To Read or Not To Read

Gary D. Schmidt delivers a powerful and unforgettable narrative within the pages of Orbiting Jupiter . Incredibly heartbreaking and raw, the story of Jack and Joseph and Jupiter will touch your heart the rare way very few books do. Gary D. Schmidt is an American children's writer of nonfiction books and young adult novels, including two Newbery Honor books and one Printz Honor award. He lives on a farm in Michigan and has six children. He is a professor of English at Calvin College.  Two-time Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt delivers the shattering story of Joseph, a father at thirteen, who has never seen his daughter, Jupiter. After spending time in a juvenile facility, he's placed with a foster family on a farm in rural Maine. Here Joseph, dmanage and withdrawn, meets twelve-year-old Jack, who narrates the account of the troubled, passionate teen who wants to find his baby at any cost. When Jack meets his new foster brother, he knows three things about him: Joseph almost ...

Hopping back to my long-time TBR with Aiden Thomas's Cemetery Boys ! And what a fun, speculative, representative fantasy YA this book is! Thomas's writing is full of heart, their characters so real, the story so inspiring and uplifting, despite its darker moments. This truly is a YA must read. Aiden Thomas received their MFA in creative writing from Mills College. Born in Oakland, California, Aiden often haunted Mountain View Cemetery like a second home during their misspent youth. As a queer, trans Latinx, Aiden advocates strongly for diverse representation in all media. Aiden is notorious among their friends for always being surprised by twist endings to books.movies and organizing their bookshelves by color. When not writing, Aiden enjoys exploring the outdoors with their dog, Ronan. Their cat, Figaro, prefers to support their indoor hobbies, like reading and drinking too much coffee. Cemetery Boys is their debut novel. You can find more about Thomas online at aiden-thomas.c...

The exciting sequel to Brittany Cavallaro's alternate history came out just this week, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it! Full of Cavallaro's trademark complicated relationships, and full of the kind of history you can fall in love with, Manifest  is a well-earned ending to this duology. Brittany Cavallaro is the author of the New York Times bestselling Charlotte Holmes series, Muse , and the poetry collection Girl-King  and the coauthor of Hello Girls . She earned her BA in literature from Middlebury College and her MFA in poetry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in Michigan. Find her at her website, www.brittanycavallaro.com , or on Twitter @skippingstones. You can find more of my reviews of Brittany's work here .  St. Cloud has fallen. And Claire Duchamp is fighting to hold on to the seat of power in exile while her new husband, Governor Remy Duchamp, lingers at death's door. Claire has always been under a man's thumb, but now she...

Leigh Bardugo returns to New Haven with this exciting and action-packed sequel to Ninth House . Alex Stern and the gang are working to get their golden boy back, and this book could not have been a better tribute to found family, history, and literature. Hell Bent was such a great read and I didn't want it to end—and I'm sincerely hoping that this is not the end of Alex's story. Leigh Bardugo is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ninth House  and the creator of the Grishaverse (now a Netflix original series), which spans the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, the King of Scars duology—and much more. Her short fiction has appeared in multiple anthologies, including the Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. She lives in Los Angeles and is an associate fellow of Pauli Murray College at Yale University. You can find her online at LeighBardugo.com . You can find more of my reviews of her work here .  Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul ou...

If you're looking for an out-of-this-world romance that's also entirely grounded in what it's like living in the twenty-first century, look no further than Samantha Young's latest. A Cosmic Kind of Love details those emotions that leave us star-struck, in more ways than one, making it one of the most relatable romances you'll read this year. Samantha Young is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Hart's Boardwalk series and the On Dublin Street series, including Moonlight Way, Echoes of Scotland Street, Fall from India Place, Before Jamaica Lane, Down London Road, and On Dublin Street . She resides in Scotland. You can find her online at AuthorSamanthaYoung.com and on Instagram and Facebook @AuthorSamanthaYoung. When event planner Hallie Goodman receives party-inspiration material from the bride of her latest wedding project, the last thing she expects to find in the files is a collection of videos from the bride's ex-boyfriend. Hallie ...

Holly Black returns to Elfhame in The Stolen Heir , a story full of adventure, deceit, and yearning, as all the best fantasy books are. For fans of The Folk of the Air trilogy, or for those just looking for a good new fantasy, The Stolen Heir delivers on many counts as being enjoyable, fascinating, and unputdownable.  Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fantasy novels, including the novels of Elfhame, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown , the Spiderwick Chronicles, and her adult debut, Book of Night . She was a finalist for an Eisner Award and the Lodestar Award and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula Award, and a Newberry Honor. Her books have been translated into thirty-two languages worldwide and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library. Her website is hollyblack.com . You can find more of my reviews of Holly's work here .  Eight years have passed since the Battle of the Serpen...