K.M. Shea re-tells the timeless fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast in a unique way. A witch curses a member of the royal household, Prince Severin, who has become a black-furred beast with the head of a cat. His teeth are too big for his mouth, his fingernails are claws, and he has the hind…
Lizzie St. Laurent has several low wage jobs to help pay for her “luxury basement apartment.” Now that grandma has died from a stroke, Lizzie needs jobs over a college education to pay for food, clothes and the gas bill for her Mini Cooper. Late for the family meeting deciding the fate of Grandma’s belongings,…
Alice the Player is the third novel in the Serenity House series by A.W. Exley. This series is a sequential one meaning the author has connected the plots of her novels chronologically so readers are best served beginning with book one. In this case that’s Ella the Slayer (read Pop’s review). Alice the Player picks…
Ella the Slayer isn’t your everyday fairytale adaptation of the Cinderella fantasy. Eleanor Cowie’s father is a knight and her deceased mother, who died when Ella turned ten, was a humble maid. Prior to fighting in the Great War (WWI), Eleanor’s father, Sir Jeffrey, married Elizabeth, the mother of two daughters, Louise and Charlotte. When…
During 2017 Pop read and reviewed 32 YA books. Here are his five favorites with the #1 posted last. #5 Collide The last day of spring break Anna (aka Annabelle) and younger brother Eric have the opportunity to go out for dinner with their parents. Eric wants Italian and Anna craves sushi. Mom tosses a…
Pop applauds author Erin Fry for including lead characters with disabilities in her extraordinary middle grade novel, Secrets of the Book. Spencer Lemon, a pre-teen with a degenerative eye disease and his buddy Gregor, stricken with autism, manage with great effort to overcome their impairments to defeat the bad guy and save the world. Sixth…
Jennie Samuel’s Beyond the Pond takes readers to a Texas backyard pond where we are introduced to the pond’s animal life and an ancient Cedar tree named Thalia. In this first book, Olivia, a new fish to the pond, reaches the mythical springs and coerces the great Artesia, the spirit of all water covering the…
About the Book Title: Wrong Side of the Rift Author: Libby Heil Genre: YA Fantasy Grape can’t unlearn what living in Sortilege Falls has taught her. Magic is real. Vampires live among us. And there’s a portal in her back yard that leads to another world. A few weeks ago, Grape lived a quiet life…
Holiday shopping is right around the corner. Are you really looking forward to spending hours fighting for a parking spot or waiting in long checkout lines at Macy’s, Sears, or Best Buy? If you want to avoid the hassles, think about buying your favorite child a book this year. You will want your book choice…
About the Book Title: The Power Club Author: Greg Gildersleeve Genre: MG Fantasy / Adventure “Some create darkness . . . or teleport . . . or fly. Damon creates darkness. Since he possesses a power, he must live in “the district” along with other powered teens. It’s a comfy living: a strip mall, two…