Review: How to Train Your Dragon: How to Be a Pirate by Cressida Cowell

How to Train Your Dragon: How to Be a Pirate by Cressida Cowell

How to Be a Pirate (How to Train Your Dragon #2)
Cressida Cowell
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published February 1, 2010 (orig. 2004)

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About How to Be a Pirate

When Hiccup finds a coffin at sea, he opens it to discover a riddle that will lead to the treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly, the world’s greatest pirate and Hiccup’s ancestor. So Hiccup and his friends set out on a treasure hunt, determined to master the art of swordfighting. How else will they escape an island of murderous dragons, defeat a boatload … Continue reading

Review: Squire by Sara Alfageeh and Nadia Shammas

Squire by Sara Alfageeh and Nadia Shammas

Squire
Sara Alfageeh
Nadia Shammas
Quill Tree Books
Published March 8, 2022

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About Squire

Aiza has always dreamt of becoming a Knight. It’s the highest military honor in the once-great Bayt-Sajji Empire, and as a member of the subjugated Ornu people, Knighthood is her only path to full citizenship. Ravaged by famine and mounting tensions, Bayt-Sajji finds itself on the brink of war once again, so Aiza can finally enlist in the competitive Squire training program.

It’s not how she imagined it, though. Aiza must navigate new friendships, rivalries, and rigorous training under the unyielding General Hende, all while hiding her Ornu … Continue reading

Review: The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang cover shows a girl with a measuring tape facing a boy in formal wear. She holds a measuring tape and looks into his face. In the background, there's a large image of a red-haired girl in a dress looking over her shoulder toward the couple.

The Prince and the Dressmaker
Jen Wang
First Second
Published February 13, 2018

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About The Prince and the Dressmaker

Paris, at the dawn of the modern age:

Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride―or rather, his parents are looking for one for him. Sebastian … Continue reading

Review: The Deadlands: Hunted by Skye Melki-Wegner

Deadlands: Hunted by Skye Melki Wegner cover shows the silhouette of a tyrannosaur head partly filled with a jungle of plants. The dinosaur's teeth hold the word hunted.

The Deadlands: Hunted (The Deadlands #1)
Skye Melki-Wegner
Henry Holt & Co.
Published April 4, 2023

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About The Deadlands: Hunted

Wings of Fire meets Jurassic Park in this action-adventure middle grade debut series by Skye Melki-Wegner about five outcasts ― and former enemies ― who are the only hope to save their warring kingdoms from impending doom.

“My favorite middle grade book of the year.” ― New York Times -bestselling author Amie Kaufman

Battle rages between the dinosaur kingdoms of Cretacea.

When the … Continue reading

Review: Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

The Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Descendant of the Crane
Joan He

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About Descendant of the Crane

In New York Times and Indie bestselling author Joan He’s debut novel, Descendant of the Crane, a determined and vulnerable young heroine struggles to do right in a world brimming with deception. This gorgeous, Chinese-inspired fantasy is packed with dizzying twists, complex characters, and intricate politics.

TREASON

For princess Hesina of Yan, the palace is her home, but her father is her world. He taught her how to defend against the corruption and excesses of the old kings, before revolutionaries purged them and their seers and established the dynasty anew.

Before he died, he was supposed to teach … Continue reading

Review: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi

The Stonekeeper - Amulet 1 - Kazu Kibuishi

The Stonekeeper (Amulet #1)
Kazu Kibuishi
Graphix
Published September 29, 2015

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About The Stonekeeper

Graphic novel star Kazu Kibuishi creates a world of terrible, man-eating demons, a mechanical rabbit, a giant robot—and two ordinary children on a life-or-death mission.

After the tragic death of their father, Emily and Navin move with their mother to the home of her deceased great-grandfather, but the strange house proves to be dangerous. Before long, a sinister creature lures the kids’ mom through a door in the basement. Em and Navin, desperate not to lose her, follow her into an … Continue reading