In time past the wizardly people of Vora established a portal into the normal town of Talhaven. They supplied “animus” (magic) to make life more comfortable for the Talhaven folks and in return received goods and resources Vora lacked. Things… Read More ›
Books with No Objectionable Content
My Plain Jane
The publisher’s comment on the back flyleaf of this book says the three authors ((Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows) have as their goal to “fix history by rewriting one sad story at a time.” The book’s dedication partly reads… Read More ›
Spell and Spindle
The two main characters in this book are a brother and sister ages 11 and 13. They live in a big city near an unusual place called The Museum of Peculiar Arts, which has a long, murky history. The boy,… Read More ›
Potion Masters: The Eternity Elixir
Gordy is a 12-year-old boy who has inherited unusual, powerful skill in creating and mixing magic potions. He lives with his mother (who has similar skills but works what seems to be a normal job as cover), his dad, and… Read More ›
The Island at the End of Everything
Twelve-year-old Amihan is living with her mother on an island in the Philippines to which lepers are banished. While she herself is “clean,” her young mother (in her thirties) has a rather advanced case. Her father had already died of… Read More ›
The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl
This is an excellent book I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone or put on any library shelf. Lucy is a 12-year-old girl who is being raised by her single grandmother. Her mom died of cancer when Lucy was… Read More ›
Rescue
Three days before the end of sixth grade, a new girl shows up in Joni’s class. Chess (short for Francesca) is a California transplant to a farmstead near Joni’s in Vermont. Joni hopes they can be friends. Things start off… Read More ›
The Science of Breakable Things
Natalie’s botanist researcher mom has been shutting herself away in her bedroom since summer, and it is now approaching Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas–all the traditional family gathering times. Her dad, a therapist, is trying to maintain a semblance of normalcy, cooking… Read More ›
The List
This is another dystopian novel. Ice caps have melted and a community of survivors is existing (albeit not thriving) under the control of a strongman. Language is being ever more tightly circumscribed and The List refers to the only words… Read More ›
Before You Buy YA 