Genre: Middle Grade

Mirror to Mirror by Rajani LaRocca: Review & Rajani’s Top Ten Addictions

Mirror to Mirror by Rajani LaRocca: Review & Rajani’s Top Ten Addictions

Today I’m featuring MIRROR TO MIRROR by Rajani LaRocca, an incredible new MG novel in verse featuring identical twin sisters who are afraid their lifelong bond isn’t enough to hold them together in the face of mental health issues. Read on for my review of the book, and then make sure you also check out Rajani’s list of top ten addictions to find out more about the author! Buy from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Bookshop.org Mirror […]

Posted April 11, 2023 in Author Top Ten Lists, Reviews / 3 Comments
Bite-Sized Reviews of Good Different, The Last Mapmaker, Answers in the Pages, Momo Arashimo Steals the Sword of the Wind, How Do Meerkats Order Pizza? and Welcome to Monsterville

Bite-Sized Reviews of Good Different, The Last Mapmaker, Answers in the Pages, Momo Arashimo Steals the Sword of the Wind, How Do Meerkats Order Pizza? and Welcome to Monsterville

Today, I’m reviewing six MG reads. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! Good Different is a poignant novel in verse about a girl who learns to advocate for herself and finally let go of her quest to be “normal.” Selah has always felt different than her peers. She realizes that she doesn’t experience the world the same way they do, and she has created a list of rules […]

Posted March 23, 2023 in Reviews / 2 Comments
Bite-Sized Reviews of Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone, The Girl in White, A Long Way from Home, and Little Thieves

Bite-Sized Reviews of Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone, The Girl in White, A Long Way from Home, and Little Thieves

Today, I’m reviewing three MG reads and one YA. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone explores the intricacies and complexities of subtle bullying and how it can snowball into something so much worse. On its surface, the book is about a girl who believes in aliens and then disappears mysteriously. The question of whether or not the aliens in the story may be […]

Posted February 17, 2023 in Reviews / 4 Comments
Bite-Sized Reviews of The Area 51 Files, Ghost Girl, Odder, and Freestyle

Bite-Sized Reviews of The Area 51 Files, Ghost Girl, Odder, and Freestyle

Today, I’m reviewing five MG reads. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! The Area 51 Files is a goofy MG mystery featuring friendships, family bonds, a pet hedgehog/dog duo, and a whole bunch of aliens! First off, the book is highly illustrated, and the illustrations are wonderful! Just take a look at that cover to get an idea of what’s in store. The illustrations are used almost like […]

Posted December 13, 2022 in Reviews / 3 Comments
Bite-Sized Reviews of Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, Valentina Salazar Is Not a Monster Hunter, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow, and I Cannot Draw a Horse

Bite-Sized Reviews of Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, Valentina Salazar Is Not a Monster Hunter, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow, and I Cannot Draw a Horse

Today, I’m reviewing two MG fantasies, a YA contemp (or recent historical, I guess?) set in Syria, and a picture book. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! Skandar and the Unicorn Thief is an exciting middle grade fantasy adventure, filled with elemental magic, dangerous unicorns, and backstabbing betrayals. First off, I thought the worldbuilding in this book was really interesting. I loved the concept of the unicorn races […]

Posted October 27, 2022 in Reviews / 3 Comments
Charlie Hernández & the Golden Dooms by Ryan Calejo: Review & Giveaway

Charlie Hernández & the Golden Dooms by Ryan Calejo: Review & Giveaway

Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org Charlie Hernández & the Golden Dooms is the third installment in the series, and it continues the humor, adventure, and heart of the first two books. When a calaca (a Mexican skeleton of sorts) shows up at Charlie’s school and begs him for help, he can’t refuse. And of course, his incredibly intelligent and inquisitive longtime crush Violet is ready to put her sleuthing skills to the test and jumps right in to […]

Posted September 30, 2022 in Giveaways (Ended), Reviews / 4 Comments
Serwa Boateng’s Guide to Vampire Hunting by Roseanne A. Brown: Review & Giveaway

Serwa Boateng’s Guide to Vampire Hunting by Roseanne A. Brown: Review & Giveaway

Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org Serwa Boateng is not your average kid. She has been training her whole life to fight adze, a Ghanian version of vampires, so when she has to face the woes of regular middle school, she isn’t sure she can handle it. The book brings Ghanian folklore to life, with gods, monsters, and a fascinating magic system based on adinkra symbols that can still be found in Ghanian art today. I […]

Posted September 9, 2022 in Giveaways (Ended), Reviews / 6 Comments
1-2-3-4, I Declare a Thumb War by Lisi Harrison & Daniel Kraus: Review & Giveaway

1-2-3-4, I Declare a Thumb War by Lisi Harrison & Daniel Kraus: Review & Giveaway

Amazon, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org Beware! This truly creepy middle grade tome will terrify its readers–and they will be delighted!  I have to start by saying this book is not for the faint of heart. It gets downright gory in one part, so not every kid will be happy to read this. However, the most frightening and terrible part of the book is actually a story within a story (a tale that one of the […]

Posted August 29, 2022 in Giveaways (Ended), Reviews / 4 Comments
(Tiny) Bite-Sized Reviews of Turn the Tide, The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise, When Winter Robeson Came, and The Scorpio Races

(Tiny) Bite-Sized Reviews of Turn the Tide, The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise, When Winter Robeson Came, and The Scorpio Races

Today, I’m reviewing a few books I read just for fun. I don’t think I’d get around to writing a true review (even a bite-sized one) for any of these, but I want to give them a mention, since they deserve it. So instead I’m writing “tiny bite” reviews—I hope these will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! Turn the Tide is an inspiring verse novel that will help kids think about the environment and […]

Posted August 17, 2022 in Reviews / 6 Comments
MacKenzie’s Last Run by Gayle Rosengren: Review, Pre-order Giveaway, & Gayle’s Top Ten Addictions!

MacKenzie’s Last Run by Gayle Rosengren: Review, Pre-order Giveaway, & Gayle’s Top Ten Addictions!

Gayle is one of those authors I’ve been meaning to read for ages because so many people raved about her last book, COLD WAR ON MAPLEWOOD STREET. So when she reached out to me and asked if I’d be willing to read and review MACKENZIE’S LAST RUN and help her create a pre-order giveaway, I was more than happy to oblige. I’m very glad I did because this new book is a gem! Read on […]