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The Brothers of the Ikkuma Pit have fended for themselves since birth. They have no Mothers; only themselves and each other. When they arrive outside the Pit as babies, they must spend a whole night alone before they are welcomed inside to be cared for and guided by the Brothers that came before them. Every time a new Little Brother enters the Pit, a Big Brother must leave to make room for him. No Big Brother has ever returned after leaving to tell of what the outside world holds. Urgle is a Big Brother and he’s not very good at it. His Little Brother CubbyRead More →

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When they were fifth graders, May Harper—a budding writer—and Libby Deaton—a budding artist, created Princess X.  “A blue-haired girl in a puff-sleeved princess dress, wearing a big gold crown and red sneakers” (3), Princess X was born on a sidewalk as chalk art, but the two girls took her home and built an imaginary empire—filling notebooks and sketchbooks with her adventures.  “The princess became their alter ego, their avatar, their third best friend” (8). Several years later, as the girls were entering high school, Libby and her mother were in a mysterious car accident.  Separated from her best friend, May couldn’t shake the dream that toldRead More →

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Lover of speed, flying, and his mother’s blackberry cobbler, ten-year-old Henry Stevens also idolizes his dad, Max.  In 1926, when Henry’s dad gets a job as an aviation mechanic with Howard Hughes “making the future,” Henry’s world changes dramatically, along with life as he knew it. Before Tomorrowland by Jeff Jensen, Brad Bird, Jonathan Case, and Damon Lindelof is a science fiction mystery-thriller that is as much Henry’s story as it is the story of Lee Brackett and his mother Clara, who is terminally ill with brain cancer.  As the two stories intersect, the reader learns about both possibility and the power of the imagination,Read More →

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Carr “The Raptor” Luka lives in deep orbit on the far side of the moon on an inner ring of Valtego Station.  Although he’s from Earth, he has come to Valtego Station to train in the sport of zeroboxing.  Using a combination of boxing, martial arts, and wrestling moves, a zeroboxer fights inside a Cube in zero gravity conditions.  Similar to the mixed martial arts of cage fighting, zeroboxing receives some of the same criticism and is surrounded by similar controversy as that we see in contemporary times.  But that controversy is not central to Fonda Lee’s debut science fiction, sports novel, Zeroboxer.  Instead, theRead More →

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A stint as a Paradise Cruise Lines employee on a luxury ship bound for Hawaii was supposed to put cash in his pocket so that seventeen-year-old Shy Espinoza could court a girl and help his mom pay bills, not set him adrift at sea for 36 days in a small sailboat, battling hunger and dehydration, baking in the relentless summer sun, and slipping into schizo territory.  When he and his companions—Carmen, Marcus, and Shoeshine—finally arrive on Venice Beach, they are ready for a hot meal, some protection from nature’s elements, and a reunion with their families. Instead, they encounter the ruined coastline of California causedRead More →

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Growing up isn’t easy. It never has been, and it probably never will be. High schooler Jason is just trying to make it to eighteen with as little trouble as possible, which is difficult when you have an abusive small time drug dealer for a dad and a little sister to look after. But Jason knows how to fight back; there isn’t a day that his dad comes at him that Jason doesn’t give as good as he gets. His tough kid reputation has made sure that no one at school messes with him. He makes money doing odd jobs around the city, saving upRead More →

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Although aspects of social media possess the ability to provoke intense debate, for seventeen-year-old Sonny (Sonya) Elizabeth Ardmore, an online world serves as a refuge – a place for hope and healing.  Behind the protection of the computer screen, Sonny–who sees herself as the designated poor and less attractive friend–discovers a place to restore her dented dignity and a buffer that allows her to be honest and close rather than using lies as a shield. While IMing her antagonist Ryder Cross, she abandons the lies and lets her guard down to discuss the subjects that trouble her the most: estranged relationships with her negligent mother and convictRead More →

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Heart-rending love stories abound in both history and literature, and Meredith Moore has drawn from that store of knowledge to write her debut novel, I Am Her Revenge.  Taking threads from the tales of Elaine and Lancelot, Romeo and Juliet,  Merlin and Vivien, and Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, Moore weaves a tapestry of mystery, romance, intrigue, and revenge.  This is a tale told by a masterful storyteller, complete with imagery richness—details like chiseled cheekbones, a whisper-soft kiss, the smell of a barely tamed wilderness, and the sky, a riotous canvas of pink and orange and red, abound. Dismantled by love and having experienced intimately theRead More →

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A story’s first line is often a good indicator of its merit, and Kieran Scott joins the ranks of other great story tellers with her opening line in What Waits in the Woods: “Callie Valasquez wasn’t ready to die” (3). When smart, creative, loyal Callie latches onto a life raft the second week at her new school, she has no idea that the decision may lead to her death, but her choice to befriend coarse, snarky, athletic Lissa and dainty, meek, sweet Penelope leads to a camping trip in the woods and the horror-filled adventure that follows. More secure navigating the concrete and pavement ofRead More →