle Grade Reviews, Mystery & Suspense, Mystery & Suspense (YA), Romance (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 0 Comments

 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 →

By:
On:
In: Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction (YA), Middle Grade Reviews, Multicultural, Multicultural (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 1 Comment

2 new YA titles that will release in June explore the challenges of building a new life in America after fleeing the turmoil in the country of one’s childhood.   Inspired by true refugee experiences, these two novels are interesting and thought-provoking explorations of challenge, change, and resilience. The Red Umbrella by debut novelist Christina Diaz Gonzalez is set in 1961, when Lucia’s carefree life in a small Cuban coast town is about to change. She’s 14 and dreams of her school-crush, her 15th birthday celebration, and of one day travelling to Paris.  But when Castro’s revolutionary soldiers come to her town, everything changes: people are arrested and executed; neighbors spy on neighbors; freedomsRead More →

By:
On:
In: Action & Adventure, Action & Adventure (YA), Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction (YA), Middle Grade Reviews, Mystery & Suspense, Mystery & Suspense (YA), Supernatural & Horror, Supernatural & Horror (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
With: 1 Comment

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 →

By:
On:
In: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade Reviews
With: 0 Comments

12 year old Samuel Collier is a street urchin and orphan on the mean streets of London in 1607.  He’s learned to trust no one, fend for himself, and fight off any one who gets in his way. After attempting to steal back a locket pawned by his dead mother, he ends up in a orphanage. But soon Samuel finds himself, another boy, and the kindly Reverend who ran the orphanage, aboard a ship bound for the New World. Samuel becomes page to Captain John Smith and spends months at sea on the way to the new Virginia colony, James Town.  Everyone imagines that theRead More →