Genre: Middle Grade

Bite-Sized Reviews of Every Other Weekend, Storm and Fury, The Afterlife of Holly Chase, and All of Me

I’ve got four reviews for you today: a YA contemporary, two YA paranormals, and a MG book contemporary in verse. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! I had no idea this was going to be such an emotional read! I’ll confess that at first, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like these characters: Jolene is rebellious(ish) purely for the sake of aggravating her stepmom (who I […]

Posted January 15, 2020 in Reviews / 30 Comments

Cub by Cindy Copeland: Graphic Novel Review

I’m guessing this graphic novel will be a big hit with middle graders! It’s perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier’s books because it’s very similar to her books in style (and some of the themes). I especially loved that Copeland included empowering messages about young girls without hitting us over the head with them. She shows the ways that she was treated unequally without having a graphic novel that constantly decries those injustices. For instance, there was […]

Posted January 9, 2020 in Reviews / 14 Comments

The Door to the Lost by Jaleigh Johnson: A Dual Review with Marilla

(No actual dueling—or even arm-twisting—was involved. This is a dual review, not a duel review. Sorry if you’re disappointed.) Marilla was a recent winner of my Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up “Make Me Read It” giveaway, and she chose to make me read The Door to the Lost by Jaleigh Johnson. I got this book as a gift at an event I went to featuring Johnson’s agent, Sara Megibow (I learned LOTS about the business side of publishing […]

Posted December 31, 2019 in Dual Reviews, Reviews / 2 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Sick Kids in Love, Slay, Look Both Ways, Parker Looks Up, & Missions to Mars

I’ve got five reviews for you today: two YA contemporaries, a MG book of contemporary short stories, a picture book and a non-fiction kids’ book. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! This book shines a (glaring) spotlight on ableism. The main characters, Isabel and Sasha both have chronic illnesses that aren’t life-threatening (at least not directly) but are serious. Isabel has rheumatoid arthritis and lives in near-constant […]

Posted November 29, 2019 in Reviews / 12 Comments

The Serpent’s Secret by Sayantani DasGupta: A Dual Review with Danielle Hammelef

(No actual dueling—or even arm-twisting—was involved. Don’t worry, this is a dual review, not a duel review. Sorry if you’re disappointed.) Danielle Hammelef was the latest winner of my Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up “Make Me Read It” giveaway, and she chose to make me read The Serpent’s Secret by Sayantani DasGupta. I’d bought this book at a Scholastic Book Fair awhile back because it looked like such a fun MG fantasy. I’m so glad she made me read […]

Posted November 12, 2019 in Dual Reviews, Reviews / 12 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Lexi Magill and the Teleportation Tournament, Becoming RBG, Friend or Fiction, and Catwad

I’ve got five reviews for you today: a MG sci-fi, a MG contemporary fantasy, and three MG graphic novels. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! This book is absolutely perfect for fans of The Amazing Race!! Of course, you don’t have to be familiar with the show to enjoy the book, but if you are, you’ll get that extra layer of enjoyment. I actually hadn’t read the blurb before […]

Posted November 8, 2019 in Reviews / 12 Comments

The Fire Keeper by J.C. Cervantes: Review & My Sestina Poem About the Book!

In this fun follow-up to The Storm Runner, Zane finds himself in a whole new predicament—not only does he have to save his father, he’s also got to save a whole host of godborns who he endangered in the first place! When Zane wrote the original book, he sent it out into the world as a call to the other godborns (only a godborn should have been able to read it—which I thought was a clever way to […]

Posted October 30, 2019 in Poetry, Reviews / 10 Comments

The Fire Keeper by J.C. Cervantes: Spotlight & Giveaway (Plus a Link to My Review & Poem!)

Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD Check out my review of the book, along with a fun sestina poem that I wrote to go along with it!! This series focuses on Mayan mythology, which is a fascinating mythological system we rarely encounter in books! I really enjoyed the first book—check out my review of STORM RUNNER! About the Author J.C. Cervantes is the New York Times best-selling author of The Storm Runner, The Fire Keeper, and Tortilla Sun. […]

Posted October 21, 2019 in Giveaways (Ended) / 16 Comments

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia: Review & Giveaway

Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD This book is absolutely packed with rich storytelling—both African and African American folklore that many middle graders have probably never encountered before. It’s difficult to even unpack how many different stories are rolled into this adventure and brought to life in a new way. (I’d actually love it if Rick Riordan Presents would do a companion that goes deeper into each individual tale, sort of like the Greek Gods companions that were […]

Posted October 15, 2019 in Black History Month, Giveaways (Ended), Reviews / 20 Comments

Mightier Than the Sword: Review & Giveaway of a Uniquely Interactive Middle Grade Fantasy

A uniquely interactive middle grade fantasy adventure that puts the reader right into the story! I’ve never read a book quite like this before, and I doubt you have either. First off, the book is told in second person POV—“you” are the star of the show. The book starts out with you waking up in a strange world. You (conveniently) have no memory of who you are and your goal is to regain your memories […]

Posted October 10, 2019 in Giveaways (Ended), Reviews / 30 Comments