MG books

Pop’s Rating System

ByMichael Thal February 10, 2016February 11, 2016

Pop evaluates a lot of books on his blog, so readers are starting to demand that he rate the books. On Amazon or Goodreads books are rated with one to five stars depending on the quality of the novel. Keeping that rating system in mind, Pop has decided on this following system for his blog. …

Koolura and the Mayans

ByMichael Thal February 6, 2016February 6, 2016

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…

A Brief History of YA Literature

ByMichael Thal January 18, 2016

As a teacher fresh out of grad school and subbing for the Los Angeles Unified School District, I began reading YA fiction to uncover gems to motivate my students. I initially discovered Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly. Published in 1942 and considered the first book explicitly written for teens, Daly’s novel for girls had a…

Pop’s Picks for 2015

ByMichael Thal January 7, 2016January 7, 2016

In 2015 Pop’s Blog erupted on the Net reviewing over 30 YA novels and short stories. We decided to focus our attention on books published by independent publishers and authors because too many review sites tend to ignore these amazing books. Yes, we’ve read and reviewed popular books like Paper Towns by John Green, but…

Wishing Fantasy

ByMichael Thal January 6, 2016

Will Crockett is tired of being rejected at school and home. He wishes for a new life not realizing he should be careful what he wishes for.

Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja

ByMichael Thal December 24, 2015December 25, 2015

If you are a student in fifth grade through high school and would like to review a book for Pop’s Blog, feel free to submit it to Pop at [email protected]. Today’s guest reviewer is Martik Arakelyan, who will review Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja. About the Reviewer Martik Arakelyan is a 5th grade student…

BeSwitched Witch

ByMichael Thal December 11, 2015December 11, 2015

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,…

Riches to Rags

ByMichael Thal December 5, 2015

Seventh grader Dylan Jones knew all about the good life. His family had lots of money so Dylan got what he wanted. Even so, everyone liked the boy because he was a carefree and happy child. Miss Wickware, Dylan’s history teacher saw potential in the youth, too. He just needed a bit of education from…

Another Girl Calls My Dad Daddy

ByMichael Thal November 1, 2015

Portia Maddox has just discovered she has a sister. Her dad had a previous brief marriage that led to the birth of a child he didn’t know about. Now, to the surprise of Portia’s parents, they had a 16-year-old daughter, Jasmine. Jasmine’s mother, Vivian, is involved in a new relationship. She could use some alone…

Mystery at Baird’s Den

ByMichael Thal October 17, 2015October 18, 2015

Emily Sanders, age 14, spends her summer vacation working at a bed and breakfast along the Appalachian Trail in Winton, North Carolina. Gigi Baird, an elderly woman dependent on her guests for sustenance, runs Baird’s Den. Emily was referred to the job by her best friend, Mary Carnell, Ms. Gigi’s granddaughter. From day one, Emily…