A new children’s book, Shmulik Paints the Town, is out just in time for Israel Independence Day. Israeli Independence Day is coming up and the mayor is planning a celebration with awards and speeches, music and dancing. To prepare for the festivities, the mayor asks Shmulik to paint a mural and decorate the park around it, and…
Seventeen-year-old Emma Garson is Lucas Walker’s devoted girlfriend. She expects their relationship to blossom into a life-long commitment with a picket fence and plenty of kids. Then, months before Lucas’ high school graduation, he is diagnosed with terminal cancer. When the boy finally becomes a shell of his former self—high school football star and most…
In Chris Cannon’s newest novel, Trial by Fire, Bryn’s hopes for a peaceful new semester at school go up in smoke when someone tries to kill her—again. She’s not sure which is scarier, facing the radicals who want to sacrifice her for their cause, or her impending nightmare of a Directorate-arranged marriage to her nemesis, Jaxon….
The Luna Chronicles consists of four major books—Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter. Author Marissa Meyer connects each book sequentially, so it’s important to start with Cinder and read your way through to the amazing climax in Winter. Each book is named after one of the primary female leading teens in the Luna Chronicles. First and…
Shifting Sight, a YA novel about a teenager with a psychic gift, is extraordinary on many levels. First, it opens readers’ eyes to understanding prejudice at its roots. Ben Cleary, the youth telling the story in the first person narrative present tense, discloses how his best friend, Mike Brown, hates Melissa Alterwood and her mother…
Tyler Moore spent most of his early childhood in and out of hospitals. He had cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening hereditary disease causing thick mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive tract. But Tyler wouldn’t let his disability stop him, so when he entered Harpers Ferry Junior High School he decided he would be…
Abbie Adams has all the problems of most 5th graders—a strict teacher, a lot of homework, and a pesky little brother, Munch (short for Munchkin). Since she’s a witch, she also has other tribulations. Take the time she notices Munch sprout hair and large teeth. He was about to chomp down on his first grade…
I’ve read quite a few fairy tale revisions and watched their counterpart movies and TV shows, but none were as creative and entertaining as Anita Valle’s Sinful Cinderella. Valle’s premise strikes a logical chord. “How could she [Cinderella] stay so sweet and cheerful when she gets nothing but abuse from her family?” With that in…
Are you aware of “The Animal Code?” I didn’t think so. It’s a set of ethics all animals live by and includes never speaking to humans. Yes, we’ve all read about acts of courage animals have demonstrated over the years that reveal their inner fortitude, but never have any of them come forth to acknowledge…
Gnosticism is the belief that the material world should be shunned in favor of the spiritual world. With that theme in mind, Michael Sussman created a brilliant YA novel, Crashing Eden. Joss, a self-described “seventeen-year-old punk” bullied his brother unmercifully until a neighbor took over the chore. Not surprisingly, Eli, a middle school student, hung…