It is the year before the kids go off to secondary school and everyone who loves football wants to make the Hall Park trials. Charlie Fry, an 11-year-old boy who loves football, has dreamed of being a striker for the Hall Park team. His only...

I must confess that ever since I first read Anna Elizabeth Bennett's Little Witch, I have been drawn to children's stories about witches. As soon as I saw the title of Patrice Lyle's book, I had to grab it and start reading right away. I...

The Search for the Stone of Excalibur is the second volume of The Chronicles of the Stone, a children’s and preteen historical adventure series written by Fiona Ingram and illustrated by Lori Bentley. Adam and Justin are South African cousins who played vital roles in...

Google Brown - Boy Detective: Google Brown Mysteries, Volume 1 is a collection of short mystery stories for children and preteens written by Garry F. Taylor. Geoffrey Brown is an 11-year-old who lives with his older sister Susan and their parents in Thomasville. While his...

Shenandoah: Daughter of the Stars by Nancy Johnson took me back to the days of the Civil War when fourteen-year-old Hannah Yeager, her thirteen-year-old brother Willy and their friend Charlie Richison find themselves growing up all too quickly because of the war raging around them....

To be honest, when I selected this book for review I was expecting a somewhat "been there-done that" book. Author Katie Sparks pleasantly surprised me with her well-written prose and spunky characters. Reality Natalie is about a young girl, Natalie Greyson, who has high ambitions...

Starting middle school is something completely new. There’s a lot that changes when you go from elementary school to middle school and that’s part of the reason it scares so many people. Unfortunately, the choices you make in middle school will follow you for a...

The Dry is a fantasy written for young adults and preteens by Rebecca Nolen. It's set in Jeffersonville, Virginia in 1895, and there's been an extended drought that's badly affected harvests. Elliot Sweeney is 12 years old, and he's been living with his uncle since...

Sir Licksalot and The Bay Fools is a preteen and children’s fantasy book written by D.L. Carroll and illustrated by Teri Cuneo. Blaze and his friends have figured out a way to travel through a fountain in Blaze’s backyard. When they’re gone, time stops so...

Maurpikios Fiddler: The Magical Amethyst of Spes is the second installment of a fantasy series by M.J. Logan. In the first book, The True Meaning of Magic, readers are introduced to young Maurpikios Fiddler with a mission to save his own life and those of...