Genre: Contemporary

The Natural Genius of Ants by Betty Culley: Review, Giveaway, & Two Truths and a Lie Guest Post!

Buy The Natural Genius of Ants is a heartwarming story of friendship and learning to forgive yourself, even in what may seem like unforgivable circumstances. Ever since Harvard’s dad made a mistake at work, he hasn’t been the same. Harvard has always been told that anyone can make a mistake, but his dad is a doctor, so his mistakes have dire consequences. Harvard’s dad decides to go home to the town he grew up in. […]

Posted May 12, 2022 in Author Guest Post, Current Giveaways, Reviews / 4 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of The Handmaid’s Tale, Ellen Outside the Lines, Missing Mike, The Deepest Breath, and The Hair Book

Today, I’m reviewing a classic adult dystopian (!), a MG contemp, two MG contemp verse novels, and a picture book! I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! I know no one needs my opinions about The Handmaid’s Tale (after all, so many people have analyzed this book), but it felt necessary to include it on my blog because it’s so important and so iconic. I read the book along with my […]

Posted May 3, 2022 in Reviews / 5 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of The Ogress and the Orphans, The Button Box, Home Is Not a Country, and El Cucuy Is Scared, Too!

Today, I’m reviewing two MG fantasies (one historical), a YA verse novel, and a picture book! I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! With its distinctly fairy-tale feel, The Ogress and the Orphans tells a story of misconceptions and misunderstanding and the way we can sometimes judge each other without thiking and without evidence. The ogress has spent years trying to bring joy to the townspeople by leaving them […]

Posted April 15, 2022 in Reviews / 5 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of New From Here, Mercy Watson to the Rescue, Breaking the News, and the Welcome to Wonderland Series

Today, I’m reviewing a MG contemporary, a kid’s chapter book, a MG non-fiction book, and a MG humorous contemporary series. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! Set at the beginning of 2020, this book highlights the extra stresses of being an Asian American family at the start of the pandemic. Most kids will relate to the confusion and fears portrayed in the book, but the themes will especially […]

Posted March 15, 2022 in Reviews / 6 Comments

Great Kids’ Reads for Black History Month (and Every Month!): Amari and the Night Brothers, Moving Forward, and the Parker Easy Readers

Today, I’m focusing on kids’ books with Black protagonists for Black History Month, but these books are great reads any time! Watch for more posts dedicated to Black History Month coming soon. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! Amari and the Night Brothers is the best MG fantasy I’ve read in a long time! I LOVED this book!! As it says in the description, it has a bit of […]

Posted February 9, 2022 in Black History Month, Reviews / 5 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Across the Desert, Our Violent Ends, Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna, and How to Be Ace

Today, I have a MG contemporary, a YA historical fantasy, a MG historical, and a YA graphic novel memoir. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! Across the Desert is a captivating survival story about not giving up on someone who needs you. Jolene feels helpless in her home life—ever since a serious accident, she constantly skates the boundaries of a panic attack while her mom grows more and […]

Posted January 22, 2022 in Reviews / 9 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Cybils Nominees: Recipe for Disaster, What About Will, The Magical Imperfect, My Magic Wand, and Delicious!

Even though the Cybils finalists have already been announced, I still want to review the remaining books I read as a judge for the Poetry category. (I’ll have one more post after this one.) I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! Recipe for Disaster is actually a mostly-prose novel with some poetry and recipes mixed in (often the poems are also in the form of recipes). The result meant […]

Posted January 12, 2022 in Cybils, Reviews / 5 Comments

Cybils Poetry Finalists! And Bite-Sized Reviews of Everywhere Blue, Snow Birds, You Don’t Have to Be Everything, and Call Me Athena

As my regular readers know, I was a round-one judge for the Cybils Awards in the Poetry category. Well, the finalists have been announced, so I thought I’d share them! You can check out the lists of finalists for the other categories on the Cybils website. Since I hadn’t yet reviewed four of the finalists on the blog, I thought I’d feature those reviews for you now. (I’ve already posted reviews of Me(Moth), Starfish, and […]

Posted January 7, 2022 in Cybils, Reviews / 8 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Cybils Nominees: Red, White, and Whole; Muted; Dear Ugly Sisters; and Rez Dogs

As my regular readers know, I’m a round-one judge for the Cybils Awards in the Poetry category. Because of that, I’ve been reading tons of verse lately! I’m not allowed to share any details about our process for choosing the finalists, but I am allowed (and encouraged) to review the books as I read, so I figured I’d share four of them with you today. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed […]

Posted December 30, 2021 in Cybils, Reviews / 8 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Cybils Nominees: I Wish I Had a Wookie; Reckless, Glorious, Girl; My Thoughts Are Clouds; and For Every Little Thing

Posted December 13, 2021 in Cybils, Reviews / 11 Comments