4 stars An engaging and fast-paced adventure through the afterlife. This story has a little bit of everything. A shadowy villain, a trusty sidekick, a side romance, an unsure hero, and a fascinating look at the world of the dead. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one but was pulled in from nearly…
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3 stars A nice updated version of Black Canary suitable for young readers. Dinah Lance has to navigate the world of junior high complete with arguments with friends, that one bully who’s mean for no reason, and a principal that seems to be out to get her… as well as the strange happenings of things…
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3 stars This one took me a bit to get into. It deals with so many heavy topics: puberty, looking older than one’s age, sexual harassment, parental neglect, addiction, death of a parent, and being shuttled from one “home” to the next. But once I dove into the narration and story, I was swept up…
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3 stars I’m a little conflicted on what version is the best reading experience. I listened to the audio book and Kate Atwater does an absolutely phenomenal job reading. Each character is easily recognizable by the change in her voice and it was such a pleasure to listen to. However, then I realized the physical novel is…
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5 stars A fiercely powerful collection of prominent voices in the YA and children’s lit community. This is a book everyone should read. Regardless of race, ethnicity, skin color, age, religion. Everyone should read this book. Told from a variety of perspectives, each parent, author, artist, and educator gets at the same message of a…
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3 stars Pizazz doesn’t like her name, her cape, her “embarrassing” superpower, or being a superhero in general. But as she navigates the world of elementary school, she learns new ways of viewing the world and how to save it. An engaging story about a reluctant superhero and her struggles fitting in at a new…
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4 stars A hilarious combo of two adventures in one book. Featuring Wyss-Kuzz aka Klawde, an evil alien warlord cat exiled to Earth, and Raj, a city boy thrown into the wilderness of Elba, Oregon and forced to partake in the horrors of making new friends and surviving nature at Camp Eclipse. The two come…
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4 stars Another wonderful story following Nory and her friends in the Upside-Down Magic program, along with some new ones made along the way. In the fourth book, the kids in the Upside-Down Magic class head to Dragon Haven for three days to learn about and interaction with real dragons. Yet unexpected surprises are in…
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3 stars A good third book in the Magic Misfits series. I’ll admit this one didn’t quite hit the mark for me as well as the first two. Not sure if the series is losing some of its steam or if it was the listening format of the audiobook. This feels like a bridging point…
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5 stars Another absolutely gorgeous book in the Amulet series! I love the artwork of these books so much. It’s so easy to just get lost in the worlds Kibuishi has created. Despite my best efforts, I flew through this book. So much happens and it was all amazing. The whole storyline on Algos Island…
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