Sixteen-year-old Alexandra Manning is a spinner, one of a small group of the population with a genetic anomaly that causes the body to produce an enzyme called chronotin, allowing her to freeze time and assist in criminal detective work with… Read More ›
Month: May 2018
Keeping the Beat
Five London teenage girls form a band, win the UK section of an international reality show competition, and fly off to California to prepare for the next round. While there, they fall prey to all the temptations you can expect… Read More ›
Eden Summer
This book is set in West Yorkshire, and it is a pleasure to be reminded of the beauty of the are Two high school girls have been friends since they were tiny tykes. One, Eden, seems to be a golden… Read More ›
Sneak Thief
Twelve-year-old Belle “Hush” Cantrell lives a ragged life. Her mom tells her she’s ugly and useless and, when her low-life thug boyfriend is around, sends her off on errands to get her out of the way. Belle tells people she’s… Read More ›
Just Fly Away
An attractive, successful family of two parents and two teenage daughters is thrown into turmoil when the father reveals he has an 8-yr-old son living in town, the result of an extramarital fling. The husband’s wife had long known and… Read More ›
The Memory Trees
A 16-year-old girl has been living with her dad and step-mom in Florida for 8 years, since the tragic death of an older sister in Vermont. Her birth mom in Vermont had a mental breakdown and was judged unsuitable to… Read More ›
The Beauty That Remains
Three teenagers living in the same area die unexpectedly (and within a short time of each other) of leukemia, a car wreck, and suicide. Left behind to grieve and somehow make sense of their tragedies are a twin sister, a… Read More ›
Between Two Skies
This is a fine, well-written book worthy of all acceptation. A hard-working lower-middle-class family loses everything when Hurricane Katrina hits their part of Louisiana. They evacuate to Atlanta and try to regroup and re-start their lives. Eventually they (mostly) make… Read More ›
Matylda, Bright & Tender
This slim book is about two fourth-grade best friends who decide they want/need something of their own to care for, so they jointly buy a gecko whom they name Matylda. In the course of normal adventuring, one of the friends… Read More ›
All the Crooked Saints
This is an original and charmingly told story of a strange family living in a deserted town in the Southwest desert. They have the ability to perform miracles. People travel to them for help but the help isn’t easy –… Read More ›
Before You Buy YA 