Please enable JavaScript
Fiction | Page 52 | LitPick Book Reviews
Fiction
Trouble the Water
Trouble the Water
From the award-winning author of Dovey Coe comes a sweeping tale of the friendship between a black girl and a white boy and the prejudices they must overcome in segregated Celeste, Kentucky, as the pair try to solve the mysteries surrounding a lonely old dog.Eleven-year-old Callie is fearless, stubborn, and a little nosy. So when she sees an old yellow dog wandering around town by itself, you can bet she’s going to figure out who he belongs to. But when her sleuthing leads her to cross paths with a white boy named Wendell who wants to help, the segregated town doesn’t take too kindly to their budding friendship. Meanwhile, a nearly invisible boy named Jim is stuck in a cabin in the woods. He’s lost his dog, but can’t remember exactly when his pup’s disappeared. When his companion, a little boy named Thomas, who’s been invisible much longer than he, explains that they are ghosts, the two must figure out why they can’t seem to cross the river to the other side just yet… And as Callie and Wendell’s search for the old dog brings them closer and closer to the cabin in the woods, the simmering prejudices of the townspeople boil over. Trouble the Water is a story that spans lifetimes, showing that history never truly disappears, and that the past will haunt us until we step up to change the present and stand together for what is right.

Book Details

Some Kind of Happiness
Some Kind of Happiness
Claire Legrand
Reality and fantasy collide in this heartfelt and mysterious novel for fans of Counting by 7s and Bridge to Terabithia, about a girl who must save a magical make-believe world in order to save herself.Things Finley Hart doesn’t want to talk about: -Her parents, who are having problems. (But they pretend like they’re not.) -Being sent to her grandparents’ house for the summer. -Never having met said grandparents. -Her blue days—when life feels overwhelming, and it’s hard to keep her head up. (This happens a lot.) Finley’s only retreat is the Everwood, a forest kingdom that exists in the pages of her notebook. Until she discovers the endless woods behind her grandparents’ house and realizes the Everwood is real—and holds more mysteries than she’d ever imagined, including a family of pirates that she isn’t allowed to talk to, trees covered in ash, and a strange old wizard living in a house made of bones. With the help of her cousins, Finley sets out on a mission to save the dying Everwood and uncover its secrets. But as the mysteries pile up and the frightening sadness inside her grows, Finley realizes that if she wants to save the Everwood, she’ll first have to save herself.

Book Details

Mother-Daughter Book Camp (The Mother-Daughter Book Club)
The Mother-Daughter Book Club: Mother-Daughter Book Camp
Heather Vogel Frederick
Spend one last summer with the Mother-Daughter Book Club at camp in this bittersweet conclusion to Heather Vogel Frederick’s beloved and bestselling series.After so many summers together, Emma, Jess, Megan, Becca, and Cassidy are reunited for one final hurrah before they go their separate ways. The plan is to spend their summer as counselors at Camp Lovejoy in a scenic, remote corner of New Hampshire, but things get off to a rocky start when their young charges are stricken with a severe case of homesickness. Hopefully, a little bit of bibliotherapy will do the trick, as the girls bring their longstanding book club to camp.

Book Details

Framed!
Framed! A T.O.A.S.T. Mystery
James Ponti
Get to know the only kid on the FBI Director’s speed dial and several international criminals’ most wanted lists all because of his Theory of All Small Things in this hilarious start to a brand-new middle grade mystery series.So you’re only halfway through your homework and the Director of the FBI keeps texting you for help…What do you do? Save your grade? Or save the country? If you’re Florian Bates, you figure out a way to do both. Florian is twelve years old and has just moved to Washington. He’s learning his way around using TOAST, which stands for the Theory of All Small Things. It’s a technique he invented to solve life’s little mysteries such as: where to sit on the on the first day of school, or which Chinese restaurant has the best eggrolls. But when he teaches it to his new friend Margaret, they uncover a mystery that isn’t little. In fact, it’s HUGE, and it involves the National Gallery, the FBI, and a notorious crime syndicate known as EEL. Can Florian decipher the clues and finish his homework in time to help the FBI solve the case?

Book Details

Someone Like Him
Someone Like Him
Ann Herrick
City girl, country guy. Will opposites attract—or clash? When New-York-City girl Emily visits her cousin Janelle in Oregon, Emily wonders how she'll survive the wilderness. Janelle wonders if the wilderness will survive Emily's visit—and if she can convince her cousin to help save part of an old-growth forest. Meanwhile, Emily also wonders if a big-city girl can get along with a county guy—named Bret. Under forest canopies and by crystal-clear waters she struggles with her growing attraction to him. But they're so different. Whoever thought she'd fall for someone like him?

Book Details

The Serpent King
The Serpent King
Jeff Zentner
Named to ten BEST OF THE YEAR lists and selected as a William C. Morris Award Winner,The Serpent King is the critically acclaimed, much-beloved story of three teens who find themselves--and each other--while on the cusp of graduating from high school with hopes of leaving their small-town behind. Perfect for fans of John Green's Turtles All the Way Down."Move over, John Green; Zentner is coming for you." —The New York Public Library“Will fill the infinite space that was left in your chest after you finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” —BookRiot.com  Dill isn't the most popular kid at his rural Tennessee high school. After his father fell from grace in a public scandal that reverberated throughout their small town, Dill became a target. Fortunately, his two fellow misfits and best friends, Travis and Lydia, have his back. But as they begin their senior year, Dill feels the coils of his future tightening around him. His only escapes are music and his secret feelings for Lydia--neither of which he is brave enough to share. Graduation feels more like an ending to Dill than a beginning. But even before then, he must cope with another ending--one that will rock his life to the core. Debut novelist Jeff Zentner provides an unblinking and at times comic view of the hard realities of growing up in the Bible belt, and an intimate look at the struggles to find one’s true self in the wreckage of the past.“A story about friendship, family and forgiveness, it’s as funny and witty as it is utterly heartbreaking.” —PasteMagazine.com“A brutally honest portrayal of teen life . . . [and] a love letter to the South from a man who really understands it.” —Mashable.com“I adored all three of these characters and the way they talked to and loved one another.”—New York Times

Book Details

From the Publisher

Little Dee and the Penguin
Little Dee and the Penguin
Christopher Baldwin
Graphic novel fans will love this hilarious animal adventure by webcomic creator Christopher Baldwin—perfect for readers of Dan Santat’s Sidekicks, Ben Hatke’s Zita the Spacegirl, and Berkeley Breathed’s Bloom CountyWhen Little Dee meets a motley crew of animals deep in the forest, she knows she’s found the perfect set of new friends. Between the bossy vulture, the slightly dim dog, the nurturing bear, and the happy-go-lucky penguin, this mismatched group of big personalities doesn’t always get along—but they’re a family.   And they’re on the run. A pair of hungry polar bears are after the penguin, and the rest of the team are determined to protect her. They’re not interested in adopting a tiny human. But Dee loves them—especially Ted the bear—and she won't let them go. Instead, she hops on their getaway plane and joins them on an around-the-world adventure.   This hilarious and heartwarming story is the perfect addition to any graphic novel reader’s library.

Book Details

A Bandit's Tale: The Muddled Misadventures of a Pickpocket
A Bandit's Tale: The Muddled Misadventures of a Pickpocket
From an award-winning author of historical fiction comes a story of survival, crime, adventure, and horses in the streets of 19th century New York City.Eleven-year-old Rocco is an Italian immigrant who finds himself alone in New York City after he's sold to a padrone by his poverty-stricken parents. While working as a street musician, he meets the boys of the infamous Bandits' Roost, who teach him the art of pickpocketing. Rocco embraces his new life of crime—he's good at it, and it's more lucrative than banging a triangle on the street corner. But when he meets Meddlin' Mary, a strong-hearted Irish girl who's determined to help the horses of New York City, things begin to change. Rocco begins to reexamine his life—and take his future into his own hands.

Book Details

Mistry at Dawn (The Mistry Trilogy) (Volume 3)
Mistry at Dawn
Continue the mystery of Taylor's supernatural life, as we discover answers to impossible questions about her fate as a screaming banshee. Taylor Mistry yearns for understanding to control her curse and continue to protect Harper, the love of her life. Both share the burden of living their life according to the lunar calendar. With each full moon Taylor turns into a screaming white woman who guides other supernaturals into the afterlife, whilst Harper transforms into a dangerous werewolf. Both supernatural creatures reach out to those around them in South Coast to find answers - for with knowledge comes power but it seems it is also followed by life altering danger. Although Taylor is beginning to accept her fate, the twenty-two year old is faced with her own mortality sooner than anyone ever imagined. Revenge is a powerful weapon, sometimes more powerful than the strongest of loves. Will such a love be enough to keep Taylor and her supernatural companions out of harm's way? Or will she have to make the ultimate sacrifice to keep them all safe?

Book Details

The Nibelung Gold
The Nibelung Gold
Koos Verkaik
The end of the nineteenth century—the rich have great interest in the occult; tables dance everywhere, and ghosts speak in many a darkened room.

Book Details

Pages



RECENT BOOK REVIEWS