Despite being a relative newcomer to the magical world of fantasy, Ransom Riggs makes a darn good introduction. The first in the “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” series begins with Jacob Portman, a rather uninterested and uncommitted average teenager in Florida who is, well, bored. He’s bored of his life as it is and… View more
The sequel to The Emerald Atlas picks up nine months later with Kate, Michael, and Emma back in their rather disagreeable Baltimore orphanage where Dr. Pym leaves them after mysteriously leaving on Christmas Eve. When monsters interrupt the uppity orphanage director’s party, the trio make their hasty exit through time and space. Or rather, Michael… View more
It seems you can’t turn a corner without running into a post-apocalyptic teen dystopia but I read “The Maze Runner” nonetheless and really did enjoy the story. It features a young teen boy, Thomas, who awakes inside a rising elevator. When it opens, he discovers he is trapped in a new and unfamiliar world surrounded… View more
Kate, Michael, and Emma are sibling who have been tossed from orphanage to orphanage, something found terribly wrong with them at each one. Kate, the oldest, is left with the task of trying to mother her siblings; Michael, studious and obsessed with dwarves; and Emma, the youngest and a fighter. Eventually the three are shipped… View more
The Iowa Children’s Choice Award books this year cover a wide array of interests and are certainly catered to very different youth audiences. “Pie” by Sarah Weeks is more of a general audience pleasing book without a direct theme and could easily be enjoyed by multiple groups. It features Alice Anderson, a young gal whose… View more
Kids love books about animals. Adults love books about animals. We all love books about animals, especially about animals who overcome obstacles. “The One and Only Ivan” by Katherine Applegate is the 2013 Newbery Award winner and well-deserving of such an honor. It is told from the perspective of Ivan, a silverback gorilla taken from… View more
It seems that young adult literature has reached new peaks of popularity – YA books are being sold to movie studios and adults everywhere are browsing teen reading lists. “If I Stay” by Gayle Forman certainly falls into both of those categories. Adults are (im)patiently waiting for their turn on the hold list for a… View more
“Beautiful Music for Ugly Children” is a young adult novel and the winner of the Stonewall Award, an award given to books who stand out for their representation of LGBTQ characters and their handling of such sensitive subjects. “Beautiful Music” is specifically about Gabe, born Liz, and his transition from female to male and the… View more
A coworker of mine was very enthusiastic about Holly Black’s work thus far, specifically mentioning “Doll Bones” so I popped over to Overdrive and checked out the audio version read by Nick Podehl. The story, if anything, is about imagination. Zach, Poppy, and Alice are in middle school now and everyone around them is getting… View more
“Flora and Ulysses” by Kate DiCamillo is very worthy of its 2014 Newbery Medal and would be a welcome addition to anyone’s personal library though we are thankful to have several copies of it available in our very own Metro Library Network. The story is wonderfully imaginative following one Flora Belle Buckman, a young, self-described… View more