If summer is the best time for light reads, winter is the best time for cozy ones. Here’s what’s keeping me curled up with endless cups of hot chocolate this month. Meet the Austins The first in Madeleine L’Engle’s Austin Family series. 12 year-old Vicky Austin lives happily in a big farmhouse with her parents,…
Tag: young adult fiction
Review: Croak
Lex Bartleby is 16 and a complete nightmare. Her grades are in the toilet, she’s constantly fighting with classmates and her family, and she’s this close to getting expelled. So she’s mad, but not surprised, when her parents drop her on a bus to the middle of nowhere to stay with her Uncle Mort for…
Quickie Reviews: Heroes, Crowns, and Dirty Minds
Although I’m picky enough about what I read that I’m generally sure I’ll enjoy the books I borrow or buy, occasionally there are some that miss the mark. These are books that had promise, but fell flat. The Hero and the Crown This book was promising — strong female main character, dragons, etc. — but…
Review: The Iron Trial
Magic is dangerous, and will get you killed. That’s what Callum Hunt’s father has always told him. And the Magisterium — where young magicians are trained — is nothing but a pit of vipers. For other kids Callum’s age, the idea of purposely failing the Iron Trial is unthinkable; for Callum, it’s a goal. He…
Review: Sorrow’s Knot
The hamlet of Westmost sits at the edge of the world — beyond its wards, dark things creep. For many years it has been Willow’s responsibility to bind the dead, and to keep the restless spirits from harming the living. Otter, Willow’s only child, has always known that she will become a binder like her…