I have quite a mix of books in today’s review roundup–YA time travel, adult dual timeline, contemporary middle grade, YA historical fiction, and YA contemporary. So that should offer a little bit of something for everyone! As soon as I finished OPPOSITE OF ALWAYS by Justin A. Reynolds, I knew it would be one of…
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MMGM: EPOCA THE TREE OF ECROF by Kobe Bryant and Ivy Claire (a middle schooler review)
A couple of weeks ago, MMGM host Greg Pattridge at Always in the Middle informed me I was one of the winners of a box of 10 middle grade books for his 1,000th post giveaway. Since my son has been doing the MG reviews lately, I suggested he address the box to him, and today…
YA Review: ROYALS by Rachel Hawkins
When I finish a book with a huge grin on my face, it obviously deserves a review. But it’s more than that–I raced through Rachel Hawkins’s ROYALS in two nights, laughing out loud much of the time. I’m not surprised. I loved her Hex Hall and Rebel Belle series (and she’s also written a middle…
YA Review: BLOOD WATER PAINT by Joy McCullough
If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen this tweet a little over a week ago: But a tweet really isn’t enough gushing for Joy’s book. I was trying to remember exactly when I “met” Joy, and so I turned to my email (where I keep EVERYTHING). Anyway, I was reminded that Joy…
My Favorite Reads of 2017
As I began preparing this post, I was a bit shocked to see that I’ve read less than 100 books this year, although I have 11 days left, so I might be able to squeeze four more in :). However, one of the reasons I’ve read less in 2017 is that I returned to another…
YA Review & Giveaway: FOLLOW ME BACK by A.V. Geiger
A couple of weeks ago I won a giveaway for A.V. Geiger’s FOLLOW ME BACK, and as I just read the book in a day, I think it merits a review. Also, for some reason they sent me two copies, plus swag, so I’m doing a giveaway! Details are at the end of the review….
YA Review: EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING by Nicola Yoon
I think the fact I didn’t have much time to read during our trip, combined with my kids being gone for three days last week, put me into a reading frenzy. I read five books in the past week, including two full-length adult books. As I’m sure many of you middle grade/young adult readers understand,…
YA Review: IT’S NOT ME, IT’S YOU by Stephanie Kate Strohm
Hello there! Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever been away from the blog this long. Sorry about that. Almost immediately after I finished drafting, I started working on a revision that has completely consumed me. And as for reviewing, well, I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump. It’s not that I haven’t read…
MMGM: SECRETS FROM THE SLEEPING BAG by Rose Cooper
I came across this book as I was looking for stories set at camps, and I really enjoyed it. SECRETS FROM THE SLEEPING BAG is actually the third book in a series, but you don’t need to read the others first. Here’s a brief description: During four weeks at Camp Krakatow (pronounced Crack-A-Toe), Sofia Becker…
Emails, Footnotes and Tweets: When Authors Experiment with Format
I’m always impressed when an author pulls off a unique format. I’ve read quite a few books lately that stray from the standard narrative format and thought I’d share. Maybe they will inspire you to try something new! The journal entry. The journal/diary entry is probably the most common detour I’ve seen from the expected…

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