Tweet Eleven-year-old Elinor Malcolm feels the pressure of living up to her parents’ expectations. Especially those of her mom, a high-profile lawyer in New York City. Enrolled in a ballet school she doesn’t want to attend, Elinor takes to skipping … Continue reading
Category Archives: Contemporary Fiction
Tweet Curtis loves to cook. Whether it’s whipping up a cheese soufflĂ© for his mom and younger sister or earning extra money for the family by selling gourmet cupcakes, he likes to use his culinary skills to make other people … Continue reading
Tweet Layla dreads starting 8th grade, another year, she assumes, of mediocre grades and the feeling of just getting by. Life at home has difficult moments too: her dad’s been gone since she was a baby, her mother juggles single-parenting … Continue reading
Tweet Twelve-year-old Abbey thinks the worst thing about starting seventh grade is being the new girl (again) when her dad is stationed at an Army base in Tennessee. But then planes fly into the World Trade Center in New York … Continue reading
Tweet Thirteen-year-old Nellie has a lot on her shoulders. Her mother left the family, her dad sometimes gets depressed and stays in bed for days on end, and her younger brothers need someone around to be responsible. She believes if … Continue reading
Tweet Today I’m reviewing a book I loved that’s great for readers aged 9 to 14. It’s called Dan Unmasked, and I have one copy to give away to someone who comments here. Just leave a note telling me if … Continue reading
Tweet Hank knows that different is not less. It’s one of the things his parents taught him to help him get through moments when it’s clear that he’s different than his classmates. Like when he set fire to a book … Continue reading
Tweet Pearl has grown up in the Lancaster Avenue branch of the New York City Library, where her mom is a librarian. But with circulation down and a crumbling building that’s expensive to fix, she’s worried that she won’t have … Continue reading