Book #251 of 2017: Drowned Wednesday by Garth Nix (The Keys to the Kingdom #3) This third volume in Garth Nix’s seven-part Keys to the Kingdom series is the least formulaic so far, which is a welcome change from the one before. I’m still not super invested in the story or these characters – still …
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Book #198 of 2017: The Scourge by Jennifer A. Nielsen I like that the main characters in this novel are from an oppressed underclass in their society, because it teaches an important lesson about tolerance to any young readers clever enough to spot the parallels to people’s treatment in our own world. Unfortunately the book …
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Book #174 of 2017: Grim Tuesday by Garth Nix (The Keys to the Kingdom #2) This sequel felt like a formulaic retread of the first novel in the Keys to the Kingdom series, which was already a pretty generic fantasy adventure story. I’m still waiting for that Garth Nix magic that I love from his …
Book #157 of 2017: The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (Book of Ember #1) I had a really hard time suspending my disbelief for this novel, which admittedly may be less of an issue for the younger readers in its intended audience. But so many aspects of Ember’s civilization just didn’t ring true for …
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Book #130 of 2017: Mister Monday by Garth Nix (The Keys to the Kingdom #1) This somewhat generic tween fantasy adventure is sort of like a cross between Neverwhere and So You Want to Be a Wizard, featuring a young boy who learns he’s heir to a magical power and must travel through a twisted …
Book #74 of 2017: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (The Crossover #1) I’m generally not big on either novels in verse or stories that center around sports, but Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover won me over despite being both. It helps that this is a shorter book for middle-grade readers, but also the author’s characters feel …
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Book #95 of 2016: Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson (Alcatraz #1) Brandon Sanderson’s Alcatraz series starts out with a bang, combining one of his trademark creative magic systems with a narrator as snarky as Peter David’s Sir Apropos of Nothing in this fun novel for junior readers. We only get the first …
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Book #76 of 2016: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate A short but charming novel for young readers, Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only Ivan is as much an educational piece about great apes and animal captivity as it is a story. Any primatologist will recognize the emotional and cognitive complexity in the …
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Book #69 of 2016: The Dreamer by Pam Muñoz Ryan and Peter Sís I rather liked this novel for junior readers about the boy who would grow up to be Pablo Neruda. It’s below the level that I usually read, but the magical realism of the boy’s daydreams mixing with reality certainly made it memorable. …
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Book #64 of 2016: Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate This novel about a giant talking cat that only the protagonist can see really ended up being more about the boy’s family falling on hard times, and how his imaginary friend was something of a coping mechanism for that. It was honestly a very stressful read for …
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