Tag Archives: youth fantasy

Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead

I originally found out about this book on the PW Kidscast, though it’s since been nominated for a Cybils award in my category. Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead, with illustrations by Nicholas Gannon. Feiwel and Friends, 2018. I … Continue reading

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Aru Shah and Kiranmala

I’m always on the lookout for more books for Percy Jackson fans, especially from non-Western European cultures.  Happily, Rick Riordan has started his own imprint to do just this thing – but Scholastic also recently published a book with a … Continue reading

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Bad Luck Kids: Nevermoor: the Trials of Morrigan Crow and Book of Boy

Here are two stories of children in very different worlds, but both considered to be bad luck. The first was all over the blogs I read in the middle of Cybils season last year.  It’s just as delightful a few … Continue reading

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Oddity and the Daybreak Bond

Here are two books that have little in common besides being contemporary speculative fiction at the middle grade level.  The first I picked solely because of the adorable yet fierce kid on the cover; the second because I liked the … Continue reading

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Guest Post by Lexi Kozlar: Charlotte, Sometimes

A while back, a page at my library came asking for one of the New York Review Children’s Collection books.  I don’t remember what it was any more – we didn’t have it, I filled in a purchase request, the … Continue reading

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A Dash of Trouble. Love Sugar Magic #1 by Anna Meriano

I had an unplanned little Latinix series as holds came in on various fun-sounding books all at the same time. Here’s the next one, a funny fantasy with lots of baking. A Dash of Trouble. Love Sugar Magic #1 by … Continue reading

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The Dollmaker of Krakow and the Ice Sea Pirates

I said I was done reviewing Cybils books.  I lied.  Here are two more that were nominated for last year’s Cybils, both read from review copies kindly sent to me by the publisher. The Dollmaker of Krakow by R.M. Romero. … Continue reading

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The Marvelwood Magicians

I’ve enjoyed books by Diane Zahler in the past, including Baker’s Magic and The Thirteenth Princess, so I was happy when this new offering came up in my Cybils reading last year. The Marvelwood Magicians by Diane Zahler. Boyds Mills Press, 2017. … Continue reading

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Rebel Genius by Michael Dante DiMartino

This book was a 2016 Christmas gift from my love to my son and I.  We finished the book we were reading and then took several months reading it aloud together. Rebel Genius by Michael Dante DiMartino. Roaring Brook Press, … Continue reading

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Beast & Crown by Joel Ross

Beast & Crown by Joel Ross. HarperCollins, 2017. This most recent book by the author of the 2015 Cybils Middle Grade Speculative Fiction winner, The Fog Diver, features a similarly diverse cast, this time in a historical fantasy world. (I … Continue reading

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