Owen Foster is from the small town of Lake Cane in Louisiana, where his father has done exceedingly well in the fracking business. Because of this, Owen attends a hoity-toity private school several hours away. It took him a little… Read More ›
Parent Conflict
The Guggenheim Mystery
This book is the second in a pair featuring Ted Spark, an almost-13-year-old on the autism spectrum. As in the preceding book, THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY, he joins with his sister Kat and cousin Salim in a suspenseful plot featuring… Read More ›
The Perfect Secret
This book is a sequel to one called THE PERFECT SCORE, which I had not read. It does make reference to events in the earlier book, so read that one first if you want a fuller experience (though it is… Read More ›
Watch You Burn
When seven-year-old Jenny Breland goes on her very first sleepover at a friend’s house, a catastrophic fire in the middle of the night destroys the house and everyone but her in it. Though the fire is declared of unknown origin,… Read More ›
What Not to Do if You Turn Invisible
Ethel is a 12-year-old girl living along the northeast coast of England with her grandmother. Her own mother died when she was three and her dad split to parts unknown. She has a great-grandmother nearby in a senior living community…. Read More ›
Fresh Ink
This book is an anthology of twelve stories by assorted YA authors. (I say stories, but to me they read more like vignettes.) The collection is designed to bring together diverse characters underrepresented in mainstream YA literature. We’ve got your… Read More ›
Squirm
Billy Audubon Dickens doesn’t go out of his way to make friends at school because he knows he won’t be staying long. His mom has a fixation on bald eagles and insists on living wherever she can monitor a pair…. Read More ›
No Fixed Address
Seventh-grader Felix Knutsson and his mother, Astrid, find themselves living in a van after his grandmother dies and his mom has mismanaged her inheritance (and her life in general). Astrid is not a good parent. She is mouthy, judgmental, a… Read More ›
Ten After Closing
High school senior Scott just thinks he has problems. At home his unemployed, depressed, alcoholic dad is becoming increasingly abusive towards him, his mother and his younger sister Evie. Even though he has several outstanding college offers for the fall,… Read More ›
Heretics Anonymous
Thanks to a dad who is rapidly climbing the corporate ladder, Michael Ausman has moved four times in ten years. Once again he is starting over at a new school in a new town, this time at a private Catholic… Read More ›
Before You Buy YA 