Young Adult

Review: The Journal by R.D. Stevens

The Journal by R.D. Stevens

Looking up to your siblings is something to which many people can relate, but in The Journal by R.D. Stevens, that sibling connection is particularly powerful and rare. On the cusp of adulthood, Ethan Willis is compelled to discover what happened to his sister, Charlotte, a wild adventurer who was last heard from in the depths of Southeast Asia. Despite his lack of worldliness, Ethan sets out to follow in her footsteps – or at least get on the right continent to begin his search.

In classic Bildungsroman style, Ethan embarks on a journey without a clear goal in sight, […]

2019-01-22T04:35:58+02:00February 1st, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , , |

Review: The Colonials by Tom Durwood

★★★★ The Colonials

The Colonials by Tom Durwood is an exciting and ambitious work of historical fiction for young adults, where teenagers come of age during a violent time, ultimately changing the course of history.

The year is 1775 and a large number of complex characters are at play: young Will Oldenbarnevelt is the second-born son to a wealthy Dutch shipping merchant, Jiayi Wei Ying is Yunhe jiating of the Chinese Grand Canal clan, Countess Clotilde Ushakov is the eldest niece of Ekaterina Alexeevna, Empress of all Russia, Leo Krummensee-Grabmaler is heir to the House of Hohenzollern…and many others, giving a sense […]

2017-12-15T10:34:29+02:00December 14th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: , |

Review: Blowback ’63 by Brian Meehl

★★★★ Blowback '63 by Brian Meehl

Overlapping timelines in different centuries, epic struggles of self-discovery, and enough fantasy thrills to make your head spin, Blowback ’63 by Brian Meehl is a roller-coaster of a novel, but also a clever and well-planned drama. Following on the heels of Blowback ’07, the first installment of this series, Meehl continues his era-jumping narration and sheds even more light on Arky and Iris, the enigmatic core of these novels.

As in the first book, Arky and Iris are still doggedly searching for their mother, trapped somewhere back in time. The magical family instrument, the Jongler cor anglais, […]

2020-03-02T09:40:06+02:00November 30th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , , , |

Review: This Was Never About Basketball by Craig Leener

★★★★★ This Was Never About Basketball

Coming of age and basketball combine in Craig Leener’s thoroughly entertaining YA novel, This Was Never About Basketball.

Seventeen-year-old Ezekiel “Zeke” Archer lives and breathes basketball and has managed to land a full basketball scholarship to the University of Kansas…until an unsportsmanlike punch and a subsequent brawl gets Zeke and his two best friends, Curtis and Stretch, unceremoniously expelled and finishing high school at Ernest T. McDerney Continuation School, a purgatory for at-risk high school kids.

Worst of all, Zeke’s scholarship is withdrawn and his life is on a downhill slide – until he learns of a basketball […]

2019-10-30T10:01:53+02:00October 17th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , , |

Moonstroke II: Alien Territory by Blaine C. Readler

Moonstroke II by Blaine C. ReadlerKatlin and her father have escaped the moon after their harrowing adventures, but now they find themselves facing new threats in a world that Katlin doesn’t fully understand. How is she supposed to protect her friends on the moon when she has trouble dealing with Earth’s gravity? Meanwhile, her friends have problems of their own. Not only must the nexgens deal with the decaying systems left by their parents and leaders, but they also have to figure out how to maintain their independence when it seems everyone on the planet below is fighting for control.

There aren’t many sequels you […]

2018-06-26T10:03:30+02:00September 25th, 2017|Categories: New Releases|Tags: , |

Magdalena Gottschalk: The Crooked Trail by M. Gail Grant

Magdalena Gottschalk: The Crooked TrailSet in the quaint town of Lily Brooke, Magdalena Gottschalk: The Crooked Trail by M. Gail Grant, is a novel filled with intrigue, suspense, and adventure for MALB (The Mystical Alliance of Lily Brooke) who find they need to set the town free from a dark secret. A fun supernatural read, at its core this young adult novel is a heartwarming story about friendship and family.

The adventure begins when the trio takes a Saturday morning walk through the woods, led by strange chanting and voices that only Magdalena can hear, revealing that there may be a demonic presence in […]

2019-01-11T14:52:27+02:00September 21st, 2017|Categories: New Releases|Tags: |

Review: Hiding in Third Person by Phil Bradley

★★★★★ Hiding in Third Person by Phil Bradley

Hiding in Third Person is a riveting coming-of-age tale by talented author, Phil Bradley. It sucks in the reader from the very first paragraph and doesn’t let go.

Ricky is a young orderly at the Cumberland County Asylum for the Mentally Ill, which he jokingly refers to as Cumberland County Psycho Spa and Dude Ranch. An intern asks Ricky to sit with a new patient, known only as Mr. River. It’s Ricky’s job to listen to anything the patient has to say. Soon, Mr. River haltingly begins to tell Ricky a story about an unlikely friendship between two young […]

2019-01-22T04:36:08+02:00September 20th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , , |

Review: Maddie & Sayara by Sanjyot P. Dunung

Maddie & Sayara by Sanjyot P. Dunung

Maddie and Sayara meet the way many new friends do – enjoying their vacations. After their time together on the water slides and in the swimming pools, however, they return to vastly different worlds.

Maddie lives in an open society where the government does not enforce severe dress and behavioral restrictions. Sayara’s home, the Kingdom, denies women the right to choose their own clothing or drive a vehicle. Everywhere Sayara goes, she must be accompanied by a man. Sayara’s vacation is, in fact, cut short after her cousin is arrested for daring to drive. Maddie struggles to understand the differences […]

2019-02-11T08:51:02+02:00September 13th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: , |
Go to Top