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Upcoming Release Review: The Lost Girl

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The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu Age Range: 8-12 Release Date: February 12, 2019 Walden Pond Press 9780062275097 “[M]ost of all, this is a story of the two sisters, and what they did when the monsters really came.”* Anne Ursu has certainly been busy lately. The important work she has been doing to make the book industry a better place for women is impressive and this work is marvelously reflected in her newest novel, making it a truly important tale for boys and girls alike to read. Don’t misread me. The Lost Girl is not a preachy message wrapped up in the guise of a story. It is a story, a fabulous story of the best kind. The sort with a purpose and a message so strong and profound that it is truly the tale’s heartbeat. The sort of story that should make its reader strive to be better. But let’s start at the beginning. Iris and Lark are identical twins. This is all anyone ever seems to know about them. They are the same because they look the same. They must have ES...
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Upcoming Release Review: The War Outside

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The War Outside by Monica Hesse Age Range: 13 & up Release Date: September 25, 2018 Little, Brown and Company 9780316316699 “I know the way I am telling these stories seems mundane and boring. Horror grows out of mundanity. If you’re paying attention, it always starts small. We all tell the versions we wish were true.”* There are a lot of World War II stories. Some people claim to be tired of them. I, on the other hand, am always drawn to them. There are so many stories to tell during this time, so many atrocities committed, so many lives affected, how could anyone have possibly heard them all? Well, I am here to tell you, Monica Hesse’s newest is a story you haven’t heard before, and even if you consider yourself “tired” of tales set during this time, you should really give this one a shot. Haruko and Margot meet in Crystal City, Texas, an internment camp for those under suspect of working with the enemy. Neither of the girls has ever seen the places their...
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Upcoming Release Review: Louisiana's Way Home

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Louisiana's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo Age Range: 8-12 Release Date: October 2, 2018 Candlewick Press 9780763694630 In April of 2016, the incomparable Kate DiCamillo introduced us to Raymie Clarke. Raymie was trying to find her way, as so many of us do, and she found a kinship with two girls along the way. One of these girls was Louisiane Elefante (daughter of the Flying Elefantes, you know), and she has her own winding path ahead of her. When Louisiana’s granny wakes her up in the middle of the night and they hit the road, Lousiana is not overly worried. Granny gets these ideas in her head now and then, and she figures they’ll be back home sooner or later. Only this time, it doesn’t look like Granny will rethink things. How will Louisiana convince Granny to go back home, where everything and everyone she cares about most in the world are waiting for her? Louisiana’s story is the journey I didn’t know I needed. Kate DiCamillo has a wonderfully thoughtful way ...
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Upcoming Release Review: The Art of the Swap

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The Art of the Swap by Kristine Asselin and Jen Malone Age Range: 8-12 Release Date: February 13, 2018 Publisher: Aladdin 9781481478717 The past and the present shake hands in this fun and all-around thrilling collaboration of art, history, and girl power. Hannah Jordan lives in The Elms, a mansion preserved by the Newport Antiquities Society as a museum. Well, technically, she lives above it. As the daughter of the mansion’s caretaker, Hannah has always had free reign in the beautiful estate. She also has a fierce love for the history of The Elms, including that of its former occupants. As the niece of the mansion’s owners, Margaret Dunlap is spending the summer at The Elms with her aunt and uncle, where a commissioned portrait of her is about make its debut. Margaret would much rather slide down the banisters or read The Wonderful Wizardof Oz in her room than sit for the painting, but this is 1905, and such behavior is not proper for a young lady about to turn thirt...
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Review: Wild Bird

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Wild Bird by Wendelin Van Draanen Age Range: 12 & up Release Date: September 5, 2017 Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers 9781101940440 “‘Sometimes it doesn’t take much for what’s dormant to bloom.’” Fourteen-year-old Wren Clemens is alone. At least, that’s how it feels. She’s railing at her parents, railing at her sister, regularly getting drunk and high. She is in way too deep with shady friends-who-are-not-friends, and is now being dragged out of her bed at 4am and whisked off to wilderness therapy camp. Like that’s going to help. Wild Bird is a whirlwind of the best kind, the kind only Wendelin Van Draanen ( Sammy Keyes , Flipped , The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones ) can bring to life. Wren (yes… like the bird) has a tremendously difficult journey ahead of her, and while at first she fights and screams and rages, it soon becomes clear that the harsh Utah desert will eat her alive if she doesn’t slow down and accept a little help. She will make progres...
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Upcoming Release Review: The Speaker

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***Upcoming Release!*** The Speaker by Traci Chee Age Range: 13 & up Release Date: November 7, 2017 G.P. Putnam Son's Books for Young Readers 9780399176784 A slew of spectacular Young Adult fantasy books hit the shelves last fall, including quite a few strong debuts. One of the standouts was called The Reader by Traci Chee. With a gorgeous blue eye-catching cover and a synopsis to draw in any bookworm, The Reader was a knockout. It followed Sefia, an orphaned girl set out for revenge on the people who took her family from her. Her most treasured possession was a strange rectangular object previously guarded by her parents. An object called a book. In a world where the written word is unheard of, books holds power. And with that power come those willing to do anything to possess it. On her journey, Sefia rescues a mute young man by the name of Archer, kidnapped and forced into fighting rings for a ruthless pirate. Somehow, the notorious pirate Serakeen is ...
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Review: Girls Made of Snow and Glass

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Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust Age Range: 13 & up Release Date: September 5, 2017 Flatiron Books 9781250077738 “If they love you for anything, it will be for your beauty.” Mina carries these words with her, spoken by her father years ago. Since Mina’s heart is made of glass, she is told this renders her incapable of love. At sixteen, Mina leaves her southern home and travels to the north, where she sets out to win the heart of the newly widowed king and become someone worthy of love, believing she must use her beauty to do so. Sixteen years later, Mina is queen and her stepdaughter has grown up. Princess Lynet is constantly told how strongly she resembles her mother, but she would much rather take after her fierce and regal stepmother, the only maternal figure she has ever known. As Lynet grows, she comes closer to taking the crown, and Mina knows that one day they will be at odds. For the queen has no intention of letting that crown go. ...
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