by Phyllis | Feb 3, 2021 | Book reviews
In this book, Everything Sad Is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri, the author channels his twelve-year-old self, an immigrant from Iran living in Edmond, Oklahoma. He tells his life story to his fifth-grade class as part of an assignment. And it’s a long story–for...
by Phyllis | Jan 13, 2021 | Book reviews
In The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart, twelve-year-old Coyote Sunrise and her dad wander America in their retrofitted school bus, with no plans, no schedule. Well, there is one scheduled item–a weekly call to Coyote’s grandma. In a...
by Phyllis | Dec 9, 2020 | Book reviews
Twelve-year-old Ellie finds her middle-class family thrust by the Great Depression into foraging for existence in the woods on Echo Mountain, far removed from their former lives in town. In this book published in 2020 and written by Lauren Wolk, Ellie finds she loves...
by Phyllis | Nov 4, 2020 | Book reviews
Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan is a novel that pairs the points of view of two fifth grade boys, Ravi, a recent immigrant from India, and Joe, a local guy. Both have to deal with the same bully. The book alternates chapters between the two points...
by Phyllis | Jan 21, 2020 | Book reviews
Andrew Peterson’s middle-grade Wingfeather series that started out as an amusing tale full of rollicking names moves to epic scope along the way. In this fourth book, The Warden and the Wolf King (2014), it builds to a mighty conclusion full of heroic deeds....
by Phyllis | Oct 22, 2019 | Book reviews
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...
by Phyllis | Apr 3, 2019 | Book reviews
I couldn’t put this book down, and it’s been a while since that happened! How I Became a Spy by Deborah Hopkinson, published in 2019, gives us a gripping middle-grade mystery about World War II. Thirteen-year-old Bertie starts volunteering as a bicycle...
by Phyllis | Jun 25, 2012 | Book reviews
Daughter of Light by Morgan L. Busse Published 2012 by Marcher Lord Press, 464 pages Genre: Christian fantasy/supernatural, suitable for teens and adults Rowen Mar discovers a strange white mark on her hand and loses her soldier father on the same day. Her father was...
by Phyllis | Jun 18, 2012 | Book reviews
Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore Published 2012 by Thomas Nelson, 311 pages Genre: Young adult supernatural with romance elements, Christian Brielle is crippled by her despair as she blames herself for her best friend’s death. To learn to cope, she returns to her...
