Review: Not Lucille by Mike Steele

Not Lucille by Mike Steele

Not Lucille
Mike Steele
Creative James Media
Published June 24, 2025

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About Not Lucille

It’s 1931, and children should be seen and not heard.

Ten-year-old Lucy Contento can’t help but be seen and heard. And she’s always in trouble for it. She talks too much. She’s impulsive. She writes with the wrong hand. Her parents would be mad enough knowing she routinely earns afterschool detentions. They’d be furious if they found out she’s been sneaking onto the campus of the nearby Trenton Academy for the Deaf. But there, Lucy has met Florence, a lonely and profoundly deaf girl … Continue reading

Review: Threat of the Spider by Michael P. Spradlin

Threat of the Spider by Michael Spradlin

Threat of the Spider (The Web of the Spider #2)
Michael P. Spradlin
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published June 24, 2025

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About Threat of the Spider

A twelve-year-old boy searches for his father and fights for free press amid the chilling rise of Hitler’s Germany in this second book in the action-packed middle grade series Web of the Spider for fans of I Survived and A Night Divided.

Ansel has never been afraid to say what’s on his mind. He’s always the first among his friends to speak up when something doesn’t feel right. When the Hitler Youth first set … Continue reading

Review: Time After Time by Mikki Daughtry

Time After Time by Mikki Daughtry

Time After Time
Mikki Daughtry
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Published May 27, 2025

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About Time After Time

From the screenwriter and co-author of the #1 New York Times bestselling novel and film Five Feet Apart comes an epic YA sapphic romance, unfolding over two sets of lives, one hundred years apart.

Nineteen-year-old Libby has always been inexplicably drawn to the old Victorian house on Mulberry Lane. So much so that when she sees a For Sale sign go up in the front yard, Libby uses all the money her grandmother left her to pay for college to buy … Continue reading

Q&A with Heather M. Herrman

Q&A with Heather M. Herrman

Q&A with Heather M. Herrman

You might remember the short story, “The Lady or the Tiger” from your reading in school, but this YA author brings a fresh take on that concept. Lady or the Tiger author Heather M. Herrman is here via Q&A to talk about what inspired her to create this gritty, Wild West murder mystery.

We’ll talk about misconceptions about the Wild West time period and why we need stories beyond romance in YA. We’ll also discuss the importance of telling stories with complex heroines and challenging tropes. It’s awesome stuff!

Let’s get right into it, shall we? Here are some details about the book for some context before we … Continue reading

Review: Lady Knight by Amalie Howard

Lady Knight by Amalie Howard

Lady Knight ( The Diamonds #2)
Amalie Howard
Publisher
Published April 1, 2025

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About Lady Knight

The daughter of a duke defies the rules of London high society with the help of the resident rake—who just so happens to be her brother’s best friend—in this fun teen historical romance from the USA Today bestselling author of Queen Bee.

“A ridiculously romantic, womanist, hilarious, and hugely entertaining romance that had me smiling and swooning from start to finish.” —Elizabeth Everett, USA Today bestselling author of the Damsels of Discovery series

Lady Zenobia “Zia” Osborn, a duke’s daughter, is frustrated that her entire life … Continue reading

Review: Renegade Girls by Nora Neus and Julie Robine

Renegade Girls: A Queer Tale of Romance and Rabble-rousing by Nora Neus

Renegade Girls: A Queer Tale of Romance and Rabble-Rousing
Nore Neus
Illustrated by Julie Robine
Little, Brown Ink
Published April 1, 2025

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About Renegade Girls: A Queer Tale of Romance and Rabble-Rousing

A swoonworthy queer romance set against a riveting story of social change in the 1880s, this historical graphic novel reimagines the life of America’s first stunt girl—a young undercover reporter—and her whirlwind summer of romance and fighting injustice. 

Seventeen-year-old Helena “Nell” Cusack came to New York this summer looking for a story—a real story. She dreams of one day writing hard-hitting articles for the New York … Continue reading