I enjoyed The Penderwicks on Gardam Street even more than its prequel, The Penderwicks. Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty are as delightful and endearing as ever, and the stakes are higher in this new a…
TJ is a typical fourteen-year-old who struggles with divorced parents, frequent bullying and having difficulty with schoolwork. He especially dislikes his history class, which is a bit ironic as his f…
The Penderwicks is a sweet family story with an old-fashioned feel and a cast of characters so endearing that I was sad to leave them when the book was finished. I loved Jeanne Birdsall's depiction of…
The Glass Collector is an intriguing story of a Zabbaleen teenaged boy working in the streets of Cairo. This book paints a vivid picture of the Zabbaleen culture and a people whose livelihood depends…
"Mickey Cray had been out of work ever since a dead iguana fell from a palm tree and hit him on the head."
Thus begins Chomp by Carl Hiaasen. Chomp is Carl Hiaasen's fourth book for children and l…
Every adult who has lived through 10-12-year-olds and who reads The Terrible Secrets of the Tell-All Club by Catherine Stier will say: This is soooo fifth grade! Every kid who reads it will laugh an…
Hold onto the edge of your seats: readers are in for a wild ride. The first few pages of Ice Station Zebra slowly introduce a few intrigues and seem to set the tone for a nice an…
It took me a few chapters to really get into The Healing Spell, but once I did, it wove its magic around me! This book unfolds like a sweet, rich Louisiana afternoon. I was impressed by the wealt…
I enjoyed this book even more than its predecessor (A Long Way From Chicago)! In A Year Down Yonder, Richard Peck has brought back larger-than-life Grandma Dowdel for a whole year's worth of new …
Olivia has lived a very difficult life. Everyone she's ever loved or cared for has abandoned her and as a result, deep depression has set in. She's finally pushed over the edge, but luckily for her, s…
I'm probably not the first person to dislike the protagonist of this story from the beginning. He is a selfish, egotistical, immature bully, and he sees no reason to change that. It is a delight to wa…
The Secret Tree is a sweet, thought-provoking book about the secrets one small town holds—secrets that seem an awful lot like they could belong to somebody you or I know. Natalie Standiford does an ex…
