Review: Why on Earth: An Alien Invasion Anthology by Vania Stoyanova and Rosiee Thor

Why On Earth: An Alien Invasion Anthology by Vania Stoyanova and Rosiee Thor

Why on Earth: An Alien Invasion Anthology
Edited by Vania Stoyanova and Rosiee Thor
Page Street YA
Published February 4, 2025

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About Why on Earth: An Alien Invasion Anthology

With stories from NYT bestselling and debut authors, Why on Earth uses an accidental alien invasion to explore love and identity.

What starts as a simple rescue mission for a crew of teen aliens to recover one of their own soon becomes an interstellar encounter no one will forget.

Captain Iona is organizing an impromptu retrieval for her … Continue reading

Review: After Life by Gayle Forman

After Life by Gayle Forman

After Life
Gayle Forman
Quill Tree Books
Published January 7, 2025

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About After Life

“After Life is a masterful tale about a family coping with loss, showing the way grief affects us and people we don’t even know in ways we don’t see. Once I met Amber and her family, I didn’t want to let them go.” -—Brigid Kemmerer, New York Times bestselling author of Carving Shadows into Stone

“Forman is a master at making her readers fall in love—with a girl whose life is over, with a community of people in a small town who are barely surviving her loss, … Continue reading

Review: Liar’s Kingdom by Christine Calella

Liar's Kingdom by Christine Calella

Liar’s Kingdom
Christine Calella
Page Street YA
Published January 14, 2025

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About Liar’s Kingdom

Ell has spent years slaving away for her cruel stepfamily. So when Prince Bayard—who seems to have difficulty recognizing faces—shows up at her door with a glass slipper, Ell allows him to believe she danced with him at the ball. There’s just one problem: Ell didn’t attend the ball and she’s never met the prince before in her life. But if it’s a choice between moving to the royal palace or staying home, Ell is willing to say anything to escape.

However, Ell finds that being royalty … Continue reading

Review: The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard

The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard

The Secret Year
Jennifer Hubbard
Viking Books for Young Readers
Published January 7, 2025 (Orig. 2010)

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About The Secret Year

For fans of Laura Nowlin’s If Only I Had Told Her, a deeply romantic novel that explores the raw emotions of love, pain and grief.

Colt and Julia were secretly together for a year . . . and nobody knew. Not that anyone would suspect–Colt and Julia were from two different crowds: Julia in her country club world on Black Mountain and Colt down in the flats. They’d meet in secret by the river–their chemistry electric, exhilarating, intoxicating.

Until everything came … Continue reading

Review: We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride

We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride

We Are All So Good at Smiling
Amber McBride
Feiwel & Friends
Published January 10, 2023

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About We Are All So Good at Smiling

They Both Die at the End meets The Bell Jar in this haunting, beautiful young adult novel-in-verse about clinical depression and healing from trauma, from National Book Award Finalist Amber McBride.

Whimsy is back in the hospital for treatment of clinical depression. When she meets a boy named Faerry, she recognizes they both have magic in the marrow of their bones. And when Faerry and his family move to the same … Continue reading

Review: Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare LeZotte

Show Me a Sign by Ann-Clare LeZotte

Show Me a Sign
Ann Clare LeZotte
Scholastic Press
Published March 3, 2020

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About Show Me a Sign

Deaf author and librarian Ann Clare LeZotte weaves an Own Voices story inspired by the true history of a thriving deaf community on Martha’s Vineyard in the early 19th century.
Mary Lambert has always felt safe and protected on her beloved island of Martha’s Vineyard. Her great-grandfather was an early English settler and the first deaf islander. Now, over a hundred years later, many people there – including Mary – are deaf, and nearly everyone can communicate in sign language. Mary … Continue reading