Category Archives: News and Fun

The Minus One Club by Kekla Magoon

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Minus One Club by Kekla Magoon

The Minus One Club
Kekla Magoon
MacMillan
Published January 17, 2023

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About The Minus One Club

From the Coretta Scott King and Printz Honor-winning author of HOW IT WENT DOWN, LIGHT IT UP, and REVOLUTION IN OUR TIME comes a moving contemporary YA novel about the bonds between a group of teens whose lives have been upended by tragedy.

Fifteen-year-old Kermit Sanders knows grief and its all-encompassing shadows. After losing his beloved older sister in a tragic car accident, nothing quite punctures through the feelings of loss. Everywhere Kermit goes, he is reminded of her.

But then Kermit finds a mysterious invitation in his locker, signed anonymously with “-1.” … Continue reading →

Review: The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh

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The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh

The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukranian Famine
Katherine Marsh
MacMillan
Published January 17, 2023

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About The Lost Year

From the author of Nowhere Boy – called “a resistance novel for our times” by The New York Times – comes a brilliant middle-grade survival story that traces a harrowing family secret back to the Holodomor, a terrible famine that devastated Soviet Ukraine in the 1930s.

Thirteen-year-old Matthew is miserable. His journalist dad is stuck overseas indefinitely, and his mom has moved in his one-hundred-year-old great-grandmother to ride out the pandemic, adding to his stress and isolation.

But when Matthew finds a tattered black-and-white photo in his … Continue reading →

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals for 2023

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Top Ten Bookish Goals for 2023

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals for 2023

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is a really great one– bookish goals for 2023!

Every year I intend to do a post about this, but most years I don’t manage it. This year I’m being smart(er): I’m not waiting until the holidays get underway to begin thinking about my goals for the new year. As I’m starting this post, it’s October. It will take several sittings to complete the whole post, but my goal is that I won’t be sitting down to a blank screen in January when it’s time to get this queued up to share.

Bookish … Continue reading →

Review: The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz by Jeremy Dronfield

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The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz

The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz: A True Story Retold for Young Readers
Jeremy Dronfield
Quill Tree Books
Published January 17, 2023

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About The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz: A True Story Retold for Young Readers

In 1939, Gustav Kleinmann, a Jewish upholster from Vienna, and his sixteen-year-old son Fritz are arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Germany. Imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp, they miraculously survive the Nazis’ murderous brutality.

Then Gustav learns he is being sent to Auschwitz–and certain death.

For Fritz, letting his father go is unthinkable. Desperate to remain together, Fritz makes an incredible choice: he insists he … Continue reading →

Review: The Science of Being Angry by Nicole Melleby

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The Science of Being Angry by Nicole Melleby

The Science of Being Angry
Nicole Melleby
Algonquin Young Readers
Published May 10, 2022

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About The Science of Being Angry

Eleven-year-old Joey is angry. All the time. And she doesn’t understand why. She has two loving moms, a supportive older half brother, and, as a triplet, she’s never without company. Her life is good. But sometimes she loses her temper and lashes out, like the time she threw a soccer ball—hard—at a boy in gym class and bruised his collarbone. Or when jealousy made her push her (former) best friend (and crush), Layla, a little bit too roughly.

After a meltdown at Joey’s apartment building leads to her family’s eviction, Joey … Continue reading →

Review: Breakup From Hell by Ann Davila Cardinal

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Breakup from Hell by Ann Davila Cardinal

Breakup From Hell
Ann Davila Cardinal
HarperTeen
Published January 3, 2023

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About Breakup From Hell

Miguela Angeles is tired. Tired of her abuela keeping secrets, especially about her heritage. Tired of her small Vermont town and hanging out at the same places with the same friends she’s known forever. So when another boring Sunday trip to church turns into a run-in with Sam, a mysterious hottie in town on vacation, Mica seizes the opportunity to get closer to him.

It’s not long before she is under Sam’s spell and doing things she’s never done before, like winning all her martial arts sparring matches—and lying … Continue reading →