Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria belong to one of 13 witch families of Palermo, families whose true identities float waaaayyyy under the radar to avoid historical spates of witch-killing. In their case, their family owns a very old and… Read More ›
Okay, let me start with a disclaimer that Ben Philippe is currently my very favorite YA author. Yes, I wish he didn’t sometimes use religious profanity and occasional slang that undoubtedly gives offense to some readers, but he is spot-on… Read More ›
Fifteen-year-old Quinn spends much of his free time with best friends Luke, Leon and Jeremy at the Enchanted Grounds gamer coffee shop. When they meet there for the weekly Magic the Gathering tournament, Quinn quickly dispatches a young challenger and… Read More ›
This is a Throw-Everything-at-the-Reader-and-See-What-Sticks sort of book, with a little Wizard of Oz and X-Files thrown in for good measure. Every societal issue at play today is covered, including gender fluidity and discrimination, unequal wealth distribution, economic discrimination, political posturing,… Read More ›
Norris Kaplan arrives in Austin TX on a blazing hot day with his mother, a Creole/Patois linguist who has just accepted a tenure-track position at the University of Texas after months and months of applying for jobs all over the… Read More ›
When Native American Lou relocates from Texas to Kansas in January of her junior year, she quickly captures the attention of star jock Cam Ryan and pretty much makes a seamless transition into the new high school. As the months… Read More ›
Transition from elementary school to middle school has got to be one of the hardest changes a person’s got to endure–boys and girls maturing at different rates, childhood friendships evolving or ending and new ones being formed, and new anxieties… Read More ›
Too bad I didn’t discover this book sooner (its publication date was July 2020) so that I could have pushed it as a voter’s primer for YA readers and in particular for senior students voting for their first time. It… Read More ›
Here we have the 658-page retelling of the first part of the Twilight saga, told from Edward Cullen’s point of view. Fans will remember that the author had started work on this a long time ago but reportedly someone prematurely… Read More ›
Right in the middle of Miss Deborah’s passing out female condoms during a presentation in the Making Proud Choices class at the high school Liliana Cruz attends, Vice-Principal Seaver pulls Liliana out for a conference in his office. There he… Read More ›
Before You Buy YA 