Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon Hale

Take Rapunzel and plunk her down smack-dab in the middle of a Louis L’Amour book and you have the gist of this fun graphic novel. The framework of Rapunzel is here. Hungry mom, eager-to-please dad, evil witch, girl with crazy-long hair in a tower. But that’s about where the similarities end. See, Rapunzel doesn’t want […]

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The Woods by Harlan Coben: Book Review

Paul Copeland’s sister disappeared into the woods of their summer camp one night twenty years ago. The bodies of two of her friends were found. She wasn’t. Now, the past is surfacing and the mystery is begging to be solved. Eh. Had this been my first Coben book, I would’ve loved it. As it is, […]

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How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff: Book Review

Daisy has been sent from NYC to live with her aunt and cousins in the English countryside. Shortly after her arrival, her Aunt Penn has to travel out of the country for work, leaving the teens alone for a few days. Terrorists strike and nothing is ever the same. This just wasn’t really my kind […]

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The Lost City of Z by David Grann: Book Review

In 1925, Percy Fawcett, a seasoned Amazonian explorer, his son and son’s friend set out to find a fabulous city in the Amazon that Fawcett calls only “Z.” The world had become fascinated with the expedition. Fawcett sent back a few reports, but then none of the men were ever heard from again. Over the […]

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The Dreaming Place by Charles de Lint

Ash is a teenage girl who is angry at the world. Angry at her mom for dying and leaving her alone. Angry at her dad for refusing to take her in. And especially angry at her cousin Nina for having everything. That kind of anger inevitably draws attention. The problem is, the spirit who first […]

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The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff: Book Review

Wilhelmina “Willie” Upton has just returned to her hometown, having made something of a mess of her life while away at grad school in Stanford. Then her mom drops a bomb on her that has her scrambling through family history to solve a mystery. Maybe I’ve read too many books lately where the storyline goes […]

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Sabriel by Garth Nix: Book Review

Sabriel has just graduated from her boarding school in Ancelstierre when she receives a message from her father letting her know that he’s in trouble and needs help. The problem? Her father, Abhorsen, is a talented necromancer whose job is making sure that the dead stay dead. Sabriel has some magic training, but she’s going […]

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Twice Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris: Book Review

Marigold and Christian are living out their happily ever after, but they aren’t perfectly happy. Little spats and hurt feelings have started creeping in. Could Olympia’s evil be influencing their lives? And what about the rumors of a woman who washed up in a village downstream not too long after their wedding? It can’t be […]

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The Gunslinger Born by Stephen King: Book Review

Peter David and company retell the story found in Book Four of The Dark Tower Series, Wizard and Glass. I didn’t realize this was basically a re-telling of Wizard and Glass, I just assumed it was some sort of “Further Adventures of the Gunslinger” kind of thing set when Roland was young. I had a […]

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The Alchemyst by Michael Scott: Book Review

Josh and Sophie Newman have settled into a summer in San Francisco, living with their elderly aunt as their parents work an archaeological dig, and working summer jobs to save up for a car. But one day, a very sinister man pays a visit to the bookshop where Josh is working. The man appears to […]

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The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar: Book Review

Heather and Morag are two punkish thistle fairies on the run from Scotland. Unfortunately, in a drunken stupor, they seem to have stumbled onto a jet bound for New York. Heather and Morag try to acclimate to the huge city, along with the help of their friend Kerry and the ever-reluctant Dinny. Heather and Morag […]

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