Category Archives: Reviews

Read This!: A SHADOW BRIGHT AND BURNING by Jessica Cluess

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A Shadow Bright and Burning (Kingdom on Fire, #1)A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess

Summary: Henrietta Howel can burst into flames. When she is brought to London to train with Her Majesty’s sorcerers, she meets her fellow sorcerer trainees, young men eager to test her powers and her heart. One will challenge her. One will fight for her. One will betray her. As Henrietta discovers the secrets hiding behind the glamour of sorcerer life, she begins to doubt that she’s the true prophesied one. With battle looming, how much will she risk to save the city–and the one she loves?

In an alternate Victorian England where ancient monsters have invaded our world, a young teacher who has been hiding her extraordinary gifts to control fire is declared the chosen one to save humanity. But Henrietta, who has suffered monstrous things at the charity school where she grew up and now teaches, knows she is not the girl in the prophecy. Desperate to protect herself and her best friend Rook, who was irreparably injured in an attack by one of the Ancients, she undertakes sorcerer training anyway. Just as thrilling as watching Henrietta learn to use her powers is watching her navigate the casual misogyny of her fellow students and the perils of being the only female sorcerer among them. She clashes with chilly Lord Blackwood, flirts with the handsome Magnus, and comes to respect her teacher, Agrippa, who is working through the tragic loss of his daughter. Through it all, Henrietta’s relationship with Rook, her oldest friend and perhaps something more, is the beating heart of the story, and as Rook’s ties to the Ancients, through his scars, morph into frightening powers, Henrietta must make some difficult choices about whom to trust. Thoughtful, sincere, and determined, Henrietta is not a born fighter, but she must learn how in order to save herself and those she loves.

A SHADOW BRIGHT AND BURNING is out now.

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Read This!: WHAT GOES UP by Katie Kennedy

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What Goes UpWhat Goes Up by Katie Kennedy

Summary: Rosa and Eddie are among hundreds of teens applying to NASA’s mysterious Interstellar Agency. After rounds of crazy-competitive testing they are appointed to Team 3, along with an alternate, just in case Eddie screws up (as everyone expects he will). What they don’t expect is that aliens will arrive from another dimension, and look just like us. And no one could even imagine that Team 3 would be the only hope of saving our world from their Earth-destroying plans. The teens steal the spacecraft (it would be great if they knew how to fly it) and head to Earth2, where the aliens’ world and people are just like ours. With a few notable exceptions. There, the teens will find more than their alternate selves: they’ll face existential questions and high-stakes adventure, with comedy that’s out of this world.

Another earth out there somewhere, with someone just like you, only a little different – that’s the intriguing premise behind this twisty and fun sci-fi romp. The story opens with a series of tests, both obvious and hidden, as high school students Rosa and Eddie, each haunted in different ways by a parent’s legacy, compete to become the newest specialists to train with the Interstellar Agency, in charge of contact with other dimensions. As she did in Learning to Swear in America, Kennedy blends a fine ear for dialogue with complex characters, a crackling adventure of a plot, and just the right amount of pathos so that the hilarious one-liners and the scientific thrills never overshadow the complexities of human relationships.

WHAT GOES UP is out now.

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Read This!: POST-HIGH SCHOOL REALITY QUEST by Meg Eden

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Post-High School Reality QuestPost-High School Reality Quest by Meg Eden

Summary: Buffy is playing a game. However, the game is her life, and there are no instructions or cheat codes on how to win. After graduating high school, a voice called “the text parser” emerges in Buffy’s head, narrating her life as a classic text adventure game. Buffy figures this is just a manifestation of her shy, awkward, nerdy nature—until the voice doesn’t go away, and instead begins to dominate her thoughts, telling her how to life her life. Though Buffy tries to beat the game, crash it, and even restart it, it becomes clear that this game is not something she can simply “shut off” or beat without the text parser’s help. While the text parser tries to give Buffy advice on how “to win the game,” Buffy decides to pursue her own game-plan: start over, make new friends, and win her long-time crush Tristan’s heart. But even when Buffy gets the guy of her dreams, the game doesn’t stop. In fact, it gets worse than she could’ve ever imagined: her crumbling group of friends fall apart, her roommate turns against her, and Buffy finds herself trying to survive in a game built off her greatest nightmares.

What a unique, wild ride of a book! Buffy’s story of trying to find her way after graduation lends itself perfectly to the format of a text adventure game. Buffy must navigate a barrage of choices about who she is and who she wants be, examine and reexamine relationships with friends and family, and somehow keep remembering to save. The book is full of witty touches that will make geeky readers laugh out loud; my favorite is the fact that Buffy has nicknamed her backpack “inventory”, so whenever she puts an item “in her inventory”, that’s where it goes. Buffy’s quest is not without disappointment and heartbreak, and the reader will be rooting for her to fight her way through.

POST-HIGH SCHOOL REALITY QUEST is out now.

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Read This!: POPPY MAYBERRY, THE MONDAY by Jennie K. Brown

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Poppy Mayberry, The Monday (Nova Kids #1)Poppy Mayberry, The Monday by Jennie K. Brown

Summary: What if your teacher could read your mind just because she was born on a Thursday? Or the kid next to you in class could turn back the clock just because he was a ‘Wednesday”? In the quirky town of Nova, all of this is normal, but one thing is not—Poppy Mayberry. As an almost-eleven-year-old Monday, she should be able to pass notes in class or brush her dog, Pickle, without lifting a finger. But her Monday telekinesis still has some kinks, and that plate of spaghetti she’s passing may just end up on someone’s head. And if that’s not hard enough, practically perfect Ellie Preston is out to get her, and Principal Wible wants to send her to remedial summer school to work on her powers! It’s enough to make a girl want to disappear…if only she were a Friday.

Poppy Mayberry isn’t thrilled when she’s sent to summer school to master the telekinetic powers she’s supposed to have as a kid born in the town of Nova on a Monday. And she’s even less thrilled when prissy, stuck-up Ellie, who has Thursday mindreading powers, ends up as her roommate. But when scary Headmistress Larribee kidnaps Poppy’s precious dog, Pickle, as part of a challenge, Poppy and Ellie have to team up, along with dreamy Logan and smart Sam, to find the precious things that have been taken from them and win the chance to go home early. Full of funny moments and most of all full of heart, Poppy’s story perfectly captures that middle school moment when everything in life seems to be in flux.

POPPY MAYBERRY, THE MONDAY is out now.

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Read This!: FENWAY AND HATTIE AND THE EVIL BUNNY GANG by Victoria J. Coe

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Fenway and Hattie and the Evil Bunny Gang (Fenway and Hattie, #2)Fenway and Hattie and the Evil Bunny Gang by Victoria J. Coe

Summary: When evil bunnies invade the Dog Park, Fenway’s hot on their trail. Hattie seems understandably alarmed, though she clearly doesn’t appreciate his efforts. She shoos him out of the garden and fills in holes as fast as he can dig them! Fenway wonders if his beloved Hattie could be working against him, until she brings home a cage with a bunny inside. He can hardly control his excitement – she captured one of the intruders! But when Fenway realizes Hattie actually likes the bunny, he’s crushed. Is his heart big enough to accept that Hattie can love another pet, too? In this sequel to Fenway and Hattie, these two best buddies learn that making the right choice can be tough, but being a real friend is the greatest choice of all.

Fenway is back, and this time he’s battling an evil bunny who’s trying to steal his beloved short human’s affections. The dramatic irony of Fenway’s dog’s-eye point of view of his Dog Park (backyard), Eating Place (dining room) and people like Food Lady and Fetch Man are just as endearing and hilarious as in the first book, but it’s Fenway’s undying devotion to Hattie that will keep readers cheering for him, even when he messes up. Through Fenway’s eyes, the reader sees Hattie contend with challenges in her friendships and the responsibilities of pet sitting a neighbor’s rabbit, and will understand the nuances even as Fenway himself remains blissfully clueless.

FENWAY AND HATTIE AND THE EVIL BUNNY GANG is out now.

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