Please enable JavaScript
Fiction | Page 146 | LitPick Book Reviews
Fiction
Penny Dreadful
Penny Dreadful
Abigail Halpin, Laurel Snyder
The perfect book for girls and boys who look to find adventure and magic in surprising places! What if you were really bored with your life? What would you wish for?Penelope Grey wishes for something—anything!—interesting to happen, and here’s what she gets:• Her father quits his job.• Her family runs out of money.• Her home becomes a pit of despair.So Penelope makes another wish, and this time the Greys inherit a ramshackle old house in the middle of nowhere. Off they go, leaving the city and their problems behind them. Their new home is full of artists, tiny lions, unusual feasts, and true friends. Almost immediately, their lives are transformed. Penelope’s mother finds an unexpected job, her father discovers a hidden talent, and Penelope changes her name!Penny’s new life feels too magical to be real, too real to be magic. And it may be too good to last . . . unless she can find a way to make magic work just one more time—if it even was magic.Any Which Wall author Laurel Snyder introduces a quirky cast of characters as pleasantly strange as they are deeply real. Abigail Halpin adds to the charm with her distinctive line drawings.Fans of Polly Horvath’s My One Hundred Adventures, Ingrid Law’s Savvy, and Jeanne Birdsall’s The Penderwicks will be enchanted by Laurel Snyder’s alternatively humorous and poignant look at small-town life and what it really takes to become a happy family.

Book Details

The Ugly Tree
The Ugly Tree
Tamara Lyon
Considering Cane Kallevik's rocky start, her life has been normal under the watchful eye of Grandma Betty. When shes not running five miles at a crack, shes riding her bike around the rural farming town of Savage, Illinois and engaging in a secret warfare with her former best friend, Mikayla Atwood. The biggest thorn in her side is Jenny Ryanne Schaeffer, her employer, who Cane has nicknamed Jelly Roll. When Justice Price, Jelly Rolls gorgeous, older nephew rolls into town, Cane is convinced that their age difference is a minor inconvenience. After a disastrous tornado, Cane's house is destroyed, and Grandma Betty is in a coma. Out of necessity, Cane moves in with the Schaeffer family and spends the summer falling in love with Justice, keeping vigil at Grandma Bettys side, fighting with Jelly Roll, walking a fine line between love and hate with Mikayla, and discovering scandalous secrets about Mikaylas mother, Annette. Cane endures a summer of waiting, loving, and longing. In a dramatic conclusion her world literally goes up in flames, but instead of losing everything, she finds exactly what shes looking for in the most unexpected way.

Book Details

Jumpstart the World
Jumpstart The World
Catherine Ryan Hyde
Elle is a loner. She doesn’t need people. Which is a good thing, because she’s on her own: she had to move into her own apartment so her mother’s boyfriend won’t have to deal with her. Then she meets Frank, the guy who lives next door. He’s older and has a girlfriend, but Elle can’t stop thinking about him. Frank isn’t like anyone Elle has ever met. He listens to her. He’s gentle. And Elle is falling for him, hard. But Frank is different in a way that Elle was never prepared for: he’s transgender. And when Elle learns the truth, her world is turned upside down.  Now she’ll have to search inside herself to find not only the true meaning of friendship but her own role in jumpstarting the world. Tender, honest, and compassionate, Jumpstart the World is a stunning story to make you laugh, cry, and honor the power of love.

Book Details

Dangerous Angels: Five Weetzie Bat Books
Dangerous Angels
Francesca Lia Block
The Weetzie Bat series, by acclaimed author Francesca Lia Block, was listed among NPR's 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels. This collection brings together all five luminous novels of the series in one paperback.Spinning a saga of interwoven lives and beating hearts, these postmodern fairy tales take us to a Los Angeles brimming with magical realism: a place where life is a mystery, pain can lead to poetry, strangers become intertwined souls, and everyone is searching for the most beautiful and dangerous angel of all: love.The Weetzie Bat books broke new ground with their stylized, lyrical prose and unflinching look at the inner life of teens. The New York Times declared Dangerous Angels was "transcendent." And the Village Voice proclaimed "Ms. Block writes for the young adult in all of us."Includes Weetzie Bat, Witch Baby, Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys, Missing Angel Juan, and Baby Be-Bop.

Book Details

The Fledgling Handbook 101 (House of Night Novels)
The Fledgling Handbook 101
Kim Doner, P. C. Cast
Merry meet, fledgling. Welcome to a new life, a new world, and a new you. Welcome to the House of Night!This might seem like a scary time, Fledgling, but never fear! As you start your journey through the ancient halls of the House of Night, this indispensable handbook will aid you in your transition from human to fledgling. Within these pages you will find invaluable information about the history of vampyres. You will also come to a better understanding of your body's transformation, as well as read words of hope from great vampyres of the past and learn essential foundations of rituals and lore. Now, Fledgling, read on. A new life awaits you; your path to that magickal future begins here!

Book Details

Arisa 1
Arisa
Andria Cheng, Natsumi Ando
  Tsubasa thinks that her pretty and popular twin sister, Arisa, has the perfect life. Everyone at school loves Arisa—unlike the hot-tempered Tsubasa, whose nickname is “the Demon Princess.” But when Arisa attempts suicide, Tsubasa learns that her seemingly perfect sister has been keeping some dark secrets. Now Tsubasa is going undercover at school—disguised as Arisa—in search of the truth. But will Arisa’s secrets shatter Tsubasa’s life, too?   Includes special extras after the story!

Book Details

Revolution
Revolution
Jennifer Donnelly
Readers of If I Stay and Elizabeth George will love Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly, author of the award-winning novel A Northern Light. Revolution artfully weaves two girls’ stories into one unforgettable account of life, loss, and enduring love; it spans centuries and vividly depicts the eternal struggles of the human heart.BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany him to Paris for winter break. PARIS: Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want—and couldn’t escape. Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.Praise for Revolution:An ABA Indies Choice Young Adult Book of the YearAn ALA-YALSA Top Ten Best Books for Young AdultsA Kirkus Reviews Best Book#1 Indiebound pick for fall 2010A School Library Journal Best BookA Bulletin Blue Ribbon BookA Chicago Public Library Best of the Best BookAmazon.com Best Book of the Year[STAR] "A sumptuous feast of a novel, rich in mood, character, and emotion."--School Library Journal, Starred[STAR] "Every detail is meticulously inscribed into a multi-layered narrative that is as wise, honest, and moving as it is cunningly worked. Readers  . . . will find this brilliantly crafted work utterly absorbing."--The Bulletin, Starred [STAR] "Brilliantly realized, complete, and complex. The novel is rich with detail, and both the Brooklyn and Paris settings provide important grounding for the haunting and beautifully told story."--Kirkus Reviews, Starred

Book Details

Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool
Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool
Odo Hirsch
What Darius sees if enough to dazzle anyone. But it is really what is appears to be? Is it enough to save his family?

Book Details

Firelight
Firelight
Sophie Jordan
The first book in an addictive, romantic trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan is perfect for fans of Laini Taylor, Tahereh Mafi, and Claudia Gray.With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki—the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms.But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness forces her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades. The one thing that revives it is the gorgeous, elusive Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret.Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide, from New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan.

Book Details

Roland Wright: Brand-New Page
Roland Wright: Brand-New Page
Gregory Rogers, Tony Davis
It’s really happened—Roland Wright is joining the royal household at Twofold Castle as a brand-new page! This is his big chance to impress the King and his knights. But Roland meets with a few difficulties: 1)      The Queen hates mice, so it looks as if Nudge, Roland’s pet mouse, can’t stay.2)      There’s an older page who makes sure poor boys like Roland get sent home in         disgrace.3)      A huge, tusked animal is on the loose. . . . If things don’t improve, Roland’s dream of being a knight could be over in a day.

Book Details

Pages



RECENT BOOK REVIEWS