Today is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., so we wanted to share a review not of a Civil Rights-era historical novel, but a novel that explores many of the issues still facing the African-American community, and therefore should be of importance to all Americans. –Sandie Shhhh. Don’t tell…
Editor’s Pick: Lucky Strikes by Louis Bayard
In the middle of the Great Depression, 14-year-old Melia suddenly finds herself without a mother, and in charge of not only her two younger siblings, but her mother’s old gas station as well. Without a legal guardian, Melia and her siblings will be split up in foster care and the station will go to the…
Review: This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills
In THIS ADVENTURE ENDS, Sloane Finch has moved to a small Florida beach town, just in time for her senior year. Not much for friends, she plans to happily pass the time rereading her dad’s cheesy romance novels. But then, she falls in with the twins Vera and Gabe Fuller and their friends Remy, Aubrey,…
Editor’s Pick: How to Keep Rolling after a Fall
Cards on the table, I loved this book. I don’t know if it was the redemptive tale, the realistic characters, or the absolutely enviable romance – but I fell in love with this book. How To Keep Rolling After A Fall is about Nikki (now going by Nicole) trying to come to terms with being…
Review: Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan
Potential unpopular opinion: I am so tired of YA dystopia. I think the market is oversaturated, and if I have to read one more novel about the spunky, special girl who has to find a way to topple to The Establishment and choose between the guys who represent The Past and The Future, I might…
Review: Creswell Plot by Eliza Wass
This book was a hard one to read. At first it seemed as though it started in the middle, like I had missed something – but I persevered, and by 30 pages in I was hooked. I’ve always been fairly interested by people and lifestyles on the fringes of society – and this is where…
Review: Suffer Love by Ashley Herring Blake
The title of this book, SUFFER LOVE, is taken from Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” wherein Benedick and Beatrice fall in love despite or in spite of themselves. Though the play is a comedy – and this book does have some humorous lines – the book is by and far not a comedy. The parallel…
Editor’s Pick: Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin
Jeff Garvin’s SYMPTOMS OF BEING HUMAN tackles the tough and timely topic of gender identity in a way that will captivate the reader, connect with the reader (especially the YA crowd) and ask us t revise how we view and (in some cases) make snap judgements about people. Riley is like so many teenagers today…
Editor’s Pick: My Lady Jane
My degree is in European History, and I have an especial love for the Tudors that dates back long before Jonathan Rhys Meyers put on tights. So it was with unequal parts excitement and trepidation that I started MY LADY JANE. There were so many ways the authors could mess it up. They could butcher…
Editor’s Pick: Exit, Pursued by a Bear
If you’re at all familiar with Shakespeare, you may have heard the phrase “exit, pursued by a bear.” It’s one of his most famous stage directions, and it comes from his play A Winter’s Tale. A Winter’s Tale is one of Shakespeare’s more bizarre plays. Simplified as best I can, it’s the story of King Leontes,…