Category: Bookshelf

Ryka Aoki’s Light from Uncommon Stars

The cover of Ryka Aoki's Light from Uncommon Stars sits next to the words "Couldn't put this one down"

Ryka Aoki’s Light from Uncommon Stars is full of many of my favorite things from both life and literature. There’s music and an exploration of genius. There are alien refugees. (Actual aliens, not “illegal aliens.”) There are demon contracts. And did I mention the donuts? Or the dozens of fabulous Asian dishes I now want […]

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

The Cover of The Last Cuentista sits atop streaks of red and blue paint. On the cover, a painting in reds and blues of a girl's face and upper torso. She appears to be sleeping. Behind her are jungle leaves and a sickle moon.

The Last Cuentista, by Donna Barba Higuera, is such a good book. Strong characters, fascinating family dynamics, storytelling… And a run for the stars as the world crumbles around the characters.  And that’s just the beginning. Seriously, this is a fabulous story that makes me think about the importance of stories, of imagination, and of […]

Lilith’s Brood

The picture shows a box set of three of Octavia Butler's books: Dawn, Adulthood Rites, and Imago

Lilith’s Brood is a collection of the three books in Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy. Amazing books, all of them–well written and thought provoking. In this story, humans have nearly wiped themselves out with nuclear winter, only to be “saved” by an alien species. These three stories follow one woman, Lilith, and her progeny as they […]

TJ Young & The Orishas

On the cover of TJ Young & the Orishas, A boy with a glowing spear floats deep under the sea. Giant eels swim around him.

TJ Young & The Orishas is an exciting new fantasy series by Antoine Bendele. If you like coming-of-age magic stories, read this for sure. I have actually only read the first one–The Gatekeeper’s Staff. (Oh–and also a little short story that you can get when you sign up for Antoine Bendele’s newsletter.) Still, that’s enough […]

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!

The Cover of Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Laura Amy Schlitz shows children and animals playing in front of Tudor-style houses.

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! surprised me. First of all, it’s not fiction–at least, not exactly. It’s a series of brilliant, connected, historical, one-person monologues.  Apparently, it came out of a research seminar that a library was doing for young people on middle age life. The final project was meant to be a play, but naturally, […]

Versatile Layer

box set that shows three books in the Versatile Layer Series--The Red Girl, The Glass-Runner, and Trial by Combat.

This Versatile Layer collection by Thomas K Davis includes a fun set of science fiction novels. Not young adult, exactly, it still contains great coming-of-age stories. It’s reasonably clean, so I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it for teens. This sweeping space opera follows stories of people stuck in a conflict between civilizations. I enjoyed the […]

Spin the Dawn

The cover of Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim shows a young woman with a flying raven behind her. She wields needle and thread, and seems to be floating in a cloud of fabric.

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 dedicated to her craft. There […]

Neil Gaiman’s Graveyard Book

Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book hovers over a barren graveyard landscape.

I wouldn’t have guessed that Neil Gaiman‘s The Graveyard Book was my kind of book. I’m not usually into the macabre or horror. But it is. It really is. I like the strongly developed characters in here. They’re quirky, but not so quirky that they seem flat or impossible. I also like the adventures that […]

Skyhunter

Marie Lu's Skyhunter appears larger than life on a library table. On the cover, a brightly colored, a silhouetted figure stands alone in a brightly colored almost alien landscape.

Marie Lu’s Skyhunter isn’t quite as good as her The Kingdom of Back. But it’s still an incredible book, and I’ll be looking for the sequels. The book stars a talented young woman from the wrong side of town. Her superpower seems to be her inability to speak–a relic left from when the Karensa Federation […]

When You Reach Me

A mock up of Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me hangs in the air in front of a dark vortex

Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me is a beautifully written book that walks a tightrope between reality and fantasy–or maybe sci-fi. Miranda’s neighbor, a boy she’s been friends with forever, suddenly wants nothing to do with her. An exploration of friendship follows. Miranda makes friends, learns to be a good friend, and gains understanding of […]

Moon over Manifest

The cover of Clare Vanderpool's Moon over Manifest on top of cracked dry earth. The cover shows a girl in blue overalls balancing on one rail of some railroad tracks as she walks along.

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 think she needs something more […]

Dead End in Norvelt

The cover of Dead End in Norvelt shows a Dead End sign covering a boy's face. In the background, a plane skywrites Jack Gantos's name in a blue sky with a few puffy clouds.

Jack Gantos‘s Dead End in Norvelt is a funny middle-grade book about a young man growing up in a town founded by Eleanor Roosevelt. Jack gets in trouble with his parents and spends the rest of the book grounded. His only amusement is helping the eccentric neighbor woman, Miss Volker. As amusements go, Miss Volker […]

The One and Only Ivan

The cover of The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate shows a gorilla sitting back to back with a baby elephant in a spotlight. Around them are shadows.

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate is a sweet, well-written book. It features a gorilla who makes art (and throws his own scat) in a small cage in a run-down mall circus. The story is told from Ivan’s point of view (Ivan is the gorilla). Instead of being disastrous, this choice is brilliant. […]

Raybearer

On a field of blue, a cell phone shows the cover of Jordan Ifueko's Raybearer, which has a girl's head in the middle of a burst of color. Her hair is glows gold, her skin is dark, and painted with white dots across her forehead and cheekbones.

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko is such a good book. Really. Go out and get it if you haven’t read it yet. (From the library works–that’s what I did.) The book is about Tarisai, who is beautiful, intelligent, talented, strong, and immune to fire. She can also read (or steal) memories when she touches a person […]

AEON The Sands of Undal

Floating over a background of sand dunes, a cellphone displays the cover of JL Kaiser's AEON The Sands of Undal. In it, a girl's torso is prominent, over gold clouds.

JL Kaiser’s Aeon The Sands of Undal has a great main character, wonderful world-building, and lots of food for thought. Caiia Shadi is smart, resourceful, a bit unconventional, and exceptionally loyal to her family–and to friends. I love how she makes her own path in a world that leaves no paths for her. Caiia lives […]

Jade City

Jade City--a digital cover for the book by Fonda Lee. It shows greenish, leafy embellishments on a dark background. Near the bottom, a button invites the reader to "continue."

I’ve been meaning to read Jade City for a while, and I don’t know what took me so long. Once I finally got into it, I found this book totally lived up to its hype. It’s a brilliant story, with intricate plotting and rich world-building The real stars, though, are the characters. My favorite is […]

A Voice that Thunders

Cover from A Voice that Thunders by Cully Mack--a reddish-haired woman holds a ball of light (or possibly ice) in her hands. Behind her, the sky is streaked with lightning and stars.

In A Voice that Thunders, Cully Mack plays around with that weird bit from Genesis 6. You know the bit–where Nephilim are on Earth, and sons of God are having children with daughters of men. That bit is a mysterious and intriguing glimpse of something odd going on in ancient times. As such, it has […]

Broken Skies

This shows the cover of Theresa Kay's Broken Skies--where a girl walks off into a golden cloud or explosive plume.

Theresa Kay’s Broken Skies is a young adult science fiction novel about Jax, a traumatized young woman, living in a post-apocalyptic world. Disease has decimated the human population, and aliens are colonizing Earth. Then some of those aliens kidnap Jax’s brother, leaving one of their own behind, wounded. Jax makes a deal with the wounded […]

Mazie

Cover of Mazie by Melanie Crowder, which shows a girl in front of the front of a theater, with her name in lights (and the author's on the board where they'd usually name the featured show.)

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 thing–watching her transform her […]

Flora & Ulysses

The cover of Kate DiCamillo's Flora & Ulysses, surrounded by greenery, and framed with a typewriter, a vacuum cleaner, a pair of sunglasses, a teacup, a donut, and a necktie.

If you need a fun, quick read that’s delightfully magical and laugh-out-loud funny, Flora & Ulysses is a great pick. Flora is a wonderful character. Smart and cynical, she nonetheless manages to be be sweet. Also, her ability to accept the incredible (but true) is refreshing. I wonder, in fact, if that ability to accept […]

The Kingdom of Back

Cover of Marie Lu's The Kingdom of Back -- a light blue stylized tree on a blue background.

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 when I’m comfortable, fantasy […]

The Priestess Trials

The Priestess Trials cover on a cell phone. A woman in a leather dress holding a spear looks out over a river toward a waterfall.

The Priestess Trials by A. A. Lee places me in a rich, unique world that feels vaguely familiar. It’s like something I saw or heard during my time in China–but in the countryside, not the city. However that doesn’t quite fit either because this world has very little modern technology. (They have knives and cooking […]

The Raven and the Dove

Cover of The Raven and the Dove by Kaitlyn Davis. A beautiful dark-skinned woman with white wings and a blue ballgown touches hands with a tall, good-looking man in black with light skin, black hair, and black wings. Where their hands touch, there are sparks.

I picked up The Raven and The Dove from a sales promotion that Songs of Healing was also in, and I was glad I did. This story by Kaitlyn Davis has great world building, interesting magic, good pacing, fascinating political intrigue, and romance. Plus, people can fly! Seriously, I love the flying bits. I also […]

The Crossover

Cover of The Crossover by Kwame Alexander--silhouette of a boy twirling a ball made of words on one finger

The Crossover, by Kwame Alexander, is a gorgeous novel in verse. In lyrical language it sings…and seduces…and transports.   In fact, The Crossover is a bit magical. I know that, because partway through reading it, I imagined I actually wanted to get out and play basketball. Anyone who knows me will understand the magic of […]

Invisible

Ebook cover of Invisible on a computer screen over a background of flowers. A gold and red crown sits in the foreground.

Invisible–another great book by Cecily Anne Paterson. The book stars Jazmine Crawford–a young lady who actively avoids attracting attention. Since her father’s death, she has perfected the art of becoming invisible. But then, Jazmine gets in trouble. To stay in school, she agrees to help with the school play. Soon, everybody sees her. Though it […]

The Girl who Drank the Moon

A hardback copy of The Girl who Drank the Moon--without its jacket-- sits atop a fan, and pictures of paper cranes swarm above it.

I have loved The Girl Who Drank the Moon since I first read it when my daughter picked it up for a contest back when she was in fifth grade. So, several years, now. Like all the best fantasies, this one immerses me in a world that feels both familiar and wonderfully different from the […]

Midnight Sun

The cover of Stephanie Meyer's midnight sun (pomegranite on black) sits on a dark background with hearts

Midnight Sun, as you probably already know, is the latest book in the Twilight series. It covers much of the same ground as the original books–but from Edward’s point of view. I admit I liked it, but that might be at least partly nostalgia. Still, some of Edward’s behavior feels a bit more comprehensible after […]

Merci Suárez Changes Gears

The cover of Merci Suarez Changes Gears is shown in small form on a cell phone in black and white. ON the cover, a girl rides a bicycle along a row of houses.

In Merci Suárez Changes Gears, Merci lives in las casitas–three pink houses in a row in Florida that she shares with not just her immediate family, but also her extended family. Lolo and Abuela live in the middle house, and much of this book is about Merci’s relationship with Lolo. Just as Merci struggles with […]

Beyond

Beyond by M.C. Winkkle on a cell phone. On the cover: A girl in silhouette stands atop hills in front of a colorful starry sky.

Beyond by M. C. Winkkle is a young adult science fiction book. It stars Stella, a young woman who is being held captive as an alien spy. However, Stella’s no spy. She’s just an ordinary girl who has had trouble fitting in with the other kids. She has a close relationship with her mom, though. […]

The Captain’s Boy

A screenshot of my kindle version of The Captain's Boy by Don Callaway The cover shows a man in revolutionary-era dress with a musket over one shoulder standing in front of a wagon and a log cabin.

The Captain’s Boy is the newest release from one of my critique group members–Don Callaway. This story follows a Pennsylvania farm boy from the period of the American Revolution. When Isaiah and his father return from a supply-gathering trip, they find that Hessians have looted and burned their farm. With the rest of the family […]

New Kid

New Kid--by Jerry Craft The book sits on a chair On the cover, a kid in a gray hoodie and black slacks scribbles in a notebook

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 I particularly love the art […]

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is written over a narrow winding street with Old-style architecture

I’ve read A Christmas Carol before, of course. When exactly, I can’t remember–perhaps it was for school. Reading it again, I’m impressed by the wealth of detail. The world comes alive with the meager coal in Bob Cratchit’s fireplace, the door knocker that morphs into Marley’s face, and the pictures of revelry outside Scrooge’s window […]

Sarah, Plain and Tall

The cover of Sarah, Plain and Tall (from a screenshot on my computer) shows a woman and a couple of children in old-fashioned clothes walking up a path through flat farmland.

I’ve often heard that Sarah, Plain and Tall is a very good book, but somehow I hadn’t read it before. It’s a deceptively simple story, short, with easy-to-read language. Despite its simplicity, the story packs a big emotional punch. Sarah, who is in fact plain and tall, comes from her home near the sea to […]

Cress

A paperback copy of Cress sits on a Christmas quilt next to a red document tubedecorated for Chinese New Year. There's lots of red.

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 Rapunzel. For an isolated […]

Bridge to Terabithia

Cover for Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson (Special 40th anniversary Edition) on a computer screen. Picture--Silhouette of girl swinging on rope from a tree across a gully toward silhouette of boy next to taller tree. Background blues with stars, silhouette of a pink/purple castle foggy in the background.

I read Bridge to Terabithia once long ago, and my memory of it was fuzzy–only that it was a very good book, and that it made me sad. When a student needed to read it for a class, I was glad to pick up a copy and read along. And, having read it again, I […]