Review: Ruptured by Joanne Rossmassler Fritz

Ruptured by Joanne Rossmassler-Fritz

Ruptured
Joanne Rossmassler Fritz
Holiday House
Published November 14, 2023

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About Ruptured

The sensitive, suspenseful story of a family coping with a life-changing tragedy, told in stunning verse.

Is it wrong to grieve for someone who is still alive?

Claire’s mom and dad don’t talk to each other much anymore. And they definitely don’t laugh or dance the way they used to. Their tense, stilted stand offs leave thirteen-year-old Claire, an only child, caught in the middle. So when the family takes their annual summer vacation, Claire sticks her nose in a book and hopes for the best. Maybe the sunshine and ocean breeze … Continue reading

Review: Beneath the Swirling Sky by Carolyn Leiloglou

Beneath the Swirling Sky by Carolyn Leiloglou

Beneath the Swirling Sky
Carolyn Leiloglou
Waterbrook
Published September 12, 2023

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About Beneath the Swirling Sky

A house full of paintings, a missing sister, and a family secret send a boy and his cousin into a world where art is the key in this fantasy adventure perfect for fans of The Wingfeather Saga and Pages & Co.

After an experience he’d rather forget, Vincent is determined to be done with art. So when he and his little sister, Lili, spend spring break with their art conservator great-uncle, Vincent’s plan is to stay glued to his phone.

That is, until Lili disappears into one of … Continue reading

Review: Secrets Never Die by Vincent Ralph

Secrets Never Die by Vincent Ralph cover shows a darkened cell phone screen, shattered.

Secrets Never Die
Vincent Ralph
Wednesday Books
Published August 29, 2023

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About Secrets Never Die

We call it the Dark Place. I don’t know who built it or when but, for us, it’s special.

Every year Sam Hall and his friends hold funerals for their secrets in an abandoned hut in the woods that they call the Dark Place. But this year, their secrets are coming back from the dead…to terrorize them.

Sam is a former child star whose career went up in flames – literally. And no one, not even his best friend knows why. His … Continue reading

Review: The Reunion by Kit Frick

The Reunion by Kit Frick cover shows four people. A boy with a surfboard faces left with his back to the camera. Two figures stand in profile back to back with their arms crossed in the bottom center. A girl stands in profile, her face toward the right edge of the cover, her hands over her heart.

The Reunion
Kit Frick
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published August 29, 2023

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About The Reunion

From the author of I KILLED ZOE SPANOS comes a YA thriller in the vein of THE WHITE LOTUS and Karen M. McManus’s THE COUSINS following a doomed family reunion gone wrong at a posh Caribbean resort, where old grudges and dangerous secrets … 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: House of Roots and Ruin by Erin A. Craig

House of Roots and Ruin by Erin A. Craig cover shows what might have been the inside of a very overgrown greenhouse with poisonous-looking plants.

House of Roots and Ruin (Sisters of Salt #2)
Erin A. Craig
Delacorte Press
Published July 25, 2023

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About House of Roots and Ruin

A modern masterpiece, this is a classic Gothic thriller-fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Erin A. Craig, about doomed love, menacing ambition, and the ghosts that haunt us forever.

In a manor by the sea, one sister is still cursed.

Despite dreams of adventures far beyond the Salann shores, seventeen-year-old Verity Thaumas has remained at her family’s estate, Highmoor, with her older … Continue reading