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Grasshopper Jungle
I reviewed an ARC copy of this book and let me tell you, I wanted to put it down for fear of nightmares with 6-foot tall praying mantises, but I couldn’t it was so interesting! Austin, our narrator, and self-proclaimed historian is a confused teenager in love with the girl-next-door…
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The Impossible Knife of Memory
I’ll start by saying I read this book from cover to cover over a 12-hour time span – I couldn’t put it down. I’m familiar with Laurie Halse Anderson, but mostly for her historical fiction works, I’ve never read Speak or Wintergirls, but I think I’m going to have to…
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Belle Epoque
Maude Pichon has high hopes when she runs away from her small village for the dazzling lights of Bohemian Paris. But she’s in for a rude awakening when she runs out of money much faster than she anticipated and begins looking for work. She is answers an advertisement in the newspaper…
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Paper Covers Rock
Paper Covers Rock written by Jenny Hubbard reminded me of another book I read called The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth LeBan. It has a similar feel with a male main character at a boarding school where secrets are being kept about a horrible situation that has occurred. Without giving too…
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The Real Boy
There’s been a lot of chatter about The Real Boy by Anne Ursu in the past few months and I was curious myself to find out what the story was all about. A glittering city called Asteri was saved from the plague by the magic of the island and the…
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Al Capone Does My Homework
Gennifer Choldenko has done it again with a cast of characters living on a island with the most dangerous criminals of the time. Al Capone Does My Homework is the third in the series of books about Moose, his sister Natalie, their family and friends, and of course Al Capone…
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The Thing About Luck
Cynthia Kadohata, a Newbery Award-winning author of Kira-Kira, brings another story about the strength of a family. Summer’s parents must fly to Japan to take care of some elderly relatives, leaving 12-year old Summer and her brother Jaz with their grandparents – strict Obaachan and quiet, kind Jiichan during the…
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Eleanor & Park
This book cover has bee intriguing to me for the past couple of months and I finally got a chance to read the book last week. A story of love found in the most unlikely of places is one that I rarely can put down. This is a universal story…
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The Truth of Me
I have loved Patricia MacLachlan’s writing since I read Sarah, Plain and Tall. I couldn’t have been very old when I read it, but I remember it so clearly. The Truth of Me is MacLachlan’s newest book and still her voice and writing is as strong as ever. She is…
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Mr. Terupt Falls Again
A powerful story of how a teacher and his students can affect each other over the course of a school year. Mr. Terupt Falls Again written by Rob Buyea is the companion novel to Because of Mr. Terupt told in the point-of-view of seven students in his classroom in both…