Puzzle Trees by Thom Mark Shepard
Puzzle Trees by Thom Mark Shepard is an entertaining coming of age novel with a bit of horror thrown into the mix. Joe Sheffield is an awkward but thoughtful high school freshman whose best friends move away. Entering high school is hard enough without having to tackle it alone. Joe begins looking for the principal’s missing cats in the area of the “puzzle trees,” a forbidding forest where it’s thought to be the home of strange aggressive primates. Along with his equally-tormented brother, Joe sets out to find the missing cats and locate the mysterious denizens of the Puzzle Trees, […]
The Age of Amy: Behind the Fun Zone is the fourth novel in the “Age of Amy” series by Bruce Edwards. The Amy books put Amy, a rebellious and precocious teenager, into some fantastical scenarios. In the first book, she comes toe to toe with a farm animal that can manipulate time and space. Behind the Fun Zone is more sci-fi than fantasy, and puts Amy against a creepy new technology called the Jimmie, which implants cell phone technology into your head. Amy, who’s already averse to technology, is having none of it, and her aversion to the Jimmie is […]
What if there existed a dark kingdom forged on a web of evil spells, with a conniving king plotting to infiltrate the dreams of children all over the world?
Please Fall In Love With Me (And Other High School Wishes) is a refreshingly candid collection of essays, impressively written by an author still in high school. As there are few books for teenagers, by teenagers, the book aims to fill that gap, and does so effectively. Alvarado has an charming and spirited voice, and he’s not afraid to leave everything on the page. At times, the book tends to be a little too loose (stray grammatical errors), but overall it’s a strong and funny collection about trying to fit in and finding your true self.
The Muses: Escaping Montague Manor by N. L. McEvoy is a curious blend of fantasy, adventure, science fiction, and thriller that makes for an entertaining read.
Dismantling Evan is a moving and harrowing novel about coping with bipolar disorder – not just the disease itself, but how everyone reacts to those who suffer from mental illness. Evan Phillips is moved to a small town in Texas after suffering a nervous breakdown. Her parents hope that a new setting in a calmer environment will help her recover. All does not go as planned, as Evan’s family moves next to Gavin Ferguson, a teenager who has mental illness problems of his own. A group of gifted, but troubled, teenagers bond together, but become vicious targets as the town […]
A Mathematical State of Grace, a young adult dystopian novel by Cathy McGough, has a bit of everything going on in the story to keep the reader entertained.
The Flying Burgowski by Gretchen K. Wing follows Joss Burgowski as she navigates life as a teenager who’s just turned fourteen, her dysfunctional family living on a small island in Washington, and…learning to fly. The Flying Burgowski is at once a sympathetic family drama and magical fantasy.