Reviews of books for children and teens.
Review by Charmaine Lee
Finally, a tribute to young adults who have been herded into reading romance novels, but repeatedly feel disappointed by them, and have no idea why. … More Loveless by Alice Oseman
Review by Lisa Matthewson
Did you think having to practice the piano was bad? Twelve-year-old Sora has to practice hiding her father in a hole in the ground. If she makes a mistake, he will be captured by the North Korean military. … More Brother’s Keeper by Julie Lee
Review by Logaine Navascués
Runa is an apprentice runecaster, but she wishes she were somebody else. Someone who’s not short, skinny and pale, with wild, wiry, white hair and strange eyes. … More The Stone of Sorrow by Brooke Carter
Review by Logaine Navascués
What is home? Is it a place? A people? A refuge? Or the memory of a smell you can almost taste? For Salma, a young Syrian girl who just immigrated to Canada, it’s all that and more: it means making her Mama smile again.
… More Salma the Syrian Chef by Danny Ramadan, Illustrated by Anna Bron
Review by Jieun Lee
Myra Louise is a very good thinker, reader, and best of all, listener. But other people only notice she’s quiet. In a society that views extroversion and vocalized opinions as signs of strength and success, thoughtfulness is not always valued or understood. … More Why Are You So Quiet? by Jaclyn Desforges, Illustrated by Risa Hugo
Review by Hira Peracha
The Tox—A parasite, a plague, a disease. It affects every single person and thing at Raxter School for Girls, but, some more than others. … More Wilder Girls by Rory Power
Review by Natasha Zippan
Me and Banksy is the sort of book that I wish existed when I was younger, because I was as precocious as its protagonist. This middle-grade novel is smart, sophisticated, sardonic, and filled with modern art, social justice, and friendship.
… More Me and Banksy by Tanya Lloyd Kyi
Review by Louise Brecht
As overcome by sorrow as Saskia is in the opening pages of The Bone Thief, she is fiercely determined to avenge the loss of her loved ones and to stop the man responsible for their disappearance dead in his tracks…if she can find him. … More The Bone Thief by Breeana Shields
Review by Emily-Anne Mikos
The world has wondered how the story of James Bond would change if the titular character were a woman, and the answer is in The Athena Protocol. Jessie Archer takes the stereotypical male-focused spy story and gives it a unique voice that only a woman can deliver—and it’s awesome. … More The Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif
Review by Logaine Navascués
When an adopted Korean girl decides to look back into her past to discover more about her biological parents, she uncovers a web of lies and systematic corruption behind Korea’s international adoption processes. … More Palimpsest: Documents of a Korean Adoption, by Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom
YOUNG ADULTING 