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 At 11, Jayla is mostly happy with her big extended family and her life at school. But she misses her best friend who moved away, and she worries about her mom’s health. When she sees a video of people … 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 The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne is set during a time in the future, long after another ice age has made Earth uninhabitable. Princess Leonie lives on a spaceship with her family, hanging onto their fading fortunes and … Continue reading
Tweet Twelve-year-old Rory and his mom have trouble making ends meet even though she has two jobs. So when he gets the chance to work at a mansion for the reclusive Lord Foxglove he takes it. But there’s something strange … 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
