My Favorite Reads of 2012

At the beginning of the year, I set a goal of reading 75 books in 2012. I’ve read 80 books so far, and I still have a week and a half left! It helps that so many of them were middle grade. It’s gotten to the point where I wonder why adult books are so…

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YA Review: A MILLION SUNS

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE is one of those books everyone was talking about last year, and I finally picked it up in January. Although I thoroughly enjoyed it, I didn’t have the urge to immediately go read the next one. Part of that was due to the fact that I was focusing on reading MG as…

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YA Series Recommendation: MATCHED by Ally Condie

I picked up MATCHED shortly after it came out in 2010 and loved it. So when Ally Condie made a stop in St. Louis on her CROSSED tour last fall, I had to go see her. It was my first author event, and I loved hearing about her inspiration for each book. These books are…

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MMGM: Zora and Me, plus a giveaway!

Sometimes you pick up a book and you’re not sure you’ll connect with it. Then you start reading and it’s like magic. You’re drawn into a world completely different from your own, and yet you feel like you’re a part of it. That’s how I felt about ZORA AND ME by Victoria Bond and T.R….

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MMGM: THE BFG

I got a little behind on my reading this week due to some non-writing commitments, but there’s a book I’ve been wanting to feature for a while that’s a favorite from childhood–THE BFG. Earlier this year, I kept seeing people post questions about their favorite books as children. Honestly, I could think of very few…

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MMGM: THE END OF INFINITY

First of all, thanks to everyone who participated in my giveaway last week for a signed copy of Shannon Messenger’s KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES. The winner is: Orchid (@HauntedOrchid) It was so much fun doing a giveaway. I don’t plan to do one every week, but I will throw them in every once in…

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MMGM: KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES with a giveaway!

Like everyone else who participates in MMGM, I anxiously awaited the release of MMGM founder Shannon Messenger’s debut novel, KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES. I’m thrilled to say that it met all of my expectations and then some. And because I want to give back to Shannon the way she gives back to all of…

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MMGM: SCIENCE FAIR

I love that my library lets me check out ebooks on my Kindle. Browsing through the available titles has led me to several books I might not have read otherwise. Today I bring you another library find–SCIENCE FAIR by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. Here’s the description: When Grdankl the Strong, president of the small,…

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Character Flaws and Why We Have to Care

Over the past few days, I reread two of my favorite romance novels. Although I read much more MG and YA these days, I grew up reading romance novels, starting when I was 11. This may seem young, but there wasn’t the strong category of YA or MG books then that there is now, and…

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MMGM: THE UNWANTEDS: ISLAND OF SILENCE

THE UNWANTEDS is one of those buzz books that I heard about so much I finally picked it up. I read the first book earlier this year, before I started participating in Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, but now there’s a second one, and I’m thrilled to cover THE UNWANTEDS: ISLAND OF SILENCE today. If you…

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MMGM: THE PARADISE TRAP

As anyone who’s familiar with my work knows, I’m a fan of alternate realities, so the premise of THE PARADISE TRAP caught my attention as soon as I read the blurb. I’m happy to say it fulfilled all of my expectations and then some. I couldn’t put this book down because I couldn’t wait to…

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MMGM: THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY

I picked up this book expecting to find a fun mystery and realized almost immediately it was so much more. After reading THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY, I’m not surprised it won several awards when it came out in 2007. I’m so glad it was one of the e-books available when I started browsing my local…

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