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Young Adult Book Reviews

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: |
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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: , |
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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: , |
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Review: Jake & the Dragons of Asheville by Brian Kacica

★★★½ Jake and the Dragons of Asheville

Writing a unique YA novel in this saturated genre can be a challenge, as dozens of new authors seemingly pop up every week. The key to finding a niche in the ever-crowded YA genre is a clever take on a popular theme, combined with interesting characters and an engaging plot. In Jake & the Dragons of Asheville, author Brian Kacica delivers a fun and memorable novel that both young readers and adults will enjoy.

As with many YA adventure stories, there is an unprepared hero, Jake Winston, who is living a relatively normal early teenage life in North […]

2017-09-15T12:53:24+02:00August 16th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: , |
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Review: Brainwalker by Robyn Mundell & Stephan Lacast

★★★★ Brainwalker

“Getting inside someone’s head” tends to be a figurative idea, or turn of phrase, but in Brainwalker, the boundlessly creative new novel from Robyn Mundell and Stephan Lacast, the concept is taken quite literally. This fast-paced novel takes readers deep into the actual human brain – and beyond.

Bernard is a typical YA literature protagonist – an unusual teen with some personality quirks who is suddenly thrown into an extraordinary situation. For Bernard, that situation arises when his curiosity gets the best of him in his father’s lab, who happens to be a particle physicist. After fiddling like […]

2017-08-08T04:25:50+02:00August 6th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: , |
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Stainer by Iolanthe Woulff

Stainer by Iolanthe WoulffStainer by Iolanthe Woulff follows the life of Ben Steiner, a precocious but terminally uncool college student living in 1970’s New York City. Beginning on his 21st birthday, he meets the girl of his dreams, as well as the dynamic P.T. Deighland who’s a magnetic presence but doesn’t always have Ben’s interests at heart. As Ben awakens to new experiences, and struggles with breaking free from his conservative upbringing, his desire for acceptance may just end up being his downfall.

Though the cover might suggest that this is a political novel, this is a true coming of age novel – […]

2019-01-22T04:36:18+02:00July 6th, 2017|Categories: New Releases|Tags: , |
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Review: Come As You Are by Steven Ramirez

★★★★ Come As You Are by Steven Ramirez

If anyone discovers a source of mysterious power that can help solve all their problems, it is probably too good to be true. That is certainly the case in Come As You Are, a chilling YA horror novella from author Steven Ramirez.

When Ivan, an often-bullied seventh grader, finds a magical notebook in an old locker at school, he thinks that his middle-school years might be salvageable after all. The list that this notebook contains doesn’t necessarily make sense, but Ivan knows that he must complete the list if he wants to unlock the full potential of this […]

2018-02-16T11:45:39+02:00June 12th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |
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Print In The Snow: Anna’s Adventure In The Wyssun World by E.V. Svetova

Print In The Snow: Anna's Adventure In The Wyssun World by E.V. SvetovaAnna hates New York. She especially hates her new life, her new home, and her new stepfather, and if it weren’t for still being able to ski, Anna probably wouldn’t be able to handle it at all. When a chance encounter with another young skier leads fourteen-year-old Anna into another world – one of elves, sorcerers, monsters, and more – maybe New York isn’t so bad after all…

Winner of Gold medal for Juvenile Fiction E-Book in the 2012 Independent Publishers Book Awards, Print in the Snow is E.V. Svetova’s first published work, and it is a truly remarkable one. […]

2017-05-26T06:20:38+02:00May 26th, 2017|Categories: New Releases|Tags: , |
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