Category Archives: Blogger’s Favorites

Review: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

By | | , , ,
2 Comments

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh BardugoCrooked Kingdom
Leigh Bardugo
Orion Children’s Books
Available September 27, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Crooked Kingdom

Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and left crippled by the kidnapping of a valuable team member, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties. A war … Continue reading →

Review: Counterpart by Hayley Stone

By | | , , ,
Comments Off on Review: Counterpart by Hayley Stone

counterpartCounterpart
Hayley Stone
Hydra/Random House
Available October 11, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Counterpart

The machines believed their extermination of the human race would be over as quickly as it began. They were wrong. As the war against extinction intensifies, people are beginning to gain the upper hand.

Commander Rhona Long understands survival better than most. Killed in combat, she was brought back to life using her DNA, and she’s forged a new, even more powerful identity. Now the leader of the resistance, she’s determined to ensure the machines are shut down for good.

But victory is elusive. The machines have a new technology designed to overcome humanity’s most advanced weaponry. Despite Rhona’s peacekeeping efforts, former … Continue reading →

Review: Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo

By | | , , , ,
2 Comments

Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamilloFlora and Ulysses
Kate DiCamillo
Candlewick Press

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When Flora saves a squirrel from a powerful vacuum cleaner, she discovers that he has super powers. She names him Ulysses and brings him home to teach him what it means to be a hero, and she watches and waits for his true superpowers to emerge. Ulysses’ powers do emerge: a deep love for Flora and the gift of poetry. Her desire to protect him and his power to communicate changes Flora’s life in unexpected ways.

My family and I listened to this as an audiobook on our vacation. I loved the comics that Flora reads and how they were a bond between her and … Continue reading →

Review: Irena’s Children by Tilar J. Mazzeo

By | | , , , , ,
6 Comments

Irena's Children by Tilar J. MazzeoIrena’s Children: Young Readers Edition
Tilar J Mazzeo
Translated by Mary Cronk Farrell
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Available September 27, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

During World War II, Irena Sendler worked with an underground network to rescue 2,500 Jewish children from Nazi occupied Poland. Her unwavering commitment to human rights began long before the war, and endured through her own incarceration and torture. She worked tirelessly to save as many as she could, and through it all insisted that she was not a hero. She’d only done what any ordinary human would do.

Though it’s nonfiction, I could not put this book down. I was so captured by the life of … Continue reading →

Review: This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills

By | | , , ,
Comments Off on Review: This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills

This Adventure Ends by Emma MillsThis Adventure Ends
Emma Mills
Henry Holt & Co
Available October 4, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When Sloane’s family moves from New York to Florida before her senior year, she doesn’t feel she’s left much behind. A party brings her within the gravitational field of Vera, a social media starlet, and Gabe, her intensely serious twin brother with a justice complex. Without meaning to, Sloane falls into twins’ social circle, and ever deeper into their lives. When a beloved painting by their late mother goes missing, Sloane makes secret plans to bring it back. This is a problem she can fix, she knows it.

At home, Sloane’s family begins to feel more … Continue reading →

Review: Pax by Sarah Pennypacker

By | | , , ,
2 Comments

Pax by Sarah PennypackerPax
Sara Pennypacker
Illustrated by Jon Klassen
Balzer + Bray

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

From Goodreads

Pax was only a kit when his family was killed, and “his boy” Peter rescued him from abandonment and certain death. Now the war front approaches, and when Peter’s father enlists, Peter has to move in with his grandpa. Far worse than being forced to leave home is the fact that Pax can’t go. Peter listens to his stern father—as he usually does—and throws Pax’s favorite toy soldier into the woods. When the fox runs to retrieve it, Peter and his dad get back in the car and leave him there—alone. But before Peter makes … Continue reading →