As is fitting for a coming-of-age story, Marley‘s life is turning upside down. Her parents are separated, her best friends are totally involved in drama camp and making new friends, and she has to stay in her dad’s new small not-home apartment for the summer while her mom goes to help take care of her…
Category Archives: 12 and up
Dystopian Romance: Matched & Restoring Harmony (with Giveaway)
My daughter, Ilsa, who’s 14, loves dystopian fiction, and is not averse to a little romance mixed in. As someone who grew up in the 70s and 80s worrying about communist invasions and gulags (I had a very vivid imagination), this mystifies me—at her age, I hated the thought of creepy Societies watching my every…
Sharing ‘A Wrinkle in Time’; 50th Anniversary Edition
It was a dark and stormy night. I was 12, recently moved 1200 miles from home, lonely, having a hard time making friends at my new junior high school. I was sick a lot that year and my mother, knowing what a hard time I was having, was patient with me, letting me stay home…
Issues-driven Historical Fiction for Kids
I learn history best through fiction. I love experiencing the effects of history on people’s lives through fictional characters’ lives. Any time I read something or watch something that deals with Civil Rights (or the lack thereof during our nation’s history), I’m changed. I am grateful for how far we’ve come, but I also am…
Crossed, Review and Giveaway
Crossed is the 2nd book in the Matched series, a YA dystopian series. You can read my review of Matched to find out about the dystopian world that Ally Condie has created. Crossed is a little bleaker since it’s set in the Outer Provinces where Ky and Cassia have been sent. I don’t usually feel…
Dark of the Moon
Dark of the Moon manages to be historic fiction as well as a retelling of a well-known myth, and as such, it’s extremely well-done. Ariadne, the Goddess-Who-Will-Be, is in many ways a normal 15 year old girl, insecure in some ways, chafing against the life she’s always known while at the same time embracing impending…
School Stories
Kids and adults like to read what’s real to them. All of these middle grade fiction novels have a strong school setting. However, they are so different — from a wide range of appeal (on for 7 – 8 year olds and another for 12+), the themes, and the writing style. Warp Speed Middle-schooler Marley…
Addie on the Inside and Camo Girl — Standing Up for Others and Themselves
I really think that I might love novels in verse. This month(ish) I’ve read 4 — this one Addie on the Inside, the two by Ellen Hopkins, and another Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominee (and National Book Award winner) Inside Out and Back Again. This book is written in verse (mostly unrhymed free verse), but…
The Name of the Star
The Name of the Star is Maureen Johnson’s latest YA book. The ONLY reason I got this audiobook was because it was by Maureen Johnson, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed her Suite Scarlett books. The blurb of this book said it was funny, so I trusted that somehow Jack the Ripper and foggy ghostly looking covers…
Hunger Games Book and Movie Poster giveaway
A little while ago I was sent an email which asked if I’d be interested in helping to promote the Hunger Games movie. Since I enjoyed the series, and the Hunger Games book is one of Dawn’s 5-Star reads, and my 13-year-old daughter counts them as her very favorite books ever and is counting down…
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Jennifer Donovan
Managing Editor
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