-
Join 886 other subscribers
- Follow alibrarymama on WordPress.com
-
Recent Posts
- 4 Fantasy Series Starters for Kids: An Encantadora’s Guide to Monstros & Magic, The Genie Game, The Last Ember, and The Magic Library of Waterfall Way
- Monthly Book Round-Up Middle Grade-Adult: July 2025
- Magic and Mental Health: Rialto and Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute
- Books That Bridge Cultures: Hail Mariam, Every Day I Read, and Four Faces of the Moon
- Memorable Settings for Teens: Legendary Frybread Drive-In, Heiress of Nowhere, and the Maid and the Crocodile
Archives

Tags
- #OwnVoices
- Adult Nonfiction
- adventure
- African-American
- Armchair Cybils
- Asian-American
- audiobooks
- award winners
- bibliography
- book-review
- book reviews
- books
- contemporary fantasy
- cooking
- Cybils
- diversity
- dragons
- fairy tales
- Fantasy
- fiction
- ghosts
- graphic novels
- historical fantasy
- historical fiction
- humor
- knitting
- Latino/a
- Latinx
- LGBTQ
- Middle Grade
- mr. fp
- multiculturalism
- Mystery
- mythology
- parenting
- picture books
- pirates
- reading
- Romance
- science fiction
- steampunk
- teen
- teen fantasy
- teen fiction
- teen science fiction
- Top Ten Tuesday
- youth fantasy
- youth fiction
- youth graphic novels
- youth science fiction
-
Top Posts
-
© Katy Kramp and alibrarymama.com, 2004-2024. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Katy Kramp and alibrarymama.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Category Archives: Reviews
Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder
Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder. HarperCollins Children’s, 2017. Nine on an island, orphans all Any more, the sky might fall. This is the rhyme that rules the lives of the nine children who live together on an island. Every year … Continue reading
The Countdown Conspiracy by Katie Slivensky
Six kid geniuses from around the world science their way home from space. The Countdown Conspiracy by Katie Slivensky. Harper, 2017. Meet Miranda Regent, girl genius from Ohio. At least her little sister thinks she’s smart enough to earn a … Continue reading
Rise of the Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
This book is nominated for the Cybils. I was going to read it anyway, because of being the sequel to The Jumbies. Also, the awesome cover. Also, Tracey Baptiste was willing to pose with my sock-in-progress at Kidlitcon 2015. Rise … Continue reading
Posted in books, Reviews
Tagged #ReadDiverse2017, Caribbean, folklore, mermaids, youth fantasy
4 Comments
Felix Yz
Felix Yz by Lisa Bunker. Viking, 2017. Thirteen-year-old Felix was just a toddler sitting on his scientist father’s lap when an experiment exploded. His father died, while Felix’s consciousness was fused with that of an alien, whom they call Zyx. … Continue reading
In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse and #NotYourPrincess
Here are two books celebrating the Native American/Aboriginal experience – one that finally made its way to the top of my reading list, and one new book that the teen librarian kindly purchased for me after I told her how … Continue reading
Posted in books, Reviews
Tagged #OwnVoices, #ReadDiverse2017, art, Native American, poetry, road trips, teen, youth fiction
7 Comments
Journey across the Hidden Islands by Sarah Beth Durst
I was so excited when an author from my Top 10 Fantasy Authors I’ve Never Read list popped up on the Cybils nominations this year! Sarah Beth Durst writes mostly YA – I understand this is her first middle grade … Continue reading
Tumble & Blue by Cassie Beasley
It’s all Cybils all the time for me right now – except for this book, which I read just as the Cybils nomination period was opening in the expectation that it would be nominated, because Circus Mirandus had been so … Continue reading
Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh
Here’s a super-creepy book by We Need Diverse Books founder Ellen Oh for those who want to hang on to that Halloween feeling. Or maybe just like reading stories of haunted houses. Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh. HarperCollins, 2017. Harper … Continue reading
Posted in books, Reviews
Tagged #ReadDiverse2017, #wndb, Asian-American, ghosts, youth fantasy
9 Comments
Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth
Back to Cybils-nominated books with a whimsical adventure with an alien, from the author of the updated Chitty Chitty Bang Bang books. Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Harper Collins Children’s 2017. Prez Mellows lives his … Continue reading
Posted in books, Reviews
Tagged aliens, foster children, grandparents, memory loss, Scotland, youth science fiction
3 Comments
Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis.
Quick break for another pre-Cybils review, a charming Regency fantasy-romance, with strong underpinnings. Snowspelled. The Harwood Spellbook 1 by Stephanie Burgis. Five Fathoms Press, 2017. Cassandra Harwood used to be Angland’s only female magicians, and one of its best altogether. … Continue reading

