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Book Review: Betty Before X by Ilyasah Shabazz & Renée Watson

February 9, 2019 by motifink

In Detroit, 1945, eleven-year-old Betty’s house doesn’t quite feel like home. She believes her mother loves her, but she can’t shake the feeling that her mother doesn’t want her. Church helps those worries fade, if only for a little while. The singing, the preaching, the speeches from guest activists like Paul Robeson and Thurgood Marshall stir African Americans in her community to stand up for their rights. Betty quickly finds confidence and purpose in volunteering for the Housewives League, an […]

Categories: Children, children's, Pretty Covers • Tags: Betty Before X, book review, historical fiction, Ilyasah Shabazz, middle school, Renée Watson, The Housewives League

Book Review: Small Spaces by Katherine Arden

December 26, 2018 by motifink

After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn’t think–she just acts, stealing the book and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with “the smiling man,” a sinister specter who […]

Categories: Children, children's, Fantasy, Horror • Tags: book review, children book, fantasy, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, horror, Katherine Arden, middle school readers, Small Spaces

Book Review: The Golden Fountain by Zuheb Alep

September 22, 2018 by motifink

The Golden Fountain is the story of a twelve-year old Benjamin, a rebellious boy whose fierce desire to become a leader is threatened by the children disappearing around his city. The citizens of the city has long suffered their children’s disappearance, but the fact that they were never discovered leads Benjamin to finally decide one thing; he would creep on-board a ship carrying eight thousands soldiers to rescue them around the world. This story is set parallel in a world […]

Categories: Children, children's, NetGalley, NetGalley Review • Tags: Arc, book review, fantasy, The Golden Fountain, Troubador Publishing Ltd, Zuheb Alep

What Tanya Wants: July 2018

July 2, 2018 by motifink

Categories: Adult Ficiton, Children, Pretty Covers, Thriller, what tanya wants, Young Adult • Tags: Adult Fiction, fantasy, July wants, Little Mermaid, magic, romance, science fiction, thriller, what tanya wants, ya

What Tanya Wants: April 2018

April 2, 2018 by motifink

Categories: Adult Ficiton, Children, Fantasy, Paranormal, what tanya wants, Young Adult • Tags: April 2018, Beyond a Darkened Shore, Captive, Dread Nation, Heads of the Colored People, Isle of Blood and Stone, Jason Reynolds, new book releases, Sunny, The She Wolf of Kanta, The Window, Unbury Carol, ya

Book Review: Shadow Warrior: Based on the True Story of a Fearless Ninja and Her Network of Female Spies by Tanya Lloyd Kyi, Celia Krampien (Illustrator)

February 13, 2018 by motifink

It’s 1558, and warlords across Japan are battling for territory and control. Into this setting, Tanya Lloyd Kyi weaves the stories of three people: Mochizuki Chiyome, a young woman determined to become a ninja whose plans are thwarted by an arranged marriage; Takeda Shingen (The Tiger), a fierce warlord seeking a new weapon to outsmart his enemies; and Aki, an orphaned tavern girl whose destiny is changed by a mysterious woman. As their stories intersect, the three characters become key […]

Categories: Children, children's, Historical Fiction • Tags: Annick Press, Arc, Based on the True Story of a Fearless Ninja and Her Network of Female Spies, book review, Celia Krampien, For the Kids, historical ficition, illustrations, middle school, NetGalley, Shadow Warrior, Tanya Lloyd Kyi

Book Review: Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh

January 4, 2018 by motifink

“Harper doesn’t trust her new how from the moment she steps inside, and the rumors that the Raine family’s new house is haunted. Harper isn’t sure she believes those rumors, until her younger brother, Michael, starts acting strangely. The whole atmosphere gives Harper a sense of deja vu but she can’t remember why. She knows that the memories she’s blocking will help make sense of her brother’s behavior and the strange and threatening sensations she feels in the hours, but […]

Categories: Children, HarperCollins, Paranormal • Tags: book review, children books, Diversity, ellen oh, harper collins, horror, paranormal, spirit hunters

Book Review: The Song From Somewhere Else by A.F. Harrold, Levi Pinfold (Illustrator)

May 31, 2017 by motifink

Frank doesn’t know how to feel when Nick Underbridge rescues her from bullies one afternoon. No one likes Nick. He’s big, he’s weird and he smells – or so everyone in Frank’s class thinks. And yet, there’s something nice about Nick’s house. There’s strange music playing there, and it feels light and good and makes Frank feel happy for the first time in forever. But there’s more to Nick, and to his house, than meets the eye, and soon Frank […]

Categories: Bloomsbury USA Childrens, book review, Children, children's, Fantasy, NetGalley, NetGalley Review • Tags: A.F. Harrold, Bloomsbury Children's Books, book review, children books, fantasy, Levi Pinfold (Illustrator), netgalley. netgalley review, The Song From Somewhere else., young adult

Book Review: The Warden’s Daughter by Jerry Spinelli

April 18, 2017 by motifink

Cammie O’Reilly is the warden’s daughter that lives in an apartment above the entrance to the Hancock County Prison. Although her father is active in her life, she is missing her mother. A mother, who saved her only daughter from harm. Known as Cannonball, Cammie is about to turn 13 years old and is looking for a mother figure within a shoplifter and a reformed arsonist of a housekeeper. Going through the motions while her best friend begins playing with […]

Categories: Children, children's, NetGalley, NetGalley Review, Realistic, Young Adult • Tags: Arc, book review, children's, coming of age, family, jerry spinelli, The Warden's Daughter, young adult

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Category Archives: Children