Category Archives: Format

3 Fantastic Graphic Novels for Kids

Here are three recent fantasy and science fiction graphic novels for kids Aquicorn Cove by Katie O’Neill. Oni Press, 2018. I’m really fond of Katie O’Neill’s beautiful art style paired with woman- and queer-power storylines and couldn’t resist getting this … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Graphic Novel, Middle Grade | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Queer as a Five Dollar Bill

I’d heard of Lee Wind’s blog, I’m Here, I’m Queer, What the Hell Do I Read before, but it took me a little bit to put this together with the nice guy I was chatting with at KidLitCon.  He told … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Print, Realistic, Teen/Young Adult | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

I suddenly realized that though I always have an audio book going and get through quite a lot of them, I haven’t been reviewing them.  Here, have an audio book! Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson. Narrated by Rebecca Soler. … Continue reading

Posted in Audiobook, Books, Fantasy, Teen/Young Adult | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Pride by Ibi Zoboi

This was on my want-to-read list from the time it first came out, but it was Maureen at By Singing Light posting about it that finally pushed me into actually reading it. Pride by Ibi Zoboi. Balzer + Bray/Harper Collins, … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Print, Realistic, Teen/Young Adult | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

The Last Last-Day-of-Summer by Lamar Giles

Thank you so much to Versify for sending me an ARC of this book to review! The book was officially published April 2. The Last Last-Day-of-Summer by Lamar Giles, illustrated by Dapo Adeola. Versify/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019. It’s the last … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Print | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Where the Heart Is and Still a Work in Progress by Jo Knowles

Kidlitcon happened!  Providence was beautiful!  I plan to pull together my notes from that soon, but for now, a couple of books by the wonderful Jo Knowles, who was on my panel called “You Can’t Say That in Middle Grade”, … Continue reading

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The Benefits of Being an Octopus

Here’s another author from my Kidlitcon panel, which I’m posting from the airport on my way to Providence! The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden. Sky Pony Press, 2018. Seventh grader Zoey mostly keeps her head down on … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Middle Grade, Print, Realistic | Tagged | 3 Comments

So Done by Paula Chase.

Kidlitcon is coming up!  I’ll be moderating a panel called “You Can’t Say That in Middle Grade!” with four wonderful authors who are willing to tackle issues that have in the past been reserved for teen audiences, if they’re discussed … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Middle Grade, Print, Realistic | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

The Girl with the Dragon Heart by Stephanie Burgis

This is the sequel to The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart, which won the 2017 Cybils award for Middle Grade Speculative Fiction.  It came out in the middle of my 2018 Cybils reading, and was one of the first books … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Print | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Peasprout Chen

The nice thing about reading books that were published earlier in the Cybils cycle is that sometimes the sequel is ready to read very shortly afterward!  Here are a pair of Taiwanese-flavored fantasies, the first of which was one of … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Print | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments