Books to Inspire, Thrill and Engage Children
I admit. I am very late to this party. But people are still talking about Harry Potter, still love Harry Potter, and I know many people who haven’t yet read Harry Potter. I have finished book one, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and I have to say I was expecting much worse. As I’ve... Continue Reading →
Note: I wrote this review in 2015, and am just now publishing it. Joy abounds! The latest adventure in The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place is here! I have devoured the book. Now I am anxiously awaiting our family vacation so we can devour the audio book. As with the other books in the series,... Continue Reading →
This is one of those books I picked up, and put down, over and over again at the library. The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry - the title both thrilled and scared me. I finally decided to listen to it - how scandalous can a middle grade book be really? Rather scandalous,... Continue Reading →
Note: I wrote this review in 2015, but am just now publishing it. Excitement reigned at my house last month. My youngest daughter realized that the library finally had processed the newest book about one of our favorite literary families, the Penderwicks. The day we got the email that her hold was ready, I made... Continue Reading →
Abilene Tucker has only known life on the road. She and her daddy followed the railways, living in camps while her daddy worked odd jobs to keep them fed. Then one day, her daddy sent her away to live in Manifest, Kansas. Manifest, Kansas. Why there? Why now? Abilene feels abandoned. She knows how to... Continue Reading →
Jack Baker has lost his mother and his home all at once. He also gained a father he's not seen since before World War II began. They don't know how to be together without Jack's mom. And now Jack is at a strange boarding school in Maine - a continent away from his home in... Continue Reading →
Retelling fairy tales is a popular pastime these days. Did Gail Carson Levine start this trend with her clever retelling of Cinderella and other fairy tales? It doesn’t matter, really. What matters are the fun and excellent books which have come about as authors give their spin on well-known stories. In The Cottage in the... Continue Reading →
Matthew J. Kirby is back! I was so very happy when I found The Lost Kingdom, his latest book, at the library. I actually grabbed the audio book, which is excellently read by Charlie McWade. The Lost Kingdom is another entry into Kirby’s unique genre, which I call historical fantasy. It’s historical - set right... Continue Reading →
Georgie knows that her sister is not dead. She believes it with all her heart - even after the sheriff brings back a body with long auburn hair wearing her sister's ballgown. Even after her mother identifies the body as Agatha, Georgie's sister. Even after the whole town turns out for Agatha's funeral. Georgie refuses... Continue Reading →
P.K. Pinkerton is in deep trouble... in more ways than one. He is at the bottom of a silver mine, trying to figure out a way to outwit Wittlin' Walt, the Very Bad Man after his inheritance. This is where we find P.K. at the beginning of The Case of the Deadly Desperados, by Caroline... Continue Reading →
