Young Adult | Self-Publishing Review

Summer Girl by Linda Watkins

Summer Girl by Linda Watkins is a poignant coming of age novel that asks whether it’s possible to forget one’s first love.

It’s the summer of sixty-five and sixteen-year-old islander Jake Chambers meets the ferry bringing the newest crop of summer people to Cutter Island. Fifteen-year-old Andrea (Andi) Martin is unlike the other summer girls and immediately captures Jake’s attention. Over the Fourth of July lobster bake, they become fast friends and soon their friendship blossoms into first love. It seems like they’re destined to be together – until one fateful night, a lapse in better judgment leads to tragic […]

Marta Cheng2019-01-22T04:35:51+02:00October 16th, 2018|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Coming Of Age, Linda Watkins, Young Adult|

Review: Nia & the Numbers Game by Kela Henry, MD

Nia & the Numbers Game: A Teenager’s Guide to Education, Relationships & Sex by Kela Henry, MD takes a unique approach by combining fiction and facts to both entertain and educate adolescent readers.

The fictional aspect of this book focuses on Nia Ferguson, a young African-American girl. At the outset of Nia’s story, she’s a twelve-year-old adolescent whose parents have just split up. Although her father moves into an apartment nearby, Nia, along with her younger brother, PJ, face some challenges as they adjust to living in both parents’ homes.

Nia’s story chronicles various aspects of her life and the […]

Marta Cheng2019-01-22T06:04:55+02:00September 14th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Relationships, Young Adult|

Review: Freeing Linhurst: Into the Tunnels by Al Cassidy

With a bold spirit and a nose for a good mystery, one ghostly adventure was never going to be enough for young Jack Alexander. In Freeing Linhurst: Into the Tunnels, author Al Cassidy breathes fresh life into his courageous characters – Jack and Celia – from the first book in the series.

Two years have passed since they first delved into the secrets of Linhurst State School and Hospital, and both have dealt with their first fantastical foray in different ways. Jack has been tormented by the memories of Linhurst, from merciless teasing at school to haunting dreams that […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-05-20T05:16:45+02:00September 13th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Paranormal, Young Adult|

Review: Where Dragonwoofs Sleep and the Fading Creeps by A.J. Massey

Where Dragonwoofs Sleep and the Fading Creeps is an imaginative YA novel written by A.J. Massey that is penned with surprising maturity, despite being targeted at a younger audience. From the very first chapter of this addictive story, readers are transported to a wondrous land where expectations are constantly being dashed and a young boy finds the hero that has always been inside.

When young Ben finds himself transported to the mystifying world of Meridia, he must fend for himself among the strange creatures and magical beings he encounters, as well as the other inhabitants of his decidedly odd surroundings. […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2021-09-24T01:59:22+02:00August 24th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: A.J. Massey, Fantasy, Middle Grade Fiction, Young Adult|

Review: The Legacy of King Jasteroth Vol. 1 by S.L. Wyllie

The Legacy of King Jasteroth by S.L. Wyllie is a wonderfully realized work of fantasy filled with magic, suspense, and romance. More geared toward a younger audience, readers will immediately fall in love with Princess Ariella and her tutor Austin – a half-elvish warrior – as they join them in their journey to harness Ariella’s powers, which are stronger than anyone realizes.

The daughter of the King of The Golden Peaks, Ariella is portrayed as the typical princess who is to be seen and not heard. As her mother is struck with an unknown illness that rapidly incapacitates her, Ariella […]

SPR2019-10-10T10:32:29+02:00August 6th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy, S.L. Wyllie, YA Fantasy, Young Adult|

Review: Legacy of Dolyn: Volume 1 by Amelia Guillem

Told in the format of blog posts, Legacy of Dolyn: Volume 1 is an entertaining modern fantasy, replete with pop culture references and nods to anime.

Glendolyn Villem works as a secretary in a police station, with everyday problems that are easily relatable, like searching desperately for guy on an app called “Mingle.” Then, to her great dismay, she is ordained with magical powers and joined by a cat confusingly called Gwen, who, whether Glen likes or not, will be her mentor.

Glen must deal with the burden of being a sorceress and the complexities of her powers in a […]

SPR2018-08-23T07:36:04+02:00July 30th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, YA Fantasy, Young Adult|

Review: Aura (The Senses Novels Book 1) by K M Aul

Shifting your perspective as a reader is one of the fundamental reasons to pick up a book, and great authors can immerse readers in worlds they couldn’t have imagined before the first page. In Aura, the first installation of the Senses Novels by K M Aul, the author does not hesitate to throw readers off the deep end of all they assume about the world – and about how it’s going to end.

The gifted young characters that sit at the center of the novel, particularly Jacob, must navigate their own inherent struggles in the larger world, while also […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-22T04:32:54+02:00July 25th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Christian Fiction, Fantasy, Religious Fiction, Young Adult|

Review: The Last April by Belinda Kroll

Split-second decisions have life-changing consequences in The Last April, a gripping and thought-provoking work of YA historical fiction by Belinda Kroll.

It’s April, 1865 and in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, fifteen-year-old Gretchen Miller is in the garden of her family farm in rural Ohio when she’s startled by a Confederate soldier who falls in a dead faint literally steps from her feet. As Gretchen reaches his side, the feverish soldier mutters about his escape from Camp Chase, a training barrack/Confederate prison outside of Columbus. Realizing that the young soldier will die without her help, Gretchen reluctantly […]

Marta Cheng2019-01-22T10:54:07+02:00July 15th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Historical Fiction, Young Adult|