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Review: The Lost Girl of Astor Street
The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill Genre: historical, mystery, young adult, YA Publisher: Blink Date: February 7, 2017 Eighteen-year-old Piper Sail is well aware that she doesn’t necessarily fit in with the rest of the girls her age. She’s not interested in finding a husband and there’s little that interests her about homemaking. Though 1924 Chicago is the dawning of a new era, with new styles and more freedom for young women, there still aren’t a lot of options for a young woman her age. She’s quite content at this point to just spend time with her best friend Lydia and work towards graduation from school. Then…
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Book Review: Larger Than Life Lara
Larger Than Life Lara by Dandi Daley Mackall Genre: YA/kids Publisher: Tyndale House Date: November 1, 2016 “This isn’t about me. This story, I mean. So already you got a reason to hang it up. At least that’s what Mrs. Smith, our English teacher, says.” Laney Grafton is a little girl with a big voice. She’s in elementary school and even though you would think that’s a pretty easy time in life, for Laney, it’s really not. She gets teased a lot at school and when she goes home, she has to navigate a really tough home life. So when Lara Phelps shows up at school, Laney’s pretty happy about…
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Review: Cornerstone by Misty Provencher
Cornerstone by Misty Provencher Genre: Supernatural, YA Publisher: Amazon Digital Date: November 7, 2011 Nalena Maxwell appears to be a typical teenager. She spends her days with her head down hoping that the popular kids will just ignore her. When she does end up on their radar, things turn vicious pretty quickly. As much as Nalena wants to be just like everyone else but no matter how hard she tries, that’s not gonna happen. You see her mom has this unique…problem. She is a hoarder. But not your typical hoarder. She hoards paper. And stories. She’s constantly writing. In fact, she’s sacrificed a huge amount of parenting time to write.…
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Review: Life Just Got Real by Sadie Robertson
Life Just Got Real by Sadie Robertson and Cindy Coloma Genre: Young Adult Publisher: Howard Books Date: June 7, 2016 A.J. Smith loves her home and her family. Since her father passed away, her life has been solely and wholly about keeping everyone together. She’s not the kind of teenage girl that most would expect. Mudding, hunting, backwoods fun – these are the things that A.J. cares about. Fashion, bling, reputation, social media – none of these interest her in the least. Enter Kate Kelly. Kate lives hundreds of miles away from A.J. and everything she does is very carefully calculated for appearance sake. She’s pretty much the leader in…
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Review: The League and the Lantern by Brian Wells
Title: The League and the Lantern Author: Brian Wells Genre: YA, adventure Publisher: Republic Ink Date: May 16, 2016 To say that Jake Herndon is going through an awkward patch is a bit of an understatement. After a variety of misadventures in sixth grade, he’s ready to move into seventh as the great Do Over. This time he’s going to make things much better! Except that his first meeting with his seventh grade class is a disaster. Choking on corn dogs, a stained shirt, and an unfortunate Hello Kitty shirt all play a part in making it seem like seventh grade will end up no different than sixth. It’s when…
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Review: Curio by Evangeline Denmark
Title: Curio Author: Evangeline Denmark Genre: Steampunk, fiction, fantasy Publisher: Blink Date: January 5, 2016 Grey Haward is nothing spectacular. She lives every day just like everyone else around her. She avoids the Chemists. She takes her potion. She does what she’s told. It’s all pretty boring. But there are just enough odd little flags here and there to let her know that her life is different. Her grandfather’s Curio shop has a cabinet that she never opens or cleans. It doesn’t seem out of sorts but the fact that it’s very specifically avoided and pointedly ignored gives her a hint there may be something different. One night, on the…
