Young Adult Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Andy Smithson: Blast of the Dragon’s Fury by L. R. W. Lee

Andy Smithson has never heard of the Land of Oomaldee and he has never met Imogenia. However, he’s soon to begin an adventure of a lifetime that involves both. Ten-year-old Andy has parents who are always harping about being respectful and responsible. Andy hates the lectures. It seems that’s all his parents do is lecture him when they aren’t too busy running their own companies. Fred and Emily Smithson are CEOs of multimillion dollar companies. His sister is Miss Perfect. Poor Andy is ignored most of the time by all of them, except when he’s in trouble. Andy’s father is […]

T B Markinson2019-01-22T17:50:03+02:00April 30th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: YA Fantasy Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: The Story Makers by Tamara Pratt

What would you do if your family blamed you for the death of your younger brother? Eden Mellor was 13 when her brother, age 3, died tragically. For three years she lived knowing that her mother and sister blamed her. The night Liam died, Eden can’t remember what happened. Deep down Eden knows she didn’t kill Liam, yet the accusations eat away at her. Three years have passed when the Story Makers invite her and Eden’s best friend, Cynthia, to audition to be the next big celebrity. The Story Makers dream-mine all of the candidates in search of stories for […]

T B Markinson2019-01-22T17:50:33+02:00February 26th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews, YA Fantasy Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: daynight by Megan Thomason

Do you believe in second chances? Megan Thomason’s novel, daynight, The Second Chance Institute (SCI) not only believes in second chances, but works diligently to provide them. However, what are their true motives and who is behind the organization? Are they simply altruistic or is there evil involved? Thomason’s young adult dystopian novel weaves a complicated tale together seamlessly that sucked me instantly.

Kira Donovan is a 17-year-old who witnesses a terrible tragedy right before her senior year in high school. After her boyfriend and best friend are blown to smithereens, Kira signs up with the SCI to assuage her […]

T B Markinson2019-01-22T09:05:14+02:00February 1st, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Dystopian Fiction Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: Any Other Night by Anne Pfeffer

Any Other Night is a young adult fiction centered around Ryan Mills, a sixteen year old boy who, on any other night, would have been there for his best friend Michael and driven him to the longed – for Emily’s Sweet Sixteen party at the Breakers Club. But that night is different – he wants to get there early to woo birthday girl Emily, resulting in a car crash in which Michael dies.

Ryan feels very guilty about the death of his friend, especially when he discovers Michael had a secret – one that Ryan feels he must now be […]

Cate Baum2019-03-05T12:51:45+02:00January 14th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: Colt O’Brien Grows Up by George M. Cole

The book, a sequel to Colt O’Brien Sees The Light centers around Colt O’Brien, a student who takes an internship as an IT helpdesk assistant as part of his college studies, and follows his career in IT and his personal life as he discovers more about life.

An unusual format is used as emails between Colt and his colleagues head up each section to lead into the next part of the tale. This is a nice touch and could have been used even more.

Having worked in IT development I found the helpdesk scenario and process is well described. I […]

Cate Baum2014-05-09T21:18:15+02:00December 13th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: Secret of the Songshell (The Spectraland Saga) by Brian Tashima

When you pick up a fantasy genre book for teenagers, you expect Tolkeinesque trekking through rocks and meeting strange hybrid creatures, right? You expect lengthy descriptions of mountains, tunnels and pathways, yes? You expect charm, betrayal, adventure and friendship across species and a hero with the odds against him, don’t you? You get all of this in the first volume of this Saga by Hawaiian author Brian Tashima, but he adds some extra ingredients to make his writing unique.

Firstly, the touch of his Hawaiian culture comes through: There is a laid back, grass roots way that Tashima writes that […]

Cate Baum2014-05-09T21:36:16+02:00October 19th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: Ambril’s Tale: The Return of the Dailluth by Wendy D. Walter

Any mention of the fantasy genre these days brings to mind Harry Potter, particularly if school-age magic workers just discovering their talents are involved. However, it is worth noting that J.K. Rowling didn’t invent child wizards, schools of witchcraft, or many of the familiar tropes of the Harry Potter series. She simply worked in a tradition that goes back a long way. She did it beautifully, of course, but so did many before her, including Ursula K. Le Guin, Susan Cooper, and Diana Wynne Jones.

With Ambril’s Tale, Wendy D. Walter has made her first contribution to this […]

Avery Hurt2012-09-25T15:57:42+02:00September 25th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: The Rogue Navigator by E. Steven Newby

E. Steven Newby’s The Rogue Navigator is an exemplar of a genre I’ve never encountered before. I guess you might call it YA Fantasy Space Opera. When one thinks of YA these days, naturally books like the Harry Potter series, the Twilight books, and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy come to mind. And of course the Chronicles of Narnia are always hovering nearby. These are all fantasy of one form or another. When one thinks of Space Opera, works like Ian M. Banks’ Culture novels and Verner Vinge’s Fire Upon the Deep (as well as less literary works like […]