Andi’s life fell apart after her younger brother died. Her parents divorced, her mother paints canvases with her brother’s face on them all day, and Andi feels Truman’s death was all her fault. The crushing weight of her depression has her feeling hopeless and contemplating suicide. Her dad, a world famous geneticist, tries to save [...]

Michaela MacColl has written two novels for young readers that feature historical figures: Beryl Markham in Promise the Night and Queen Victoria in  Prisoners in the Palace: How Princess Victoria Became Queen with the Help of Her Maid, a Reporter, and a Scoundrel. Recently I had a chance to ask her a few questions about [...]

Lucky Linderman has had to face a lot of challenges in his 14 years. His grandfather has been missing in action since being captured in Laos during the Vietnam War. His father doesn’t really talk to him about anything important, and his mother escapes the home life tension by swimming laps every day. Then there’s [...]

Evan and Lucy have been best friends ever since they can remember. They used to spend hours playing together and creating stories and drawings for an imaginary place they call Aelysthia. That was before Lucy’s parents split up and she moved with her mother from New England to Georgia. Now she comes back once a [...]

Sam doesn’t remember too much from before his dad took him and his little brother away from home for a life on the run. He just knows that it’s important that he not attract attention to himself when he goes out. But when he makes a connection with Emily, he suddenly doesn’t want to be [...]

Violet has high expectations for her junior year at the exclusive all-girls school she attends in Boston. She’s always had to work hard for whatever she achieves, and she’s willing to put in as many hours as it takes to increase her chances of getting into a good college. But she soon finds out that [...]

Here’s a guest review by author Christina Hamlett. Title: Witch Dreams Author: Vivian Vande Velde Publisher: Marshall Cavendish (2008) Genre: YA Fantasy Where do we really go when we dream? Do we revisit, re-examine and/or reinvent the past? Do we try to sneak a peek at the future? Do we engage in fanciful adventures or [...]

Neva lives in a world where someone is always watching. The government built the Protectosphere she lives in to keep everyone safe, yet that same government also seems to make people disappear and never come back. As life inside the dome becomes more limited, the government squeezes its citizens ever more tightly to squelch insurgencies [...]