Yearling – Read It and Rate It

The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Adventure Classic Historical Fiction Realistic Fiction Review #1 * * * * * Stars (Amazing!) Jody is the only child (though he had siblings born before him, none of them survived) of Penny Baxter, “sound as copper itself,” and Ory, his stern, yet loving mother. Free willed and full of the wild spirit yet willingness of young boy living in rural Florida in the late 1800s (around 1870). Jody, … Read more

She Is a Haunting – book review

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran Horror Supernatural Suspense Thriller * * * Stars (Pretty good) Jade is coerced into staying with her father in Vietnam for 5 weeks to receive money for her college tuition from him. Her sister, brother and mother will also be traveling to Vietnam but since her parents are separated her mother and brother, who has chosen not to spend time with his father, will be staying with … Read more

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy – book review

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy by Emmanuel Acho Nonfiction * * * * Stars (Great!) Emmanuel Acho is a former professional football player (now sports analyst) and author who created a series of videos called “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man,” where he tries to answer questions about race and racism and the black experience. This is the young readers edition of the book published for adults and it poses a series of questions … Read more

Enlighten Me – book review

Enlighten Me by Minh Le & Chan Chau Graphic Novel Realistic Fiction * * * * Stars (Great!) Binh gets into trouble in school when he starts a fight with the kid who has been bullying him. Instead of being seen as a hero for standing up for himself, Binh finds that his family and the school administration are punishing him for his actions. His folks take the whole family away for a vacation retreat … Read more

Darius the Great Is Not Okay – book review

Darius the Great Is Not Okay Realistic Fiction YA Fiction Review #1 * * * * Stars (Great!) Darius is a chubby 14-year-old Persian-American who loves tea and Star Trek and his little sister, but not so much being bullied, being a disappointment to everyone, and dealing with his depression. When his grandfather is diagnosed with a brain tumor Darius and his family travel to Iran to visit them and he gets to meet his … Read more

Camp So and So – book review

Camp So-and-So by Mary McCoy Fantasy Mystery * * * Stars (Pretty good) 25 girls end up at a weird summer camp where they are grouped into cabins of 5 and are forced to play out a series of stories for an audience of inhuman beings that take their entertainment from the experience (unbeknownst to the girls when they arrive). Cabin 1 has to compete in various normal camp activities (sports, arts & craft, entertainment), … Read more

Missing Clarissa – book review

Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones Mystery Suspense Thriller * * * * Stars (Great!) 20 years ago a popular girl disappeared from a party in the woods after a fight with her boyfriend. She was never found. Now, Cameron and Blair are reviving the case for their journalism class and plan to do their own investigation and interviews into Clarissa’s disappearance. They publish their findings in a podcast that starts attracting a lot of attention … Read more

Flawed – book review

Flawed Flawed duology, bk #1 by Cecelia Ahern Dystopian Science Fiction Suspense Thriller * * * * Stars (Great!) Celestine North has never questioned the Guild that enforces her country’s moral/ethical code until she finds herself in the middle of an incident on a bus where her own personal sense of what’s right trumps the law. She helps an old, Flawed man, who is clearly deathly ill, and her transgressions earn her a life sentence … Read more