Tag: Young Adult

It Happened on Saturday by Sydney Dunlap

June 13, 2024

Sydney Dunlap draws from her experience as a former elementary school teacher working with at-risk youth to expertly craft a narrative that delves into the unsettling, yet realistic encounters tweens and teens may face without proper supervision. The novel’s strength lies in its unflinching portrayal of Julia’s harrowing experience trapped with a recruiter and a trafficker in a hotel room, highlighting the potential dangers lurking in the digital landscape. … More It Happened on Saturday by Sydney Dunlap

Mountain Runaways by Pam Withers

June 4, 2024

Well-researched wilderness survival skills, such as how to start a fire without matches, how to carve into the side of a snowy mountain to check for avalanche risks, and how to snare a rabbit all work to make this story believable. I was there with the three Gunnarsson kids shivering under a Douglas Fur bough, hungry and waiting for my first morsel of freeze-dried food, and with them as they huddled together, dead quiet as searchers hike passed just metres away.  … More Mountain Runaways by Pam Withers

Kylie the Magnificent by Marty Chan

May 30, 2024

Although the beginning chapters make it seem that Kylie the Magnificent is a novel all about girl power and feminism, it quickly evolves into a book about friendship. Chan adeptly illustrates the harsh reality of friendship issues in a fast-moving plot that shows the highs and lows of working through challenges. The short chapters and accessible language told from the protagonist’s perspective, Kylie, simultaneously engage readers and allow them insight into how being a young girl in a male-dominated field can feel.  … More Kylie the Magnificent by Marty Chan

The Fifth Beethoven by Melanie Jackson

May 23, 2024

The writing in Melanie Jackson’s The Fifth Beethoven reflects its target age-range well. The book tackles some tricky topics, and I appreciated how the nuanced the approach was to the wealth imbalance and housing crisis in Vancouver. Another highlight of the book for me was Zandi’s character and personality throughout. She seems to be one of the main constants in the book. She is steady, knows what she wants, and is determined to get it. She is the real hero of the book, and while she is only meant to be the love interest to Nate, she does so much more. … More The Fifth Beethoven by Melanie Jackson

Miles Morales Suspended: A Spider-Man Novel by Jason Reynolds, illus. Zeke Peña

May 9, 2024

Miles Morales Suspended touches on themes of identity, censorship, and the “patterns” of Miles’ life and upbringing through a combination of prose and poetry. The reader joins Miles for a day of in-school suspension, and it soon becomes apparent that something is afoot when termites start popping up and setting off his spidey-sense. Can Spider-Man solve this mystery? Or is this incident representative of something greater than defeating another bad guy? … More Miles Morales Suspended: A Spider-Man Novel by Jason Reynolds, illus. Zeke Peña

Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

May 7, 2024

So much happens in this book, I could not stop reading. In this sequel to Legendborn, Briana Mathews is no longer just fighting shadowborn demons and trying to uncover the truth of her mother’s death. Now, Bree finds herself in the supposedly most powerful position within the unwelcoming Order. She is suddenly fighting demons who want to take over the world, political leaders who see her as a threat to their system, and ancestors from two different bloodlines who think she should do things differently.  … More Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

Where the Water Takes Us by Alan Barillaro

May 2, 2024

Ava’s character development and the evolution of her relationships were page-turners, but I especially appreciated the backdrop of the story. The landscapes show up clearly in my mind, and wildlife is deeply woven into the narrative. Deers swim across the lake, fish leap up from its surface, and robin eggs hatch – all of which hold significant ties to Ava’s search for moral peace. … More Where the Water Takes Us by Alan Barillaro