Devourer’s Attack by Katie and Kevin Tsang

In Book Two of the Dragon Force series by Katie and Kevin Tsang, Devourer’s Attack, four tweens who have heart-bonded with dragons must defeat the Devourer and all of his Petrifiers to save the Dragon Force and the entire world.

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The Beautiful Maddening by Shea Ernshaw

Shea Ernshaw pursues the fairly typical topic of love in her recent novel The Beautiful Maddening, but she does so with an unusual approach. To ask her questions about the strange and beautiful paradox of love, she creates the Goode

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Reel Life by Kane Lynch

Kane Lynch’s debut graphic novel, Reel Life examines the complex emotions held by young people, especially when their parents are experiencing relationship difficulty. In April, three tweens: Kyle, Galen, and Luna are engaged with their movie production plan when Kyle

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Is It Real? The Loch Ness Monster by Candace Fleming

In her nonfiction book Is It Real? The Loch Ness Monster, award-winning author Candace Fleming encourages readers to don their detective hats and gather their investigative tools in order to reach a verdict on one of the natural world’s greatest

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I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman

Alice Oseman’s recent novel, I Was Born for This centers around the phenomenon of fandom. Jimmy Kaga-Ricci, Allister Bird (Lister), and Rowan Omondi are part of the boy band, The Ark. They are a musically talented group whose fame has

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Meet Me in Mubai by Sabina Khan

Sabina Khan writes her novel Meet Me in Mumbai in two parts. Part I focuses on the life of Ayesha Hameed, a Muslim teen from India who is finishing high school in the United States so as to maximize her

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Time After Time by Mikki Daughtry

Mikki Daughtry explores a philosophical question in her novel Time After Time. As she weaves two stories: that of Elizabeth Post and Patricia Murphy from 1925 and that of Libby Monroe and Tish O’Connell in the present, she asks: Is

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The Education of Kia Greer by Alanna Bennett

The Education of Kia Greer by Alanna Bennett is a story of agency and identity. Although some readers will not be able to relate to Kia’s privilege, fame, and socioeconomic status, they will still be able to relate to the

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A Hero’s Guide to Summer Vacation by Pablo Cartaya

Pablo Cartaya’s recent novel targeted to middle grade readers, A Hero’s Guide to Summer Vacation features a family dealing with grief and loss. Gonzalo Garcia lost his father when he was twelve, and after being known as the kid with

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In Book Two of the Dragon Force series by Katie and Kevin Tsang, Devourer’s Attack, four tweens who have heart-bonded with dragons must defeat the Devourer and all of his Petrifiers to save the Dragon Force and the entire world. Twelve-year-old Lance Lo and his dragon Infinity takes a leadership role as each member of the diverse quad uses his/her power as part of a team. Lance plays his erhu to mesmerize his opponents with music and to summon spells for protection, defense, and power. Bold, carefree, and determined, Lance’s younger sister, Zoe, can change form and even replicate herself. Arthur has a pathfinding power,Read More →

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Shea Ernshaw pursues the fairly typical topic of love in her recent novel The Beautiful Maddening, but she does so with an unusual approach. To ask her questions about the strange and beautiful paradox of love, she creates the Goode family. Odd and unordinary, the Goodes are best avoided since they can supposedly bewitch someone into loving them with their magical tulips, which are “responsible for every bad thing that has ever happened in the [Goode] family” (26). Seventeen-year-old Archer is self-assured and lives loudly. His twin sister Lark prefers the shade of invisibility. A talented sketch artist who also believes that “music drowns outRead More →

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Kane Lynch’s debut graphic novel, Reel Life examines the complex emotions held by young people, especially when their parents are experiencing relationship difficulty. In April, three tweens: Kyle, Galen, and Luna are engaged with their movie production plan when Kyle has an emotional outburst, causing him to walk away from the project and his friend group. By May, Galen’s dad is moving out. As Galen navigates visits between his dad’s new place and his mom’s home base, he begins to understand what Kyle has been going through. This is a relevant book for young people who might need the guidance when parents are divorcing. AnRead More →

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In her nonfiction book Is It Real? The Loch Ness Monster, award-winning author Candace Fleming encourages readers to don their detective hats and gather their investigative tools in order to reach a verdict on one of the natural world’s greatest mysteries, whether the Loch Ness Monster is real or legend. To take readers on this sleuthing journey, Fleming invents a member of the Black Swan Scientific Investigation (BSSI) team who receives the job to unravel the mystery of what lurks in Scotland’s Loch Ness. Just as the scientific method typically has six steps, so too does the investigative method follow a systematic process: Review theRead More →

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Alice Oseman’s recent novel, I Was Born for This centers around the phenomenon of fandom. Jimmy Kaga-Ricci, Allister Bird (Lister), and Rowan Omondi are part of the boy band, The Ark. They are a musically talented group whose fame has sky-rocketed. From the outside looking in, the group has it all: fame, wealth, notoriety, and adoring fans. Fereshteh (Angel) Rahimi and Juliet Schwartz are two of those fans who met online. Initially attracted to one another because of their love for The Ark, they agree to meet up IRL and attend a concert together in London. All does not go as planned, and the pairRead More →

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Sabina Khan writes her novel Meet Me in Mumbai in two parts. Part I focuses on the life of Ayesha Hameed, a Muslim teen from India who is finishing high school in the United States so as to maximize her future potential. Here, she meets Suresh Khanna, a Hindu teen also from Mubai who is an exotic stranger but who totally “gets her.” As fellow Mubaiites, the pair share common rituals, foods, and similar backstories. Eventually, they fall in love, and after a glorious weekend together over the Thanksgiving holiday, Ayesha discovers she is pregnant. All of Ayesha’s lies and subterfuge have turned her intoRead More →

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Mikki Daughtry explores a philosophical question in her novel Time After Time. As she weaves two stories: that of Elizabeth Post and Patricia Murphy from 1925 and that of Libby Monroe and Tish O’Connell in the present, she asks: Is every life a cycle with no real end, where “time after time,” we come back reincarnated to try again, “to grow, evolve, get new chances . . . to do things better. To do things right” (246)? Daughtry takes readers on her wondering spree, which begins in the past but threads into the present. A Victorian style house on Mulberry Lane is the lynch pinRead More →

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The Education of Kia Greer by Alanna Bennett is a story of agency and identity. Although some readers will not be able to relate to Kia’s privilege, fame, and socioeconomic status, they will still be able to relate to the issues of power, pressure, desire for belonging, and search for identity that Kia endures. Bennett’s novel is also a love story, but under the influence of Bennett’s pen, we realize that love isn’t always enough. Although the people we encounter throughout life can transform us, as well as encourage and support us, ultimately, we have to dive headfirst into the life that’s meant for usRead More →

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Pablo Cartaya’s recent novel targeted to middle grade readers, A Hero’s Guide to Summer Vacation features a family dealing with grief and loss. Gonzalo Garcia lost his father when he was twelve, and after being known as the kid with the dead dad, he lashes out. Now, a year later, he prefers to be alone in his thoughts and drawings. He converts photographs of landscapes that he takes with his iPad into terrifying drawings of monsters, “the most frequent being a creature with menacing green eyes emerging from the fog. Those green eyes follow him everywhere he goes. Grief knows no hiding place” (3). WhenRead More →