Beautiful Chaos
"This richly imagined series has all the elements of a successful Southern gothic supernatural romance….The ambiguity of good and evil adds appealing complexity….Genre fans will love it." (VOYA )
I Broke My Trunk!
Let's Go For a Drive!
Fyre
Now that Septimus, Jenna, and Beetle are fourteen years old, they have assumed larger roles in their Magykal world. Beetle is the Chief Hermetic Scribe of the Manuscriptorium and Jenna will soon be Queen, but Septimus is still battling the remnants of the Darke Domaine, which will remain until the power of the evil Two-Faced […]
The Dark
Snicket and Klassen are an inspired pairing in this suspenseful take on childhood fear. Laszlo, a solemn boy in blue pajamas, is scared of the dark, and it's easy to see why. He lives in a house with "a creaky roof, smooth, cold windows, and several sets of stairs." The floors are bare, the halls […]
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
School Library Journal Gr 9 UpAn epistolary narrative cleverly places readers in the role of recipients of Charlies unfolding story of his freshman year in high school. From the beginning, Charlies identity as an outsider is credibly established. It was in the spring of the previous school year that his best friend committed suicide and […]
Clementine and the Spring Trip
For Clementine, spring is a really big deal. It’s the time for seeing her apple tree start to grow, for watching her friend Margaret go crazy with spring cleaning, and for going on the school trip to Plimoth Plantation. Clementine is ready for Ye Olden Times, but she isn’t so sure about surviving lunch there—the […]
My Brother's Book
The New York Times – Dwight Garner: This lovely if evanescent book—it deals with the great Sendakian themes of loss, danger and flight…contains some of Sendak's richest and most incantatory language…it's a book that rewards repeat readings. Its charms are simmering and reflective ones…Sendak's drawings in My Brother's Book have lost none of their surreal, […]
Pluto's Secret : an Icy World's Tale of Discovery
Children's Literature – Vicki Foote: Why is Pluto no longer called a planet? This book, published in association with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, explains in scientific but elementary terms how this change came about. Large illustrations help define the descriptions of the solar system and how astronomers, particularly one named Percival Lowell, […]
The Other Felix
Publishers Weekly Graff, adult author and Booklist Online editor, pens a moody story about a boy contending with adversaries in both his waking and dream lives. Fourth-grader Felix is plagued by nightmares that take place in a forest thick with monsters; days aren’t much better, with Felix the target of a bullying new student, Chase. […]