Isabel lives her life through other people’s stories; old movies, old photographs and clothing she finds in thrift stores, and old books she repairs in the basement of the library. But when she finds an old postcard of Amsterdam in her favorite junk shop, she is surprised to find a message on the back. She [...]

Adrienne is sure her summer is going to be a disaster. Instead of spending it on a wilderness canoe trip in Canada with her best friend, she’s stuck at home in West New Hope, Delaware with a knee injury. And if that isn’t bad enough, her mother is forcing her to be in a mother-daughter [...]

Glow is a fascinating story that starts during the early days of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1940s and goes back in time to tell the story of a remote mountainous region in Georgia and the generations of whites, African Americans, and Native Americans who lived there. I enjoyed it from beginning to end, [...]

Kara’s life in Manhattan roars at a dizzying pace. She feels she is always rushing to something—work, her children’s activities, or an event with her husband. There’s no time for her to think, just to do. Then, one day when she encounters paintings in a gallery from her former lover in college, she begins to [...]

When Annia Ciezadlo started dating a Lebanese man she met in New York, she had no idea how his culture and his family would influence her life. After all, most of Mohamad’s family lived elsewhere, in Lebanon, France and Spain. But when Newsday appointed Mohamad to chief of its Middle East bureau, he wanted to [...]

Rosie Flo’s coloring books series by Roz Streeten offers several out-of-the-ordinary options for kids who like to and have the patience to color in detail. The series includes books on kitchen items, gardening, animals, travel, night-time activities and more. Now author Roz Streeten has created Rosie Flo’s Coloring Fashion Show with tear outs that let [...]

Calli feels as though she’s the only one in her family who is not a super achiever. Her brother excels at basketball, her sister skates and her parents are busy getting them to practices and games and cheering them on. As the youngest, Calli often feels she gets no attention because she’s average and happy [...]

I loved being able to recommend good books for middle-grade readers, which is roughly defined as readers aged 9 to 12, The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook is one of those, so read on for the review, and check back tomorrow for an essay from author Joanne Rocklin about the power of telling stories [...]