Tinker by award-winning author Jill Williamson and her eighth-grade son Luke Williamson is a great tale for middle-grade reluctant readers. It’s sci fi, or actually space opera. Young Tinker is an orphan, taken in by his evil uncle and uncle’s two sons who...
The Great Ice Cream Truck Heist by JJ Johnson tells a funny and memorable tale. Full of bravado and self-doubt, Iggy, age 12, leads or tries to lead his neighborhood kids working together to solve a mystery. This is Book 4 in the Iggy and Oz series, and it’s a...
I’m thrilled to announce that Readers Favorite has given my series starter The Dog Snatcher a five-star review. This is great news because Readers’ Favorite is one of the largest book review and award contest sites on the Internet. They have earned praise...
I have three brags to report for The Dog Snatcher, Book 1 of my chapter book series for ages 8-11. Drum roll please! The Dog Snatcher was named a finalist for this year’s Selah Award for Christian Fiction, Middle Grade. This is a prestigious award given by the...
This is a middle grade book you won’t want to miss. It’s not long after the close of World War II, and war heroes get homecoming celebrations. But in the North Carolina town of Birdsong—and in other parts of the South—the parades are only for the white soldiers....
In Alone by Megan E Freeman, twelve-year-old Maddie plans a secret sleepover with two friends featuring a smorgasbord of Twinkies and soda. But her friends cancel and she sleeps by herself at her grandparents’ otherwise empty apartment. Then she wakes up to a...
Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga tells the tale of the widow and three children of the King of Anniera, a blessed island kingdom overwhelmed nine years before by the dreaded fangs of Dang. This book is Book 3 of the four-book saga, The Monster in the Hollows (2011)....
I am reviewing North! or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson, Book 2 in the Wingfeather Saga (2009). This mid-series book could suffer from middle-of-story sag. But it doesn’t. In fact, it’s an intense read. The three Igiby children, their mother Nia, and their grandfather...
Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner, Book 1 of The Keepers TrilogyPublished 2010 by Delacorte Press, 312 pagesGenre: Secular middle-grade fantasy In Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner (2010), Book 1 of a trilogy, Goldie is a protected child. She’s so protected...