by Tomi Adeyemi When a strange girl grabs Zelie in the capital city’s market and begs her help to escape, Zelie is pulled against her will into a war to save magic and empower her people, who have been oppressed almost to the point of genocide. Can she learn to harness her own magic in […]
by Kwame Alexander Told entirely in short poems/rap, this is the story of Josh Bell and his family—including his twin brother and their basketball star father. I’m not big on basketball or poetry, but this was an incredibly cool way to tell a story, and a lot of the poems were really poignant. I loved […]
by Patricia C. Wrede Kit, a street thief in London, is hired to sneak into a magician’s wagon and snoop around. When she took the job, she didn’t expect the magician to be an actual, practicing wizard. Soon Kit is involved in a mixed up adventure in search of a magical artifact. This magical romp […]
by Naomi Novik After Orion Lake saves her life for a second time, Galadriel wishes he’d go off and die himself. Instead he follows her around the Scholomance, saving her life again and again from evil creatures. She wishes he and his groupies would leave her alone, but she soon accepts him as a friend. […]
by Louis Sachar When Stanley Yelnats is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, he has the choice either to go to prison or to Green Lake correctional camp. In the camp (where there is no actual lake), convicts are forced to dig five-foot holes, one a day, every day. But Stanley soon realizes that […]
by Joseph Elliott When their clan is betrayed to the Vikings and carried off as slaves, Jaime and Agatha must find a way to rescue them, braving wildwolves and shadow creatures as they venture into the unknown. This book was pretty good—probably a 4 out of 5. I can’t pinpoint any one thing that bothered […]
by Alison Gervais Maya, a Deaf high school senior, has just moved to a new state and a new school. She must navigate the challenges of being Deaf in a school full of hearing kids, while simultaneously dealing with moving, college applications, cute boys, and a brother with a serious health condition. This was a […]
by Neil Gaiman As a toddler, Nobody Owens climbs out of his crib and wanders out the front door and up the hill to the nearby cemetery, away from the house where the rest of his family is being murdered in their sleep. The ghostly citizens of the graveyard protect him from the killer who […]
by Kelly Barnhill A baby is taken from her screaming mother to be left in the woods for the (make believe) witch in the annual Day of Sacrifice. The (very real) witch rescues an abandoned baby and feeds her starlight on the way to finding her a new, loving home. Except that she accidentally feeds […]
by Ellen Raskin Eccentric millionaire Sam Westing has no heir, or rather, he has sixteen of them. These heirs must participate in the game set out in the old man’s will if they want a chance to win the whole inheritance. This is a fun and intriguing puzzle mystery with a kooky cast of characters, […]