Ever since Cass almost drowned (okay, she did drown, but she doesn't like to think about it), she can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the dead . . . and enter the world of spirits. Her best friend is even a ghost. So things are already pretty strange. But they're about… Continue reading Book Club Review: City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
Resourceful fourteen-year-old Odette is on the move again, traveling as a stowaway on a cheese cart with her hapless mother, Anneline. They are in Burgundy, France, in 1799, fleeing yet another calamity caused by Anneline (who is prone to killing people accidentally). At dawn they find themselves in a town called Nevers, which is filled… Continue reading Book Club Review: Nevers by Sara Cassidy
“Tell no one what I’ve given you.” Until he got that cryptic warning, Christopher Rowe was happy, learning how to solve complex codes and puzzles and creating powerful medicines, potions, and weapons as an apprentice to Master Benedict Blackthorn—with maybe an explosion or two along the way. But when a mysterious cult begins to prey… Continue reading Book Club Review: The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands
Stranger Things meets The Stand in this haunting coming-of-age novel about a plague that brings the world to a halt -- and the boy who believes that his town's missing sparrows can save his family. In the small town of Griever's Mill, eleven-year-old Ben Cameron is expecting to finish off his summer of relaxing and bird-watching without a… Continue reading Book Club Review: The Absence of Sparrows by Kurt Kirchmeier
The arrival of the Soviet Army in Germany at the end of World War II sends sixteen-year-old Katja and her family into turmoil. The fighting has stopped, but German society is in collapse, resulting in tremendous hardship. With their father gone and few resources available to them, Katja and her sister are forced to flee… Continue reading Book Club Review: My Long List of Impossible Things by Michelle Barker
Ambition will fuel him. Competition will drive him. But power has its price. It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has… Continue reading Book Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (a Hunger Games novel) by Suzanne Collins
Felix Knuttson, twelve, is an endearing kid with an incredible brain for trivia. His mom Astrid is loving but unreliable; she can't hold onto a job, or a home. When they lose their apartment in Vancouver, they move into a camper van, just for August, till Astrid finds a job. September comes, they're still in… Continue reading Book Club Review: No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen
When Jaxon is sent to spend the day with a mean old lady his mother calls Ma, he finds out she's not his grandmother--but she is a witch! She needs his help delivering baby dragons to a magical world where they'll be safe. There are two rules when it comes to the dragons: don't let them out of the… Continue reading Book Review: Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott
It was just rain. But after the downpour, odd black plants begin to shoot up. Suddenly— They. Are. Everywhere. They take over fields and twine around houses. They bloom and throw off toxic pollen—and feed. Strangely, three Salt Spring Island teens seem immune. Anaya, Petra and Seth. What’s their connection? What’s their secret? A week… Continue reading Book Club Review: Bloom by Kenneth Oppel
The Journey Forward, A Novella On Reconciliation: When We Play Our Drums, They Sing! by Richard Van CampThis the story of 12-year-old Dene Cho, who is angry that his people are losing their language, traditions, and ways of being. Elder Snowbird is there to answer some of Dene Cho's questions, and to share their history… Continue reading Book Review: The Journey Forward, a novella on reconciliation
