Genre: Verse

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 / 1 Comment

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

(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

The Name She Gave Me by Betty Culley: Review, Guest Post and Giveaway

Buy “Wistful verse highlights small but telling moments throughout Rynn’s search…The author’s lived history with foster care and adoption gives the narrative nuance and authority. Emotionally complex and empathetic characters…and a faithfully depicted rural landscape form an exemplary backdrop for this contemplative novel.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Compassionate and compelling.” —Kirkus This emotionally compelling novel in verse is a bittersweet portrayal of the complexities of adoption. Rynn has wondered her whole life where she came from. She’s always […]

Posted June 27, 2022 in Author Guest Post, Giveaways (Ended), Reviews / 9 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

YA Reads for Black History Month (and Beyond!): Daughters of Jubilation and Ain’t Burned All the Bright

Today, I’m focusing on YA books with Black protagonists for Black History Month, but these books are great reads any time! In addition to those two reviews, scroll down to see one other book recommendation as well. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction. Daughters of Jubilation is a story of power and the ways it can be wielded for both good and evil. Having grown up in the […]

Posted February 23, 2022 in Reviews / 6 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