5 YA Books Critics Have Enjoyed
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5 YA Books Critics Have Enjoyed

ByMichael Thal

During these long summer days, it’s always nice to get out of the heat, sit down by the AC, sip ice-cold lemonade, and read a book. Below are five books by award-winning writer, Michael Thal. Goodbye Tchaikovsky Paperback: $9.99 IBook: $9.99 A violin virtuoso is plunged into a deaf world, necessitating him to adapt to…

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My Clueless Broken Heart: Free Giveaway

ByMichael Thal

Title: My Clueless Broken Heart Author: Jennifer DiGiovanni Genre: YA Romance Becca Thornton is clueless when it comes to love. Why else would she break up with Will Gamen, a boy at the top of the hottie short list for every other girl? Because, if she’s being totally honest, Becca will admit the truth. Her…

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New Year’s Resolution: Read More…And Here’s Why

ByMichael Thal

What are you reading? It’s a simple question that could elicit a complex response and an exchange of ideas. It’s a question that can cut through all the tedious niceties and get right to the issue—the depth of your mind and that of your friend. This is our time of year for resolutions. “I’ll lose…

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Time Bound: A Science Fiction Classic

ByMichael Thal

Kate Pierce-Keller finally meets her grandmother after a decade of estrangement from Kate’s mother. Now Grandma Katherine wants Kate to move into her new home close to her high school at Briar Hill. Sixteen-year-old Kate soon learns that Katherine is dying from cancer and has about a year to live. Katherine also shows her a…

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12 YA Beach Reads to Tan by This Summer

ByMichael Thal

Summer 2016 is right around the corner. What better way to enjoy a day at the beach than to bring a good book to soak up the sun? Here are 12 YA books on the SCBWI “Summer Reading List” by California writers. With each book you’ll find its category, author, brief description, and link to…

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Koolura and the Mayans

ByMichael Thal

In celebration of Koren Thal’s 28th birthday, Solstice Publishing will release for publication Koolura and the Mayans on March 19, 2016. This novel is author Michael Thal’s third installment to the Koolura Series and his fifth published YA novel. In The Legend of Koolura, Koolura Akopyan received extraordinary psychic powers at birth from an alien…

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BeSwitched Witch

ByMichael Thal

The beauty about the BeSwitched Series is how seamlessly the books are connected yet each is very independent of the other. Readers can easily read book two without worrying about missing something from book 1. However, the books are so good, you’d be doing yourself a disservice by missing any of them. In BeSwitched, Surla,…

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Grab your Louisville Slugger

ByMichael Thal

We’ve all been home alone at night and perhaps frightened when the wind blows and windows rattle. I remember descending into the dark abyss of my childhood home with twin brother Elliott behind me, wielding his trusty Louisville Slugger to fight off boogiemen. Lisa, a college student, decides to surprise her parents and getaway from…

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Why read a YA novel?

ByMichael Thal

Time columnist, Joel Stein had this to say in a New York Times opinion piece about adults reading YA books: “The only thing more embarrassing than catching a guy on the plane looking at pornography on his computer is seeing a guy on the plane reading The Hunger Games. Or a Twilight book. Or Harry…