No matter how bad something is, something else could be worse! That is what 12-year-old Jessie Maison discovers when she becomes friends with the new boy next door, Chris Ketra, in The Raystone by C.L. Gristwood. Jessie is lonely since she is bullied and feels...

The Dry is a fantasy written for young adults and preteens by Rebecca Nolen. It's set in Jeffersonville, Virginia in 1895, and there's been an extended drought that's badly affected harvests. Elliot Sweeney is 12 years old, and he's been living with his uncle since...

Titan by Michael Van Cleve is a post holocaust sci-fi story about a family in the 23rd century where reptiles are Jurassic sized. A place where mutations, death and disease are everywhere. The story begins with Troy Hawking helping Paris with the birth of...

The Lost Boys of Lampson is a contemporary fantasy book for children and preteens written by P. Neil Holland. Billy's in the seventh grade now and a senior at Lampson Street School, but the first day is getting off to a very spooky start. First,...

In The Mysterious Mandolin by Aneta Cruz, all Mathelda wants is to be beautiful like her stepsister, Rosalynn. It's not a vicious desire, because Mathelda is not really like the wicked stepsisters in Cinderella. It's just a desire to be accepted as someone who is...

The Scholar, the Sphinx and the Shades of NYX (Scholar and the Sphinx, Book 1) by A.R. Cook is a fantasy novel for younger readers (children and teenagers, maybe also really young adults) which combines the real world with a world that lies behind a...

Time Square: UFO by S.W. Lothian is the fourth straight winner from this author. I thoroughly enjoyed Lothian’s The Quest series, so I approached this first volume in the new Time Square series in anticipation of another literary treat. I was not disappointed. Time Square:...

Three Little Gnomes and a Boy Named Orion by Rhonda Paglia is the charming story of three gnomes. They live in Papa and Grammy's garden with its twisty paths, mile high ferns, and brightly colored flowers. The gnomes are always busy in the garden and...

The Cat’s Maw is a fantasy/mystery for preteens by Brooke Burgess. Billy Brahm is a lonely young boy who lives with his parents. He is extremely accident prone and always manages to seriously injure himself. This frustrates his parents who think he is just as...

Iris Brave's world turned upside down when she learned that what she thought she knew of souls was entirely untrue. When Iris heard of her father Micah being alive within another person's body, the whole thing seemed unreal and impossible. Iris was taken to a...