My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is the third book I’ve read by the talented Adrianna Cuevas. The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez and Cuba in my Pocket were very different books from The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto, but they each capture the genuine struggles of preteens and their very real challenges with changing…
Book Spotlight: Flip Turns by Catherine Arguelles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars What an engaging read and well-crafted story! This was a fun book from beginning to end with an intriguing mystery and a little middle grade romance. But this book also handles some sensitive topics for middle grade kids like anxiety, parental pressure, alopecia, and boy harassment. Maddie, 13, is…
Book Spotlight: Daybreak on Raven Island by Fleur T. Bradley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Daybreak on Raven Island is perfect for mystery lovers and for those who enjoy spooky ghost encounters. I was super intrigued by the clever premise of this book – 3 kids end up stuck for the night on a haunted island that used to hold an active prison. It’s…
Book Spotlight: Cuba in My Pocket by Adrianna Cuevas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Cuba in My Pocket is the journey of Cumba, a 12yo boy who has to leave his family and his home in Cuba when Fidel Castro takes power. This is one of those books I simply couldn’t put down. From the descriptions of a changing Cuba to the fears…
Book Spotlight: Barakah Beats by Maleeha Siddiqui
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Barakah Beats was a well-plotted, thoughtful middle grade book with a dynamic look at how to maintain one’s values while transitioning into mainstream, public school. After twelve-year-old Nimra masters memorizing the Quran, she moves from Islamic school to public middle school for seventh grade. It may be where her…
How Storystorm Helped Me Discover my next Story Idea!
While this was my first year participating in Storystorm, the month-long, brainstorming event was first started under a different name (PiBoIdMo) in 2009 by picture book author, Tara Lazar. (This was originally an event for picture book writers.) It changed to Storystorm in 2017 and is held the entire month of January. So, yes, it…
Book Spotlight: Simone LaFray and the Red Wolves of London by S.P. O’Farrell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars A brilliant, must-read sequel to Simone LaFray and the Chocolatiers’ Ball! Sometimes I’m a fan of sequels but many times, I’m disappointed because they fail to capture the energy and ingenuity of the original. Simone LaFray and the Red Wolves of London is the exception because it takes all…
Book Spotlight: The Bluest Sky by Christina Diaz Gonzalez
My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Bluest Sky is a moving account of the plight of those leaving Cuba in the 1980s. Seen through the eyes of an 11-year-old boy, this was an intimate story of what life was like in Cuba at that time. I was really struck by the generational gap of…
Book Spotlight: The Last Hope in Hopetown by Maria Tureaud
My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Last Hope in Hopetown is a fang-tastically, spooky debut that flips the script on our perceptions of vampires. In a world where vampires have come into the light and joined society, they are no longer the blood-thirsty villains but have jobs and own homes and raise children. That’s…
Book Spotlight: Earth to Dad by Krista Van Dolzer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars Earth to Dad is a beautiful, moving story about an 11-year-old boy, Jameson, set in a future where the Earth is moving closer to the sun after a meteor brushes past Jupiter, creating a bad chain reaction. Now things are dangerously heating up on the Earth’s surface and the…
Christine Letizia 