Blog Entries

Child of the Dream: A Memoir of 1963 by Sharon Robinson

Recommended for ages 8 to 12 years.

This book follows the year Sharon Robinson, daughter of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, turned 13 years old.  The year is 1963 and also a very important year in the history of America.  Sharon Robinson’s journey is documented in a fascinating and telling memoir. The book also contains several photos of the family enjoying time with other famous civil rights heroes. The Robinson family participated in many of the most important events of the era. But as important as...

The Last Train to London by Meg Waite Clayton

The Last Train to London is a historical fiction written about a true life World War II heroine Geertruida Wijsmuller also known as Tante (Aunt) Truus. Truus was a Dutch woman that smuggled Jewish children out of Germany and other German occupied countries such as Austria. She would take them to countries such as Britain and have them placed with families. Her mission was called the Kindertransport and she would end up rescuing ten thousand children from the Nazi’s. She never had any biological children, however her tombstone reads “Mo...

Anhaga by Lisa Henry

Anhaga, by Lisa Henry, is a delicious gay fantasy romance with just the right mix of electric sexual tension and magical adventure. We meet Min, the best thief in Amberwich with the worse reputation. His nephew has gotten in trouble with one of the most powerful families in the city, resulting in a nasty curse. In order to undo the curse he must offer his services to the despised Sabadine family. If Min can return from the dangerous city of Anhaga with something of great value, the curse will be lifted.

Of course, this is nowhere near a straightforwa...

Lalani of the Distant Sea by Erin Entrada Kelly

Recommended for ages 8-12

Twelve year old Lalani Sarita lives on the oppressive island of Sanlagita where everyone fears “the mountain” and life consists of cleaning, cooking, mending and errands. The island has endured a drought and the people are running out of food and water. Lalani’s mother has also taken sick with mender’s disease, an often fatal illness. A mythical creature on “the mountain” grants Lalani one wish and she wishes for rain. It rained for days, then weeks and finally the “the mountain” gave way and destr...

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is one of the newest students at the remote mountaintop boarding school that was the scene of one of the most famous kidnapping and murder cases of the 20th Century. Ellingham Academy was founded by an eccentric millionaire as a sanctuary for gifted students – but the educational utopia almost didn’t survive its first term. Shortly after opening, two Ellingham family members disappeared and a student was killed. Though the school eventually reopened, the mysteries swirling around campus have kept amateur detectives...

Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

More and more often lately, a little voice inside her head is asking questions she doesn’t have answers for. Why you, Gwendy Peterson? Out of all the people in this round world, why did he choose you?

It is the summer of 1974, and 12-year old Gwendy Peterson is doing her daily climb of the Suicide Stairs in Castle Rock when the man with the black hat she has seen sitting on the bench below all week speaks to her.  Smartly, Gwendy points out that she doesn’t speak to strangers, but after the eccentric man d...

The Poison Bed by Elizabeth Fremantle

The Poison Bed is an intriguing psychological thriller full of history, intrigue, and murder.  It is equal parts historical fiction and true crime.  A Forensic Files for the Jacobean Age.  The book centers around the marriage of Lady Frances Howard and Robert Carr (a favorite of King James I) and the murder of their fellow courtier Thomas Overbury.  Both parties stand accused of the crime and one of them will pay with their life.  But will the true mastermind p...

D-Day Girls by Sarah Rose

D-Day Girls by Sarah Rose is a page turning work of nonfiction that documents the adventures the women of Winston Churchill’s Special Operations Executive who risked everything to prepare France for the allied invasion on June 6, 1944. During a time when very little was expected of women outside their traditional roles, these women broke barriers and took risks for the cause of freedom. They were the first women in organized combat and the first women in active duty special forces. They trained as paratroopers and infiltrated the war zone i...

Marriageology: The Art and Science of Staying Together by Belinda Luscombe

Belinda Luscombe is an editor at Time magazine who has written about marriage for over a decade.  With this work, she has written a funny and approachable guide for couples.  Marriageology is an easy read at a little over 200 pages.  (There are 30 pages of footnotes at the end, though, if you really want to check on all of her statistics.)  In general, the takeaway is that people are better off married, as long as it’s not abusive or a “war zone.”  If you can stick it out,...

Evangeline of the Bayou written by Jan Eldredge and illustrated by Joseph Kuefler

Recommended for ages 8-12

Evangeline Clement is studying to be a haunt huntress like all the women in her line. With only a few weeks before her 13th birthday, she only needs her familiar to appear and choose her for its companion. But with mistake after mistake, and the council watching closely, is she really cut out for such things as banshees and shadow crouchers?

Evangeline and her Grandma are called out of the swamp to New Orleans to help a family with a problem no ...

Gather the Fortunes by Bryan Camp (Book 2 in the Crescent City series)

Renaissance Raines is a supernatural being known as a psychopomp, one of many who usher the recently deceased through the Seven Gates of the Underworld before they arrive at their final destination. But when she is assigned to help Ramses St. Cyr, she can’t find him. He has somehow avoided his moment of death, and that simply does not happen.

What follows is a wild journey that takes you from the darkest haunts of New Orleans through all the gates of the underworld and back again. With the help of a f...

Saving Meghan by D. J. Palmer

Saving Meghan is a page turning suspense novel that will have the reader trying to anticipate the truth only to have another twist thrown at them as the plot thickens. Meghan was a bright active 15 year old, but suddenly that changes. She starts experiencing a whole host of symptoms that medical specialists are unable to find a definitive diagnosis. The stress of not having an answer takes a toll on her parents and the mom turns to social media for support. After exhausting all the medical possibilities another specialist wonders if Meghan is truly si...

Sweet Dreamers by Isabelle Simler

Recommended for ages 4-8

A perfect bedtime cuddle book! This book has been brilliantly translated from French to English and is a complete delight for young and old. The illustrations have been created digitally and are exquisite with extraordinary color contrasts. The art is reminiscent of scratchboard art at its finest. Each double page spread contains a short poem about how each animal sleeps and dreams and there may even be some surprising information and facts. Dolphins, giraffes, sloths, and koalas are just a few of the s...

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid         

Daisy Jones and the Six is the perfect beach read this summer.  It oozes rock and roll from every page and I loved it.  Told in the style of a rock documentary (ala Behind the Music) it tells the story of a talented and tempestuous female singer song writer breaking into the 1970’s rock scene.  Daisy Jones is just an emerging star when she hooks up the established classic rock bank The Six.  Their meteoric rise to the top of the music world is accompanied b...

I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall

A great summer read for fans of survival fiction like Gary Paulsen’s Hatchett. 

Following a tragic auto accident in which she was severely injured and her mother was killed, Jess is sent to live with her father in Alaska - but he’s not really in Alaska.  He’s hiding out in a cabin deep in the Canadian forest in an area so remote it is only reachable by air. 

After just a few short weeks, another tragedy occurs and Jess is left alone in this strange wilderness still reeling from loss and injury.  She kn...