Moo By Sharon Creech After twelve year old protagonist, Reena’s parents both lose their jobs in New York City, she and younger brother, Luke, can’t believe their family’s so-called flight plan: they will move to a small town in Maine…
Tag: family
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING
This book by Arthur A. Levine and illustrated by Katie Kath will bring a beautiful morning to you. The subject of this picture book, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING, is a difficult one. Noah experiences the sudden and confusing changes in…
Too Many Tomatoes by Eric Ode and Kent Culotta
“Too Many Tomatoes” Written by Eric Ode Illustrated by Kent Culotta Every summer, gardens explode with vegetables of all varieties especially tomatoes. In Ode and Culotta’s newest collaboration, they use this theme to take readers on a fun romp…
The Real Magic Realism: A Review of The Head of the Saint
Translated fiction for teen readers is not easy to find. Despite the recent success of adult titles by Elena Ferrante, Steig Larsson, Roberto Bolaño, Haruki Murikami, and others, and the growing number of acclaimed picture books from other countries, middle…
Wandering Wild written by Jessica Taylor, Skyhorse Publishing, 2016
Wandering Wild Written by Jessica Taylor Reviewed by Linda Boyden “Good night, you thief, you vagabond…” is the way narrator Talia and younger brother, Wen, have always said good night. Not Gypsies, the two belong to a caravan of…
What Happens When a Friend Changes? A Review of Weird Girl and What’s His Name
Fans of the X-Files and other science fiction classics, Lula and Rory have been friends for years. Their dysfunctional families (Rory’s mother is an alcoholic, and Lula’s mother dropped her off at her grandparents and never looked back) and outsider…
Interview With Author Shannon Gibney
Shannon Gibney‘s debut young adult novel See No Color (Carolrhoda Lab, November 2015) opens with a prologue. The six-year-old version of main character Alex Kirtridge is sitting on her father’s lap, obstensibly learning to fill out a score card for…
Making the Invisible Visible: Estela Bernal’s Can You See Me Now?
I met Estela Bernal at a novel revision workshop led by the wise and generous Barbara Seuling. Estela and I shared a room and she told me about her work rescuing abused animals and educating people about responsible pet ownership.…
Finding peace with Grandfather Gandhi
Grandfather Gandhi (Atheneum Books for Young Readers) by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus $17.99 Writer Bethany Hegedus teamed up with Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, Arun, to create this masterful biography of his beloved grandfather in a story of memories that guide…
Wild Awake: The voice of mania while coming of age
Wild Awake (Katherine Tegan Books/HarperCollins) by Hilary T. Smith, $17.99. Hilary T. Smith creates an absorbing coming-of-age story with this debut novel depicting a world turned manic when a stranger calls 17-year old Kiri Byrd and…