Paris in 1789 is a labyrinth of twisted streets, filled with beggars, thieves, revolutionaries—and magicians… When smallpox kills her parents, Camille Durbonne must find a way to provide for her frail, naive sister while managing her volatile brother. Relying on petty magic—la magie ordinaire—Camille painstakingly transforms scraps of metal into money to buy the food… Continue reading Review: Enchantée by Gita Trelease
With her passion for scientific experimentation and her pet tarantula Violet, Tess de Sousa is no ordinary orphan. When a stranger shows up at Ackerbee’s Home for Lost and Foundlings, claiming to be a distant relative come to adopt her, Tess hopes to find some answers to her mysterious origins. But as she adjusts to… Continue reading Review: The Star-spun Web by Sinéad O’Hart
Amelia Hester McLeod is named after two of her mum’s favourite explorers. Two amazing, fearless, awesome women: Amelia Earhart and Lady Hester Stanhope. But Amelia herself doesn’t always feel very brave or very bright. She lives on a windblown island in a creaky old house right beneath the North Star. Her dad is sad and… Continue reading Review: Lightning Chase Me Home by Amber Lee Dodd
If there’s anything I love more than a good book, it’s a good book with a sequel. And this year I have read some spectacular sequels. Here are my top three: A Witch Alone by James Nicol Arianwyn Gribble is back! During an eventful holiday in Kingsport, Arianwyn is recruited for an important mission: to… Continue reading The Best Three Sequels of 2018
As it’s nearly the last day of the last month of the year, I decided to do a traditional top-ten book list. Because I read SO MANY good books this year, I’m also gonna do a top sequels of the year (they’re also middle grade, I know, shocker!). The Storm Keeper’s Island by Cat Doyle… Continue reading My Top Ten Books of 2018 (They’re all Middle Grade–Try to Act Surprised!)
Delphernia Undersea wants to sing. But everyone on Blightsend knows music belongs to the Masters — and girls with singing throats are swallowed by the sea. On the strange, stormy island of Blightsend, twelve-year-old Delphernia Undersea has spent her whole life in the cloister of turnaway girls, hidden from sea and sky by a dome… Continue reading Review: The Turnaway Girls by Hayley Chewins
A nonstop middle-grade fantasy adventure, The Train to Impossible Places by debut author P. G. Bell is as fun as it is full of heart, and the first book of a planned trilogy. A train that travels through impossible places. A boy trapped in a snow globe. And a girl who’s about to go on… Continue reading Review: The Train to Impossible Places by P. G. Bell
