Jason Reynolds’ middle-grade debut As Brave as You features two Brooklyn siblings and their summer in Virginia. Genie and his older brother Ernie get to know their grandparents and learn about rural life while their parents take a vacation alone to reconnect. I could so relate to eleven-year-old Genie and his worrying ways. Without the […]
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The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is a unique story that reads like a dark fairy tale. Ava Lavender recounts the story of the Roux family, from the origins of her grandmother Emilienne’s bakery to her mother’s hopeless love for Ava’s father. The unusual story sparkles with magical realism and fairy tale language, and the descriptions of […]
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In Half a Chance, New Hampshire newcomer Lucy gets the lay of the land by participating in a photo scavenger hunt competition. Her hobby helps her make friends and gets her interested in loon preservation. But she also learns that pictures are powerful and reveal hard truths. I’m familiar with Cynthia Lord’s RULES, which I […]
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Half a World Away is the latest book from 2013 National Book Award winner Cynthia Kadohata, and it’s new to audio format. In this book, an American couple adopts a Romanian-born 8-year-old named Jaden. Now twelve, Jaden is highly intelligent but he acts out. His abandonment issues intensify when his parents decide to adopt another […]
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