Editorial Reviews

A ridiculous but poetic tale of Wichlees, parpzees, catch-ball and the Tueslethrump Feastival, A Very Strange Party On Bangy-Bong by Ashlyn Moss and Peter C. Hare lives up to its title. The denizens of planet Bangy-Bong are preparing for the stinky party, complete with gwindleberries, slimy snot, and enough horse dung to keep the celebrations going, but there is mischief afoot for this waterless world, and a threat to the wild party they’ve been planning. A fantastical tongue-twister, this endlessly unusual children’s book is a frenetic plunge of illustrated weirdness – one that will have young readers laughing the whole […]

An eloquent novel detailing the ins and outs of an English boarding school in the late 1950s, Susan Papas’ The Gold Dark Summer is a lushly descriptive work about the delights and dangers of forbidden first love. Sadie, a young scholarship student at Bracken Hill who lost her father in WWII, falls for a boy and must cope with the consequences, including the betrayal of friends. Papas’ poignant book vividly captures the magic and excitement of youth, where every change and new experience is a dramatic opportunity for personal growth and exploration, offering a look at adolescence from a historical […]

Young love and history mingle together in Innocence Derailed by Jane Catherine Rozek. Kate is a freshman in high school when she meets Mark, a junior, at a football game, and they fall for each other instantly. The two grow up together in the 1960s and 1970s, a turbulent backdrop to their tender romance, with the Vietnam war raging on and American culture seemingly changing by the minute, when young love has its own joys and sorrows. The book’s basis on a true story gives the narrative a true feeling of authenticity, unfolding like a rich work of fiction, rather […]

A despondent social worker fights to save the soul of a young boy with telekinetic abilities and dangerous powers in Jonah Frick’s Bradley, a wild, surrealist journey into the heart of government manipulation and corruption. After his adoptive parents’ mysterious death, 11-year-old Bradley Gaff is transported to a strange federal reform school called the Justice Center, where the staff has sinister intentions for his future. While sometimes the dialogue can be a little stiff, Frick’s brisk propulsive prose, imaginative time-traveling plot, and unexpected otherworldly twists will keep readers turning the pages, and feels like a movie in the making.

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A young Spinosaurus learns how to be brave in Atlas the Moroccan Dino: Faces his Fear, an inspiring and expertly crafted picture book about personal resilience and conquering doubts by Rakan Azize, with illustrations by Chrish Vindhy. Atlas fears the vast water and questions his swimming abilities when he’s invited to a fishing competition, but he gradually uncovers the importance of trusting his instincts and attempting difficult feats. Author Azize’s motivating, rhyming story combines perfectly with the expressively illustrated characters, spinning a yarn that will no doubt encourage readers to get out of their comfort zones and focus more […]

Ivy Gilbert’s Protectors of the Light is a classic fantasy tale with a supernatural twist – charged with protecting positive timelines from corruption and evil, Hannah must deal with foes beyond her comprehension to protect a powerful force for good. While the premise of an ordinary person thrust into extraordinary circumstances is a familiar one, Gilbert adds an intriguing element of the bond between twins, leaning towards esoteric spirituality in its focus on our fundamental interconnectedness. The pace of the novel is quick, and while the concepts can be surprisingly deep, they’re delivered with a light touch, making for an […]

A well-written and fast-paced work of young adult fiction, Bully Boy by Tom Wade is a coming-of-age story about a boy who struggles against bullies in a school that tries to sweep incidents of cruelty under the rug. Henry Wilton is being attacked by a group of boys who are unopposed by the students and the teachers; as the situation gets worse and his cries for help go ignored, Henry will need to decide whether to find a way to protect himself or take the fight back to those who mean him harm. The book does an exemplary job of […]

In the Americana-heavy memoir following the author’s rare and debilitating spinal disorder, The Villains Who Snapped My Spine, author A.H. Nazzareno traces back through his life for a thread of bad luck that may have led him to his current condition. Something like the off-kilter writing of Rudolph Wurlitzer’s Nog, or Bukowski’s Ham on Rye, the “villains” of the story are laid out between accounts of the hospital procedures and thoughts on American history and experiences from the deserts of Arizona to the old Civil War fields of ghosts and deer. A memoir full of bitter humor, […]