Blog
As a homeschooling veteran, I review middle-grade stories to help parents, librarians, and teachers choose good books.
Look for author news here too!
Diary of Wimpy Kid #1 by Jeff Kinney, a review
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (2007) is a hot book where middle-schoolers are concerned. It’s a #1 New York Times bestseller, and its sequels are too. Many parents, though, aren’t so thrilled. So what is it about this book that is so appealing to kids?
One Realm Beyond by Donita K. Paul, a review
In One Realm Beyond (2014), a YA series opener from Donita K. Paul, Cantor D'Ahma has grown into a young man. He leaves his elderly mentors and sets off to learn how to become a Realm Walker, using the gifts he was born with. His mentors don't tell him much about what...
Grace Hopper, Queen of Computer Code by Laurie Wallmark, a review
How to engage kids in STEM subjects? One way is to have them read intriguing biographies of STEM scientists of note, especially ones that have an engaging story or two in their past. Grace Hopper is one of these people.
The Book of the King by Jerry B. Jenkins and Chris Fabry, a review
The Book of the King (2007), by Jerry B. Jenkins and Chris Fabry, tells a tale full of the supernatural. Its young protagonist, Owen, is one courageous guy.
Rise of the Dragons by Angie Sage, a review
Rise of the Dragons by Angie Sage (2019), a middle-grade novel and series opener, involves two worlds.
So, what’s happening with your book, Phyllis?
Getting published take time when you're not indie publishing. Which I am not. So, I have five book manuscripts in various states of finish. I'm hopeful for all of them, of course! And so glad to have an agent, Bob Shuman! I went to two writers' conferences so far this...
The Edge of Extinction: The Ark Plan by Laura Martin, a review
The Edge of Extinction by Laura Martin, a series of two books published in 2016 and 2017, provides a dystopian Jurassic Park tale for middle-graders. Plucky Sky Mundy, in an underground colony in what once was northern Indiana, is just one of a few hundred humans alive, survivors of a plague.
We’re Not From Here by Geoff Rodkey, a review
One thousand refugees from Earth, likely the only survivors, are in a spaceship orbiting a populated planet, hoping for permission to land. If they can’t live on Choom, they’ll perish --their food and fuel are nearly gone. They came because they were invited twenty...
Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage, a review
Three Times Lucky, by Sheila Turnage (2012), tells a middle-grade whodunit with the unforgettable Southern voice of a rising sixth-grader, Mo. Mo lives with the eccentric proprietors of the town diner, Lana and the Colonel. No matter that the Colonel has amnesia and...
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez, a review
Sal Vidon, able narrator, is somehow calm when outrageous things are happening. And plenty of outrageous things do happen in this book, so the result is hilarious. Carlos Hernandez' middle grade novel Sal and Gabi Break the Universe focuses on out-of-this-world humor...
The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson, a review
I really enjoy time-slip novels--where two stories are told, one in the past, one in the present, alternating chapters. So I was glad to find this middle-grade mystery novel with time-slip, published in 2018. Also, it focuses on race issues, a topic dear to my heart....
Big Foot and Little Foot: The Squatchicorns, by Ellen Potter, a review
This chapter book, The Squatchicorns by Ellen Potter, tells a yarn just for that young reader who likes gentle, fantastic stories. Engaging illustrations by Felicita Sala bring it to life. It's the third book in a series about a friendship between a human boy, Boone,...