David Tish's book Madame Charmaine (The Sheldon Beasley Series) takes an all-too-familiar story line and adds some interesting twists that make the book enjoyable. Nebraska youths Sheldon Beasley, Jimmy Blaze, Bull Evenshot, and Tabby Moore discover a rusty old padlocked trunk and assume they have...

Kid Ninja and the Notorious Nine by M. L. Hollaway speaks about bullying and the pain and hardship it causes to the person who is undergoing it. This is the story of Kevin, a fifth-grade student who is bullied in school every day. Kevin...

Astrology has always fascinated me. Steeped in mysticism like almost no other science, Astrology attempts to make predictions based on the movements of the stars and their relation to us. This belief and practice is very cool and full of creative promise for those who...

Poor Anna. That girl had a lot of sorrow and trauma to overcome, first with her momma dying in childbirth, the typhoid plague, and a flood that wiped out tons of her fellow townspeople and left Anna desperately ill. When she recovered, her father had...

Time Hackers by Layne Walker is a middle grade to early teen book with elements of science fiction, time travel, fantasy, and the general pre-teen angst that we've all come to know and love in middle grade fiction. Sixteen-year-old Jeff Watson is shaken out of...

The burden of achieving social acceptance and outward, physical beauty can be crushing for a teenage girl. But then there are the victories, both small and large; little feats of independence and larger, inward self-acceptance. Jacquelyn Eubanks in The Last Time showcases a sympathetic and...

In Seeking Dr. Magic, strange creatures called Phantom Ninjas by the media are causing chaos around the world. Detective Tony Hetfield, a former FBI agent turned private investigator, comes up with a theory that magic is involved, and names the responsible person as Dr. Magic....

When the power goes out on PF Day (PF for Power Failure), Bracken, the main character in How I Became A Teenage Survivalist by Julie L. Casey, realizes that he is quite lucky. He lives on a farm with his family and they have everything...

“Cigarette fire works the same way people work. The smoke always escapes your lungs, but it leaves behind a lot of shit when it does.” Aurora’s Ashes by Hia Chakraborty is a portrait of this very quote by Aurora Garland who had captured not only...

Dead Dreams (Book 1) by Emma Right is an intriguingly enchanting story that catches your fancy and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Brianna is a regular kid from a family that is caring, loving, and a little over-involved. Wanting to live on...