Compulsively readable adventure about the youngest of the Mad Wolf’s war band who must rescue her father and brothers from the lord’s castle where they’ve been taken for rough justice. Complex, true to Scottish history (and magic), and full of great characters, this book is impossible to put down. Betsy Bird calls this book, “a […]
Arturo’s summer started out like most summers, he got a summer job at his family’s restaurant, his best friends were around to hang out and his Abuela kept everything running smoothly. Then his mom’s god daughter, Carmen, and her father come to stay in their apartment building for the summer. Carmen, has grown up a […]
A dark story with gentle characters that ends triumphantly, Matilda Wood’s The Boy, The Bird and the Coffin Maker grabbed me from the first page. It reads like a fairy tale — one with lots of death and disease and a desperate flight from domestic violence (mostly in the back story). The story itself is […]
A lovely story about the gender expansive Prince Sebastian and Frances, his best friend and personal dressmaker. Prince Sebastian spends his days courting reluctantly courting princesses and his nights taking Paris by storm as the beautiful Lady Crystallia. When Lady Crystallia and Frances become the biggest fashion provocateurs around the increased attention threatens to undermine […]
Intensely engaging fantasy about two species of humans at war. The Wolf is the young heir to the throne in the invaded northern country; he faces Bellamus, a canny Suthdal general on the make, as well as powerful internal enemies who don’t think he can lead the Black Kingdom against the Suthdal invasion. Dark, imaginative […]
Wonderful adaptation of the beloved 1958 classic fantasy, in graphic novel form, created by EDITH, a French illustrator. Because his brother has the measles, Tom had to live for the summer at a relative’s house. In his lonely sleepless nights, after the grandfather clock strikes 13 times, he opens the back door and finds a […]
Murder, forbidden islands, Zeppelins, Vango, is nonstop thrill ride. Set in pre-World War II Europe, we first meet Vango as he is about to become priest. But, the outdoor ceremony is interrupted as the police storm in looking to arrest Vango for murder. Before the police can grab him Vango is on the run, or […]
Wonderful conclusion to the Penderwicks series! Jeanne Birdsall gives a last loving look at the Penderwicks, all of whom have grown up except Lydia, the child of Mr. Penderwick and his new wife, Ianthe. They all end up at Arundel, Jeffery’s estate, for Rosalind’s wedding. Lydia makes several new friends, does the choreography for the […]
For as long as Alice can remember, she and her mother have kept on the move. Never staying in one place too long; always trying to outrun the inexplicable bad luck that seems to follow them everyone. After Alice’s grandmother, the author of a dark and twisted fairy tale book with cult following, dies on […]
I finished this book several days ago and I’m still haunted by it. Patrick Ness, most famous for A Monster Calls and the subsequent movie adaptation, has crafted a superb work of fiction. This book follows Adam Thorn on one day of his life, interwoven with a magical story that is part myth, part ghost […]
