Spin the Dawn

Elizabeth Lim's Spin the Dawn is an amazing book full of many of my favorite things. There's magic (cool, unique magic, unlike magic systems I've seen before.) There's political intrigue. There's a young woman trying to make it in a man's world. There's a focus on an artist who is…

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Moon over Manifest

Clare Vanderpool's Moon over Manifest immerses readers in a small town where a new girl is discovering herself and her roots all at once. Abilene Tucker wants to ride the rails with her father. Unfortunately, he has sent her to Manifest for the summer (or maybe longer). He seems to…

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Mazie

Mazie, the newest book by Melanie Crowder, is a great story about one young woman’s journey toward Broadway.As a small town girl from Nebraska, Mazie doesn’t know any professional performers (unless you count her dance teacher). In many ways, she’s aiming for something that seems utterly unreachable. It’s a powerful…

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The Kingdom of Back

Marie Lu’s The Kingdom of Back surprises with its mix of fantasy and historical fiction. I expected a fantasy, but at first, got nothing but a tale of Mozart’s forgotten sister.As a historical tale, this story immerses me in a world of rich detail, patriarchy, ambition, and music. Then, just…

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New Kid

New Kid, by Jerry Craft was 2020’s Newbery award winner. Like other Newberys, it is incredibly well-written, and rich in detail. It has well-rounded characters and a tale that tugs on my heartstrings. Unlike any other Newbery I’ve read, it is also a graphic novel. The artwork is gorgeous, and…

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Cress

Marissa Meyer has written another fabulous book with Cress. Book Three of The Lunar Chronicles lives up to the high standard set by Cinder and Scarlet. (My daughter would say it surpasses it. Cress is her favorite.)Like the two previous books, this one is a fairy-tale retelling–in this case of…

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Little Women

I’ve been rereading Little Women the past few weeks, and I’m reminded what a wonderful book it is. I started reading it for a The Enchanted Book Club, but I’m way behind, and haven’t been able to participate in the discussions. Maybe I’ll do better with next month’s selection.Moral Pap…

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Binti

I picked this up from the library after a friend recommended it on Goodreads, and it’s every bit as good as she said it was. I’m probably going to want to get a copy of my own of this stunning little gem at some point.When Binti leaves home to attend…

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Boxers & Saints

As you can probably see from the picture, Boxers & Saints is a graphic novel. (Really, two graphic novels.) Now, I’m not usually a graphic novel person, but every so often I run across something amazing. This is one of those things.This is a story ripped from the pages of…

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Cinder

My fourteen-year old has been begging me to read this one for at least a year now–and it’s spectacular. I love the world-building. Everything from Cinder’s cyborg parts to her stall in the market is shown in beautiful detail that makes the story come alive. And, of course, fairy-tale retellings…

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The Book Thief

Wow.Sometimes I read a book, and it’s so good, that I’m a bit in awe. This one is like that.I didn’t know what to think, at first, of a book narrated by death. But it grew on me. And seemed so appropriate–Death telling a story about World War II–a time…

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The Hate U Give

Like all my favorite stories, Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give introduced me to a whole new world. Except, however foreign it feels to me, Starr’s world exists. It's in places I can drive to–even if they’re hard for me to see, given that I’m a white girl. My world…

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Hello, Universe

It’s easy to see why Hello, Universe won the Newbery this year. The kids in this story are quirky, delightfully complex, and easy to believe in and sympathize with. Even Chet, the stereotypical bully, is not nearly so stereotypical as he first appears.Don’t get me wrong. He’s still a bully,…

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