4 stars More mysterious happenings in need of investigating, this time at Claire’s school. Another great entry in The Haunted Library series. While these are best read in order, there’s enough backtracking and explanation of past events, that one could still enjoy this without having read the first two. While Claire and Kaz investigate the…
Read More
4 stars Another adorable story featuring Tameika and her family from Ashley Franklin and Ebony Glenn (with illustrations by Saba Joshaghani). Similar in style to Not Quite Snow White, this one follows Tameika on a brand new adventure, the expanding of her family. A great story for those expecting the arrival of new siblings or those…
Read More
4 stars Another adorable, fun adventure. This one is a bit spooky with a nice mystery to solve. Great follow up to the first book. It continues the story, providing new mysteries and development of the overall plot, while still leaving some open ends to be discovered throughout the rest of the series. The mystery…
Read More
5 stars A beautiful, powerful, inspiring, empowering story of courage, strength, love, tradition, and making change. I’m disappointed such a book had to be written and how events have transpired to inspire it, but it’s a wonderful step to help guide the world toward a better path. Goade’s artwork is phenomenal. Each page tells its…
Read More
4 stars As far as the fake-dating trope goes, this one was pretty good. I’m not usually a fan of the trope because of the predetermined trajectory of the relationship. Because of that, it took me a bit to get into this book. But there were also enough other things going on to keep me…
Read More
5 stars I loved this book so much! It take a sometimes-tricky concept and perfectly fits it into a high-energy, engaging read that focuses on personal choice, verbal consent, and the validity of one’s own likes and dislikes. This book does a great job of presenting its messages in a way that is easy for…
Read More
3 stars This one took me a bit to get into. It deals with so many heavy topics: puberty, looking older than one’s age, sexual harassment, parental neglect, addiction, death of a parent, and being shuttled from one “home” to the next. But once I dove into the narration and story, I was swept up…
Read More
5 stars A powerful tale of a life lived and how quickly the world can change. Inside Out & Back Again tells the story of a year in the life of Hà, based on Thanhha Lai’s own childhood. In that year (1975), Hà experiences the Fall of Saigon, the treacherous journey by ship to America,…
Read More
5 stars What a wonderful way to teach an important lesson. When Amera has a bad day and uses unkind words, her mother suggests tasting her words before she says them, which opens Amera to the power of words. Inspired by Proverbs 16:24, “Kind words are like honey, sweet to the soul and healthy for…
Read More
5 stars A frightened ghost swept away from his family, a “solid” (aka non-ghost person) who can see ghosts, and a library that has a few mysteries. This was a delightful read. It started off a bit dark with Kaz being blown away from his family. But it ends on a hopeful note and sets…
Read More