Reviews of books for children and teens.
Review by Jennifer Irvine.
In this mystery, IT nerd Kya Caine and social media expert Fuse Fallon are bitter rivals for Paris Secord, famously known as DJ ParSec’s, attention. Then, 16-year-old ParSec is found lying dead on her turntable and Kya and Fuse happen to both be at the murder scene.
… More Spin by Lamar Giles
Review by Micah Killjoy
Oh, to be a thirteen-year-old saving my brother from child traffickers on a foggy San Francisco day in 1849. Thanks to the novel Gold Rush Girl, I got to imagine living just such a life. … More Gold Rush Girl by Avi
Review by Shalon Sims
Bloom, the first book in Kenneth Oppel’s new Overthrow series, is a breakneck thriller and a real page-turner set on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, Canada. … More Bloom by Kenneth Oppel
Review by Jocelyne Gregory
Cockroaches can send chills up a person’s spine. Most people conjure mental images of small bugs fleeing when a bathroom light is switched on? Do they deserve this bad rep? … More The Cockroach by Elise Gravel
Review by Micah Killjoy
It’s 2003 and 19-year-old Juliet Palante is a queer Latinx babe living in the Bronx who’s got a newfound power in her womanhood and can call herself a feminist. Or can she really? … More Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
Review by Jocelyne Gregory
Chiroptera. What does the word mean? Where does it come from? Should we be worried? It’s the scientific name for a bat, and that information sets off The Bat by Elise Gravel. … More The Bat by Elise Gravel
Review by Ciara Javier
After losing his best friend Eddie in an accident, Tristan Strong is sent to his grandparents’ home in Alabama to heal from the loss. But on his first night there, Tristan encounters a sticky doll who attempts to steal Eddie’s journal, which contains folklores from both their grandmothers, and is Tristan’s last remaining connection to Eddie. … More Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia
Review by Hira Peracha
Don’t Call the Wolf by Aleksandra Ross, told in two separate third-person narratives, introduces Polish lore to the teen reader in an easy and accessible way. … More Don’t Call the Wolf by Aleksandra Ross
Review by Louise Brecht
To studious Becca Hart, real love is a temporary and tragic phenomenon. At its end, husbands abandon wives and fathers walk out on their pre-teen daughters without explanation. … More The Upside of Falling by Alex Light
Review by Micah Killjoy
What would it be like to be eight-years-old during a massive societal upheaval? In Da Chen’s memoir for young readers, Girl Under a Red Moon, he tells the story of when China’s Cultural Revolution came to his home village, changing the lives of his family in surprising and horrifying ways. … More Girl Under a Red Moon by Da Chen
YOUNG ADULTING 