Finn and Ezra's Bar Mitzvah Time Loop, by Joshua S. Levy (May 14, 2024, middle grade, Katherine Tegen Books) is a groundhog day type timeslip story that's tremendously fun (which I expected, having found the authors previous books to also be very entertaining).  And yet it's not all fun and games; there's a more thoughtful thread running through it as well. Ezra's Bar Mitzvah is an ordeal to be endured, what with family tensions, his little sister barfing on his shoes, and the painful struggle to get through all that is required of him.  He's just glad he's reached the end on Sunda ..read more

|Black Hole Cinema Club, by Christopher Edge, at A Cascade of Books Nothing from me today, because I have been on a reading slump, throwing all my energy after work into the hellscape that is my garden and woods...Let me know if I missed your post! The Reviews The Day I Fell into a Fairy Tale, by Ben Miller, at Cracking the Cover Ember Spark and the Thunder of Dragons, by Abi Elphinstone, at Just Imagine The Fight for the Hidden Realm (Paper Dragons), by Siobhan McDermott, at Ms. Yingling Reads A Game of Noctis, by Deva Fagan, at A Library Mama Gargoyles: Guar ..read more

 Hi all!  Here's what I found this week; let me know of anything I missed. The Reviews Beneath the Swirling Sky, by Carolyn Leiloglou, at Susan Uhlig The Day I Fell Into a Fairy Tale, by Ben Miller, at YA Books Central Duet, by Elise Broach, at Dead Houseplants  The Haunting of Lake Lucy, by Sandy Deutscher Green, at Valinora Troy The Magician Next Door by Rachel Chivers Khoo, at Family Book Club Olivia Cole and Legend of the Silver Seed, by Ricky Melamed, at Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub  Peregrine Quinn and the Cosmic Realm, by Ash Bond, at B ..read more

It's always a happy thing when a favorite author has a new book!  And indeed, Puzzleheart, by Jenn Reese (May 14, 2024, middle grade fantasy, Henry Holt and Co.) rewarded me with several happy hours of reading. Twelve-year-old Perigee is worried about their depressed dad, and so they set in motion a visit to their grandmother's, where they have never been, which they hope will mend both the family and their dad's spirits (and maybe alleviate Perigee's growing concerns about finances...). And Perigee is eager to see for themselves the puzzle house bed and breakfast that their grandpa ..read more

The Ship in the Garden, by Zetta Elliott (middle grade, independently published, 104 pages), this week's Timeslip Tuesday book, is many things in one--a fantasy story with magical beings, a story of 13 year old Scottish kids with non-magical worries, a story about the slave trade in Scotland, and a time travel story that sends one of the kids back in time into enslavement on a Caribbean island. It starts with a school field trip to Pollok House, build by an 18th-century Glasgow merchants whose fortune was based on slavery.  The day is marred for Kofi when he's paired with Gavin, a racist ..read more

Greetings from Rhode Island, where I've mostly read grown-up books this week for a change of pace....Please let me know if I missed your post! The Reviews  Alex Neptune: Zombie Fighter, by David Owen, at Book Craic The Crowfield Curse, by Pat Walsh, at Bookwork for Kids Daughters of the Lamp, by Nedda Lewers, at Pages Unbound  The Day I Fell Into A Fairy Tale, by Ben Miller, at Bookworm for Kids and Crafty Moms Share The First State of Being, by Erin Entrada Kelly, at ReadWonder A Game of Noctis, by Deva Fagan, at The Book Search and Charlotte's Library ..read more

This week's time travel book, Throwback, by Maurene Goo (YA, April 2023, Zando Young Readers), sends Samantha, the daughter of Korean immigrants, back in time to the 1990s, where she has to play the role of an ordinary high school kid until she figures out what she needs to change back in the past in order to get home again. Sam is kicking hard against her mother's expectations and aspirations.  We first met her when she's deliberately being obnoxious during her parents' country club membership interview (and yes, I share Sam's views about country clubs and their grass maintenance i ..read more

 a combination of eclipse viewing in Vermont (utterly magical.  Clear skies, snow on the ground making the weird light effects even more so, mountain views, and three minutes of mind-blowing totality) followed by the worst traffic of my life leaving VT--10 hours at 11 mph, got off the highway at 2 to find a hotel) and house guests has left no time for blogging.  Here's the world beginning to grow dim at Sentinel Rock Park, northern Vermont (where we actually sat we were surrounded by six inches of less trodden snow....) see you next week ..read more

Good morning all!  Here's what I found this week-- The Reviews Alyssa and the Spell Garden, by Alexandra Sheppard, at Book Craic The Beatryce Prophecy, by Kate DiCamillo, at Susan Uhlig ChupaCarter and the Screaming Sombrero, by George Lopez and Ryan Calejo, at Mark My Words The Clockwork Conspiracy, by Sam Sedgman, at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books The Color of Sound, by Emily Barth Isler, at Charlotte's Library The Deadlands Series, by Skye Melki-Wegner, at The Story Sanctuary Ferris, by Kate DiCamillo, at The Book Muse   The First State of Being, by ..read more

Here's what I found this week; please let me know if I missed anything! The Reviews Ace Adler and the Pendulum of Doom, by John H. Matthews, at  Mark My Words Amari and the Great Game, by B. B. Alston, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads Amari and the Night Brothers, by B.B. Alston, at Novels Alive Dragon Force: Devourer’s Attack, by Katie & Kevin Tsang, at Scope for Imagination Festergrimm, by Thomas Taylor, at Puss Reboots  The First State of Being, by Erin Entrada Kelly, at Charlotte's Library Into the Witchwood, by Méabh McDonnell, at Book Craic The ..read more