Review: The Steep & Thorny Way by Cat Winters

Rating: 4 stars A thrilling reimagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, The Steep and Thorny Way tells the story of a murder most foul and the mighty power of love and acceptance in a state gone terribly rotten.   1920s Oregon is not a welcoming place for Hanalee Denney, the daughter of a white woman and an African-American man. She has almost no rights by law, and the Ku Klux Klan breeds...

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Review: American Street by Ibi Zoboi

Rating: 5 stars On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie—a good life. But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola’s mother is detained by U.S. immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins, Chantal, Donna, and Princess; the grittiness of Detroit’s west side; a new school; and a surprising romance,...

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Review: Saving Red by Sonya Sones

Rating: 3 Stars Sonya Sones, award-winning author of What My Mother Doesn’t Know, delivers a gripping, funny, and inspiring novel in verse about what happens when the person you set out to save ends up saving you. Right before winter break, fourteen-year-old Molly Rosenberg reluctantly volunteers to participate in Santa Monica’s annual homeless count, just to get her school’s community service...

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Review: The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds.

  Rating: 4 stars Just when seventeen-year-old Matt thinks he can’t handle one more piece of terrible news, he meets a girl who’s dealt with a lot more—and who just might be able to clue him in on how to rise up when life keeps knocking him down—in this “vivid, satisfying, and ultimately upbeat tale of grief, redemption, and grace” (Kirkus Reviews) from the Coretta Scott King – John...

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Why oh why?

Years ago I discovered blogging while I was trying to figure out how to be a children's librarian. I read a million book reviews, program evaluations, and comments on other blogs and I thought... I can do that, so I did. I ran a blog for a few years called Newbie Librarians. it was initially going to be about being a librarian, but it eventually turned into nothing but book reviews. As life changed and I involved myself in the library field, I had less and less time for blogging and eventually walked...

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